palabras ROBIN PEREZ

When most new artists release their first album, they automatically think things just happen. What they don’t realize is the tremendous amount of work that is just getting started once that album hits store shelves. Alejandra Alberti is not that kind of artist. Even during our talk, she realizes the huge amount of work she has ahead of her to promote her album—this, despite the fact that she has already been nominated for a Latin Grammy, and has taken the musical pop world by storm. Performing her music entirely in Spanish, she has captured Spanish and non-Spanish speaking fans, and has become a media darling, with countless accolades in the mainstream press. A busy girl who’s currently juggling her career with college, Alejandra is determined to make her mark in the Spanish music world. We believe she will go a very long way!

What are some musical goals you’re working on right now?
I’m actually going to start writing for the second album. I’ve already started to write and I already know what I want to do for the next album. It’s going to be a lot more mature than the first one. The first one I love it but you grow out of it, and I’m 23, and when I started writing the other album I was 19, 20. I’ve been through a lot more now. I want to take the whole first album to Mexico and Latin America. Right now it’s only in the US and Puerto Rico. So I definitely have so many plans—like I want to do tours, I want to do concerts. It’s very difficult getting some things specific, and something going on when you don’t have major backing. That’s the next step—doing shows, trying to go to Mexico, and trying to take the album to different places.

With this album, what have been some of the biggest accomplishments you’ve achieved so far?
There’s been several. It’s been ever since we first started working on the first album. I was nominated for 2 Premio Paoli awards, which are usually held in Puerto Rico but they were done in Orlando. I was nominated for best songwriter and best new artist. The magazine, Selecciones, named me as one of the 7 young Hispanics in the US making a change. That’s huge for me. After that it was the nomination for the Latin Grammy which I think has been the biggest accomplishment. It’s been everything. It’s been several accomplishments since the beginning. But putting the album out that was most important.

How did music come into your life? Both your parents are musical?
Yeah, my mom was a singer and my dad was a drummer. They met in a band in Mexico. My mom went to tryout and he made her the singer. They fell in love, had kids, and I was one of them. They would sing in the house all the time and I would stay up until really late, and I would sing along with them ever since I was little. We would be at restaurants or we’d be at parties, and I would always be the one to stand up and start doing a show for everybody, and it was something very natural. Nobody made me do it. I started to sing and I really loved to sing. I got into chorus in church when I was younger, and then I started doing talent shows, and it was high school when I wanted to take it a little more seriously. I kind of had to decide what I wanted to do for the rest of my life going into college, so I decided to continue studying, and at the same time trying to manage a musical career on the side.

What has been the most fun for you since you’ve released the album over the past year?
The best part of this whole career has been singing live with the band and give people a good show. Traveling is also fun. You get to meet new people, you get to learn new things. That’s probably the best part of this whole career is doing what I like, which is singing live. The rest happens because it comes along with it. The best part is being able to live your life and sing your songs that you wrote, and be able to feel it out some people. Some people you know, and some people you don’t know. So it’s a challenge every time you sing live. It’s a challenge to try to get people to like your music and try to get people to like you. That’s been my favorite part of this whole year.

Have there been many hurdles you’ve faced?
Yes, a lot. Just trying to get an album out is a big hurdle. I met with two major labels who promised me the world and told me I was going to get signed, and did marketing plans in my face. From one day to the next, those plans disappeared and went away. What do you do from there? You get illusions and people promising you anything, so that was a big hurdle. Trying to get the album out independently, and trying to get people’s attention because if you’re not signed to a major label people are very skeptical of your talent, and they think that you’re not as credible or you’re not as good as other artists who are signed to major labels. So there’s a misconception about that. To try to prove yourself every time you go out there, and you have an interview or when you sing live, those have always been big hurdles since the beginning. But I think once you’ve established yourself and once you’ve gained confidence, and people start believing in you and your own peers and your own musical peers start acknowledging your talents, then you get to cheer.