Andy Allo on Prince, Paisley Park & the Making of Superconductor (2013)

0:00 And it is a beautiful Monday night here on 88.5 FM WVOF right here in Fairfield, Connecticut. We are definitely honored to have her on our show. She's been on the road over in Europe and she's getting ready to go back out on the road through the Midwest and heading eastward. In fact, a big show in New York City two weeks from now.

0:21 Singer, songwriter, model, actress, she is definitely multi talented and we are truly honored to have on our show and welcome Andy Alo. How you doing, Andy? Hey, I'm great. How are you? I'm doing fine. And you're back from just a great tour out in Europe and we've been keeping up on some of the things we've seen online as far as the music and what do you do?

0:48 First of all, tell us a little bit about the tour and then we'll get into what you're doing in prep for the east coast tour. Sure, yeah. Like you said, this is the first time touring Europe on my own and headlining. So that in of itself was incredible. And I think the most interesting thing was doing this tour on a tour bus, which I'd never done before.

1:15 Okay, so is it. I've heard from different musicians touring in Europe, sometimes going in between the different cities and countries. It's kind of a hectic grind. But how did you take to it? I thought it was really fun because, you know, instead of, you know, trying to catch a plane or you're sitting and waiting, you know, right after a show, you just hop on the bus and plus, I think you get to see more of the countryside and just experience.

1:41 It's almost like a big road trip, you know, and I really love those. So my band and I had a lot of time to really bond and sing songs and be silly. So you get to know people very. Well on the tour bus. Who controlled the music on the bus? Me. Okay. You're paying the bills. So rightly so. Right, right.

2:09 But actually, one of my band members, guitar player, he liked to sing and he's not the best singer, but he participates. Oh. But he loved to sing. So we. I have some videos I might, I might have to post them online of him, you know, singing some, some country songs from Elvis. Oh, yeah, yeah, it was, it was a really fun time.

2:38 Oh, he's in trouble. Yes. If you just tuned in, my special guest right now is Andy Alo. You can go to her website, alloevolution.com a l l o evolution.com. We've been playing her music from Superconductor since it was already in the single People Pleaser. And we'll talk about that record and all about the great recordings on that.

3:03 Now tell us about the band that went to you in Europe. Was it a band out there or was it your own band from, though, California? Actually, I don't have a band in California, so this. The band that I use for this tour is my band and they're based in Paris. Oh, okay. I gotcha. They're all. They're all Parisians, so I.

3:25 They helped me practice my French. It's a work in progress. I got the same problem. My wife's from Montreal, so if you ask her, my French is good. You know, she's saying I gotta learn more. So. But we should do the rest of this interview in French then. That's right. Yeah. Well, this would be. It would be.

3:45 I'm sure my wife would like that. But it would be quite embarrassing. Embarrassing to the viewers out there, at least, from. From my standpoint. I don't know about you. I know, right? Yeah. No, yeah. They'd probably be like, what's happening? Yeah. But interesting. I think I read that the first time you played with Prince and the MPG on stage was at the Montreal Jazz Festival.

4:06 Right? Is that true or. Yeah, yeah. It was crazy because I had only had about two weeks of rehearsals and we just went on there. It was my first time playing a lot of those songs. And the first time actually I opened for him, so I played a lot of my original music as well. Okay. That was a crazy, crazy, fun experience.

4:33 I think that was that at the Metropolis. I believe so. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I wasn't there, but we've seen Prince in Montreal a few years back over there. But. Yeah, that's a. That's a nice club. Mm. Yeah, it was very cool. Let's see. We should get into some music right now and we'll give them a taste. From the first single from Superconductor, People Pleaser, which you've been joined on stage, Jimmy Kimmel, live by the great Maceo Parker.

5:02 Still going strong. I mean, I'm amazed. He tour every show is great. And he's still. He's hitting Europe all the time. I know he's always touring and, you know, and that's the thing. It's like music just. It has a way of keeping you young and when you're just doing what you love and you can tell, like, he absolutely loves what he's doing and he's the best at it.

5:25 That's a great song from Andy. Allo's Superconductor, which is her second solo record and definitely a great record. She recorded a lot of it with Prince and Prince's various musicians and Andy Allo's great input and songwriting in there as well, and musicianship and people pleaser. We were talking off air about the massive horn section, the MPG horns, which you've played on various gigs with.

