The incredible balance of harmony and creativity from Alya

Summary

Podcast Summary: "The Incredible Balance of Harmony and Creativity from Alya"

Podcast Information:

• Title: takin' a walk
• Host/Author: iHeartPodcasts
• Description: The "takin' a walk" MUSIC HISTORY ON FOOT podcast, hosted by Buzz Knight, takes listeners on an immersive journey through music history. Buzz engages with guests to uncover the inside stories behind musicians, bands, and the music they create.
• Episode: The Incredible Balance of Harmony and Creativity from Alya
• Release Date: May 16, 2025

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Introduction

In this episode of "takin' a walk," host Buzz Knight welcomes Alya, a Grammy-winning singer-songwriter with a rich background in classical music and a passion for creating impactful melodies. The conversation delves into Alya's inspirations, creative processes, and her journey from journalism to becoming a celebrated artist.

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Personal Inspirations

Alya's Literary and Musical Influences

Alya opens up about the profound influence of classical Russian literature and her late grandmother on her musical journey. She shares her admiration for the Russian poet Alexander Pushkin and how his work has shaped her lyrical style.

“I loved Pushkin, and I believe that he shaped in a lot of ways the way how I think as a poet when I write my lyrics.”
— Alya [04:10]

She also honors her grandmother, a church singer, who instilled in her a deep spiritual connection to music.

“She always felt like I have some special spiritual connection with someone. And I do take it very seriously right now.”
— Alya [05:05]

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The Story Behind "Hope"

From Personal Struggle to Social Impact

Alya discusses the creation of her song "Hope," which originated from a dark period in her life. What began as a personal endeavor to overcome her struggles evolved into a movement that encourages acts of kindness.

“When I wrote the song, I wasn't thinking about creating any social change. I was just really in a very dark place actually.”
— Alya [06:10]

The song resonated with millions, leading to the "Be the Hope" campaign and a collaboration with UNICEF.

“People started making these videos on social media spotlighting little acts of kindness that my song Hope inspired them to do.”
— Alya [06:25]

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Career Path: From Journalism to Grammy-Winning Artist

Leveraging Journalism Skills in Music

Alya reflects on her transition from a journalism career to music, emphasizing the responsibility that comes with having a platform.

“When you sit in front of the microphone, you understand that you're responsible for everything that comes out of your mouth.”
— Alya [07:56]

Her background in journalism has instilled in her a sense of accountability and mindfulness in her artistic expressions.

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Behind the Scenes: "Hope" Remix with Erica Campbell and Dee Smoke

Collaborative Creativity and Musical Synergy

Alya provides an insider's look into the making of the remix for "Hope," featuring Erica Campbell and Dee Smoke. She describes the collaborative process as organic and inspiring, likening it to a "Manhattan Project" for its ambition and impact.

“It was very organic, it was very fun, it was very fast collaboration and I loved every second of it.”
— Alya [08:39]

She highlights Erica Campbell's powerful gospel vocals and Dee Smoke's unique rap perspective as key elements that elevated the song to a new dimension.

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A Perfect Day as a Creator

Balancing Creativity and Personal Life

Alya shares her ideal day, which balances creative work with family time. She finds contentment in the simplicity of writing songs in the studio and cherishing moments with her children.

“Ideal day for me would be... go to studio and I would spend the whole day there writing songs... see my kids, give them hugs and make dinner and just, you know, go to sleep.”
— Alya [10:14]

This routine reflects her grounded nature and the importance she places on personal well-being alongside her creative endeavors.

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Collaborations with Bill Schnee and Eric Clapton

Building Meaningful Musical Partnerships

Alya discusses her collaborations with Grammy-winning producer Bill Schnee and legendary guitarist Eric Clapton. She credits Bill Schnee with helping her break into the American market and fostering a creative environment where her artistic vision was respected.

“Bill was very patient. He really listened to what I wanted to deliver.”
— Alya [12:18]

The unexpected collaboration with Eric Clapton on her Christmas EP is a highlight of her career. Alya recounts the serendipitous moment when Clapton spontaneously decided to join the project after hearing her song "Silent Night."

