Broadway star expands horizons by dipping toes in water of mainstream music
ATLANTA, GA – After a long career as a child star on Broadway, Alexandria Payne is ready to introduce the world to something different … a sound her fans have never heard before and a side of her music that no one will expect.
The shift in her career is marked by adopting a new stage name – Ale (pronounced Al-ee) – and a six-song EP called “Wonderland” that she says is the perfect introduction of her new path. It’s an EP that she said was inspired by a real relationship in her own life, and the songs will give fans an inside look into her personal life in ways her musical theater career never was able to do.
“In theater, the bulk of my experience was me having to mold myself into different characters and roles,” she said. “I got a bit burned out on it because I’d been doing it for so long. I wanted to sing songs that directly reflected who I was and what I was going through. That’s when I started recording. I was part of four different girl groups over the years, which was great because it allowed me to meet a lot of people and network with some of the big names in the industry. I developed a lot of relationships that helped me get to know people and business, and I also met some really cool artists who taught me everything I know about writing and recording my own music. This album is a tangible way for people to listen and get to know who I was at a specific moment in time. It was spurred by a bad breakup that I went through, which taught me a lot about myself. So the first songs on the EP are at first mad, bitter and sad as they explain what happened and how I felt, but by the middle of the EP I’m starting to realize that it wasn’t me and there’s no reason to be upset. And there’s still room for me to move on by the time the sixth song comes around.”
The next single from the EP is “Motiv(h)ater,” which she said is the fourth song on the album and signifies a turning point in her life away from anger and towards empowerment. It’s an upbeat song that transfers the pure rage and anger she had from her breakup as a form of motivation to do something else – to stop thinking about it and stop thinking about him and just move on.
“It’s kind of a metaphor of me taking advantage of the emotions I got from the break up and putting a positive spin on them for me,” she said. “I think my honesty is one of the things that sets me apart from others in the industry. There’s nothing on the EP that did not actually happen. On top of that my vocals are unique because my background is so eclectic and I’ve had classical training through the musical theater. So I’m able to mess with all kinds of things sonically. In some songs on this EP, for instance, I added my voice to be part of the track. Instead of just singing the melody, I’ll lend my voice to the accompaniment of the song.”
Ale said her goal as an artist is to tell her story in the most transparent way possible, and she hopes this EP will give listeners a sense of who she is. But even with that, it’s just a beginning – a snippet in time when she was dealing with one set of emotions and going through something fairly specific. To fully grasp who she is as a person and a musician, she said fans will have to follow her along over the years as she produces more and more projects that give further peeks into her life.
To listen to Ale’s music, or to follow her on social media, please visit the following links:
Twitter: @allonale Instagram @allonale Soundcloud @allonale Facebook notyardentertainment/ Instagram @notyardentertainment/ Twitter @NotyardEnt Snapchat @Allonale
