Growing up in the Midwest, Alexvndria (born Alexandria Hill) had a humble beginning with music. Taking up the violin in her school music program, she fell in love with the instrument before having any access to private lessons or in-depth music education. It wasn’t until high school when Alexvndria found an afterschool program dedicated to classical chamber music that she found her calling: music performance. Struck with a passion to share music on stage, Alexvndria went on to study violin performance in college conservatories. Alexvndria’s musical studies were quite different from the music she creates today, but it’s clear that her classical and orchestral education holds deep roots in the way she imagines sound.
During her time as a member of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago she would sometimes take musical phrases from rehearsal and practice writing songs to them at home. However, it wasn’t until the pandemic lockdown of 2020 that Alexvndria had to find other ways to make music. She found that singing gave her a form of expression she couldn’t achieve on the violin. She was then compelled to learn songwriting in order to fully realize this new creative outlet. After 2 years of practice, Alexvndria felt confident enough to start releasing music
Set to release February 9, 2024, Hopeless Romantic will feature 5 tracks covering subjects like situationships, lust, unrequited love, and fulfilling love. In a gradient of simple sounds growing in complexity, Alexvndria incorporates orchestral moments reflecting her experiences from the symphony hall to the recording studio. Her cover of “He Loves Me”, by Jill Scott, was inspired by her appreciation for Neo Soul. “Neo Soul deeply influenced my expectations of romance, so it felt fitting to pick a song from the genre that portrays a good and healthy love.” With a full orchestra and jazz trio, Alexandria brought on Matt Jones to arrange a lush, orchestral interpretation of the song.
Employing elements of classical, jazz, soul, and R&B, this entire work is a musical journal entry on Alexvndria’s experience with love. Her most personal song “Stay” represents a relationship in which one waits too long for their partner to say I love you for the first time. Alexvndria sings “Will you say you love me? Will you stay forevermore? I know I gave my heart too soon, but don’t leave me wanting more. This feeling I keep inside can only live alone for so long, and when I look into your eyes they tell me you don’t want to go.” These words dig deep into the experience of knowing one may have to walk away from someone who isn’t ready for love.
The writing process of this project was a collage of artistic involvement. “Twilight” and “Stay” were produced by Chucky Kim who added a wide range of electronic and keyboard instruments. “Epigraph” came about after working on the track “Twilight”. “The electric bass solo was stuck in my head all day. Before I knew it, I was calling up a friend to improvise over it and recorded the whole song in my living room.” Her other song “Silly Me” was written and recorded while on tour with The Broadway Sinfonietta. Finding a studio along the way, all string members and drummer contributed to the arrangement of the song.
Recorded in a span of 4 months across 6 cities, the process of creating Hopeless Romantic has given Alexvndria the confidence to move forward as a singer-songwriter with proof she is capable of creating her own artwork.
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