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The new debut
CD by Alyson, ‘Take a Good Look,’
reveals more than mere dance music. It’s an upbeat
and sometimes moody mixture of pop, dance and
R&B by a singer sometimes compared to Kylie
Minogue and Joss Stone.
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By Trey
Butler
Friday, March
25, 2005
SHE LIVES IN West Hollywood, frequents gay dance
clubs and is a former personal trainer. When asked about
her musical tastes, she gushes about Madonna and Deborah
Cox. And she’s tackling her fledgling music career with
the do-it-yourself moxy of a queer pioneer facing a
home-renovation project.
“I am kind of like a gay boy I guess,” says pop
starlet Alyson, who, like Madonna, has no need for a
last name. “Most of my friends are gay. When I go out to
clubs, I go to Santa Monica Boulevard because that’s
where they play the dance music that I like. So I guess
I am a gay boy trapped in a woman’s body.”
Gay music lovers might not yet consider Alyson a
household name, but that could soon change. Last
September, her sultry single “What’re You Gonna Do” made
it to No. 4 on Billboard’s dance chart.
In January she repeated that success with “Feel You”
which broke into the dance chart’s Top 10.
Unlike Madonna, however, Alyson has achieved her
early success without the support of a record label.
Instead, she launched her own label, Alysongrooves, and
has been feverishly producing and promoting her music on
her own.
A NEW YORK native who moved to L.A. two years ago,
Alyson says her love of dance music stretches way back.
While living in New York, she’d buy mix tapes from
vendors on the street. Once in L.A., her musical
aspirations began to gain momentum even as she was
pursuing another creative outlet, acting.
She landed a role in an independent film and gave the
filmmakers permission to use a couple of songs that she
had written. They were so well received that she decided
to put more of her music there.
Alyson produced a single, “Baby Come Back,” and
shipped it out to mix-show DJs and record pools. Through
her job as a personal trainer, she was introduced to
music producer Daveed, who became her collaborator and
helped educate her on the industry.
The success of that single prompted Alyson to immerse
herself in the record business, basically learning how
to take her songs from mere concept to dance floor gold.
Soon enough, her songs had landed the attention of DJ
Ralphi Rosario, a star on the gay circuit. His remixes
of “What’re You Gonna Do” and “Feel You” have given
Alyson her first exposure on the dance charts and
brought her sound to gay discos across the United
States.
THIS WEEKEND ALYSON is scheduled to appear at Miami’s
Winter Music Conference, where she was nominated Best
New Dance Artist.
“I was so blown away. It’s such a prestigious honor.
I’ve worked really hard to make music that I like, and
music I hope that other people will like,” she says. “To
have an acknowledgement like that from the dance
community is really special for me.”
But Alyson’s debut CD, “Take a Good Look,” reveals
more than mere dance music. It’s an upbeat and sometimes
moody mixture of pop, dance and R&B. Comparisons to
Kylie Minogue seem obligatory, but on one track,
“Nothin’ More to Say,” Alyson’s longing vocals slide
much closer to Joss Stone.
The forthcoming remix of “Nothin’ More to Say,”
however, will do a classic Deborah Cox move and remake a
soulful R&B ballad into a dance-floor anthem of
empowerment. Superstar producer/DJ Hex Hector has signed
on for the honors.
The new CD isn’t due in stores until May, but most
tracks can now be downloaded from Apple’s iTunes Music
Store.
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