By: Carolena Albert
Carolena Albert, sophomore music major, released her first album at the age of 19. She continues to work on her music and hopes that it will take her all around the world. Albert is passionate about her music and is flattered when people appreciate it and give her feedback. Albert’s first album was just the beginning, as she will continue to work hard and improve on her skills. She has performed at NSU’s Got Talent the past two years and is also a member of the Riff Tides.
Releasing my first album was quite the experience. I never thought I would be able to do something like this as quickly as I did at 19. Since I started writing music, I’ve always envisioned my music as sounding a certain way and having a certain impact on people.
My whole process begins very stripped-down and acoustic until I am able to somewhat orchestrate the song in my mind. I got lucky enough to come in contact with a couple of really good producers who were willing to work with me and create something incredible. We stuck true to where we believed the songs were headed. Some of the tracks came out to be EDM, while others came out with more of a dark ballad kind of feel with heavy drums and strings. Either way, I wrote all the lyrics myself and worked with producers to attain the full musical sound that we wanted to achieve.
The first full song I ever recorded is called “Drawn to You,” and I wrote it my junior year of high school. I released the single on iTunes, Spotify and every online music store there is. From there, I just kept building and writing. Eventually, in my freshman year of college when Taylor Swift released her album “1989,” I was automatically inspired to create a small album, otherwise known as an EP, called “Everything in Between,” and nothing was going to stop me. I wanted something stable that would represent my name and give people something to listen to so I could receive feedback.
Every time I perform “Everything in Between,” I feel more comfortable and confident. Performing songs enables me to constantly improve them with live bands and come up with different arrangements — whether they are full or acoustic. Releasing the album was a surreal experience, and a lot of work went into it. I spent many hours working, not only in the studio, but also on my branding.
One of the most important aspects of releasing music to the public is making sure that it is copyrighted. I also needed to make sure that I maintained an image to accurately represent myself as an artist. From style to hair to make up — everything became a factor. I was fortunate enough to be able to work with producers, photographers and graphic designers who didn’t feel the need to charge me an obscene amount of money, so I used those resources to maintain my image.
On top of putting my music on digital music streaming sites, I had copies of the CDs made which are now being sold at Second Cup Cafe in Pembroke Pines and Radioactive Records in Fort Lauderdale. Once the album was released, a lot of people started supporting me, promoting me and making me love what I do even more than I already did. I love that my music connects to people and is something people can relate to. It’s truly rewarding and humbling to see all of my hard work finally come to life. It was definitely a big stepping stone in my career, and I can only hope to keep writing and improving. The goal is to keep working with as many producers and musicians as possible to create a sound that is not only appealing to the audience, but also remains true to my style.
