Musician Alice Payne will launch her debut album this week after creating it in her bedroom during Melbourne's lockdowns last year.
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Wonderland is something Payne has been aspiring to but the time at home left her obsessed with the idea, sometimes spending more than 12 hours a day on her computer working on it.
"I just had all this time to get hyper-focused and smashed it out in three months," she said. "I had so much time, I probably wouldn't have got through lockdowns without (this project).
"In October (2020) I started producing music and I just loved it. I was making so many songs and thought there was enough to do an album.
"It was always going to be a home-based recording - booking a studio is so expensive."
Encouragement from Payne's four housemates helped her focus on the album.
"They let me do my thing, some days I would spend 16 hours' straight on the computer and wouldn't even get up for food," she said. "I would play my housemates the songs and they would just say 'keep going!'
"I feel like I have the music and melodies in my head and can cherry pick what sounds good. I write music with themes of love, outer space, dreams - any positive thing.
"When I moved to Melbourne, I fell in love with dance music - it has a nice upbeat vibe. The whole thing with the album was being stuck in lockdown and wanting to make something that feels really happy, has a good message and is kind of catchy. I wanted to make something really different, not just a typical radio pop or electronic.
"I wanted to blend all the things I like to make a different sound of my own. If I had to name three 'genres' it is a mix of pop, electronic and dance with some synth waves."
Payne, who was born and raised in Bendigo, went to Melbourne five years ago for university but the lure of music has always been strong.
"(Growing up) I was always doing school performances, I performed at Anzac Day ceremonies and did GTM (Groovin The Mo) 2019 with charity organisation Hiphopportunities For Youth," she said.
"Initially, I went to Melbourne for science at university but every time I tried to not do music, things would happen and I was pulled back to it. So now I am going full on into it and we will see how it goes.
"I grew up playing piano mostly. But I know how to play guitar, use synthesisers, sing and do whole productions on my laptop. I want to learn drums next. (Working solo) you have to play every instrument but the tech we have got is amazing."
Payne said the hardest part of taking up the challenge of a music career was establishing herself in the music scene while remaining independent.
"It's hard as an independent," she said. "A lot of places you need to show videos of your experience. So I just post as much as I can and wait to see what happens.
"Recently I messaged about 10 bars in Melbourne and got no response. It is such a hard journey getting your name out. Doing independently there is all this rejection but you keep going because you love music.
"This year I am doing a music performance course at College of the Arts and hoping to get spots at festivals. I just want to keep working really hard. I may do another EP or album, I don't know if I could do two in one year but we'll see."
Alice Payne's debut album Wonderland will launch on music streaming services from January 14.
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