Page 121 - ION Indie Magazine SeptOct 2024

TB: Your latest single is ‘Alpha Female.’ What is the story behind the song?

CY: One of my mentors has been the tour accountant for Cher, P!nk, and Pitbull, to name a
few artists. He also manages the music career of Kevin Costner and Modern West. When I
was living in Saint Augustine, Florida, for a few months before the Covid-19 pandemic, he
was introducing me to people he knew in the music community there. He described me as
an ‘alpha female’ to one of them, right when I was standing there, and I was totally in awe
being described in that manner. I had never really acknowledged myself as an ‘alpha
female,’ but in looking back at all I have survived and accomplished in my life, it was an apt
description. I knew I wanted to create an anthem about being an alpha female, both for
myself and others. It took a couple of years for me to get it where I wanted it to be, but with
the help of Justin Michael Tallman (aka People of the Parallel), my main producer these
days, it developed into the fun empowerment anthem I was striving for.

TB: Outside of your debut EP, you have mainly released singles. What are your
thoughts on singles versus albums?
CY: One of my other producers in the past, Russ De Salvo, who has worked with Lionel
Richie and Celine Dion, always stressed the importance of the single. I met him at a music
workshop in NYC, and he said that it’s always been about the single. It’s not to say that an
album isn’t important, but if you don’t get the listener’s attention with the single, there is no
way a listener is going to take the time to listen to a full album.

TB: When song writing, do you like to write alone or collaborate with other writers?

CY: I am primarily a topline writer. What I mean by that is I primarily write the lyrics and the
vocal melody. I approach this style of writing in one of two ways. I am either given an
instrumental by another artist and/or producer and am asked to write the topline, or I write
the topline and approach one of my producers. When I am writing my contribution, I like to
do so by myself, send it to the artist/producer I am working with, get their feedback, and
make adjustments/rewrites as necessary. So, in that way, I both work alone and collaborate
on every song I write.

TB: When you are writing a song, are you also thinking about the video for it, or is
that a separate process for you?

CY: The music video concept is part of an entirely separate process from the songwriting. I
do think of images and scenes when I am writing a song, but it is my own little personal
world which I create to help me get into the story of the song. When I am coming up with a
music video concept, I am now thinking about how to get others into the world of the song.
I also usually brainstorm with my longtime music video collaborator, Emilia Mendieta
Cordova, about what images and visuals would appeal to the viewer and best communicate
the story of the song.

TB: Of all the acting roles you have done, which one was your favorite and why?