Sounding Softly with Angelina Valente

A conversation with the singer/songwriter on going at your own pace, tending to the spirit, and more.

Photo of Angelina Valente by Jimmy Fontaine

Angelina Valente has got one of those voices… you know the ones, when you hear them you sit up and listen. She’s been making waves in our local scene for a while now and there’s no question why. It’s been wonderful to get to know her a bit better over the last few months — she’s a real gem — and I’m so very excited to see where her musical career takes her.

Oh yes, and she’s opening for pop phenom Kimbra on April 19 at Universal Preservation Hall in Saratoga Springs, NY! If you’re in the area, you should not miss it.

In a free-flowing conversation (we recorded while walking outside), we talked about believing in your self-worth, going at your own pace, and tending to the spirit through everyday moments.

In Conversation with Angelina Valente

Photo by Kiki Vassilakis

How’s your day going so far?

I was working on my bio earlier, which is honestly my worst nightmare. But I got this crazy opportunity [opening for Kimbra] and figured I should redo it. 

I've gone through so many iterations of my bio… I've gone through very “listy” bios that name all of my accomplishments. And then I get rid of everything and write something short and emotional. 

That's how I feel, too. I don't want it to be a resume. And then I delete everything. I've cycled back and forth. My bio used to be like: curl up with a warm drink of your choice and listen to my music because it'll make you feel happy inside. Right now it’s like, I recorded at this place, played in this place, and recorded at Atlantic Records, and whatever. 

You don't know what perspective someone is coming from when they're reading your bio, though. It might feel weird when you're writing it, but you have to look at it from the perspective of someone who knows nothing about you.

That's a really good way to think about it. If someone knows nothing about me, what's going to make them stay?

I think that includes who you are as a person as well as your resume. It's all part of a piece. 

There’s so much pressure about crafting the perfect bio. And then you just get paralyzed. And it's like, fuck. That was me today. 

But also, someone is either going to connect with your music, or not. And having a slightly different bio probably isn't going to be the thing that does it.

Also true.

They're going to listen to your music, and that's going to be the thing that does it.

Yes. Thank you for that.

Speaking of your music, congrats on your recent album, Sing! 

It's funny that you say “recent”. It's already five months old. You know what I mean? It's weird. People already want new things. That's where my head is at.

A full-length album is a huge accomplishment though! Has the response been what you wanted?

Definitely. I mean, there's always that vision that this could be the thing that ends up shooting me to the point where I don't have to do anything but music for a living. Where I could just make my music and tour, which would be amazing. The album hasn’t done that, but it has done many other things. I feel like it has made people look at me as an artist differently. People in this area take me a lot more seriously now, actually.

Because it's a full-length album, or what do you mean?

I think so. All of a sudden I’m getting local attention that I've been wanting but never gotten. It's pretty cool because I feel like I'm finally ready for it. I feel comfortable on stage. I feel comfortable with my music. I have a body of work that I'm proud of. If any of this had happened sooner, I don’t know that I would have been ready for it yet. 

It’s easy to ask, “why isn't it happening faster?” Or “why am I not getting what those people are getting?” The answer is that it had to happen this way in this time. So that I can be my best version of myself when I get to that point. I feel like this album came together at the right time.

Also, it just feels really nice to be getting support from my local community.

Having a community that's built from the ground up locally is such a strong foundation. The people who turn out to see you at your local shows are going to be there with you through everything. 

Those are also the people who are going to come to shows and bring other people with them. That's how it grows. But it’s incredible how long it takes. Unless you have real industry support and connections and the resources that come with that, it's slow. 

I think I'm just coming around to understanding that. I'm not quite there yet. But sometimes you can just feel, somewhere inside of you, that it's going to happen? 

At the same time, there’s no single moment of arrival. Because you'll get one major opportunity, like opening for Kimbra, and then that'll be a stepping stone to the next thing.

Yes. It's just another step. 

Photo by Jimmy Fontaine

You’ve been playing with a full band a lot lately.

It's a rotating cast because everyone is so busy all the time.

It’s hard enough as a solo performer. I’ve often wondered how bands do it in terms of scheduling.

I do not know. I have a Google Drive with everything in it that I send if new people are being added to the list. It’s hard because sometimes I have a new song that I want to throw in. And that's easy for me to do solo, but I can't really do that with a band, especially if there are new people playing. It's tough. A lot of the time, we rarely have a rehearsal with everyone before the day of the show. It’s a very rare thing because everyone's so busy. 

But I do have a core group that I went down to the city with. 

Tell us about this! You performed for the CEO of Atlantic Records?

That's right. We performed for him, and then we did a photoshoot, and then we went back and recorded. I just got the stems today, actually. So I think we’ll put that out soon, which is cool.

Can't wait to hear it. 

I'm excited about it. It was such a wild experience being at Atlantic Records. We played three songs for this guy. When we finish the last song, we're all looking at each other, screaming on the inside, and he just gets up and goes, “Okay, let's go to lunch.” I was like, Oh, my God.

Everyone always has something to say about my voice, but he also brought up my lyrics, which people don't often mention. He told me that he sees that I can do a lot of different things, stylistically. Rock, pop… and the song we played, “Charting a Course”, he described as bluegrass. He said that I wind my way between all of them very well.

That's a nice compliment. 

