ANNA NALICK JUMPS INWITH BOTH FEET
by Tina Whelski
Her grandmother’s nostalgic stories about dancing with Fred Astaire perked her interest in showbiz and years later a cassette demo recorded on a Rainbow Brite toy landed her a Sony Records deal. It’s a fairy tale beginning to a career, particularly with the release this month of her debut CD, Wreck of the Day.
Anna Nalick previewed tracks from Wreck of the Day in a showcase at the Driskoll Hotel during South By Southwest last month proving her live show to be just as intimate and endearing as her album confessionals. When Nalick sang “Just Breathe,” for example, from the track “Breathe,” she seemed to be reminding herself as much as the audience. Putting her insecurities to melody she continued on in the song: “I feel like I’m naked in front of the crowd/Cause these words are my diary screaming out loud.” Nalick’s wordplay stood out on tracks, such as “Citadel,” “Satellite,” “Wreck of the Day” and “Paper Bag,” where she sang, “Can you talk a little louder/I don’t think my heart is broken enough.” At times cocky, but more often vulnerable, Nalick’s music felt both wise and naïve. No doubt her being a young girl raised on depression era entertainment was an influence and it’s part of the artist’s ageless appeal.
21-year-old Anna Nalick tells WomanRock how she eventually found the courage to jump into music with both feet.
WOMANROCK: Your grandmother and grandfather were in the Broadway versions of The Marx Brothers’ Coconuts and Animal Crackers and your grandmother danced with Fred Astaire, among many other accomplishments. Did their involvement with Broadway spark your interest in performing?
ANNA NALICK: Absolutely. That’s what got me interested in music and what made me want to go on tour and be part of the entertainment industry. They were performers during the Great Depression and they were the sole source of happiness for a lot of people. The entertainment that they provided gave people a chance to escape whatever was happening in their lives and laugh and cry or experience something different for a couple of hours…My grandmother was in Desert Song when it was on Broadway and all that kind of music made me so interested in the writing. We sang those songs together. I know her favorite song in particular was “I’ll Be Seeing You,” and I love that music because it tells a story. It’s beautiful and something everybody can relate to, but there’s a focus on the lyrics and the melody and that inspired me to write. In fact it’s still my favorite music. Right now I’m listening to some records that I got, actually on Columbia, The Essential Bing Crosby and The Essential George Gershwin. These melodies are striking and the things that they sing about are so timeless because even as my grandmother related to love songs and sad stories here, sixty years later I listen to them and I can relate 100%.
WOMANROCK: So you sang duets with your grandmother?
NALICK: I would sing with my grandmother all the time. I would sing all the old songs. My grandfather died right before I was born, but my grandmother lived with me for five years before she died when I was fourteen. I spent every summer for almost five years, just everyday, in her room in the back house listening to her stories about life on tour and listening to music that she liked and wanting to live that life, wanting to travel by train, going places and getting to do all those things for the purpose of entertaining people and giving them a chance to pay attention to something besides what they’re worried about.
WOMANROCK: Did your grandmother give you any tips on the business?
NALICK: I don’t think I knew that I wanted to be in show business. I wanted that lifestyle, but I didn’t know everything that it entailed. So I think more than listening to her advice, I just inherited a lot of the qualities that she had.
WOMANROCK: You started writing songs during fifth grade math class, which to me is a perfectly logical place to let your mind wander. You began re-writing lyrics to your favorite songs. Did you begin composing some originals there?
NALICK: Oh yeah, absolutely. I got my start with writing, in the lyrical form, before I even knew that I could write my own melodies. I felt lonely in math class. I’m afraid I’m one of those kids whose brains just didn’t catch on. My teacher used to describe that I would get this look over my face like I had no clue what he was talking about and he was right…So I just found something else to occupy my mind and I would write down whatever I was feeling. Of course with fifth and sixth grade it’s the pre-teen years so there’s a lot of funny emotions and stuff going on. I channeled all of that and wrote it into music.
WOMANROCK: What songs were you re-writing?