“He said, I really love her voice. I would like to sing on the record.”
— Alya [14:00]

This collaboration has garnered praise from both her and Clapton's fans, adding a unique dimension to her musical repertoire.

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Advice to Aspiring Artists

Embracing Authenticity and Harnessing Social Media

In her closing remarks, Alya encourages emerging artists to trust their instincts and utilize social media as a tool for connection and growth.

“If you feel like this is something that you want people to hear, you need to go and release it. Don't wait for big managers... Use social media, find your crowd, find your tribe, and the rest will just come to you.”
— Alya [16:23]

She emphasizes the importance of authenticity and proactive engagement in building a supportive community around one's music.

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Conclusion

Alya's episode on "takin' a walk" offers an inspiring glimpse into the life of a dedicated artist who balances personal integrity with creative excellence. Her journey from classical training and journalism to becoming a Grammy-winning musician underscores the power of resilience and the impact of purposeful artistry. Through meaningful collaborations and a commitment to social change, Alya exemplifies the harmonious blend of creativity and responsibility in today's music landscape.

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Notable Quotes:

• “I loved Pushkin, and I believe that he shaped in a lot of ways the way how I think as a poet when I write my lyrics.”
  — Alya [04:10]

• “When you sit in front of the microphone, you understand that you're responsible for everything that comes out of your mouth.”
  — Alya [07:56]

• “If you feel like this is something that you want people to hear, you need to go and release it.”
  — Alya [16:23]

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Listening Details: For those who haven't tuned in yet, this episode of "takin' a walk" is a must-listen for music enthusiasts seeking deeper insights into the creative minds shaping today's music. Available on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, and all major podcast platforms.

Transcript

[Buzz Knight]

You're listening to an iHeart podcast.

[Olya]

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[Buzz Knight]

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[Olya]

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[Buzz Knight]

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[Buzz Knight]

DSW.com Taking a walk this was a very surprise collaboration. You know Eric Clapton, he has only one Christmas record and he never, never ever done collaboration on Christmas with any other artists. I got called from Tim to come to studio and I came to studio and he turning on Silent Night, which was one of the songs on the Christmas ep. Soon as he turned Silent Night. I'm like, oh, my God, just turn it off. I'm so tired of listening. And then he's like, just wait a second. And then I hear Eric Clapton voice. I'm like, oh, my gosh.

[Olya]

Welcome to the Taking a Walk podcast with your host, Buzz Knight. Buzz talks with musicians and takes you inside their creative process and their lifelong inspirations. Today he speaks with Olya, a singer songwriter who was inspired by her early passion for creating melodies and songs. Born in the Soviet Union, she began her musical path with classical training at the age of seven. She's collaborated with Eric Clapton and her next release, hope is a Remix, features Erica Campbell and Dee Smoke. Here's Buzz with Alya on the Taking a Walk podcast.

[Podcast Host]

Well, Alya, thanks for being on Taking a Walk. And since the podcast is called Taking a Walk, I wanted to ask you, if you could take a walk with someone, living or dead, who would you take a walk with and where would you take that walk?

[Buzz Knight]

You know, I would actually had two people in mind when you were starting your question, and maybe I would take them both for a walk. You know, one would be classical Russian writer poet Alexander Pushkin that may or may known in the United States, but he shaped Russian literature and I was a big, big fan when I was in my middle school. It's a, you have to study Pushkin in the middle school, so there's no escape from that. And a lot of people hated him because of language, was outdated and there was like, it was a lot. But I loved him and I believe that he shaped in a lot of way the way how I think as a poet when I write my lyrics. I do take an inspiration from him, from the metaphors and from symbolism and from how deep he goes to describe all the nuances of, you know, human soul. But the other person that I would love to walk, and I'm, I'm very often think about her. It's my grandma. She passed away a long, long time ago. And she was the one who, I would say, probably only one who had any connection to music. She was a church singer, choir singer, and she was singing a lot around me and I loved to sing with her. And she would listen to me and look at me and would say to me, oh, my go, you are so close to God. And you know, she had three daughters and my mom was her youngest daughter, so I was like the her youngest granddaughter. And she always felt like I have some special spiritual connection with someone. And I do take it very seriously right now. You know, when I have this platform as a singer, as an artist, and especially when I worked on my son, my song Hope, which is very spiritual, this came to my mind very frequently.

