We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Lydia Alem. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Lydia below.
Lydia, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.
I remember singing in front of my first big crowd in a talent show during my freshman year of high school. Before then, singing had always been my safe haven. It was a gift that gave me tremendous joy and healing because truthfully, I sing from the pit of my soul. That talent show gave me an opportunity to showcase that gift and let people really feel me. It was special hearing the roars of my peers because growing up I always felt like an outcast, always being made fun of or not being fully involved in things. I watched the video of my performance and burst into tears because I knew in that moment I was finally seen. I didn’t feel so small and invisible. I knew I found my purpose and this would always be what I wanted to pursue in the end.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I’ll start off with how I got into my craft before I got into the business. From what my parents’ say, I have been singing since I was 2. I will say, I really felt more in tune with my vocal abilities at the age of 7. I noticed I could belt, loved exploring my range and messed around with riffs/runs. I struggled with pitch and control but I had an ear for picking up melodies and mimicking those passionate vocalists I admired. I truly loved singing but I wanted to grow so I attempted to write my first song when I was about 10 or 11. At that point I just wanted to replicate the hits I’ve heard before and didn’t know what it meant to write from the heart, granted I was 10. Let’s just say there wasn’t much substance in those lyrics, I just couldn’t resonate with what I wrote so it no longer exists and I have no recollection of what was written on that paper. It actually wasn’t until after the talent show, my freshman year, that I went to my first studio session. I ran into an aspiring producer/engineer a grade above me who found out I could sing and for years after that he gave me a place to dive into my writing skills and record. I’m really grateful for that. At this point I’m 15, it’s my first studio session, and I’m going through my first heartbreak so you know what that means. In all honestly I’ve always been a writer so feeling such strong emotions in an area that a lot of people resonate really gave me the inspiration I needed to create my first track. That song was released on Souncloud and got a ton of feedback. It was motivation to keep writing, but at the end of the day all of this was something I knew I loved but didn’t know how to take seriously. I was still a kid. I didn’t have unsupportive parents’ but I also didn’t have parents who jumped at the idea of me being so invested in music, when their vision entailed education and a stable career understandably so. Regardless they supported me as their daughter and helped me gain opportunities I’ll forever be grateful for. I performed in front of hundreds of people at an Ethiopian festival in San Jose, California 2014 and interviewed with a well known host, an interview that always seems to pop up on YouTube and TikTok every other year. This was a huge moment in my career because it’s still something people remember about me….but it’s something only Ethiopian people remember about me. As far as the industry here, I believe I lacked proper guidance, and I experienced a lot of things that hurt me deeply. I lost who I was in many ways but musically, I didn’t know my sound and lost sight of what my goals were. I actually stopped treating this as a potential career from 2017 up until now. A lot of personal turmoil occurred in this time period but it led to where we are about to get into now. In the beginning of 2024, I finally became sober from alcohol and had this idea that maybe I should get back into doing what I love. So I did. I released more music/visuals, tried to study the industry, started performing and saw a few heads turn, some being familiar, some new. This was a thrill for me because I knew I was about to really take people for a ride and then was in for a ride myself. In the past I’ve always been inconsistent so it was the inevitable that people would doubt me and question my intentions with this. I feel like that really added fuel to my fire and it hasn’t gone out since. As an unsigned independent artist with no manager/established team at the moment, it can get lonely and confusing. I had to seek advice, study what I was getting into, figure out who to trust, and figure out a game plan to make myself relevant. I’ve experienced trial and error, learned my lessons in certain areas, but overall I’ve gotten to a point where I can actually see the vision clear as day now. The one amazing thing about doing it on your own is that you put yourself in a position to not be played with when your time comes. I know my worth now and have confidence in the team that I have coming together for me. I will say I’m really proud of the progress I’ve made in my career. It’s really the beginning for me. I started from scratch with new social media and getting sober gave me an opportunity to rebrand myself the way I want to. I finally found my sound and you can say I like to dabble with Rnb/Soul, Trap Soul, with a lot of Afro beat inspo. I continue to learn how to expand my talent as I tap into some new Neo-Soul sounds. I’m grateful to have performed at various venues including one in my motherland Ethiopia last month. I also came out with my favorite piece of work, an EP titled “This Is a New Chapter” where those Neo-Soul sounds are prevalent. Overall, it’s a project from the heart and that’s the one thing I don’t think will ever change. As I network and meet new people, I want them to not only notice my raw talent but also my authenticity. I’m me, and there’s no one like me.
Is there mission driving your creative journey?
Oh, most definitely. I use music as an outlet for raw expression, and my goal is for others to listen and be like “dang, if she can be real and let us know how she feels through song, let me be real with myself”. You know, there’s a huge benefit to us all when we encourage not only ours, but each others’ growth and healing. We start to build as a collective, truly building with less ego involved and that could be really beautiful. There’s many layers to my existence, I love music with all of my heart but I don’t breathe music. I think my mission overall is to build my brand as a woman who’s passionate about…a lot of things. I have short term goals, long term goals, business ideas and such. As I figure that out, music has been an amazing way to share who I am to the world.
Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?
I typically get 3 general responses when it comes to my endeavors. One side secretly doesn’t take me or my music serious, one thinks everything’s sweet and pretty that I don’t need their support, and the other sees it for what it is and out of love and respect, show up for me. In the grand scheme of things, it doesn’t matter when the goal is way bigger but it is something that hurts me and truthfully, I can’t stand it. To those non creatives, I would say, your support is valued and matters more than you realize. I’ve said before, “without the glitz and glamour, what’s the difference between me and the celebrity on tv?” I’m just as talented but not as respected and that can be disheartening at times but it can also broaden your perspective. It makes me understand what it means to truly invest in your music, being strategic with marketing etc. As I mentioned earlier, there’s been trial and error…I’m learning what it really means to put yourself on because let’s be real, you have to give people a reason to pay attention.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://lydiaalem.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lydiaalemofficial?igsh=MWU0dmVkY3ZuNXRidw%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lydia-alem-473b8b278
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@lydiaalemofficial?si=Cm1f1cCEGlxJu_W7
- Other: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6ThBL5Q6lzrJG1LNJN0L39?si=OgZ6WupGTDOwJWKHEEMb4wApple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/lydia-alem/1651995756
Image Credits
Golden Moments by Maya
Bee’s Photography
Ben McBee
35mm Dream Films