NALICK: …I started re-writing Matchbox 20 lyrics and it was funny because at one of the shows that I played at The Living Room (NYC), Rob Thomas showed up and he watched my sound check. Afterwards I was so excited to meet him and tell him I used to re-write his lyrics and at first he was like, “So you didn’t think they were very good, huh?” I was like, “No. That’s not it at all.”
WOMANROCK: You almost quit singing altogether after your first public performance?
NALICK: I was thirteen-years-old and I sang in a Fourth of July parade—“The Star Spangled Banner.” I did it for my friend as a favor and he was the only one who knew I could sing besides my parents. I was so nervous that my voice cracked. I finished the whole song, but after that I was so embarrassed that I wouldn’t sing for another two years. It wasn’t until my sophomore year of high school that a drummer friend of mine convinced me that we should start a band together and after I sang in front of him, (actually I had a crush on him at the time) I didn’t have any problems singing anymore.
WOMANROCK: How did music become your career focus?
NALICK: I planned on going to college, just this community college that I went to for a year and half. I wanted to go for two years and then put myself out on my own tour, but instead I met a manager and things just took off from there, so I just ended up quitting after a year and a half.
WOMANROCK: How did you meet your manager?
NALICK: I was in an amazing situation because it really happened for me like the movies where the girl gets discovered in the ice cream shop…I was working at a boutique on the main street of Glendora at the time, and a photographer approached me asking if I would model for her portfolio. During the photo shoot I picked up a prop guitar and played out a few of my songs and she liked them, so she offered to pass my demo along to a student in her photography class who's mother, Kathy Anaya, manages producers. Kathy took me on as a client and introduced me to three of her producers, Eric Rosse (Tori Amos), Brad Smith and Christopher Thorn (bass player and guitarist from Blind Melon). The four of us cut a record of three of my songs and sent it to record labels and within a few weeks I had label interest. They flew me out to New York and I played conference room showcases until I met the people at Columbia Records.
WOMANROCK: Tell me about the Rainbow Brite demo you gave your manager?
NALICK: I don’t think I knew any better that you’re supposed to do a CD, so it was a cassette tape. I made it on a Rainbow Brite tape recorder because that’s all I had. I had this little tape recorder since I was probably about six. I still have it somewhere.
WOMANROCK: Will you talk about your approach to the writing on the album?
NALICK: I fall asleep with a notebook next to my bed and write throughout the night because that’s when I feel like I’m free thinking. There are no other distractions. So I’ll wake up in the middle of the night after falling asleep thinking about the song and the lyrics will just be there. I’ll know exactly what I want to say once I let my subconscious take over.
WOMANROCK: There’s a nice honest mix of uncertainty and strength on the CD, which I find endearing. What kinds of things were you writing about?
NALICK: Your description of the uncertainty, that’s very true. That’s a lot of what I wrote about. In fact there’s a song on Wreck of the Day called “Citadel,” and it’s all about being afraid to jump in with both feet, looking at all the things I wanted to do and being so scared. It’s interesting because I know that even though I know exactly what I wrote about at the time, that song has changed meaning since I wrote it over and over again. The chorus sings, “What if I fall?/What if I don’t?/What if I never make it home?” and now it pertains to a relationship, to myself as a business person, to flying all over the place, to falling in love, just everything. It’s that want to do something, but being scared to take that step because, “What if I don’t make it?” and “What if it doesn’t work out?”
WOMANROCK: Questioning is very prevalent on the album, but there’s ultimately resolution.
NALICK: I find that in the end that with most things that I write about or most things that I feel that even if I might be a little bit afraid or even though I might meet with a lot of trepidation, that it always ends up I’d rather do it and totally screw it up then never do it all and look back and wish. That’s actually why I called the album, Wreck of the Day. It’s because I find that a lot of the songs sing about having something go wrong or having something that I’m worried about or having something that I’m not feeling entirely OK about, but finding a way to “Just Breathe” or just go ahead and jump in with both feet. Wreck of the Day means to me that every day there’s something and sometimes it’s minor and sometimes it’s a big deal. Every day there’s something to overcome, but I know that I’m going to make it through whatever today’s issue is and it will make me that much smarter so that tomorrow it will be a little easier.
