Interview with Alyssa-Ann Grider, Co-writer of "Break Free" and "Butterflies"
Q1: What do you like most about songwriting, and what is the most challenging part for you? * What I like most about songwriting is that you can write about anything. You can show your feelings and you don't have to hide anything. I also like writing a song that people can relate to. The most challenging part would probably be finishing a song. I think of only the first verse and chorus when I'm writing, and usually the second and end doesn't come to me until a week or couple weeks later.
Q2: Where does your inspiration for songs generally come from? * I get inspiration from anything. I can watch the news and get inspired, I can pass a cute guy in the hallway and get inspired. I think you have to look at the world around you and pay attention to feelings and people.
Q3: How many songs have you written with Chelsea, and how did you first meet her? * The only songs I have written with Chelsea is the ones you hear. I met her on MySpace a couple years ago and suggested that she should read some of my lyrics, and it all went from there.
Q4: What inspired Butterflies? * The song in general, I wrote in tenth grade. There was this boy who was SO cute, had blue eyes and blond hair. The first time I saw him, I wrote "Is this Butterflies, Something deep inside, something that never lets you go, Is this just a dream, Stuck in reality, or just something made for show". Obviously Chelsea had made some changes to the chorus, but that was the original part. I've always wanted to tell him, but I'll just keep it a secret.
Q5: What's the story behind Break Free? * You know, I wrote the chorus "Lets break free tonight, see what we discover" in Nashville, two days after I had my voice surgery. I couldn't really talk (or sing) so I would "mouth" the words, and play along to my guitar. The song itself, is about being carefree and reckless. Just getting up and going a place where you don't have to think about anything. It makes it better, if you have the one you love beside you.
Q6: What line are you most proud of in Break Free? * My favorite is the first two lines in the song "You've been aching for a new adventure, Wanted to reach out, but was never sure." I like those lines because it explains how some people are scared to take on a certain thing or live a little.
Q7: What does it feel like to have two songs that you co-wrote on a CD? * It's liberating, exciting and just knowing that a lot of people will be hearing what you have written, is amazing.
-Alyssa