As promised, the Q&A is here. I love when artists do this so you can get a taste behind the scenes of the albums you love, so I knew I needed to do one too! This album has so much meaning to it and each video has its own story to it so I am excited to share with you. And if you haven’t watched my video album IMAGINE + REALITY go watch it now!
How did you get the idea to do an album?
Well, I was making lots of videos and for some reason I wasn’t posting them. I’d made several food videos (you can now find them on my website in the Videos page) and 2 inspirational ones and they were just sitting in a file on my computer. And then Heaven & Hell (Ava Max’s debut album) came out; I’d been so excited for it. It’s one of my favorite albums. But I think that gave me the idea to do an album. I’ve always loved music and had a dream of making an album, not music but something, I just didn’t know what. I had an ah-ha moment and it just all came together so quickly.
How did the album title come to you?
Titles are so important to me. I know I won’t listen to a song unless it has a good title, same thing goes for reading an article or something. You have to engage the viewer and that one line, the title, can either bring someone to watch the videos or not. So it was a big decision but I’ve always been amazed at how much our thoughts and imagination creates our reality. Literally everything you think and believe will come to be in your reality. It just kind of came to me. I was inspired by Heaven & Hell and the way the album is split up (7 heaven songs, 1 in between, 7 hell songs) so I knew I was going to put my own completely new spin on it. I told myself to pick 2 things you can make a video about in between them. And IMAGINE + REALITY was born. I was going back and forth between IMAGINATION and IMAGINE. But imagination was too long and I wanted it to be in present tense. I also love those words in general, they have such meaning to them and everyone interprets it differently. I think it gives the viewer a lot to think about which hopefully makes them want to watch the album!
How long did it take you to make this album?
1 week, 7 days. I had two videos done before I decided to make the album but I made 15 videos in 7 days. That is crazy to me! I did not think I could do that but the creative zone is addicting and when you’re in it ideas flow so freely and you just feel in the mood to create ALL the time. Every morning I’d sit and make a video, maybe two. If I was too busy I’d come back and make another one after dinner. Video making is so fun to me, I’d always wanted to do it. And now that I can whip them out in an hour and have such joy in doing so is so full circle to me. I think also when I’m making them it isn’t like I am making them. My soul, higher self and the Universe are making these which is me; we’re all the Universe. But I mean I don’t feel like I’m making them, something is coming through me. It is like channeling. It’s hard to explain; it’s like my mind shuts off and I’m not thinking at all. Writing does that for me too which is why I love it so much. It’s fun when I feel like I’m done making the video and I go to watch it because I don’t remember the past slides. It’s like I’m watching it for the first time even though I’ve wrote and designed every single slide. There’s a certain feeling I get when I make these videos, I don’t know how to describe it but whatever it is, I love that feeling so so much. I’m addicted.
Why 17 videos?
17 is such a big number this year. It is such a powerful number. Numbers have more meaning to me this year than ever. I also knew I needed an odd number so there’d be an equal amount of songs in IMAGINE and REALITY and 1 left over for in-between. Since my release date was already on a date with number 15, 17 just seemed right. And it gave me 8 songs for each section which 8 flipped is infinity so it seemed perfect. It seemed meant to be.
IMAGINE or REALITY?
That’s unfair! 😝 I love all these videos so much but if I have to choose I’ll pick REALITY.
What was the hardest video to make?
Probably The Bridge In Between. I’d been putting it off because when I make videos I like to not have a plan and just see what comes through. But this one I knew needed to be in-between IMAGINE and REALITY which was tricky and I knew it needed to be longer since it is my lead single for the album. One day I sat down and just banged it out, it came together a lot better than I thought it would. It’s the journey of becoming fearless to imagine your dream reality. I know that journey very well.
What was the easiest video to make?
I don’t really like the word easy but the one that came together the quickest was either Illusions or Leap. Illusions I had a thought in the shower to make a video about time. It took me 40 minutes to make, probably less. And Leap I knew was going to be about relationships and for some reason I love writing about connection. I think it came together so fast because I love the people in my life and just thinking of them and how they came into my life, how we’ve grown together and how the Universe has made those relationships come to life is just like putting my feelings in words. It doesn’t take time, it takes heart. I just knew what to say. Connection is one of the most important things to me so I think that’s why creating stuff about it is so effortless.
What were the first and last videos you made for the album?
The first and last one on the track! I made Beginning To See before I knew I was going to make an album and it just fit perfectly for the #1 spot. When I was finishing making this album IMAGINE was done and I had two left in REALITY. So Amaze was the last one. It was bittersweet making that one but I was ready to have the complete and finished product.
Talk about Life I’m Living, it’s different from the rest. What inspired this video?
It was just a thought I had when I couldn’t fall asleep. I was like, “What life am I living, the one during the day or is that just a dream because I’m living the one at night?” I was having super vivid and consistent dreams at the time too, almost to where I felt like I actually lived it. That’s what sparked the thought I think. Since it was late, I just wrote this long poem in my journal and that poem is the words in the video. It’s a little darker and very different. I knew I wanted poetry in the album because poetry is just a part of who I am. I kept the font the same because I wanted it to look almost handwritten since I did handwrite it first. I normally don’t do that, this video and Becoming Energy were the only videos I wrote down first and then added the backgrounds and music. Usually I do it all at once but I needed to break up the creative process. I also feel like this video is super relatable and very honest.