5:53 And what's that like? I wanted to ask you. Cause I thought about this when Prince was on stage here in Connecticut. What's it like? You're front and center up there, and you have two walls of horns blaring on each side of you. Is that disconcerting to you? No, actually, it's a lot of fun because it feels like a huge party.

6:15 And it feels like everybody's on stage with you and everybody has high energy. Because it's all these guys that we were just saying they're all characters and they all have such big personalities. So being on stage with them, it's just a blast. And make faces at each other and dance, and they're just kind of up for anything.

6:40 And I actually got to play with them. They joined me on Jimmy Kimmel when I performed on that show. So I like to say that I had them first and Prince stole them from me. That's right. Yeah,. You could say that. It'll stick. Okay, cool. All right. Yeah, yeah, that's right. So Prince, you know, maybe once in a while, you know, you can give the horns back to Andy, you know, help her out on the road.

7:10 That's all I'm saying. That's all I'm saying. That's right. So speaking of Prince, you guys have gone back, I'd say about three years as far as working together, right? Yeah, yeah. It doesn't feel like it, but the time has definitely gone by fast. And now I think I read somewhere, I'm not sure exactly, and something really stood out is that when you met Prince, you know, going far back, you weren't like a lot of.

7:39 You know, I've been following Prince's career from the first record and going to see him all the time. But you grew up, and not necessarily in that vein. So when you met Prince, you know, it wasn't like, wow, this is Prince and freaking out. Right. Right. I don't know. Maybe I'm stealing what you said, but,.

8:00 Yeah, I mean, it definitely wasn't, you know, a crazed type of reaction. It was more, you know, of the respect. And I was definitely in awe of his creativity and his genius. But it was More, okay, this is somebody who has 30 years in the business, and I'm someone who's just starting out. So just to be around him and observing him, it was more, you know what?

8:29 This is someone who can mentor me and teach me how to do things in the business. So, yeah, I didn't grow up listening to him, so it was really exciting, actually, him showing me some of his first songs and playing his songs for me. And we would just sit and we would just jam, you know, and playing guitar together, and it was really, really fun.

8:51 Those are some of the best memories. When I look back on first, when we first started working together, what's the call? Like back to the family saying, well, I had a busy day, you know, I met a guy named Prince, and I'm going into the studio with Prince and maybe touring with him. You know, did he need to hear those things?

9:12 There was definitely silence on the other end of the line. Right, right. Not really sure what to make of it. They thought I was kind of pulling the leg. And I said, no, no, no, this is serious. He. He just asked me to join the band and tour with him. And it starts in two weeks. Yeah, that's right. So you fast tracking and learning all the tunes and performing with the New Power Generation now, the Superconductor record.

9:39 Did you record a lot of it up at Paisley Park? Yeah, yeah, definitely. All the. The vocals were done there. And it was really interesting, you know, being in a studio that so many greats have recorded in and prints as well, you know, and there's so much history there, so it was really cool just to walk the hallways and kind of just be around all of that.

10:08 We got to talk about this tour, the upcoming east coast tour, which gonna get underway pretty shortly. You're gonna be looking at the tour dates starting out the elbow Room, Chicago, Illinois, January 17th. And wow, you're doing pretty, pretty fast. Three shows in a row. Touring like that. Does it take you back to the old days.

10:33 Of with the mpg? No, getting back. Doing the solo acoustic tour and playing dates like this. Oh, yes. Yeah, definitely. I mean, this is how I started, you know, was doing acoustic things. And now I feel like there's a certain intimacy that comes across with performing acoustically. So I really love creating that connection with everybody.

11:04 And, you know, there's less of a barrier I feel, with the acoustic shows. And also, it's very. I don't know, you feel naked sometimes because it's just you. There's nobody else on stage. And that's one thing When I was performing with all the horns and everybody on stage, it's a huge party. But sometimes it's easy to get, you know, to get lost in everything that's happening.

11:31 And when you strip down all the music and it's just you alone, I think that's where the magic is and where you say, okay, there's nothing else that can distract you from this song, from this moment that we're sharing together. It's like having a conversation face to face with somebody and it's just the two of you.

11:59 It's different when it's just you and the whole crowd and like at a party. At a party, you know, instead of where you're like at dinner and it's just two people. And that's. For me, that's how it feels. It's almost like I'm alone and with each and every single person in the audience when I'm doing it acoustically.

