1)Would you like to introduce yourself?
Sure! I’m Alanna Matty, and I’m a singer-songwriter from Toronto

2)When and why did you start playing?
I’ve always loved performing and being on stage, which started with piano when I was really little and eventually moved to musical theatre in high school and I’ve been performing my own music ever since then. My parents tried to get me into piano exams, but writing music was way more fun and fulfilling so I’m not sure when exactly I started but it’s been a long time, that’s for sure.

3)What is your favourite part about this line of work? Your least favourite? Why?
I love when people connect to the music that I play, it feels really good to be able to reach people like that. I put a lot of myself into these songs, and it’s nice that not only can it be cathartic for me to write them, but also for other people to hear and relate to them. My least favourite part has to be this feeling of competition within the industry. I love lifting up other peoples’ work and achievements, but not everyone is like that. There’s this pettiness that runs through some people, almost like they think celebrating someone else’s successes means that their successes are less important? It’s hard to explain, but having gone to a school full of people who were all trying to succeed in a creative industry you get a lot of jealousy and pettiness (even years later) that’s really a shame, since we’d get so much farther if we lifted each other up instead.

4)To what extent do you plan your future?
I’m a planner, but much more for the short term than long. So much can change within a year that it seems futile to put weight into a 5 year plan when who knows what can happen. I tend to plan for the year ahead, and set long term goals, but I prefer to be flexible and see what life throws at me instead of trying to nail down where I’ll be even 2 years from now.

5)What has been your most glorious “failure”?
Failure seems like a harsh term, but I’ve definitely seen a lot of projects rot on the shelf and that feels not great. I’ve filmed music videos, even some live on the floor videos that I had high expectations for that just ended up either being not good or not getting finished (probably because they weren’t as good as I wanted). My last album I released didn’t get the response I was hoping for after all of the work I put into it, but I don’t see it as a failure, just a part of my history that I can learn and grow from.

6)When were you first asked for your autograph?
About 6 years ago I had a song in a viral video that led to me mailing out my EP “A Song for My Love” all over the world, and most people requested that I sign it before sending. If I have hard copies of albums at shows I get people who will ask me there as well, but there’s something awesome about mailing your little EP to Japan and having the person request that you sign it first.

7)When were you last hungover?
Fun Alanna fact: my super power is that I’m immune to hangovers! The first and only time I’ve been hungover was 11 years go in grade 10, the first time I ever got drunk. Worst part was my friend’s dad refused to take us to the train station in the morning until we had shoveled the driveway, and it was snowing so hard that it took us nearly 4 hours to get it done. Clearly he knew we’d been up to no good.

8)And, most importantly, what is your favourite type of cookie?
Ginger!