Alana Hil Navigates Mental Health In New EP
During difficult times it can be hard to put words to feeling. It’s overwhelming, all consuming, and takes a toll on the body, mind, and spirit. For soul-singer, Alana Hil, however,
mental health is not something to be ignored, instead she chooses to navigate through it with the use of music and connection.
In her most recent EP, Diaries of a Common Woman Volume One, that released on November 7, Hil wants to bring the inner-darkness to light, stating, “This project explores the complexities of trauma and the stigma surrounding mental health, translating my personal experiences into sonic and visual form.”
The project, which was co-produced with Printz Board, Ryan Hadlock, and Om’mas Keith, is a look into Hil’s own journey with her mental health. The singer, who’s been diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder, a mental health condition that impacts a person’s feelings towards themselves and those around them making daily interactions challenging, often uses art as her compass.
In a post shared to Instagram on October 9 about the EP, Hil stated, “I navigate the extremes of mania, numbness, and depression. Music, short-form visuals, fashion, and painting intertwine as I bring my hallucinations to life, blending reality with abstraction.”
When Hil officially announced the EP on October 1, she also released her single, “say it” alongside the exciting news. The emotional single tackles the topic of healing by letting go. Hil opened up about her personal experience with healing stating, “What has helped me heal, I am still working on it everyday, is going into the darkness, the pain, and sitting with it for a while. I try to observe my body and what comes up so I can process the trauma.”
Hil, who was born and raised in Kentucky, has always searched for more. At a young age she knew she loved to sing, her mother even telling her stories about how she would hum while being breastfed and in class, oftentimes distracting surrounding students. But, she never sang with the intention of becoming an artist, being that the people in her area of Kentucky never spoke about “making it.”
Still enamored by music’s power and inspired by gospel music, introduced to her by her stepfather who was a Reverend at an African Methodist Episcopal Church, Hil continued to find her voice. Now, starting to “sing more soulfully.”
Moving away to study music at Middle Tennessee State University, brought new freedom, Hil shared, “These years I spent in Nashville changed my life completely. I started listening to the Grateful Dead, going to jam band shows all over the country and I really really fell in love with music in a very deep, spiritual way.”
But after college, Hil felt stuck in Nashville, losing out on gigs because her soulful sound didn’t fit Nashville’s country scene. There she felt like a “prisoner of redundancy”, until one night she had a dream. Hil stated, “I had a dream one night [that] I was in Maui. I could smell the ocean and feel the sand, it felt so real I was actually in shock when I woke up. I went into work that day and put my two weeks notice in, I was on a flight with a massive suitcase the next month. I learned to let go and to listen to your dreams.”
From then on Hil has only turned her dreams of growth into reality. Traveling as far as the snowy mounts of the Himalayas to learn yoga and Indian classical music, to the sun-kissed terrains of Mexico, along with trips to Indonesia, Australia, etc. Hil’s inspirations are born out of every atmosphere she inhabits. She stated, “My environment plays a huge role in influencing my art. My Human Design is a Projector, I have a lot of open centers in my energetic field so I have to be very aware of what is mine in the way of thoughts and feelings, given I am around others. I like to be alone a lot, and in the quiet so I can tune into myself and express myself from an authentic place.”
And, that authenticity is what makes her music stand out so greatly. With mental health becoming a growing conversation over the past decade, Hil’s music offers a reflection of what it‘s like to live with a mental health disorder– coexisting with the condition rather than burying it under the sand.
Hil shared, “I want people to know that I am just a regular gal but also I want people to be inspired by me. Inspired to dig deeper and try new things even if it feels scary or hard because there is a goldmine on the other side. Everyone is so special, the dichotomy lies within sincere understanding of our potential.”
Photo courtesy of press