Attitude into the Stage - Luxury Splash of Art

The moment a microphone was thrust in front of her, life changed. She suddenly found inspiration, a distinct new passion. “My first thought was to grab that microphone, and to sing as loud as possible,” remembers psychotherapist Alexandra Nowak. A critical moment in her evolution, she now realizes that this urge to sing as a child was a scream for attention, her wanting to be heard and noticed. Alenova, Polish singer, comes from a family that is musically gifted. Sounds of guitars, mandolins and violins echoed in her home since she can remember. It was merriment, a time of togetherness. Playing at her brother’s keyboard, singing songs in the language of her invention, she dreamt of becoming a singer. ‘I am following my intuition, my heart and I am aware that I feel very deeply and I want to share this feeling with the world on stage and as a psychotherapist. I am open to musical experiments, especially improvisations, and this is probably combined with some great excitement for me. It seems that it is this unpredictability that I have. Usually I break the concert outlines agreed with the musicians in order to introduce a spark of something magical, the unconscious, surprising but alive!’

LSA: You come from a musical family; your grandfather, who was a teacher, had his band. Your very talented mother was not allowed to follow that path. Did she support you when you decided to study music?

Luckily, nobody was imposing on me who I had to be, although I did hear that singing should only be an addition. It cannot become your source of abundance. My mum was very supportive; and it was her idea that I take the exam for entering a music school. I could sing, I had great hearing but no one taught me how to deal with stage fright. Fear paralyzed me and I failed. On stage you need charisma, power, confidence… it took me years and lots of work to free myself from the Jungian shadow. Actually, it is still going on, but at this point in my life, I am able to look at myself much more tenderly, and this approach allows me to develop.

LSA: You came a long way to become who you are now – did you have a mentor, a teacher, someone who helped you, pointed you towards the right direction?

Tadeusz Konador my mentor and singing teacher used to say, ‘You take your Attitude onto the stage! And leave it there; you already have everything in you. You just have to believe and let yourself be seen!’ Initially, I did not accept this version of events at all. I was wondering what this guy was talking about; after all, I came here to sing, is it not enough? It was only years later that I experienced what Tadeusz tried to tell me. So today I can also describe him as a kind of spiritual guide. I feel great gratitude that I met him. The stage charisma turned out to be much more important than the vocal technique or talent. The moment I opened myself, the universe began opening up to me. I felt that everything was available for me, but it doesn’t mean that the beginnings were easy, quite the opposite! I remember looking for venues where you could perform. I called, sent offers, I was a singer and manager all rolled into one. In hindsight, I know it was very tiring, but it paid off.

LSA: Where did that lead you, and where are you heading now?

For the last six years I have been creating, as a music duo with the phenomenal and irreplaceable guitarist Daniel Peszko. We have many ideas; we set our goals to achieve more every year. We have had the opportunity to show up at several major events, including BCC Young Business Leaders Gala in Warsaw and during the Hungarian wine festival in Krosno, where we were regularly invited. We were performing at the 41st Stage Song Festival in Wrocław (PPA Wrocław), which was an amazing experience. Each time we heard ‘thank you. It was an amazing experience’. But we were also asked, ‘why the hell don’t you have your songs, business cards yet?!’ All these situations gave us food for thought, and although we still like to improvise and do covers, our lyrics and arrangements are slowly being added to the file. We dream of recording our own album and concerts for large groups. I am sure this will happen one day. We meet more and more wonderful and helpful people on our path, for which I feel very grateful.

LSA: Earlier you mentioned about charisma, stage fright and talent – is talent enough to be successful.

I feel very generously gifted by God or by the Universe. As a child, I had the enthusiasm to train my voice for long hours every day and to correct myself every day. It was a persistent job that came to me naturally. However, the older I am, the more self-denial I need. I also know that without persistence I would not be able to move to a higher level in singing. I keep reminding myself that talent alone is unfortunately not enough. You can be talented but what we do with the talent is more important. Without consistency and work, we can’t reach a higher level of development.

LSA: Does it mean that you train every day?

Yes, every day I try to devote time to vocal warm-up, meditation and sport, general exercise. Every day I also drink freshly squeezed vegetable and fruit juices. Sometimes I only have them. This is something that allows me to integrate my mind, soul and body. It’s hard to spend the same amount of time everyday on singing, as circumstances always change. When I prepare for a concert, I come to rehearsal with the musicians at least 3 times a week and use my voice sometimes for 3 hours.

LSA: Why are you so passionate about singing?

It is freedom, pleasure, a communication channel, energetic, an experience of connecting with everything that surrounds me. It is the feeling of being in your highest vibration, something that would be hard, impossible for me to live without. When I sing I really feel alive, that I AM.