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connect on stage but even off stage and how nice they are to every crew member, every person in their staff —to us, to everybody. They're just so classy and graceful and amazing," she beams. Alessia has no problem staying in good company. She was nominated along with Zayn Malik, DNCE, The Chainsmokers, and Shawn Mendes for The American Music Award's "New Artist of the Year" award. Not to get all Kanye, but Zayn, who won, and DNCE's Joe Jonas came from two mega-boy- bands, technically they're not "new." Alessia's past year has been chock-full of pinch- me moments, many of which normally take artists years to accomplish. What's next? Where do you go from here? "I think the beauty of accomplishing goals is new goals come about after that or because of that," she eloquently responds. "Of course, typical artist thing would be a Grammy, that's the ideal. I would love to play my own stadiums one day. I would love to more specifically host SNL —that would be awesome. Voice a character in Disney. I have many interests, so we'll see what happens," says the self-proclaimed theatre kid, who'd also like to get into acting. Fortunately, Disney already has her name and number from when they recruited her to sing Lin- Manuel Miranda's song "How Far I'll Go" for their 3D computer-animated film, Moana. The upbeat, inspiring song will instantly put you in a good mood. I've had the song on repeat for a while now. Seriously, download it on iTunes. On Thanksgiving night, Alessia performed "How Far I'll Go" on ABC's 2-hour TV special, The Wonderful World of Disney: Magical Holiday Celebration featuring an artist lineup that included Mariah Carey and Kelly Clarkson. This is one of a few holiday shows Alessia will perform at this season. After these shows, she intends to take a little break. "I'm just going to disappear for a bit, hide away, and make the next album… Maybe start writing in February and March… The first album took about a year and a bit. I don't think I'm going to take a year, but we'll see," she replies. With the first album, they scheduled studio time to sit down and write, these days Alessia writes whenever and wherever she can find some time –in hotel rooms, backstage, even in bathrooms. What you can expect from this songwriter is honesty. "I think it's very honest," she says about her music. "I've never put out anything I didn't believe in myself." Because some of her lyrics have painted her as a "rebel without a cause" she thinks people would be surprised to find out that she's really not an antisocial person. "I think a lot of people think that I'm just spewing out all these preachy things because I'm always mad at the world… I understand where they would get that, especially from "Here" because I seem like I'm miserable in that song. I'm definitely not that. I'm a happy person. I love people and I like exploring. I'm not as miserable as people think." She smiles. "I'm not miserable at all, actually. I would like to think I'm a good, happy for-the -most-part person." She laughs at the inane notion. While her album title Know-It-All is supposed to be tongue-in-cheek, I think Alessia knows much more than she credits herself for. The wisdom and depth in her music inspires you to be you, be strong, and ignore the naysayers. Ready to explore the world, she hopes to travel to Asia next year for some festivals. "I've never been to Asia before. Tokyo would be cool. Dubai would be awesome," she says wistfully. Like the lyrics from "How Far I'll Go" say: "If the wind in my sail on the sea stays behind me / One day I'll know / If I go there's just no telling how far I'll go." This is simply the beginning of this talented musician's epic journey –stay tuned. ML Keep up with Alessia on Instagram: @alessiasmusic, Twitter: @alessiacara, Facebook https://www.facebook.com/alessiacara, and www.alessiacara.com. WE WANT MORE! What would you say is the tone of your music? You've been compared to Lorde and Rihanna. "Which is awesome. I love those people. It's definitely pop, it might be alternative pop. There's soul in there. There's some R&B. I don't want to say it's everywhere because I think it is still kind of cohesive. But it is kind of experimental with different genres within pop, if that makes sense." Do you have a favorite song on the album? "That's hard to say because I love them all, and they were all really important times in my life. Of course "Here" will always have a special place because it was the first. I love "Stone." I love "Scars." I love all of them. I'm proud of it." Is there anyone you would like to collaborate with? "I have a bunch of people I want to work with. I love Drake. I would love to work with him. Frank Ocean. Ed Sheeran." What are you watching on TV? "I love Orange Is the New Black. Stranger Things —I'm only on episode 2. I'm behind on that show, but that's a good one too." Who are you listening to in music? "I listen to everything. I'm really big on Anderson .Paak right now. The new Frank Ocean album, of course. A lot of Troye Sivan."