When music is so good it gets under your skin, it invariably makes you want to know more—what makes an aspiring author teach herself to play the piano? What is at the root of all these rich, emotive ballads?

While intrigue will invariably heighten appeal, the reality can be somewhat of a letdown. The inspiration and creativity behind a seemingly complex piece of music is often unsatisfactorily simple. Luckily for fans of A Fine Frenzy, the answers do not disappoint! After the release of their stunning debut album One Cell in the Sea, ACED Magazine was lucky enough to catch up with the voice behind A Fine Frenzy, the engaging and highly talented Alison Sudol.

{mosgoogle right} Born to dramatic-arts teachers, Alison was fortunate to grow up in an environment that fostered and encouraged her creativity, without pushing her in any particular direction. “[My parents] were wonderfully encouraging and let me find my own artistic legs. I chose music, but they stood behind me and made sure I had a safe place to grow and learn in. I was very lucky, and still am.” This supportive environment, in which Alison was free to explore her own creativity without influence or directive, is something Alison remains extremely grateful for. “I credit them with never trying to influence me, or mold me into mini-versions of them. They just let me be, and I managed to follow in their footsteps anyhow.”

With music forming such an important part of her early life, the fact that she never learned to play an instrument was somewhat surprising. “My favorite thing in the world was writing songs, but I refused to learn how to play piano, or any other instrument, for that matter. It was very limiting creatively. At a certain point, I realized that rebelling against learning the piano was not a smart choice, and the only person suffering from it was me. So I learned. Now it's one of my greatest joys, and I can't bear to be separated from a piano for longer than a few days.”

Adopting the best aspects of a musical father and bookworm mother, Alison’s creative path has embraced both literature and music. Her latest creative output – One Cell in the Sea – has allowed Alison to successfully combine these two passions, using lyrics and music to convey a powerful, personal narrative to the listener. “One Cell in the Sea is a scrapbook of observations, stories, fairy tales and disappointments that I’ve collected in the past couple of years. It has a little bit of a lot of things and a lot of little things as well. Occasionally the songs are quite romantic, other times they're about fish and other various wildlife.”

While music remains her primary creative outlet for the time being, Alison has not ruled out making a more concerted move into literature. “Perhaps [I will become a novelist] one day. If I can come up with a good enough story, I might just. It would have to be quite something to hold my attention (and the reader's), melody-free, for the amount of requisite pages. Otherwise I'd probably crumple it up and head to the piano.”

The important link between literature and music is underlined by the choice of band name. A Fine Frenzy is taken from Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and the atmospheric, powerful melodies and serene, ethereal quality to the band’s sound sit well with this choice. When asked which of Shakespeare’s female characters she most admired, Alison was quick to opt for Juliet “for her passion, strength, conviction and courage. She is the romantic of all romantics, and makes me feel less crazy to be one of the pack.”

After moving to the city with her mother at age five, Alison now calls Los Angeles home, and credits the city as an important part of her music. “LA is a strange place, kind of like high school except gigantic and somehow even more dramatic. There are a few easily distinguishable groups of "popular" people and, from an outsider's perspective, they appear to rule the roost. So many people come here with big dreams and lose themselves in the process of trying to achieve them, trying to be hip, fashionable, part of the in-crowd.”

While offering many a chance at that elusive big break, or even a new start in life, Alison remains mindful of the more abrasive effects of LA life – something that has influenced the career choices she has made to date. “It's the kind of place that can really change the best parts of you if you're not careful. Seeing people get swept up and spat out by this city has made me wary of the whole celebrity thing, mainly because it doesn't seem to bring anyone much happiness. As a result, I try to look for beauty, light, life, honesty and joy, maybe more than I would have anywhere else, because those things are scarcer here in pure form than in other places.”

Still, the potential to be ‘chewed up and spat out’ has not blinded Alison to the many beauties of LA, and she is proud to call the city home. “There are a lot of great things about Los Angeles as well, and the older I get the more I'm seeing of them. I really love it here. You can hike through the mountains, drive to the beach, watch dogs in the park and buy groceries at 3 a.m. That's my kind of city.”

Finally, no interview would be complete without touching on one of the most intriguing labels to be placed on a young artist. So is the tag of ‘the prettiest girl in indie-rock’ (coined by Gen Art Pulse) flattering, or something Alison would rather forget? “Ha! Flattering, strange and wonderful! However, there are some seriously pretty girls in indie rock, so I think perhaps ‘the prettiest girl in a fine frenzy’ is more realistic... (I'm the only girl in a fine frenzy, obviously. I don't think Daxx and Stephen will mind.) I think it's pretty sweet, actually. As long as people get to the music one way or another, that's all that really matters, isn't it?” We couldn’t agree more!

One Cell in the Sea is available in stores now! Please visit the official site for A Fine Frenzy, as well as the band’s MySpace .

Also, be sure to check out ACED Magazine’s review of One Cell in the Sea here and her single of the week on iTunes !

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redchic78   |2007-08-24 11:15:32 oh wow they sound cool! I will have to go check out their music[smiley=happy] Reply 0   0

Scott   |2007-08-15 07:33:39 Awesome voice and awesome interview!! Thanks! Reply 0   0

Jasen   |2007-08-15 07:21:43 That is so true about living in LA. Nice tunes. Reply 0   0

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3.25 Copyright (C) 2007 Alain Georgette / Copyright (C) 2006 Frantisek Hliva. All rights reserved."