Fearless + Free is that a tribute to your website?
I guess a little bit. The video itself is not about my website but purely about being fearless enough to be free. My journey to being fearless was long and taught me so much. And freedom came to me soon after I became fearless. I named my website fearlessfreesoul because that is who I am now, who I strived to be for a long time, who I will be forever and who I hope I can inspire people to be. The title of this video is a tribute to the website because I imagined having my own website for so long and for it to be reality now is a dream come true. So I knew I wanted to share that experience of imagining and then it being reality. That is what this album represents.
Harness My Power was your first video with a hip hop song, why?
I feel like when you think of harnessing your power you don’t think of a bright and cheery song. You think about confidence and the hip hop beat brings that vibe. Mainstream rap and hip hop is horrible now, it just sounds so bad. But the natural beat of hip hop is a part of music and something we all know. Just take away the trashy lyrics and inappropriate singing and the beat is good; it just gets covered up. And this video is all about confidence and finding your inner strength so it seemed right. I love the way it came out, at the time it was definitely something different for me but I’m glad I stuck with it.
You have a lot of analogies in this album, what is your favorite?
That’s tough. I’d have to say Movie Making. I think of that one a lot in my everyday life which I think is why I was able to make a whole video about it. The other analogies are a few slides in a video but this analogy is the theme of the whole video. I think we forget that we are the director of our movie and to follow our dreams and our hearts. Life is pretty simple if you think of it as making a movie. And don’t forget your co-producer, the Universe. The Universe is always there to help you and is always supporting you.
How do you title each video?
Well like I said earlier the titles are very important to me. It depends. I make the video first, put the music, download it and then title it once I’ve watched it a few times. Sometimes there is a certain slide that stands out and that’ll have the title in it; like in Harness My Power. Other times I title it with the message I hope people will get from it; like in Dreaming Harmony. Most of the time it just comes to me as I’m watching the video. I also like to title them sometimes with vague words, like in Depth. You can interpret depth in so many ways, so I wanted people to watch it because of that and also to show what depth specifically means to me.
How do you pick the music for each video?
As I’m making the video, the vision for the final product starts to come to me. When I’m done creating the slides, I know the energy or vibe the song needs to be. I decide either hip hop, chill or an up and down song meaning, starts slow gets fast or reverse. Sometimes as I’m listening to music for the video I’ll change my mind. It’s like a feeling thing, something inside of me just knows what is it. I can listen to 2 seconds of a song and know it’s not the right vibe for the video. On Fearless + Free I spent probably 45 minutes picking out a song. The video itself was quick to make but the song took a while to find. But on a video like Leap I knew that would be the song because I’d waited a while to use it; it’s a great song but it didn’t match other videos. Other videos if the title matches with the theme of the video then I pick it just for that reason, like in This Journey the title of the song is Multidimensional and it completes the theme of the video; everything happens for a reason because we’re more than just humans. For me, I think the music makes the words stand out so I’m very picky. I know the vibe I want and nothing will stop me from getting it. 😁
Galaxy, Quest, Dream, Vision, like Life I’m Living is different as well but for different reasons. Talk about that.
This video is very personal to me. It’s somethings I want in my future so I’m calling it into existence now. I’m basically sharing how you imagine what you want in reality, since that is what this album is all about, but in a very personal way. This video is close to my heart. It is different because there is a pattern which I’ve never ever done before. Slide by slide I start with Vision as the theme, then Dream, then Quest, then Galaxy and it repeats itself 4 times. These four things are really all there is to life. We are a special part of this Galaxy, on a Quest called life, we must Dream for they become reality and Vision, the way you look at things shapes your entire world. I love the song in this video too, it is called Grow so it fits in nicely. There is also 17 slides in this video and since it is at the end of the album it seems meant to be. There are a lot more words in this video because I have a lot of thoughts on each of these topics and because I’m calling things into my future.
What is your favorite video in the whole album?
Leap. The music is so perfect and connection means so much to me. That video is so complete.
How did you feel when you finished the album?
Full. Or complete. I felt so at peace and very proud of the work I’d done. It was a little sad to be done with it but it came together so well and after I made Amaze it just felt complete. Like I’d put the last piece in the puzzle and I was now looking at a masterpiece. It was hard though because I finished a lot earlier than I thought I would and I had to wait to post it for 2 weeks. I like to get things out when they’re fresh but I wanted the artist experience of holding on to your work for a long time until it is time to release.
Any future albums?
I think so. This was super fun to create and I love love how it all came together. It was also a lot of work and I think I’m going to let it sink in fully and enjoy this album for a little bit before I focus on doing something new. Although I am thinking about doing an EP in December; maybe. And maybe collaborating on some videos too, I think that’d be fun. If the people want videos, I’ll make videos. 😁
Be fearless and free – Ace
Comment with any questions you have about IMAGINE + REALITY
Fearless Free Soul 