Andreya Triana Profile

Singer/songwriter Andreya performed recently at the first Vinspired Lake of Stars Malawi Festival showcase held at The Rich Mix venue in East London. With the lead up to her highly anticipated debut album due to be released this March on Ninja Tunes Recordings, Headliners reporters were lucky enough to interview Andreya backstage about her journey as an artist to the Andreya Triana she has become today.

Q. How would you describe yourself as an artist, your sound and your style?

A. I would describe myself as soul, very raw, very honest and not scared of trying any other genre. It is mainly soul based music, that’s how I would describe it.

Q. Who inspired your music?

A. I have been inspired by many people. People who have had long careers, not artists that put out one album and disappear. People like Bill Withers, their songs are so timeless and different generations hear the songs because it gets sampled and music lives on. Also Bob Marley who I love. Just all the greats. They are just themselves.It’s just good music.

Q. How did you get into the music business and who supported you to get where you are?

A. A heck of a load of work. I think a lot of people get into the whole idea of getting their “big break” and I just think if you are doing something everyday towards your career, if you work consistently hard then you gonna get somewhere in the end. That’s what I done. It’s never been a conscious thing. I feel like it’s a gift to sing and share it with people, so it’s my obligation to work hard to do the best I can. Family helped me with their support, but the key thing is to believe in yourself and what you’re doing.

Q. How long have you been singing for?

A.Just always. I have always been singing. Talk to people who knew me when I was four and its like “look it’s Andreya, the little singing girl” (laughs). It’s just what I’ve always done. I’ve always loved singing. My parents tried to persuade me to do Business at Uni but you just got to do what you love really.

Q. What do you prefer writing music or playing your tracks?

A. I write my own music. They are very different disciplines for me. Writing songs is a very personal thing where you are there by yourself, you sit down and pour your heart out really. When you are performing it is all about interacting with the people, so I love both. They bring out different sides of you and are different ways of expressing yourself. The live thing is amazing, there’s nothing like doing a gig for people and them loving it. It brings a great feeling.

Q. What is the biggest gig you have ever played?

A. That would be a charity gig with 250,000 people. It is easier to do that than performing in front of a hundred. That’s more personal where with a bigger crowd you can’t see everyone.

Q. How long did the latest album take to complete or is it still in progress?

A. Its finished. We mastered it the other day. It has been a process of a couple of years. It took about a year; start to finish for recording and writing it, but after signing a deal with Ninja Tunes about six months ago, Ninja Tunes are going to put it out this year. That’s kind of taken a year in itself. So about 2 years. It was a long process.

Q. Who is the most famous person you have ever worked with?

A. I worked with these guys once called the Mizell Brothers; they are really old school and they have worked with The Jackson 5 and Aretha Franklin. They were really amazing. They were telling me stories about being in the studio with The Jackson 5. It was like, “oh my gosh”.

Q. You have also worked with the highly regarded producer Flying Lotus. How was that?

A. Yeah, it was wicked. We were both chosen for the Red Bull Music Academy and we were going out to Australia in 2006. It’s basically a massive collaborative project where people make music and everyone was collaborating with each other so I just did this track with him. It was really just easy, not pressured at all. It’s a really beautiful track which loads of people liked. It was a nice thing that came out of this experience.

Q. What would be your advice to someone trying to breakthrough into the music industry?

A. I just think the key thing is to have belief in yourself; a really strong faith in what you’re doing is the right thing. I went through really rough times, not being able to eat or pay my rent. I remember one time having to eat popcorn for lunch because I was so skint but I just carried on because I believed that one day I’m going to be doing this. I’m going to be touring the world; I’m going to be signed. You just have to hold onto that belief. That’s why I kept on. No logic to it. I’m just happy I kept on because I’m living my dream.

Q. Your latest song, Lost Where I Belong, what inspired you to write this song?

A. it’s precisely what I just told you, it’s about that thing, you know what you are meant to do, I’ve always known that I was meant to sing, you can still get a bit lost and doubt yourself and struggle and feel insure and have all these awful things, but you still know what the end goal is. So it’s about knowing what that is but just struggling with it sometimes, that’s what that song is about.

Besides her ventures as an up and coming artist, we talked to Andreya about her thoughts about the importance of volunteering.The Lake of Stars Malawi Festival is an event supported by the UK based organisation, Vinspired. Vinspired encourages 16-25yr olds to take part in volunteering activities across the U.K. The annually held festival every October in Malawi features voluntary performances by the artists involved.

Q. How did you get involved with the Lake of Stars Malawi Festival?

A. I was asked to actually. It was an absolute pleasure to.

Q. Why is volunteering important?

A. I think it’s really important to give your time to good causes. It is so easy to get caught up in your day-to-day life and what you got going on but volunteering lets you see a whole other world to your community. It lets you get involved and learn new skills to help people. There is so much good that can come out of it.

Q. Have you had any previous voluntary work?

A. Yes I have. Before I went to university, I worked with physically disabled people in a day care centre. I just did everything from clearing up to singing karaoke songs and feeding people, whatever they needed help with I did that. Last Christmas, I did loads of free gigs for Crisis, a charity for homeless people. So I went round loads of different shelters and performed live for them.

Q. How important do you feel it is for young people to volunteer?

A. It absolutely is (important). It is so important to give your time to help other people. Definitely. There is only good stuff that can come out of it. You’re helping someone. Surely that’s going to help you feel good, they’re going to feel good. You’re giving to the community. It’s a great thing.

Q. Would you say that the Vinspired organisation is a positive one and do you support it?

A. Absolutely, 100%.