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Hi, I'm Nora Jones.

Today I'm playing along with Alessia Kara.

I'm just playing long weezy, am just playing lone weezy.

Hi.

Welcome to the show.

Welcome to the show.

I'm Nora and this is Sarah Oda.

That's me always.

Today we're joined by the incredible Alessia Kara.

Unlike Brooke Dubeck, we got a call back.

Oh boy, I was gonna say that's another two reference.

If you know, you know you finally watched it.

Yes, I knew you would love it.

I love that she came back in in the second season.

I know it's also she's.

A Grammy winning singer songwriter with a beautiful, soulful voice and very honest lyrics.

Her debut album, No It All came out in twenty fifteen, and she's just put out her new album, which is her fourth album, called Love Hyperbole came out earlier this year and it's a really beautiful record, so check that out.

She's just a delight and she's got such an amazing voice and was super fun to hang with.

So I hope you enjoyed this episode.

We had a lot of fun making it.

And here she is, Alesia Kara.

Well, thank you for coming, thank you, thanks for having me.

So where do you live?

I live in Toronto?

Is that where you're from?

Yeah?

I was born and raised in a suburb of Toronto, and then I moved to the city about six years ago.

Okay, so yeah, I've been in the city for a while.

I love it.

I think it's so much fun.

I always thought that I wanted to live, like in some sort of rural area.

I never thought I was a city girl until I moved, and I'm.

Like, I love it.

Well, you're young too.

It has the good energy and yeah, a lot of things to do.

It's such a great city.

I was wondering if you wanted to try a song from your new album that would be lovely you Yeah, yeah, that would be beautiful and.

I can't wait to do this if you.

I was thinking this song fire might be a good one to start with.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, that's awesome.

Pick me up and take me home.

Reaching through musking and boom change in my DNA inspired minute by minute.

All the time, I.

Always falling bomb stay, but you're rushing up brain like it's nothing.

I'm jumping and have stuff.

Who I'm on fire, I'm on fire.

Who I'm on fire?

Who I'm on fire?

Pick me up and send me free Golden boy and dirty jeans painting in your life.

Wondered why I couldn't see it.

Hey all the time stoodas Oh it's fine and I'm mustay, but your person I brain.

Back, it's nothing.

I'm jumping the head first.

Who I'm on fire?

Who I'm on fire?

Who I'm on five?

I'm on fire.

I want to be with you.

Anywhere else is too fa.

I want to be like you are.

Bewake you are, beware you are.

I want to take your places.

I want to keep you saving.

I want to be like you are.

Bewg you be, make you.

I'm on fire, I'm lo fat, I'm on fam time on fire.

Oh I'm on fire, I'm on fa.

Oh that was awesome.

Oh my gosh, that was beautiful.

That thing you did, that little jazz spin you put on that break was so good.

Oh good.

I loved your voice sounds so pretty.

Oh thank you?

Yeah, an incredible day.

That was so amazing beautiful.

I thought that was great.

Yeah, me too.

I love it.

It was like free and fun and feeling each other out.

That was that was great.

So that's from the new album.

Yes, it's from the new album.

It was like, it's it's funny because like how how we are kind of playing it now is like how it was written, which is very rare for me.

I don't typically like write in the room with a bunch of people were intimate, you mean, yeah, I kind of just do it on my own.

I get very I guess shy to like just like sing gibberish out into the room.

It's very with other people with other people.

Yeah, the gibbers singing thing is a real thing because it's a really good way to get stuff and sort of get a placeholder.

But I imagine it would be hard to do in a room full of more than one person.

Oh yeah, because I don't really do that either.

But with one person, if I'm writing, I don't mind doing it really.

So if there's another person there, it doesn't.

If if it's someone i'm writing with, I'm probably pretty comfortable with them, but I wouldn't want to probably do it with a stranger.

Yeah, you know, no, it's strange.

I mean, I can very like doing it just in front of anyone.

Honestly, I'm like super shy that way.

But I think this album was the first time I kind of let go of those inhibitions and just like tried things because I do feel like you get good stuff when you know you maybe have another ear to tell you, like, wait, you did something that was cool.

