Allison Iraheta

With her powerful vocals, magenta streaked hair and edgy rock style, sixteen year old Allison Iraheta wowed America and the judges on ‘American Idol’ Season 8. A year later, the ‘Top 4’ finalist from LA is wowing America again with her debut album, ‘Just Like You’. Allison took some time out of her busy schedule to dish to Miss O and Friends about the album critics are raving about (girls, it is AMAZING!) and behind the scenes secrets from American Idol!

Album
Q: How would you describe your music to girls who are not familiar with it?

Allison: It’s definitely got a rock edge to it that you can definitely dance to. It’s a variety of sounds - some upbeat rock stuff, some slow down ballad rock stuff and it also has a pop vibe to it.

Q: Can you describe for the girls the process of making your album? For example, who did you work with on the project?

Allison: The process was crazy. I was on tour, on the ‘American Idol’ tour, hitting like 50 something cities and going into studios in the middle of nowhere, recording with awesome people like Max Martin, Greg Wells. Kara sent me a song that Pink co-wrote on it.

Q: How long did it take you to record a song?

Allison: It depends. I mean, when I was doing it on tour it took me a few hours to record most of the songs because we had to do it really quick. Sometimes it took me a day and sometimes when we had enough time we took two days to just come in and finish it the next day.

Q: You got to work with some of the biggest names in the music business. As a newcomer to recording, did you eve find that a little bit intimidating?

Allison: Definitely! These people have been in the music biz for so long and I’m barely coming in so I’m a newbie. I know what I’m doing, but I definitely want to come across like I know what I’m doing. I don’t want to seem like I don’t so it was definitely intimidating. I just kept my head strong and did what I do best.

Q: Is there any song off the album that has a special meaning for you?

Allison: Yes. ‘You Don’t Know Me’ is the one I co-wrote with David Hodges. The fact that I got to put my ideas down for that song, I could definitely really relate to that one because prejudgement was a big thing in my life. I think anyone can relate to that as well, they get prejudged and people think they know them because they just see them from the outside. That was one thing for me growing up, and it meant a lot to me to finally sit down and sing it because I was letting people know that I’m not the person they think I am, they have to get to know me first.

American Idol >