New Jersey’s own Alicia Madison is a new voice on the EDM scene with earth shattering vocals. She’s worked with such dance music legends as Merk & Kremont, and Laidback Luke (who’s remixed everyone from Madonna to Katy Perry). Alicia sat down with Contributing Writer Michael Cook to chat about her start in the music industry, her new single with diMaro “Under the Stars-Dance to the Sun” and her love for Grammy winner Sam Smith.
Alicia, how did you go from suburban New Jersey to the fast paced world of dance music?
I literally busted my ass (LOL)! A good friend of my brother’s worked at Warner Bros. records, and I was looking for an internship. I found out that the A&R guy at Warner Bros. was looking for an intern, and I was basically like “pick me”! They brought me in and I worked my way up from there. Actually, I’m still working my way up.
You worked under Tommy Page, who’s a virtual idol in the music industry. (Page has helped shape and guide the careers of such superstars as Michael Buble and Josh Groban). Was it hard working for someone who’s somewhat of a star maker?
I looked at Tommy as so much of a mentor and a great friend at first. One day he brought me into his office and suddenly said “I need you to sing for my friend Gary Salzman”! No pressure right? I did it and I guess it went well, since I ended up working with Gary shortly after and he’s been my manager ever since. It’s kinda worked out pretty well for me!
What did you sing in the office that day?
Mary J. Blige’s “I’m Goin Down” (at which point Madison belted out the hook of the song-amazing)!
The EDM market can be a crowded and crazy market within the music industry to enter. You’ve come in with a heavyweight, DJ diMaro, with “Under the Stars-Dance to the Sun”. Tell me about it.
“Under the Stars” is about someone who I was with for a very long time and I was trying to get over the relationship. I ended up seeing them out somewhere, and I said to myself “you know what, this sucks”. I felt all of the same emotions all over again and I was back to phase 1 essentially. That was what this song was about, and actually alot of my songs are about ex-boyfriends. It’s like “thanks for treating me badly, but I wrote this amazing song”!
Well it seems to have worked well for Sam Smith, he swept the Grammy’s with a heartbreak record.
Can I just tell you how much I love Sam Smith? That record is amazing, I just have to put that out there; amazing!
Many artists hook up with various DJ’s or producers and it really becomes a crowded market. Artists like David Guetta and Diplo seem to be all over the charts with various mixes of tracks. You’ve worked with some amazing people, like Laidback Luke, and Armin Van Buuren and Paul Oakenfold have both shown you love. Is it hard to make yourself stand out from the crowd in such a packed industry?
I’ve worked with so many different amazing people, eventually I want to have an Alicia Madison record, hopefully very soon. What I think separates me from everyone else is that I’m breaking down some of my dance songs. I’m doing some acoustic stuff, I want people to hear that I can really sing and hear that I’m not just a “feature”. There are alot of people I think that don’t get enough credit for the writing they do on a record or for the singing that they do, and it’s just “the DJ”. I’m loving what I’m doing and I’ll collaborate until I’m blue in the face.
You’ve mentioned you adore Sam Smith, but who would you love to collaborate with?
Wow there are so many! First I’ll go with DJ’s; I would love to work with Calvin Harris, Tiesto, all of those guys. Artist-wise, I would love to do something with Jessie J, she’s amazing. Lady Gaga, holy crap that would be amazing!
So what do you think is next for Alicia Madison?
I want to tour, I want to perform, and I really want to break down all these dance songs and show people what I can do. There’s going to be a track there, but I really want to see people see what an entertainer I am. I have a new song coming out called “Invisible” and if you think “Under the Stars” was about a relationship, this one is gonna kill ya! This one is actually really sentimental and super personal, probably the most personal I’ve ever written. It’s coming out on Garuda Records, Gareth Emery’s label. I’m super excited for that one.
If you had one word to mention how life is going right now, what do you think it would be?
Fantastic; Without a doubt!