WOMANROCK: Let’s talk about more songs.
NALICK: I’m guessing people might ask about “Breathe,” so I really did write it at 2 A.M. I woke up to a phone call to a friend of mine who was having a problem and I talked to her…I thought about all of the people in my life, including myself, and all of the things we were faced with and how in the end there was no turning back. We really were where we were. There was no way to turn around. The point is that we all need to stop and take a breath and deal with whatever. That’s why there’s a line in “Breathe” that says, “Life is like an hourglass glued to the table,” and I find that as a metaphor so incredibly true because time doesn’t go backwards. Once it falls through, there’s no taking it back, but we make the best of it.
I think the second single is a song called “In The Rough.” The chorus says “Someday love will find me in the rough/Someday love will finally be enough,” and I guess it’s pretty easy to figure out what that one’s about. I think at some point in everyone’s life we run into that one person who just doesn’t give us enough credit and as much as we love them, we’re just not getting it back.
I wrote “Satellite” actually while we were making the record. I came in with so many songs, but over the year that it took to finish the contract and get into the studio, I’d written so much more. I didn’t want to just stick to stuff that I’d written years ago or a year ago, so I wrote “Satellite” in my apartment in Burbank. I was by myself thinking about having finally made it out of the relationship that I described in “In The Rough.” I found myself in a place that I’m sure a lot of people find themselves in when they get out of where they are and then all of a sudden you find yourself in the middle of nowhere and not sure what to do with your newfound freedom. The reason I call it “Satellite” is because there are so many times when you look up and you wish on a star and then you find out it’s an airplane. It’s just so metaphorical for that feeling of running and running and running and you think you know where you’re going and all of a sudden you’re there and you look around and you’re like, “Oh gosh, now what do I do?”
WOMANROCK: Anything you want people to know about your debut album?
NALICK: I want people to know that I do all the writing. If somebody feels that they relate, they can. I totally promise there is a girl who feels a little bit ridiculous sometimes. That would be me.
Orginally posted on WomanRock.com March '05.
Anna Nalick video, "Breathe (2AM)."
Her grandmother’s nostalgic stories about dancing with Fred Astaire perked her interest in showbiz and years later a cassette demo recorded on a Rainbow Brite toy landed her a Sony Records deal. It’s a fairy tale beginning to a career, particularly with the release this month of her debut CD, Wreck of the Day.
Anna Nalick previewed tracks from Wreck of the Day in a showcase at the Driskoll Hotel during South By Southwest last month proving her live show to be just as intimate and endearing as her album confessionals. When Nalick sang “Just Breathe,” for example, from the track “Breathe,” she seemed to be reminding herself as much as the audience. Putting her insecurities to melody she continued on in the song: “I feel like I’m naked in front of the crowd/Cause these words are my diary screaming out loud.” Nalick’s wordplay stood out on tracks, such as “Citadel,” “Satellite,” “Wreck of the Day” and “Paper Bag,” where she sang, “Can you talk a little louder/I don’t think my heart is broken enough.” At times cocky, but more often vulnerable, Nalick’s music felt both wise and naïve. No doubt her being a young girl raised on depression era entertainment was an influence and it’s part of the artist’s ageless appeal.
21-year-old Anna Nalick tells WomanRock how she eventually found the courage to jump into music with both feet.
WOMANROCK: Your grandmother and grandfather were in the Broadway versions of The Marx Brothers’ Coconuts and Animal Crackers and your grandmother danced with Fred Astaire, among many other accomplishments. Did their involvement with Broadway spark your interest in performing?
ANNA NALICK: Absolutely. That’s what got me interested in music and what made me want to go on tour and be part of the entertainment industry. They were performers during the Great Depression and they were the sole source of happiness for a lot of people. The entertainment that they provided gave people a chance to escape whatever was happening in their lives and laugh and cry or experience something different for a couple of hours…My grandmother was in Desert Song when it was on Broadway and all that kind of music made me so interested in the writing. We sang those songs together. I know her favorite song in particular was “I’ll Be Seeing You,” and I love that music because it tells a story. It’s beautiful and something everybody can relate to, but there’s a focus on the lyrics and the melody and that inspired me to write. In fact it’s still my favorite music. Right now I’m listening to some records that I got, actually on Columbia, The Essential Bing Crosby and The Essential George Gershwin. These melodies are striking and the things that they sing about are so timeless because even as my grandmother related to love songs and sad stories here, sixty years later I listen to them and I can relate 100%.