You know that you might think is kind of like I like that.

Yeah, that's like having a secretary, yes exactly, take her, yes exactly.

So I've actually found it to be really beneficial for my writing process.

So that was like the first song we did that was done in that way.

And who was in the room for this one This producer and great friend of mine who I've worked with for many albums now, John Levine.

He's also another Canadian who lives in La so I was in La with him in his home studio, and another producer named Jake Tory, who are great.

They're both great composers as well.

So we, you know, put a mic in the middle of the room.

I believe it was John on keys, Jake on drums, and then just me on the mic, and we just kept looping those chords and that little drum loop and until the song was done, until I just fell out.

It was so fun to do it that that's great and it's inspiring.

You're just bouncing off of each other and yeah, yeah, I think that's a way that I didn't really know how to write like that until maybe ten or fifteen years ago, and it was super freeing.

M m.

Yeah, yeah, I've enjoyed it.

It's been nice.

Yeah.

Did you start writing songs when you were young?

I mean yes and no.

I think I kind of did it like for fun in more of like a jokey way.

When I was kid like, I would write kind of funnier, like stupid songs just for myself.

And then as I started getting older, I wrote a lot of poetry and short stories.

I would write stories all the time, and then it wasn't until my teen years that I started like figuring out how to turn those like short stories or poems like into melody and rhythm.

Yeah, So it was kind of like later in life.

It was always there, like writing was always a part of my life in some way, but I never really started, you know, turning it into like proper music until my mid teens, I would say.

To me, that's young.

I guess I really that's older.

Well, I was much older.

I was like twenty when I wrote my first Well I wrote a couple songs in high school, but I was twenty when I really started getting into writing.

Okay, yeah, that's kind of that feels old to me really, yeah, because I feel like so many people that I speak to, like a lot of artists that you hear that, like, I've been writing songs since I was like one, Yeah, you know, my first album for sure, But I think I didn't really become like a super confident writer until my second album, which I was about I think I was like nineteen or twenty, so around the same time as you was when I really like started practicing it fully and like doing it for real, for real.

And so how did you start singing?

What were you into?

What did you grow up around?

Singing was something that I always did do since I was super super young.

I think when I started discovering my own music and things that I was into, I you know, discovered artists like Amy Winehouse that she was a huge one for me.

I loved her growing up and in cold Play grew up listening to.

My dad is a huge Beatles fan, so I was always listening to the Beatles, a little bit of everybody, I mean, like Stevie Nix and Fleetwood, Mac, Lauren hill Er, Kobadu shade you.

Of course, I always gravitated towards like the singer songwriter, women who like played an instrument, who were like on stage on their own.

I always loved that and I always wanted to do that.

So that's cool.

Yeah.

And your family's Italian?

Yes, yes, yeah, yeah.

So did you ever hear any Italian music growing up?

I did.

Yeah, my mom played a lot of different Italian music.

There's I mean, you can list all of them.

There's like, sorry, my mom's in the room.

Also, there's an artist named Edo Sti.

There's a really big Italian artist who I got to collaborate with a couple of years ago, which was so cool because we grew up listening to him.

Between like my dad loving like you know, the Beatles and Elvis and then my mom listening to Italian music and stuff.

It was it's a nice mix.

Yeah, what do you think about trying another song?

Oh that'd be lovely.

Yeah, yeah, do you want to try clearly, sure, clearly.

Yeah, Oh my gosh, yeah, let's see if this guitar it's got a big neck, so hopefully it's okay to big.

A million years later, here's only a million pages worth of history.

We were roaming in the desert, found in an olive tree.

No use in going back to sight and who's wrong and toss the blame between us like a basketball.

I've learned that it takes two to tango.

After all, lie, smoke clean we.

And know what?

Don't hate you?

Yeah, we're run borrow time and I don't wasting a the otion between us clothes and there.

Now we're close, and I see the.

Fences men and slowly can we be open?

Forget about the.

Rest start of over For the first time, I can see clearly.

For the first time, I can see you.

I've visited the beginning and we really grown.

I've analyzed the ending through a telescope.

Some things can work out.

Until they just don't smokey we here, you know, I don't hate it.

