We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Alissa Feudo a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alissa, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?

Thank you so much for the opportunity to share! Singing and songwriting began as a self-taught creative outlet I kept mostly to myself. I spent a long time working towards those first ten thousand hours on my own, creating what intuitively felt right to me, and melding together elemental bits and pieces from music I loved. I built my initial music foundation without much external guidance, and while it felt a bit like shooting in the dark, I appreciate that it gave me plenty of room to find and develop my own unique sound. I think no matter where you are in the process, allowing yourself the space and time necessary to find your own individuality within your art is an essential skill.

As I became more confident and established as an artist, I slowly branched out to sharing my songs publicly, which connected me with other musicians and professionals. I entered competitions, joined songwriting rounds and workshops, and interned at a recording studio. I think that immersion was a critical point in my learning curve, as it not only connected me to the music community, but also offered me some feedback and technical guidance. In fact, I think my learning process could have been accelerated had I focused more on engaging in the musical community and learning the technical aspects of music earlier on. Even now, it’s easy for me to get caught up in the rush of creating art, as if there’s an underlying urgency to spend all my time bringing my ideas to artistic fruition. I try to remind myself it’s necessary and worthwhile to take a step back, reconsider methods, make new connections, and simply practice the less exciting aspects of mastering a craft. If there isn’t a proper balance, you’ll be continually drawing from the bank of what you’ve already learned and experiences you’ve already had, and likely missing out on fruitful progress.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers?

Yes! I’m a singer-songwriter from Virginia, now living near Austin, TX. I play guitar (and flute) and I write songs across a variety of genres both for myself as well as for other singers. In recent years, I’ve released music primarily in the world of trance and EDM, and my voice and writing contributions have been featured on remixes and collaborations with a multitude of artists, including Myon, Seven Lions, Dash Berlin, and more. Currently, I’m excited to be switching gears from EDM collaborations to focusing more exclusively on my work as a solo artist as I wrap up my debut solo album. I’ve been recording all my vocals here in my home studio, and the album encompasses a wide range of sounds and styles in the realm of indie, acoustic, and alt-pop, with an equally diverse mix of reflective, introspective, and cheeky lyrical concepts. I recently released my first single “Don’t Say,” a downtempo track about recognizing a lack of love in a relationship (you can listen here: https://alissa.complete.me/dontsay), which I worked on with John Hancock (from Late Night Alumni). I have several uptempo tracks coming soon as well, which I’ve been working on with Myon. I’d say this upcoming album is what I’m most proud of so far, and I’m thankful to be working with such talented producers on these songs. Looking forward to releasing more soon!

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

Nothing beats the feeling of bringing a creation to life. Art is such an integral part of who I am, so simply being able to honor that core part of myself every day by doing what I love is the most rewarding aspect for me. Especially in moments of flow… you can almost feel a kind of internal electricity and light, and it’s in those moments I feel most connected to the world and to myself.

Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?

I think sometimes it’s easy for others to overlook the level of resiliency and courage pursuing a creative journey requires. When someone goes to school for a non-creative profession, they’re often provided with teams of trustworthy mentors and experts to guide them in the field, to lead them step-by-step down a relatively surefire path to success. Not to downplay the hard work and dedication it takes to be successful in those careers as well, but creative pursuits generally have no such well-trodden path to follow. The path for artists will likely be less predictable, more chaotic, and include some degree of backtracking, circling, or detour. That doesn’t mean progress isn’t being made, it just may need to be measured differently. I’m glad to have peers and musicians in the field that I’ve connected and developed friendships with over the years who understand the challenge and uncertainty. Although we’re all at different points of our process, taking different approaches, figuring it out as we go, we’re here to support each other en route. I think to some extent, the added challenge of having to carve your own viable path makes the journey all the more rewarding.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://alissafeudo.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alissafeudo/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/alissafeudo
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alissa-feudo-1092195a/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/alissafeudo
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/alissafeudo
• Other: Spotify – https://open.spotify.com/artist/1hLz5G0XMRj782Pb0hhP8g?si=2_3z1TBbRtyqRoSt8OWt9A

Image Credits
top left – Casey Schlickeisen top right – Megan Betteridge bottom left – Tiffany Biggs bottom right – Nicola Gell