WOMANROCK: So you sang duets with your grandmother?
NALICK: I would sing with my grandmother all the time. I would sing all the old songs. My grandfather died right before I was born, but my grandmother lived with me for five years before she died when I was fourteen. I spent every summer for almost five years, just everyday, in her room in the back house listening to her stories about life on tour and listening to music that she liked and wanting to live that life, wanting to travel by train, going places and getting to do all those things for the purpose of entertaining people and giving them a chance to pay attention to something besides what they’re worried about.
WOMANROCK: Did your grandmother give you any tips on the business?
NALICK: I don’t think I knew that I wanted to be in show business. I wanted that lifestyle, but I didn’t know everything that it entailed. So I think more than listening to her advice, I just inherited a lot of the qualities that she had.
WOMANROCK: You started writing songs during fifth grade math class, which to me is a perfectly logical place to let your mind wander. You began re-writing lyrics to your favorite songs. Did you begin composing some originals there?
NALICK: Oh yeah, absolutely. I got my start with writing, in the lyrical form, before I even knew that I could write my own melodies. I felt lonely in math class. I’m afraid I’m one of those kids whose brains just didn’t catch on. My teacher used to describe that I would get this look over my face like I had no clue what he was talking about and he was right…So I just found something else to occupy my mind and I would write down whatever I was feeling. Of course with fifth and sixth grade it’s the pre-teen years so there’s a lot of funny emotions and stuff going on. I channeled all of that and wrote it into music.
WOMANROCK: What songs were you re-writing?
NALICK: …I started re-writing Matchbox 20 lyrics and it was funny because at one of the shows that I played at The Living Room (NYC), Rob Thomas showed up and he watched my sound check. Afterwards I was so excited to meet him and tell him I used to re-write his lyrics and at first he was like, “So you didn’t think they were very good, huh?” I was like, “No. That’s not it at all.”
WOMANROCK: You almost quit singing altogether after your first public performance?
NALICK: I was thirteen-years-old and I sang in a Fourth of July parade—“The Star Spangled Banner.” I did it for my friend as a favor and he was the only one who knew I could sing besides my parents. I was so nervous that my voice cracked. I finished the whole song, but after that I was so embarrassed that I wouldn’t sing for another two years. It wasn’t until my sophomore year of high school that a drummer friend of mine convinced me that we should start a band together and after I sang in front of him, (actually I had a crush on him at the time) I didn’t have any problems singing anymore.
WOMANROCK: How did music become your career focus?
NALICK: I planned on going to college, just this community college that I went to for a year and half. I wanted to go for two years and then put myself out on my own tour, but instead I met a manager and things just took off from there, so I just ended up quitting after a year and a half.
WOMANROCK: How did you meet your manager?
NALICK: I was in an amazing situation because it really happened for me like the movies where the girl gets discovered in the ice cream shop…I was working at a boutique on the main street of Glendora at the time, and a photographer approached me asking if I would model for her portfolio. During the photo shoot I picked up a prop guitar and played out a few of my songs and she liked them, so she offered to pass my demo along to a student in her photography class who's mother, Kathy Anaya, manages producers. Kathy took me on as a client and introduced me to three of her producers, Eric Rosse (Tori Amos), Brad Smith and Christopher Thorn (bass player and guitarist from Blind Melon). The four of us cut a record of three of my songs and sent it to record labels and within a few weeks I had label interest. They flew me out to New York and I played conference room showcases until I met the people at Columbia Records.
WOMANROCK: Tell me about the Rainbow Brite demo you gave your manager?
NALICK: I don’t think I knew any better that you’re supposed to do a CD, so it was a cassette tape. I made it on a Rainbow Brite tape recorder because that’s all I had. I had this little tape recorder since I was probably about six. I still have it somewhere.