We'll run borrow time, and I don't a waste.

Be the ocean between us closing.

And we're close, and I see the fences mending slowly.

Can we be open, forget about the rest and.

Start of over for the first time, I have.

The ocean between us clothes and we're closer, and I see the fences Mandy slowly.

Can we realpen?

Forget about the rest and start.

Over for the first time, I can see clearly, first time I can see.

When you were starting to play out?

You know where did you start playing?

Did you play in bars?

Did you play at home?

For you did a lot of stuff on YouTube.

I know I did.

Yeah, I was super shy.

I mean I still am.

Like we were talking about, I'm a shy writer.

I was a very shy singer as well, So I did a lot of it just at home by myself when like no one was around.

That's where I like really practiced and did everything.

And then I didn't have a band until my first band, you know, since I got signed, Like that was my first time working with a band doing proper shows.

And was it hard to make that adjustment or was it just like a relief to have people to do it with?

You know what I mean?

Yeah, it was honestly the latter.

It was definitely a relief because you know, when you're up there and as such a shy person.

It's kind of all reliant on you.

And you know, I wasn't the most phenomenal guitar player, and I can't really like shred and fill in space.

So I always felt like it was super naked up there, and it's scary.

It's scary when it's just you, you know, because every mistake can be heard, and you know, it's just it's very bare.

So once I had this group of people around me to one make my song sound so full and rich, which is wonderful, but then also just to have people up there with me felt really nice, and it quickly became like a little family, you know, it was very nice.

That's the best the family vibes on the road.

Yeah, yeah, it's definitely.

It's the only way, yeah, to be close to the people you're traveling.

With totally, especially when you're on you know, you're on one bus.

It's you know, I think people think touring is maybe something that it isn't, and they don't realize how tight knit you are and how oftentimes very you know, not glamorous it can.

Be not at all, not at all.

There's nothing glamorous really about being on a tour bus.

So if you're around a bunch of strangers or you don't get along, it can be taxing.

It's yeah, you know, so it's it's so nice to have a team that I really love and feel very close to.

Has it changed a lot over the years.

It's changed slightly.

One of my band members, actually Eric, I think he did some of your tech.

Eric Krazinski, he was here.

Oh, I think he's the one who kind of put us in contact many years ago.

He's doing producing now, so he doesn't really do too much live stuff anymore.

And then unfortunately my bass player passed away oh this year, which is very devastating.

Yeah, so my drummer is still the same, thank you.

My drummer is still the same.

You know, a couple of things have moved around, but I still feel very close to everybody.

Even the ones you aren't tourn with me anymore, feel super close to them and we.

Talk all the time.

So yeah, things change.

But yeah, yeah, But also being young, because you start out so young, to be on the road that young, it can be really hard.

Yeah, it was.

It was challenging.

It was very challenging.

Were you the youngest of the bunch or were there a lot of other young people within the group.

I was the youngest.

I had my guitar tech Leo was around my age.

He's like maybe three years older than me.

Everybody else was a lot older than me.

Okay, that was another thing too, yeah, which and they were all men, Like I have my my manager Victoria, but she wasn't on the road road with us very much, so she's the only girl that was on the road.

Now I have my bass player now as a girl, which would be so fun to.

Have her on the road.

Yeah, when you're traveling with a bunch of men who are a lot older than you, it could be.

Very challenged, that's the thing.

Yeah.

Yeah, I don't know what your experience was like, or if you had many other women on the road or people your age.

Thankfully, it did become a family.

It felt like I had a bunch of big brothers around me all the time, which is very nice.

But there's a good situation, yeah, yeah, but there is that little void of just having you know, people your age.

Yeah, it's a different thing.

Yeah, it's a different energy.

I had someone in my band early on who is my best friend and my age, and we just groofed around the whole time, and the rest of the band was like ten to fifteen years older than us, And when I think back, I just think of us being so annoying, probably just like doing pranks.

My best friend used to travel with me too, and I feel like that was our dynamic as well, like mooning people.

Like oh oh wow, yeah, I mean, you know.

Because we're a kid thing, we were really just teenage boys, I guess exactly.

Yeah, yeah, it's the same exactly.

