We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Alyssa Cass. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Alyssa below.
Alyssa, appreciate you joining us today. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?
For my latest music video for my single “New Moves,” I knew I wanted to shoot this fun 80’s themed dance music with this pink and blue color scheme. I found these amazing locations that perfectly matched the vision in my head but admittingly were a bit outside of my budget. I decided to go ahead and take a risk and bet on myself and the song. I ended up splurging on five different set locations in total and I even got robbed at one of the locations in DTLA but if you asked me if it was worth it, I’d say yes and I would do it again in a heartbeat. It’s really important whether you’re an artist, creative, or entrepreneur to believe in yourself and be willing to invest in yourself. The way I see it, taking certain calculated risks are needed in order to advance. I make decisions in my music career for the long-term. I’ve chosen to make certain sacrifices to save up for these creative projects because as an artist I really value music videos. For me, it’s about creating art I can look back on with pride.
Alyssa, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I’m a recording artist who makes mainly pop/R&B music with a bit of dance-pop influence. I work out of my home studio in LA where I do all the vocals, songwriting, and production. Vocally, I take after a lot of R&B and try to tap into a soulful place when I sing. Some of my favorite artists include Beyoncé, Rihanna, Shakira, and Mariah Carey. I look up to artists that excel as both vocalists and performers.
When I first got into music, I used songwriting mainly as a tool to process my emotions. I was quite shy as a kid so music was my outlet for self expression. I began singing and writing at the piano. My process has evolved over the years and nowadays I usually start a song by producing it in Logic Pro X, coming up with a topline melody usually mouthing the words in gibberish and then letting the ideas marinate until I have a solid concept to work around and refine it. I have a lot of fun with the creative process. When it comes to producing, I love to write a catchy bass line, play around with different instrumental hooks, and build grooves that people can dance to. I think as an adult it’s especially important to incorporate play into your work. When I was younger, I used to think I had to write music that was super deep in order for it to be good. Nowadays my approach is quite different. I embrace whatever song wants to come out of me. I’ve learned to draw upon both a mix of personal experience and let my imagination take me to new levels of inspiration. Singing a song over and over again becomes a bit of a mantra. In this way, I see songwriting not only as a means of self-expression and storytelling but also as a way to draw in what I want to manifest.
This past year has been really amazing in terms of performing at different events. One highlight that stands out for me is performing as the guest artist at Miss Filipina International. This performance turned out to be a catalyst for other performances and career opportunities as a talent agent saw me sing at this event and has been opening many doors. It’s been fun being added to the guest list for different events in Hollywood and connecting with other people in the music industry. Performing is so fun to me because I get to see the audience’s reaction in real time and engage with the crowd as I sing. My set list includes a mix of my original music along with pop and R&B covers of artists including Bruno Mars, Maroon Five, Alicia Keys, and Adele as well as some oldies from Etta James, Frankie Valli, and The Beatles.
I recently started livestreaming on BIGO Live, where I sing, show my process making music, share unreleased songs, stream my band rehearsals, and show the behind the scenes. It has been a great way to build community online and been one of my fastest growing platforms. The way live streaming is all in the moment I find rather freeing. There’s less pressure to be super polished and it’s more important to just be authentic. I treat it like a reality show of my life and as if it’s an artist documentary of my story in real time.
While I am still fairly new as an artist and only have a couple songs out, I have quite a catalog of unreleased music that I plan on finishing. The way I move is much slower than the average person but rather than fight against this aspect of myself I’ve just come to embrace working at my own pace. The way I cook up music is rotating between different songs on the stove so to speak. I like to get whatever initial ideas I have out then revisit songs with fresh ears to bring clarity to my work. There are songs I’ve held onto for years that I know will eventually come out, it’s just a matter of rolling out each one with visuals which takes an additional layer of time and planning. Because I plan releases so far in advance, when I actually do share my music with the world, it’s all the more rewarding.
Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?
I personally love to listen to artist interviews in the morning to start my day. Zane Lowe is an incredibly thoughtful and skilled interviewer at Apple Music who is my go-to for artist interviews. The Zach Sang Show and The Breakfast Club are other radio shows that I really enjoy tuning into. I find watching artist documentaries and listening to artists interviews helps me stay motivated towards my goals and fills me with inspiration. It’s always good to see into different artist’s creative process and steps they took to be successful as well as learn about the backstory of certain songs. On the entrepreneurial side, reading “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” had a profound impact on my life and I frequently think about the four quadrants in reference to what I’m giving my energy to in terms of urgency and importance. One question I love to ask when I want to be productive is “what is the highest and best use of my time?” I really enjoy the Blueprint series by Complex that follows entrepreneurs and their journeys. Connecting the dots of how other people got from point A to B gives context for the dedication and discipline that is necessary to get where you want to go in life.
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
For me, sharing my art with the world knowing I had such a hand in all of its creation is extremely rewarding. I put so much time and energy and care into each project I’m working on from writing the song, to producing it in Logic, then recording all the vocals, to directing and editing the music video that each step of the process has my fingerprint on it. I really love every aspect of making music and performing it. I’ve loved to sing my whole life and I’ve always been super creative so the fact that I’m out in LA pursuing music I know my younger self would be proud.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.alyssacass.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alyssa_cass/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/alyssacassofficial
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJLbsW-2IVVijqmYpJMke_A
- Other: Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@alyssacassofficial
Image Credits
N/A all images owned by Alyssa Cass