12:21 And for our listeners out there, they can get their tickets, they can go to alloevolution.com a l l o evolution.com Andy Alo and the East coast tour starts on January 17th. And in two weeks she'll be in New York City at the Mercury Lounge. And. And we're gonna play some music, which maybe this track will be performed one of those nights.

12:43 This is from Superconductors. It's Andy Alo, long gone. And tell us a little bit about the writing of this song. Ooh, yes, definitely. We'll be recording this song during this tour. This song was inspired by. We were at Paisley park listening to James Taylor and James Taylor has this amazing song called Fire and Rain.

13:12 And it was this moment of. Do you know what? I think we can write a song that's better than that. Yeah, that's a nice throwdown. I know, right? And so we're having all these competitions by ourselves. And so that was kind of the inspiration. And so we said, okay, you know, and. And Prince wrote the song that was just like incredible.

13:37 And we collaborated on it. So, I mean, it's a heart wrenching song. And it reminds me. It takes me back to when a relationship ends and that moment where you're just saying, wow, I have to get out of this because it hurts. It hurts too much. All right. It's a very emotional song for me to perform, but I absolutely love it.

14:05 All right. So I guess it's guaranteed to be in the set list. All right. That is long gone from Andy Alo's superconductor lp and a lot of talk about that song and various songs. And Andy's getting ready to get back out on the road. Solo acoustic tour. And what kind of guitar do you bring on the road with you for these particular shows?

14:30 I bring out pretty much the same ones that I play. Regardless of the type of show it is. Okay. I play a Martin acoustic, and it's one of their smaller kind of baby Martins. And I also am going to bring out my newest guitar, which is a custom Nick Huber electric guitar. But it's. It's a hollow body, so it's very warm.

14:57 And. And so those are the two guitars that I'm going to be bringing out on. On this tour. And for. For the rooms who are mixing your sound. What. What's the. What's the key? When you go out solo acoustically, do you have any things you want in the mix? Yes, I. Yes, I'm very particular about this. I. I have to have some reverb on my microphone.

15:25 I've had to perform with a dry mic, and I'm telling you, it's not a pleasurable experience. Yeah, that's the first request bands come in to sing. I've had lead singers ask for the same thing in our studio here. The radio studio. Yeah. You gotta have some reverb. You got to. This makes everything better.

15:43 It's kind of like butter for me. I love butter. It just makes everything better. And then I like a little delay, so like a little echo on the. On the vocals. When you're doing some vocal things, it's really nice for those to echo and not just kind of drop. Yeah. And make sure there's a nice cooked meal for the star of the night.

16:11 Right? Yes. Thank you. Yeah. Oh, my goodness. I'm looking out for you. Some food, you know, a little water, room temperature, please. That's all I'm asking. I'm easy. I mean, I don't ask for a lot of stuff, you know, maybe some rose petals as I walk onto the stage. I hope that's not too much to ask. Right, Right.

16:37 So those are the simple rider and demands from the star of the show. Coming up, the east coast tour, which actually starts in the Midwest, but works its way here to New York City, which is an hour away from our listening audience. And we broadcast here in Connecticut online, but on regular radio. We're hitting Long island, which can.

16:58 In Connecticut, go down to the show at the Mercury Lounge, and you'll be on the road all the tour dates, and you can get tickets at Aloevolution. Andy, Alo is with us. And you're originally from Cameroon and grew up right in Sacramento, California, up north in California. Tell us, you know, your first introduction to music and you know, when, when you really realized this is what I want to be doing 24 7.

17:26 Right. I mean, when I was little, I grew up in a really artistic family. So my mother plays piano and she sings as well. My dad sings and he writes poetry. So we were very lucky to be surrounded by music. I grew up listening to records every morning and my mom would bring back music from the US when she came back home to Cameroon.

18:00 And so the variety of music I've mentioned, Dolly Parton or Bob Marley to African artists like Miriam Makeba, are artists that I grew up listening to. So for me, I was always surrounded by music. So I don't find it too hard that that's something I end up doing or wanting to do. And ever since I was little, I, I loved to perform and kind of be the center of attention.