It was the same exact dynamic with my best friend, and I feel like everybody was just so sick of us.

Yeah, but you don't realize until you're older.

But gosh, we had fun.

Yeah, I know, Oh my god, we were just having a good time, so much fun.

Yeah, Because you have to have moments to be a kid.

I feel like this, this industry can kind of launch you into adulthood really early on, and so it's nice to just have moments to just be a young person, you know.

And I also think we do this because we love it and it is fun.

Yeah, so you got to find a way to keep it fun.

So you're going on tour, Hm, that's exciting.

Yeah, I'm so excited.

It's been a long time since I've toured because my last album I released, like.

You know, amidst like COVID time.

Yeah.

Yeah, so I haven't toured since twenty nineteen, so it's going to be Oh that's a long time.

Yeah, for sure.

It was like a very transformative six years.

I mean, as any six years are.

I think, yeah, six years is a long time.

But yeah, I just feel really excited.

I feel like very antsy to get back out on stage.

It's going to be going to feel really good.

M Yeah, I think so.

I hope so, I know it will, but obviously nervous because yeah.

I was gonna say, are you a little bit since you haven't done it in a while?

Yeah, yeah, to some degree.

It's like riding a bike.

It's like wobbly at first, right, So I imagine I'll be a little bit nervous in the beginning.

I'm always nervous.

But it feels like I'm doing it again for the first time in a weird way.

It's strange, but.

That's kind of a beautiful thing, I think, yeah, because there's that first time excitement and energy coming back in.

You know.

Yeah, I'm excited for you, and I hope you bring your dog for a little part of the tour practice having the dog on the bus.

Yes, I think it'll be good.

The Canadian run is pretty short, so that might be a good tester.

That's a big take care see if she'll be a good tour dog or that's good.

I find that it's really hard to get off the road and not know what to do with yourself sometimes.

So did you end up finding like little other things to do with yourself any hobbies?

Yeah, there were a few different things, honestly that I picked up.

I'm like a such a hobby person.

I'll like hyper fixate on something for months and then we'll find another thing.

I mean, first of all, I like really tried to practice cooking.

I got into cooking a lot random other things I got into like tarot cards and taro so I do that.

I learned like all about like perfumes and sense and I started collecting perfume, which is a random thing, but it's just become like a part of my life now, Like I know all about like the notes and the top notes.

And all the different perfumes.

Well, you smelled really good when you can't remember.

I was like, oh, yes, smell nice.

Whatever that is a compliment.

I appreciate that, thank you.

Yeah, I've been really into the alchemy of perfume, so it's those are like some little things that I've been into.

It's funny, I've always felt like not being on the road for a long time and not having any plan to look ahead to, it's a weird place to be for a musician.

It can be hard, especially when you know a lot of my friends and people in my life are not in the industry, so they have regular jobs and so when I'm just like sitting at home, they have lives and I'm just like, what am I doing?

Yeah, And it's it's strange, and I'm sure you probably find too.

It's like this job is very like zero or a thousand.

There's no like in there's no one hundred.

Yeah.

Yeah, It's like you're either on and you're like touring the world and go, go, go, or you're just like having an off period where you're doing nothing, and that can be very jarring emotionally, mentally, physically.

So yeah, it's always so.

Strange because you know, everyone in my life just like has their day to day routine, and I find when I'm home it's very weird.

I feel like, what do I do with myself?

You know, it's a test, I think, yeah, for sure.

Well, i've seen some of your clips on YouTube.

You should definitely start a comedy routine.

Really, yeah, you're funny man, really, oh totally.

Oh my gosh, I love that.

Oh my god.

I would love to.

Honestly, that's been kind of like a secret dream of mine to like start acting and like yeah, and I mean in school I started, like in high school, I was like a theater kid, so I did a bunch of plays and I was always doing like you know, improv and stuff.

So okay, it's always been something that I found fun.

I could see that being a thing for you.

You think, yeah, I think you're good at it, and you know you like it, so.

Yeah, it would be fun.

I don't know.

I have to just get over the fear of like that I'm not good at it or that I wouldn't be good at it and just like try it.

Yeah yeah, maybe who knows.

