My name is Gena Alana Perala (pronounced Jenna). I was born in Vancouver BC. I'm first generation Canadian. My mom's from New York City, born and raised in the Bronx and my dad is from Finland. They met in LA working on a carnival. I'm a carny kid, which will actually play a part in the album in the future. Growing up I had an ocean view. I'm a singer songwriter and I play guitar and piano. I came to music by way of writing. I also love to sing so it was kind of a no brainer. I remember writing my first song (technically my fourth) and having this feeling like.. "Well, this is forever."
Good Girl is the first of a string of releases I have planned for 2018. Part of a larger concept I'll be rolling out this year, it's both exciting and daunting. The album will be built single by single and then some. The visual for Good Girl really took shape when my friend Geoffrey Tomlin-Hood agreed to shoot and edit a video for me.
The water scenes were tough because we shot in my parent's carport in December. It was snowing and we're out there shooting in tepid water. We made it work though and I'm really happy with the way it turned out. DIY baby!
The two dancers Kevin Fraser who choreographed as well as danced and Kristine Wilson were incredible to work with. They took the direction with such power and grace; I'm truly in awe and look forward to further collaborations with dancers. Dance is part of the grander concept of the album as well. As I release more of the songs, I look forward to the full album taking shape and listeners going back and revisiting all of the songs. As a prolific artist my challenge is finding ways to make everything happen, so many songs, so many ideas. I'm literally sitting on two album's worth of material so that's tough but I continue to move forward, sometimes it feels like a snail's pace so when I do release music it's a huge victory. After touring my last album “Exactly Nowhere,” (2014) on my own three times, I had a bit of an existential crisis so I took a break from playing live and have recently started again so that’s been really cool.
Other than music, I love reading and writing. I'm working on a few projects, a new book of poetry and a novel. I facilitate poetry workshops in high schools and have also worked in juvenile correctional facilities. I love playing sports and riding my bike, I play a pretty fringe sport called bike polo. I love comedy and art really in all its shapes and forms. I'm a west coast girl; the ocean is my friend.
LINKS
WEBSITE: http://genaperala.com
YOUTUBE: https://youtu.be/wSh5FJZy1CE
FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/GenaPeralaMusic
TWITTER: https://twitter.com/genaperala
SOUNDCLOUD: https://soundcloud.com/genaperala
BANDCAMP: https://genaperala.bandcamp.com/