18:34 I think it helped that I was the youngest of all my siblings, so I got all the attention from my parents and I think they were a little jealous. But anyway, when I moved to the US I joined choir in middle school. I moved here when I was about 13 and so I jumped into middle school and started choir. And I think that's really where it hit me that it was possible to be a singer and that there was an opportunity here in the US to have a career as a singer and a musician.

19:18 And you're getting back out on the road fresh off that European tour and we gotta get into another song right now. And then. Oh, before we, we get into another song, I wanted to give a shout out to a brother by the name of Jay Greco who's going to see you at the Mercury Lounge in New York City. And he told me that he bought one of your hand designed is it necklace that for his wife.

19:43 And he's gonna be at the Mercury Lounge show. So want to say hello to Jay Greco? Oh, very cool. Awesome. So you got, you got fans coming out to see you in various locales and you'll be out on the road, the 17th at the elbow Room in the windy city of Chicago. And right now we're going to listen to one more track again from Superconductor Yellow Gold.

20:05 And this is one of my favorites off the record and got that Minneapolis sound a bit. But Andy Alo's spin is all over the record. And tell me about Yellow Gold and the meaning on the lyrics too. Yellow Gold is basically, I mean, the hook of the song is, you know, I Wish I had some Yellow Gold. I heard it's your kryptonite.

20:29 And basically it's wishing, you know, that you have that one thing that can make the person that you like or you love to, you know, feel the same way and to make, you know, inspire them to, you know, chase you or want to be with you, even if it's just for one night. Okay, well, that is from superconductor Yellow Gold.

20:54 Andy Alo. She's been kind enough to join us for the majority of this hour and we welcome her back to the upper room. And we're having a great time talking off air about the life on the road and touring and such. And you were also, we alluded to actress and model and, you know, one of the big campaigns that you're featured in, Wells Fargo commercial.

21:18 And when people go to their ATMs, they can see your face right there. That's gotta be a little. I don't have that problem. But tell us about seeing yourself on the screen on ATM and people seeing you and saying, I know, Andy, right? Yeah, I definitely have been getting a lot of messages and comments on my pages.

21:40 People posting pictures of themselves at their ATMs with me. It's kind of cool, actually. And it was really such a blessing and great opportunity to pair up with Wells Fargo for this because it gave me a chance to be, I guess, featured as a musician and as a singer, songwriter, which is what I do. So it kind of, it was really perfect.

22:11 You've done a lot of print and modeling ads and like that. Do you still continue to do that? I do. I think I look more for the projects where it kind of aligns with what I do as an artist. And some of the previous projects I did kind of allowed me to take on a different role or a certain character or something like that, which is really fun as an actress.

22:40 So now, you know, with the music, I. I enjoy projects like Wells Fargo, where I was given a chance to, you know, show what I. What I do, you know, primarily. Right. But I'm looking forward to kind of focusing more on acting and, you know, I'd love to kind of branch into doing a TV or film at some point.

23:06 So it's really exciting for me. You know, I'm sure you have these big discussions with all your musical friends who some have been in the business for years and years and coming out and, you know, as an. You're an indie artist, I guess you have to put it together, all different avenues just to make it Happen, Right.

23:26 It's not like the days, you know, the million selling records were guaranteed even by the big stars. It's a lot of work, I'm sure, right? Mm, definitely. I mean, when I first really started funding my own music, my first album on Fresh, I had to pay for myself. So that's kind of why I started doing the modeling and the acting on the side is because that's how I funded my first album.

23:54 Right. And even now, you know, some of those checks that come in from previous work that I did continue to make it possible for me to do my music. And everything that I make kind of just goes back and it's a cycle as an independent artist because you're your own company, you're your own bank in a sense, and your own backing.

24:18 So sometimes it's hard to continually do that because you don't have that big push of a huge label behind you, but sometimes I feel like it's a positive thing because it allows me to have a lot more control over what I do. And also it allows me to be much closer to my supporters and my fans who, again, make it even more possible for me to do what I do.

24:46 Because if they weren't out there buying my albums, if they weren't out there buying the tickets to my shows, it's so incredible. Going to Europe and selling out concerts. Right. And seeing, you know, I'm seeing hundreds and hundreds of people, you know, just waiting and just so appreciative and so happy, you know, that makes it all worth it to say, all right, you know what?

