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DROKU: At what age did you start singing and writing music?
ALFA G: 13. But I started music at 5.
DROKU: How did you start as an artist?
ALFA:
I just stumbled into it. I wanted to learn songs by my favorite
artists and bands, and then realized I couldn’t sound like them. So I
decided to try writing my own songs and to just sound like myself.
DROKU: Who encouraged you to start singing and who has been your biggest inspiration as a singer, songwriter?
ALFA:
I don’t know if anyone necessarily encouraged me to start singing. I
was always more of an instrumentalist as a child. It just came to me,
and my family members were my first supporters.
DROKU: How would you describe your music to your listeners?
ALFA:
A friend of mine once coined the term “hydraulics for the heart” to
describe my music. That’s fairly accurate. Another is “floetry” – a term
I used a long time ago. I think it’s kind of cheesy now, but it comes
from me writing songs based [on] the poetry I’d write.
DROKU: Who do you wish to collaborate in the future?
ALFA:
Melissa Polinar – who’s become a good friend in the last year – and I
have talked about doing a collab, but we’ve never been able to be in the
same place long enough.
DROKU:
You participated in Kollaboration Acoustic 3. What was it like
performing on the same stage as AJ Rafael, Megan Lee, Mike Isberto, Gabe
Bondoc and others?
ALFA:
At the time, it was such a new experience for me. I hadn’t been out to
L.A. too many times yet, and it was the first time meeting people like
AJ, Mike, Gerald [Ko], Jinah and Megan (I think I met Gabe back in MN in
2008), so it was just fun to hang out with cool, talented new friends.
DROKU: At Kollaboration Acoustic 3, you won the grand prize with Mike Isberto. How did it feel?
ALFA: Very awesome.
DROKU: You and Mike Isberto entered Kollaboration 10 as a duo – how did you decide to enter together?
ALFA:
I think they had told us we either had to compete for the spot or go in
together. We thought going in together would be a fun challenge. Plus
we wouldn’t have to fight over who got to go.
DROKU:
What was some difficulty you faced while practicing with Mike and also
how did it feel performing with somebody else instead of a solo?
ALFA:
The distance was the biggest challenge; Skype and iChat both have
delays on their signal. But luckily, I was in LA doing another show just
two weeks before Kollab 10, so we spent hours working on our original
song.
DROKU: Have you participated in any major auditions?
ALFA: Yes. American Idol and The Voice.
DROKU: Are you working on anything at the moment?
ALFA: Yes, I’m writing right now.
DROKU: What is your favorite song you have ever written?
ALFA: I can’t even choose! I think of them all as my children who I love equally.
DROKU: What has been your favorite performance and why?
ALFA:
I’ve had a lot of really fun performances – it’s hard to pick. I guess
since we’ve been mentioning Kollab, I will say that KNY 2010 was a lot
of fun. I played at the Highline Ballroom and it was just me and my
bassist on his upright bass. We played “Isabelle,” which is a
French-English song. And everything just vibed great with the audience
(and we won 2nd).
DROKU: Do you do music full time?
ALFA:
Right now it’s full time. I had been working as a journalist for about
three years in NJ, and I just moved to LA a few weeks ago.
DROKU: What do you want to accomplish in your music career?
ALFA:
I want it to become a sustainable career. I’m fairly realistic; I
know not everyone can become a big “star,” but I think the fulfillment
doesn’t lie in trying to be the next Lady Gaga. It’s in molding a career
that can last and lets you stay true to yourself. I think that goes for
any career. Not just music. And of course, I’m a Libra, so I’m all
about balance, balance, balance!
 Made by Lynnette Wu (interviewed by Marina Kamel)
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