Alayna embraces multiple creative mediums through her upcoming live music and art tour

Fresh from receiving a Silver Scroll nomination for her song But It's Lonely, Alayna is about to embark on an immersive performance and art tour in support of her album Set Her Free. We caught up with the singer songwriter to discuss the courage it takes to embrace tenderness, the connection between visual art and songwriting, and why leading with love sits at the heart of everything she creates.

Your music strikes such a delicate balance between being gentle and bold all at once. How do you achieve this and why is it so relevant in today's world?

I am a naturally sensitive person, which I think allows me to lean deeply into a feeling and write about it, live in it. I do think that's part of an artist's job in a way - go to the feeling so the listener can also go with them, a hand to hold and some company in whatever they need to feel. 
I think it's incredibly bold to be soft in today's world. Tenderness is very exposing, like pressing right on the part that hurts - it's very brave to be tender. I try to bring that prosody to what I do. I'm soft spoken and gentle in my delivery, but I try to take you right to the center of that feeling. My favourite artists and songwriters do that for me.

The concept of art and music together conveys extended meaning. What inspired this fusion format and how did you piece it all together?

I've always loved making art. painting and sculpting is a kind of meditation for me and I find it to be one of my greatest teachers about the creative process. It eminds me to trust the process, to move intuitively and with instinct rather than with critique. To follow the creative thread of inspiration, to know I am always just there to show up and learn and just navigate the sails instead of trying to force my way through - in this way it mirrors the music making process. Making the art exhibition was an extension of that experience. For 3 weeks I sat everyday in my little studio playing the album and creating what I felt represented each song.When I go to art galleries or museums, it's a really beautiful balance of being witnessed but also very private, like a kind of self-intimacy where you feel like the center of your own universe. When people entered the exhibition and put their headphones on, I wanted them to feel like they stepped into that solitary place, have something visual to rest their eyes on while they were introduced to the album, to really feel immersed in the world kinesthetically, and feel closer to themselves for a while.

You recently received a silver scroll nomination for 'But It's Lonely'. How much does this recognition validate your work?

I love the craft of songwriting so much, so to be recognised for it really means the world to me. This song felt almost too honest and exposing to release, but I know that's where the really good stuff is. I'm grateful that other songwriters were able to see and affirm that for me too.

This tour will include your first ever headline show in Wellington. Why is now the right time to do this?

Wellington is a city that really celebrates the arts, and I've wanted to play there for years. It felt like the perfect time to bring my show down there, to set up my exhibition at Blue Door Studios for the week prior and really let the album experience breathe. I'm really excited to be there.

What can fans expect to see from you at the upcoming shows?

We've created three unique shows to fit three unique spaces - in Wellington I'm playing an intimate and stripped set at Whisky & Wood, in Rotorua in a beautiful expansive theatre at the Sir Howard Morrison Centre, and in Auckland, utilising the expansive venue and visual elements of Studio 230. I'm taking elements of the art and the exhibition to all of the shows as well, so wherever you attend to you'll have something special. The album art exhibition can be viewed in Wellington at Blue Door Studios from 5th - 9th August, and in Rotorua at Hotpotz Studio from 12th - 15th August.

If your work could inspire a change in culture, what would you want to see?

Set Her Free is all about love - how vast it is, how it's woven through everything, how it's the very central life force of all that we do. I don't think there's an opposite to love, just a lack of it - a kind of "not letting the light in". I really believe that moving with love and being heart led can change culture. I want people to feel seen, held, and a little closer to their own light as I walk through this life - as an artist, but also just as a human. I think we create better from those places too, I think there's a great freedom on the other side of letting the light in.