Yeah. It was cool. And then he started asking about my subscriber numbers on the various online platforms. And I was like, fuck me. He told me I have a long way to go. He was telling me that he has a team of people who are on social media all day watching what goes viral. They literally bring him a video and ask him if he wants to sign them? That's his job now.

Oh, man.

I know.

So many feelings.

I know. Dude, I was literally sitting in the room and my heart dropped. 

Here's the thing, though. There are the uber pop stars who exist on a different planet. And then there are infinite levels down from that – artists with smaller communities that are no less meaningful. There are so many incredible ways to exist as a musician that are, in my mind, very successful.

With the emphasis on online numbers, it can have this effect where people feel like they're not successful if they don’t have huge numbers – that music that exists on a smaller scale isn't worth something. And that's just obviously not true.¹

It totally messes with your head. It was a very interesting experience for sure though. Very informative. I posted about it on social media, and then all of a sudden, a ton of people were like, “Oh, who is this person?” People started to take me seriously as a musician.

Knowing that I'm worthy of being where I am has also been a very interesting thing, having to shut my brain off and tell myself that I fucking deserve to be here, and that my music will speak for itself.

Yeah, we all need that healthy dose of humility and knowing that there's always more to learn and grow, but also believing in yourself and your worth. You need both.

In college, in my first day of acting class, the teacher is taking attendance. She calls my name and I say, “here”, and she looks at me and says, “Do you feel like a small fish in a big pond?”

I said, “yes”, because I totally did. I didn’t feel like I belonged there. She kicked my butt in that class. I left that class crying 90% of the time.

I just hate that style of teaching. I’m sorry you went through that.

Me, too. I do not learn that way. No. Do not push me like that.

When we're making art, we’re tending to our insides. Being beaten down doesn’t help.

It's so true. Some people believe you have to be broken to make good art. I don't believe that. That doesn’t work for me. I just want to be a fairy in the woods dancing around with sparkly sun shining through the leaves and moss on the ground. And I want to be wearing a flower crown, and then I want to write my music. That's what I want. Do you ever have people who ask you what fairytale creature you feel like you are inside: witch, mermaid, or fairy? For me it’s fairy all the way. But also, sometimes I get caught in the mermaid.

I feel like I'm a witch.

I feel like you are, too, but I didn't want to say it first. Yeah, you're definitely a witch. But it's awesome. 

Anyway, for the first time in my life, I am just loving where things are right now. My career is consistent, my relationship is great. I have all these gigs coming up that I'm really excited about. I'm learning that so much of life is just out of your control and hard. Life is so fucking hard. It's really hard. No one prepares you for it. But I’m in a place where I think I just want to be for right now.

I've spent so much of my life looking at the future. Right now, I'm just trying to fall into my moment. Waking up in the morning, making a cup of tea, and sitting in our bright, sunny room and reading my book is my favorite thing right now. 

There will always be something on the horizon to dream about, but I think you have to hold the horizon in a container. You can’t exist in that space all the time, because it’s draining. I think that life, not just being a musician, is figuring out how you can find fulfillment in your daily life. Because otherwise, life is just a chore. 

I think that's really good and healthy. An artist is not defined only by their next project, we’re just humans living our lives. I think it's easy to forget that we have to tend to our spirit. Sometimes that means sitting quietly and reading. 

I've been talking about this in therapy a lot. I carry so much guilt around with me over almost every action I make, guilt about how one action will affect other people. I'm working on letting go of that right now. All I want to do is sit in my little corner and read my book and escape for a bit. If you can't pour out right now because you're tending to the inside, that's okay. For the first time in years and years and years, probably since my mom was diagnosed with cancer, I feel like my nervous system is regulating again.

I think it's really important to take a beat. So I think I'm taking a beat. 

Photo by Kiki Vassilakis

A lot of music culture pushes us to feel like we need to be producing all the time, and releasing music all the time, and performing and touring all the time. And we get those messages in so many different ways. You have to find the right balance for you.

And you have to keep doing the thing in a way that fills you up instead of drains you. I have to find a way to exist that will allow me to be in it for the long haul. I think it’s important to remember that the present moment is what it is. There will always be something on the horizon to dream about, but you have to hold the horizon in a container. You can’t exist in that space all the time, because it’s draining. I think that life, not just being a musician, is figuring out how you can find fulfillment in your daily life. Because otherwise, life is just a chore. 

You have to cultivate your joy. It won’t just find you. You have to make your life worth living. It’s the tiniest, littlest moments that you cultivate daily, if you can.

Absolutely. Our lives are nothing more than just a series of moments. It sounds obvious, but it's true. 

I’m trying to find peace in my own brain existence. I love meditation for this reason. So many people are like, I just can't do it. I can't shut my brain off. The point isn't to shut your brain off. The point is to develop compassion for the fact that you can't. Begin again, begin again, begin again. It’s important to have empathy for yourself. Life is hard. It's hard being a human. You have to give yourself a little bit of grace. Or a lot.

1. Spotify has recently started demonetizing tracks that get less than a thousand plays per year. Meaning, artists receive no compensation from these tracks. If you want to learn more about this, here’s a good primer. Feeling despair over the state of music economics? United Musicians and Allied Workers (UMAW) is fighting back. Learn about the Living Wage for Musicians Act here and here.