Alisa Childers blog #2
Lovin' the Indie World
I remember the days when we'd walk into the EMI building and were met with smiling faces bearing bottled water, and were led into a beautiful conference room brimming with catered lunches and every type of soda imaginable. I have to admit...it was kind of nice.
When I was in Zoegirl, we had teams of people working on our behalf at all times of the day and night. There were interviews, appearances, tours, video shoots and production schedules all to be brainstormed and organized. That's not even counting the entire staff of tireless workers servicing the distribution side of things, making sure that a shiny new Zoegirl CD was waiting for you at your local Christian retailer, Wal-Mart and Target. Every writing and recording session was overseen by talented A&R representatives and producers who did a fabulous job of keeping things on track and on point. None of this went unappreciated, but after Zoegirl, I just wanted to crawl away and be by myself to create, emote and just let the art take me where it wanted. I firmly believe that if you make music with the end motivation being to simply sell a product, it will never reach the artistic, spiritual, and emotional heights and depths that music can so beautifully provoke. My intent was to let go of genre and demographic, and express the music that was working it's way through my mind and heart. I didn't know if I would try to sign with a label, or even if this music would ever see the light of day! It was just me and God...That's a good place to be. My husband and I produced the album together, and came to realize that we work very well together (most of the time)! After meeting with several labels, we took a huge leap of faith and decided to go completely independent! It's been an amazing journey. We have learned so much, and realized how much we still have to learn. I wouldn't have it any other way. I am seeing more and more artists take this path, and it excites me to no end. At the end of the day, I will probably never sell as many records as Zoegirl, but that's not how I define success. To me, success is putting out music that is true, pure and right. Some people will like it, and other people won't, and that's okay. It's an unvarnished and authentic extension of my soul and relationship with God and other people, and that makes me smile. I have to buy my own bottles of water now, but hey, I'm a big girl.
My CD will be available in stores May 20, but if you just can't wait, you can order it from my website, www.alisachilders.com, or download it from iTunes!
