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LA GAZETTE, November, 1994
Spotlight: Alice Di Micele

By JT Mason

"People said I was crying when I first came out of the womb, but I say that I was really just singing. It was my first song and I was trying out my pipes," jokes singer-songwriter Alice Di Micele. "I've always loved music, it's in my blood."

Born in Elizabeth, New Jersey to a pianist mother and a teacher father, Di Micele was drawn to music early in life. She joined the Glee Club and began playing the recording when she was seven. From there she studied flute and joined the school band. At eleven, she wrote the song Celebrate the Rain , which she would record ten years later on her first album, Make A Change.

At 15 she became the lead singer of a local rock/fusion band called White Rabbit, which changed it's name to Eon Ocean. She sang jazz harmonies in high school and all the while longed to play the guitar.

"My parents said they wouldn't buy me a guitar because I had quit the flute. They didn't think I was serious about learning an instrument and basically dubbed me a quitter. It wasn't true. I had quit playing the flute because I didn't want to play marching band music," explains Di Micele. "Now, my parents kick themselves for not helping me more. But I got a job and saved up enough money to buy it myself. When I finally did get a guitar I was the happiest person on earth."

It was around this time that Di Micele was wrestling with her sexual orientation. "I didn't know if I was a lesbian or a bi-sexual. Having been raised Catholic, I knew either choice was unnacceptable. It was a hard time. I went through being really suicidal over it."

Her guitar teacher suggested that she attend the Unitarian Universalist Youth Group. "It was great. Everyone was very warm, open and accepting. I got a lot of support for my music and also for who I was. I met them at a critical time in my life. I hate to be blunt, but without their support then I'd probably be dead now. It was a really hard struggle."

Di Micele was doing a lot of drugs then. "I was a big partier between the ages of eleven and sixteen. Within a few weeks of starting to play guitar, I didn't want to do drugs anymore. I just wanted to play music. I'm very thankful for that."

Her music is open, introspective and addresses a variety of politcal issues, often focusing on the environment. She says that growing up in New Jersey helped to mold her into a committed environmentalist.

"New Jersey is basically New York City's dumping ground. The majority of New York City's factories are in New Jersey. I grew up in a town that had Exxon, Revlon, BP, Merck, Cyanamid, GM, and many other pharmaceutical, cosmetic and chemical companies. Throughout my childhood I saw more and more factories and shopping malls being built. Our town was getting trashed right before my eyes."

"We couldn't swin in the water because it was so terribly polluted. We were told that if we did go in the water we'd get polio. I accidently fell in a canal once and ended up with a rash all over my body. Turned out that it was some type of chemical burn. So, it was a natural transition for me to become an environmentalist. I think most people in New Jersey are becoming very councious, very quickly."

Alice Di Micele recently released her fifth album, Naked, on her label, Alice Otter Music. "It's totally raw, acoustic music. It's recorded live in the studio with no overdubbing or punch-ins. On a few tracks I play with guitarist Mimi Fox and Brian Price on violin. We just sat in the studio and played the songs together. We recorded each time we played and later I chose the best ones for the CD," says Di Micele. "It's all in real time. The songs are baring of my soul and of the instrumentation. What you hear on this recording is what you get when you see me in concert."

In the liner notes she writes,"I feel strongly that the purpose of recording is to try to capture the emotion and passion of music and musician. It is my goal to stay within the framework of rhythm and melody while creating something fresh each time I sing any song. I sing from my sould with love and reverance for all of life."

Naked is composed of twelve songs, all original except for the Richard Jones' tune, Trouble In Mind. "It's such a great song. I love taking a {known} song and making it mine by putting my own interpretation on it. I love the blues and had heard Trouble In Mind done by Dinah Washington and various other singers. There are so many versions of this song.

"I had been singing one of the traditional versions of it that had the lyrics: I'm gonna hang my head on some lonsome railroad iron and let the 2:19 train pacify my troubled mind. After about a year of singing it that way, I woke up one morning and thought, I can't sing those words anymore. I need to affirm life. Sure, there's a reality that there are times when I don't want to be here but with my music I want to affirm the positive. I feel that what I put out as a musician is what I'm creating."

Di Micele changed the verse to: I'm not gonna hang my head, no, I'm gonna hold it up high. You can go ahead and take the next train on out of here, darling, 'cause watching you leave is bound to ease this trouble in mind.

Next June, she'll celebrate her 30th birthday. "I've been going through my Saturn return and it's been a couple of hellish, emotional years. I'm at a good place now. I've come through alot of stuff and I'm looking forward to the next decade.

"When I was eight years old, I used to think I'm going to be really cool when I'm ten. Now, I have this image that when I'm sixty three, everything will be great. I came up with that age because that's how old Abbey Lincoln was when I saw her perform. I thought this woman is the most incredible singer I have ever heard in my life. So now I feel that when I'm sixty three I'll be settled down and firmly rooted."

Di Micele lives in Ashland, Oregon with her partner and her two children. This November there will be yet another anti-gay measure on the Oregon ballot. "It's called Measure 13. It's an anti-gay initiative with the misleading title, The Minority Status and Child Protection Act. It may get thrown out before November because it covers two subjects and under Oregon law an initiative can only cover one subject. We'll see. The people who are promoting Measure 13 are playing on peoples fears and ignorance. It's very upsetting and I'm working toward its defeat."

On Sunday, December 4, Alice Di Micele will appear in concert at the Kuumbwa Jazz Center. "I love to perform. I feel so honored that people actually come and listen to me. The audiences in Santa Cruz are wonderful. They're warm and loving, they really sing along and have a fun time."

"I love working with people. The gift for me is to sing for people in a live setting, to share my heart with people and work with the energy created between us. I'm kind of a junkie for that exchange."