Alyssa Garcia and I met when she was a student and I was a songwriting professor at Drexel University in Philadelphia. Before she ever took my songwriting class, she was one of a handful of private-lesson students I taught each term in a dusty and desolate 4th floor practice room in the campus "Main Building".. the room had a piano and one working power outlet from the early 20th century. During that 10-week term, I got to see Alyssa's talent as a musician and songwriter close-up. One of the songs she wrote during that time became her course project, which we recorded together in GarageBand and it ended up on one of her EPs. You can check out "Apart" on Spotify HERE.
Even before she attended Drexel, Alyssa was already a seasoned musician with a lot of career accolades, including sync placements for her song “Loved Actually” which landed on several episodes of The Young and the Restless and in the Netflix original movie The Starling. In 2015, she won the Philadelphia Songwriters Project annual contest AND if I’m not mistaken, her 2018 Hometown Heroes Homey Award for Best Pop Song made her the youngest ever recipient of that award.
As a female Filipino-American musician, she has faced a number of challenges head on, taking inspiration from Grammy winning Filipino artists like Steve Lacey and Beabadoobee, and showcasing her talent on several instruments and in high profile settings, like Music Fest in Bethlehem, PA. Her stated credo that "Music Is The Cure" resonates loud and clear with her supports and with me!
I hope you enjoy this great conversation!
~JKF ❤