25:06 This is why I do it. Because I can see you and I know your comments on Facebook and when I see your face, like, okay, cool. You know what? We're friends. We're almost like a family. And it looks like you do a lot of meet and greets, signing stuff. And are you going to be doing that on this tour coming up?

25:26 Yes, yes, definitely. After every show, I'll definitely be meeting and greeting everybody and I'll have my album there. So, you know, if you want me to sign something, that's cool. Yeah, I'll write a little note, draw a little smiley face for you. I really enjoy meeting, you know, everybody who comes to my show because, you know, it means a lot to me and it just, it makes me happy to know that they care so much and I want them to know that it does mean much to me that they come to my shows.

26:05 And so it's awesome to meet everybody. Well, this leg of the tour, the solo acoustic tour for Superconductor Andy alo starts the 17th in Chicago, Illinois at the Elbow Room. Looking down from following night at Wilbert's in Cleveland, Ohio, Pike Room at crowfoot in Pontiac, Michigan, and then two dates in Pennsylvania and Pittsburgh and Westchester.

26:27 The 21st at the Club Cafe, the 23rd at the Note, and then on the 25th at Jam Java in Washington, D.C. 26th at Rams Head on stage in Annapolis, Maryland, and on the 27th, Mercury Lounge in New York City. And Andy is an independent artist. And the tickets, you know, we're not going to go over all the ticket prices through the tour, but very affordable.

26:50 And we'll definitely allow you to bring extra money to buy the record and say hello to Andy and, you know, bring some extra scratch for that. So talk about. I'm sure you're always writing or writing demos and getting ready for the next project. Anything in the can already that you want to talk about?

27:15 Well, I'm so glad you asked, Joe. Oh, okay. You're right. I'm always writing and I have some songs that I want to put together for my next album. So that's kind of what I'm working on is my third record right now, and I think the direction I'm going in is more acoustic, actually. Okay. So I'm going to play a lot of the new songs while on tour just to kind of gauge, you know, how they work and if people can connect and relate to them.

27:52 So that's always nice to get a little feedback on some new songs. So I'll be sharing some new stuff while on tour. So, you know, you might get a preview of the next album. And we got to give the address for New York City at The Mercury Lounge, 217 East Houston street, lower part in New York. And it'll be two weeks from now on the 27th.

28:17 They have a Showtime listed at 6:30pm But I believe that's probably the opener, right? Yes. Okay. And you'll be performing there as well. And we mentioned about, you know, you being raised in Sacramento, California, and, you know, we caught some of some of the great performances in your stops on Good Day Sacramento.

28:41 Ken Rudolph, one of the hosts of that show. But, you know, tell us about that show and, you know, Sacramento support of your art. Yeah, I mean, that's really where I started out. You know, I did my first open mic in Sacramento. I had my first band in Sacramento and recorded my first album there. So it's a lot of firsts when I started out, and there's a lot of folks that were there and have seen my journey and been a part of my journey thus far.

29:12 And good day. Sacramento is definitely one of them. They were the first show to kind of put me on television to perform, and they still support me now. And I know Ken Rudolph is one of the anchors on the show, so I got to meet him recently, actually, and they shared with me that he sings. So we worked it out, and during the show, we ended up singing a little song together.

29:39 So it was really fun. And they're really great people. And Sacramento as a whole, they've always been supportive and continue to support me now. So is there a spot on the third record for Ken Rudolph? Ooh. You know, he's gonna have to keep practicing. You know, he's definitely got some talent. Love you, ke.

30:00 I love you to death, but. Yeah, we love you too. We don't have to work on that. Ken's a great guy, so. Hey, Andy, I gotta thank you so much. I know we've been talking about having you on the show as soon as the record came out, but, you know, hopefully the first of many times and hopefully you'll be able to come to the studio and, you know, we've had nine musicians jam in the studio here, so you can bring any configuration or just yourself and your guitar and beautiful voice and great person.

30:29 So thanks so much, Andy. Thank you. Thank you so much. And I can't wait to come back on the show and definitely come into the studio sometime and perform. And more importantly for our listeners, Andy's going out on the road on the 17th and closer to us, she'll be two weeks from. Maybe you'll be going on stage two weeks exactly from now at the Mercury Lounge in New York City.

30:52 And you can go for ticket information, aloevolution.com and thanks so much, Andy. We'll go out when stars collide.