WOMANROCK: Will you talk about your approach to the writing on the album?
NALICK: I fall asleep with a notebook next to my bed and write throughout the night because that’s when I feel like I’m free thinking. There are no other distractions. So I’ll wake up in the middle of the night after falling asleep thinking about the song and the lyrics will just be there. I’ll know exactly what I want to say once I let my subconscious take over.
WOMANROCK: There’s a nice honest mix of uncertainty and strength on the CD, which I find endearing. What kinds of things were you writing about?
NALICK: Your description of the uncertainty, that’s very true. That’s a lot of what I wrote about. In fact there’s a song on Wreck of the Day called “Citadel,” and it’s all about being afraid to jump in with both feet, looking at all the things I wanted to do and being so scared. It’s interesting because I know that even though I know exactly what I wrote about at the time, that song has changed meaning since I wrote it over and over again. The chorus sings, “What if I fall?/What if I don’t?/What if I never make it home?” and now it pertains to a relationship, to myself as a business person, to flying all over the place, to falling in love, just everything. It’s that want to do something, but being scared to take that step because, “What if I don’t make it?” and “What if it doesn’t work out?”
WOMANROCK: Questioning is very prevalent on the album, but there’s ultimately resolution.
NALICK: I find that in the end that with most things that I write about or most things that I feel that even if I might be a little bit afraid or even though I might meet with a lot of trepidation, that it always ends up I’d rather do it and totally screw it up then never do it all and look back and wish. That’s actually why I called the album, Wreck of the Day. It’s because I find that a lot of the songs sing about having something go wrong or having something that I’m worried about or having something that I’m not feeling entirely OK about, but finding a way to “Just Breathe” or just go ahead and jump in with both feet. Wreck of the Day means to me that every day there’s something and sometimes it’s minor and sometimes it’s a big deal. Every day there’s something to overcome, but I know that I’m going to make it through whatever today’s issue is and it will make me that much smarter so that tomorrow it will be a little easier.
WOMANROCK: Let’s talk about more songs.
NALICK: I’m guessing people might ask about “Breathe,” so I really did write it at 2 A.M. I woke up to a phone call to a friend of mine who was having a problem and I talked to her…I thought about all of the people in my life, including myself, and all of the things we were faced with and how in the end there was no turning back. We really were where we were. There was no way to turn around. The point is that we all need to stop and take a breath and deal with whatever. That’s why there’s a line in “Breathe” that says, “Life is like an hourglass glued to the table,” and I find that as a metaphor so incredibly true because time doesn’t go backwards. Once it falls through, there’s no taking it back, but we make the best of it.
I think the second single is a song called “In The Rough.” The chorus says “Someday love will find me in the rough/Someday love will finally be enough,” and I guess it’s pretty easy to figure out what that one’s about. I think at some point in everyone’s life we run into that one person who just doesn’t give us enough credit and as much as we love them, we’re just not getting it back.
I wrote “Satellite” actually while we were making the record. I came in with so many songs, but over the year that it took to finish the contract and get into the studio, I’d written so much more. I didn’t want to just stick to stuff that I’d written years ago or a year ago, so I wrote “Satellite” in my apartment in Burbank. I was by myself thinking about having finally made it out of the relationship that I described in “In The Rough.” I found myself in a place that I’m sure a lot of people find themselves in when they get out of where they are and then all of a sudden you find yourself in the middle of nowhere and not sure what to do with your newfound freedom. The reason I call it “Satellite” is because there are so many times when you look up and you wish on a star and then you find out it’s an airplane. It’s just so metaphorical for that feeling of running and running and running and you think you know where you’re going and all of a sudden you’re there and you look around and you’re like, “Oh gosh, now what do I do?”
WOMANROCK: Anything you want people to know about your debut album?
NALICK: I want people to know that I do all the writing. If somebody feels that they relate, they can. I totally promise there is a girl who feels a little bit ridiculous sometimes. That would be me.
Orginally posted on WomanRock.com March '05.
Anna Nalick video, "Breathe (2AM)."
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