An acting junior is developing her first album, centering around the connection between the human mind and body.
Alison Sloan, acting junior, is preparing to release her first album as the conclusion to a yearlong project for her Vocal Production class.
“I had lost my passion for music. I was trying to find a way to study meditation and the chakras, and also rekindle my passion. I actually regained that through this course,” Sloan said.
The album, entitled Mindbody, contains eight tracks, all of which are centered around different chakras of the human body. The chakras refer to seven main spiritual energy centers along the spine, heart, through the neck, and crown of the head.
“Each song is a different genre and curated for a specific chakra,” Sloan said.
Sloan said students have reached out to her expressing their interest and support.
“People are really excited about it. It’s so nice to see all of this come to life,” she said.
Emma Licata, music theater junior, said she has been following the album since the release of its first single.
“You can tell that there is a lot of heart and emotion behind the album,” Licata said. “You can tell it comes from a really personal place, so I think for her to put all that out there is an incredibly strong and brave thing to do.”
The project is a collaborative effort with about 15 students having contributed to it since its conception.
“I just wanted to make good art and incorporate as many people as possible to help make that art,” Sloan said.
Dustin Barlow, acting junior, serves as concept photographer for the project.
“She completely trusts all of the people she’s working with,” Barlow said. “She has an idea of what she wants, but then she hears others’ suggestions and is like, ‘Oh, I like that. Let’s do it!’”
Barlow said the album art he designed and photographed captured what Sloan had envisioned.
“There’s something very intimate and vulnerable about these pictures. I want people to see a deeper perspective on the songs through the photography, and how the two sync up,” he said.
Micah Gilley, acting senior, modeled for the album art.
“It was cool because it was some of my closest friends just kind of winging it, but knowing what we all thought the last image would kind of end up being,” Gilley said.
Sloan said many have asked her if she hopes to gain money or success from the album, but that is not what she truly cares about.
“It would be nice for people to listen to it and really be impacted by it,” she said. “That’s really all I care about. I just want to make good art with good people.”
Mindbody is set to be released in late March.
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