[Podcast Host]

Well, let's talk about the story behind Hope, what inspired it, and what you learned about creating music for social change.

[Buzz Knight]

When I wrote the song, I wasn't thinking about creating any social change. I was just really in a very dark place actually. And the song was for me, an attempt to get out of there. And when I wrote it, the lyrics were so inspiring and motivational to me. I realized that that could be the helping hand for millions of people out there that probably have moments like I just had. And when I distributed Song and it was out, that just became absolutely true. People started making these videos on social media spotlighting little acts of kindness that my song Hope inspired them to do. And it became a movement that I later called Be the Hope campaign. And it inspired me to find a better partner for the song to make bigger changes and inspire more people. And that's how Song became a song for the unicef. You know, we did a collaboration, collaboration with unicef, donated shares to UNICEF usa and Sonk is making a lot of changes since then.

[Podcast Host]

So you had an interesting career path, the path of being a journalist and then ultimately being a Grammy winning artist. And I wanted to ask you, what did you learn from your journalism career that influences you to this day with your artistry and surrounding, you know, music and, and change the responsibility.

[Buzz Knight]

Because when you, when you sit in, in front of the microphone, you understand that you're responsible for every single things that comes out of your mouth. And now being a singer, being an artist, when I have a platform and microphone in front of me, I'm really careful of what I say. I'm really careful about my partners, about people I'm associated with, because I understand the magnitude of it.

[Podcast Host]

So take us behind the scenes. When you did the remix with Erica Campbell and De Smoke, what was that process like?

[Buzz Knight]

Oh my gosh, this is, this is such a great song. Because I believe as much as I love original Hope, this song is something else. It's completely different dimension and presence of Erica Campbell, who is just absolutely gorgeous, amazing gospel singer with multiple awards and she's just such a sweet person. You know, she has these powerful vocals that I wanted to put in the song. And Deep Smoke is from very different perspective. When he came in, in the studio and started rapping, it was so cool. I mean, the song really became a Manhattan Project, if you wish. And this is actually the idea that I did have in the very beginning, I really felt like the world needs to hear something like we're the World song. And there is nothing like that out there. There is nothing like that. That is very inspiring, very powerful, very simple. That unites artists. And when I had a chance to collaborate with Eric and Desmoke with that and we actually have a couple more people probably coming into the remix, it was that. It was that we're the World song that will be changing lives. This song is just unwrapping, just picking up this team. It's beautiful. It was very organic, it was very fun. It was very fast collaboration and I loved every second of it.

[Podcast Host]

What's a perfect day for you as a creator that makes you happy? What does that day look like?

[Buzz Knight]

Oh my gosh. Like they're probably very, probably very boring from the outsider. You know, I really love working in the studio. I love the stage obviously, but on the stage you, I mean, you're very true to yourself, but in the same time it's a little bit showing off. And I'm by nature, I'm very shy and introvert person. Ideal day for me would be, you know, make my morning drink. It would be tea or coffee or maybe matcha latte that I really love because I'm a big fan of everything that came from Japan and matcha is delicious. And then I would go to studio and I would spend the whole day there writing songs, writing melodies, you know, talking with my band members, with my partner Tim Herman that I work with currently and just, you know, go home, see my kids, give them hugs and make dinner and just, you know, go to sleep. Very boring.

[Podcast Host]

It sounds very contented, you know, and it sounds like you know what you like and you're happy when those moments occur and you don't take them lightly.

[Buzz Knight]

Oh, absolutely. I'm trying to cherish every single moment of my life. And you know, we're all humans and sometimes I'm not very good about it, but I tried every day. I really wake up every day happy, ready to go.

