Alyssa Callander on the Depths of Her Thoughts, Her New EP and Showing Up for Little Her

Alyssa Callander is a wholesome, talented singer-songwriter in the New Zealand music industry who always speaks her deepest feelings. All photos provided/Alyssa Callander

Recently, Welcome to the Gig got to sit down and send out some questions to the wonderful Alyssa Callander after her EP release.

We spoke about what it means to be a wallflower, her new EP to love & be loved, and her deep, overthinking brain.

Hi Alyssa! Thank you so much for sitting down and answering some questions for Welcome to the Gig today. You’ve had a big couple of months, with the release of your new EP, to love & be loved (a beautiful release!), as well as a release show, too. How have you found the reception to the EP so far?

Alyssa: Nothing but love! I’m so grateful that it has resonated with so many people and hearing from people both in person and online but also people I’ve never met before.

You’re a very forward thinker, with such depth to your words. It’s obvious that you spend a lot of time overthinking (just like me!), which comes across as being able to connect on different levels with your listeners that feel the same way. Is it easy for you to sit down and write with such power? How do you tap into the emotions that you bring to the table?

Alyssa: Haha yes, I’m a very good overthinker. It is easy and often the best time for me to write while I am overthinking something because that is when I am most anxious and inarticulate that it both gives me inspiration to write a song but also helps me to process my emotions and what is going on. I love using metaphors and symbolism in my songs as a way to try and describe the emotion I’m feeling rather than just labelling it, but at the same time I like to build a bit of a story within the song so listeners can relate and further grasp what I mean.

Do you have a favourite song off To Love & Be Loved? If so, which song and why is it your favourite song?

Alyssa: This is not a helpful answer, but I don’t have a favourite because I love each song for different reasons and it’s hard to compare them to choose a favourite. love always was written for my Grandad after he passed away so that song is particularly special to me. treat a girl right was written for my little brother when he got his first girlfriend as way of giving him some ‘sisterly advice’. friend zone I was most scared to release because it is quite a vulnerable song, but I also love how it’s the closest I’ve made it to an upbeat/happy song - definitely harder than it looks and the same with someone to me because it felt like I was exposing myself, but I like to think “what is the worst that will happen?” But if I had to choose, I would probably say that choice is my favourite.

If you were able to collaborate with any other artist who has ever lived (or is currently living), who would you choose and why?

Alyssa: Meghan Trainor. I absolutely admire her songwriting skills. I’ve always been a fan, but last year I discovered her podcast with her husband and brother, Ryan Trainor called the Workin On It podcast. She talks so openly about her experiences, good and bad, and I think it is so cool that she produces everything with her brother, Justin Trainor. I would want to write a song with her or even just be in the room when she writes a song because I know for collaborations, she never turns up empty-handed (and by that she pretty much turns up with a draft song or at least a chorus done). [I would just like] to see her process and learn from her.

You affectionately refer to your fanbase as Wallflowers, which is the most wholesome thing I’ve ever heard. What does it mean to be a Wallflower?

Alyssa: I like to think of it in two ways. The first is like a brick wall that is clean except for a beautiful flower which, despite all odds, has managed to bloom from the brick wall. The other way I like to think about in terms of people is when you are in a crowd and you observe everyone else around you in a rush going about their lives and realise that you are just one person in this big world. During high school, I was a wallflower, someone that was always there but never seen - for my fanbase I wanted my wallflowers to be a safe place to be seen, be heard, and feel loved no matter who we are.

What motivated you to become a singer-songwriter?

Alyssa: Well, it started with my band Mishka in high school, we had been to Band Quest in 2018 and noticed how only one band wrote and performed an original song, so they won all the awards for original music. We went back to school and decided we would start writing our own songs as a band and somewhere during that process I fell in love with songwriting, I practically lived at the music department at school and haven’t stopped songwriting since.

Have you always seen yourself in the musical field, or did the love you have for music deepen over time?

Alyssa: I’ve always loved singing and music but never considered it as a “job” because it always seemed more like a dream than a reality, it was unachievable. But the more time I spent writing, playing, performing the more I realised that I can’t imagine my life doing anything else. I was in denial for a long time because I didn’t want to admit to people that this is what I wanted to do because of the stigma of being ‘delusional’ thinking I could be in the music industry. But I am so glad that I chose to pursue this path.

You have said that you are showing up for little you, which is amazing. If you could go back in time and give little Alyssa life advice, what would that advice be?

Alyssa: As hard as it is, don’t believe everything you hear - actions are worth so much more than words. I was bullied a lot when I was younger and I didn’t know any better, so I believed everything that was said to me, or done to me, was deserving. Unfortunately, because of this it does mean I have struggled with my mental health in many capacities. Showing up for little me is a promise to chase the dream that little me always had (singing around the house, forcing my Barbie dolls to be singers even if they were dressed as doctors) to prove that I am more than what those bullies said/ did to me.

If you could liken your music to a colour, which colour would you choose?

Alyssa: Ooooh I like this question. I’ve always loved the colour blue and I think a dark blue represents my music nicely - but I am also biased seeing as navy blue is my favourite colour haha.

If you were able to go back in time and relive a moment, or even a day, in your life, what moment/day would you choose?

Alyssa: I think it depends if I could change what I did in that moment or just to experience everything as it was. If I couldn’t change anything, I would like to go back to a Wednesday in Year 10, it was always my busiest day, but it was filled with music, so I loved it. I would walk to school with my sister and go straight to a practice room to play/write songs, then at morning tea I would have band practice, lunchtime I would have another band practice, then after school I would have my songwriting class, piano lesson, then my singing lesson. I always remember staying at school so late for my lessons that when I left the cleaners would be the only ones in the building. Bonus if it was the day that the band and I tried writing a song, but were all so tired we lay in a pile on the floor together and played the theme songs to shows we used to watch when we were little (think Dora the Explorer, Backyardigans, Jake and the Neverland Pirates, etc.)

What is a part of yourself that you feel that people misunderstand?

Alyssa: I think people misunderstand how much I mask in public, I very much read the room and match the energy (I can be loud or quiet), it also depends how bad my anxiety is in the moment - before I perform I always get a lot of energy and talk a 1000 miles an hour, but if you see me in class at Uni, there are times where you’re lucky if I say a word at all. I always appreciate the love and support, but sometimes I don’t express it as well in person as I do online because I have the time and space to articulate my thoughts whereas in person, I have the feeling, but not the words to leave my tongue. No matter how I present though, I want everyone to know that I am grateful for the love and support and that it is there, it just may not be obvious.

If you asked your friends or family to describe you right now, what kind of things do you think that they would say?

Alyssa: They would say I am very creative and organised. I am always working on random projects or getting distracted/procrastinating by cleaning/organising something. Just yesterday, my best friend knew I was feeling stressed about Uni, so we organised for me to clean her car. Two hours later I was feeling so much better, weird I know, but hey, it works.

What kind of things are you working on now that your EP is out?

Alyssa: I’m working on all sorts, my creative brain has been going wild, so I have a massive list of projects I want to start including my next EP and potentially a few music videos, definitely watch this space as I’ve got some things in my back pocket and more in the works.

Thank you so much for your time today, Alyssa! Is there anything else you would like to add to the interview?

Alyssa: just a huge thank you to yourself Ash & to the wallflowers (new & old), I couldn’t do this without you.

Make sure you follow along with Alyssa by clicking the links below -

Spotify
Apple Music
Soundcloud
Instagram
Website
Alyssa - On the Radar, WTTG