You're good?

Thank you, good doll.

You're gonna go far.

Thank you You're gonna.

That's great.

I appreciate it.

Thank you so much, Thanks so much for doing this.

Thank you do you want to do one more song?

I love Do you Feel like It?

This was the first one that really stood out to me.

I love this song.

This is subside.

Yes, yeah, it's It's got a really cool chord structure, and I love the words on the chorus too, and there's like three choruses and they're all really good.

Yeah did you happened?

I don't know this just how I wrote it.

I don't know why.

It's so interesting when I you know, I've been rehearsing it with my band and like playing it live.

I'm always like, where does this start?

Really like it feels like an endless loop, almost like there's no real start or end.

It's just kind of I kind of love that.

Yeah.

I love loopy songs me too.

But it's cool when it gets the first thing, I'm like, oh I love this course.

Oh wait, there's no there's a course.

They're all good, thank you.

That's what they say times is parckage.

They don't waste annoying, Greevy's did enough.

And fighting with and they.

That will so sad, nohing good evertheless.

Good that was never came U staying up, falling off track so much.

I is shut up food too close to the sun.

Who was she was made up through a punch?

Has a tag one.

That's what they say times just park change that are ways staying away, leaving us, stay.

And fighting with?

And nke that also side is it open over side walk scraping on east going halves on a tenerie on know why everything was holding.

It's still blurr in the distance.

That's why I'm clutching my fist and off.

All this is is why it is you don't get the same day twice?

Still heavy night.

There's something that will you don't feed why.

God thing good everlast?

The girl of was never came back?

Stay in the falling half track so much?

I listen through to the close to the sun.

Who was she was made.

Through the punch?

I had to take one.

That's what they say, tangious parking, change.

That homeway, staying away, we even w stay live.

And fighting with.

And they have also said.

All this says when it is you.

Don't get the same day twice.

Staffyn, there's something that wrong.

You don't feed fay good everlast?

The good that was never came in?

Stay alive for the nof track so much asten food too course to the sun.

Who was she was made.

Through a part said to take one.

That's what they say.

Times just park.

Change.

There are ways standing away.

We even want silas like.

All so sad.

Yeah, you're awesome, Thanks so much for doing this.

Thank you.

This is so fun.

It was great to hang and play.

I hope we get to do it again sometimes.

Yes, I would love to.

Maybe when I have my sketch comedy show, I'll come back, We'll do an interview with that.

I'd be honest.

Yes, absolutely, Yeah, that'd be amazing.

That'd be fun.

And you know, have have a great time on tour.

Thank you.

He's going to be so happy.

It's gonna feel good.

Yeah, it's gonna be great.

Thank you so much.

I appreciate you time.

All right, Ah, that was so fun.

She's so sweet.

Her voice is amazing.

I know, it's so gorgeous in the room.

It's like it's like butta, butda, butta.

So she's hilarious.

She's so fun Like if you go down the YouTube rabbit hole of her stuff that she's put up, she's really really funny.

She's got all these skits and stuff that she does great impressions.

Yes, she does we forgot to go there.

Dang, next time.

We're friends now, okay?

Cool?

Actually I didn't get her number.

It's fine, Okay call me, Alessia, call me.

We don't have to put that in, but we will.

No, we had so much fun.

She's great.

If you'd like to know the songs.

We played on this episode, the first song was called Fire from her album Love and Hyperbole, released in twenty twenty five.

The second song is called Clearly from the same album, and the third song is called Subside, also from the same album.

Special thanks to Alessia Kara for joining us today.

We'll be back next week with Sarah mcglaughlan.

Woohoo.

Norah Jones Is Playing Along is a production of iHeart Podcasts.

Visit Norah Jones channel and be sure to subscribe while you're there.

I'm your host, Norah Jones End.

This episode was recorded by Matt Marinelli, mixed by Jamie Landry, Audio post production by Greg Tobler, artwork by Eliza Frye, Photography by Shervin Linez.

Produced by Nora Jones and Sarah Oda.

Executive producers Aaron Wan Kaufman and Jordan Runtogg.

Marketing lead Queen and Naike thanks a lot for listening.