[Podcast Host]

So you've had some pretty incredible collaboration with some other folks as well that I want to call out. One of them is the Grammy winning producer, engineer Bill Schnee, known for a lot of great work. Steely Dan work among among others. And then there's this other guy, Eric, I think his last name is Clapton, that you maybe had a little work with. Can you talk about what those collaborations are like and how they came about?

[Buzz Knight]

Yeah, this is so funny. You know, my husband, he likes to joke about it. He Would say, oh, do you know this guy, by the way, his name is Eric Clapton. He was trying to like start off his career of. Yeah. So I'm so fortunate to have all this wonderful collaborators in my career, especially this early on, because I still feel with all the achievements that I have, that I'm just warming up. I really believe there is a bigger future for me. And I didn't write my best song yet. I didn't do my best performance yet. But Bill Schnee, he's wonderful. He was my entry to American market as an artist. And he produced my first song, American Beauty, which was inspired by my personal journey as immigrant from different country and all other women that bring such a diversity and beauty to America. And he. He was awesome. You know, he was very. He was very patient. And I think it was perfect for me when I was just kind of trying to figure out who I am. I would really be maybe even crushed by some other involvement when, you know, sometimes producer, they want to do whatever they want to do. They don't really listen artists much. They just do whatever they feel like most commercial, you know, the best fit for the market. So Bill was not like that. He was very patient. He really listened what I wanted to deliver. And the results were very successful. You know, American Beauty charted on Billboard charts in two different categories. And the most important part of Bill was he introduced me to Tim Carmen, which I'm working right now. He's my musical partner. And whatever we created with Tim afterwards, it became big because of the team collaboration with Eric Clapton happened. Tim worked with Eric for over the decade and he knows him personally. And this was a very surprise collaboration. Eric Clapton, he has only one Christmas record and he never, never ever done collaboration on Christmas with any other art. And here I am, you know, like, coming up, artists from America. And I recorded my first Christmas EP and it was already on the distribution. And then I got called from Tim to come to studio and I came to studio and he turning on Silent Night, which was one of the songs on the Christmas ep. And you know, sometimes when you work on a record for a while, you get tired of songs. And that was that moment. So as soon as he turned Silent Night, I'm like, oh, my God, just turn it off. I'm so tired of listening already. Song it bazillions of times. And then he's like, just wait a second. And then I hear Eric Clapton voice, I'm like, oh, oh my gosh. So it turned out, you know, behind the scenes, he showed Eric the record and Eric just loved the voice. He said, I really love her voice. I would like to sing on the record. I would like to be the part of it. And I mean, when people like Eric come to the stage, you know, it's instant classic at this point. So the song really stands out from the EP and it's loved by my fans and by Eric's fans. Really one of the songs that's. When I listen to it, I feel like I'm floating on top of clouds.

[Podcast Host]

That's amazing. Well, in closing, Alia, I want to commend you first of all, you know, with using your, your music as a platform for, for good and for change and for, you know, just spreading. Spreading good, good vibes and making a difference. If you could talk right now to an artist maybe who's listening to this, who maybe is on the fence and not sure how to use their music and their platform in their own way as you have found your way, talk to them directly and talk them off that ledge so they can try to make a difference with their work.

[Buzz Knight]

Biggest mistake that I did was not to releasing my music fast enough. And at the moment when I felt like this is the right moment, you should trust your gut. You should really trust your gut. If you feel like this is something that you want people hear, you need to go and release it. Don't wait for big managers, don't wait for big names, don't try to associate with anyone else. If there is a spark in you, people will come over to you and to your advantage. The social media today, as much as a distraction that they can bring, they actually a window to reach people. So go out there, use social media, find your crowd, find your tribe, and the rest will just come to you just like that.

[Podcast Host]

Thank you for making a difference. Thank you for making beautiful music and thank you for being on the Taking a Walk podcast. I really appreciate it.

[Buzz Knight]

Thank you so much. Thank you for having me.

[Olya]

Thanks for listening to this episode of the Taking a Walk podcast. Share this and other episodes with your friends and follow us so you never miss an episode. Taking a Walk is available on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts and wherever you get your podcasts.