Alice Russell grew up in Suffolk where, following in her father’s musical footsteps, she studied cello and sang in choirs. In 1994, she moved to Brighton to study art and music and made a home on the seaside digging past her classical training into the world of gospel and soul. By the early 2000s, she started singing and collaborating with local musicians including Quantic and Nostalgia 77. Eventually she signed with Brighton’s Tru Thoughts label in 2004 and established herself as a soul powerhouse, recognized by the likes of Massive Attack, De La Soul and Lonnie Liston Smith.

In this lecture at the 2008 Red Bull Music Academy, Russell talked about finding musical inspiration in her childhood church choir, conquering stage fright and how to finance an album and tour completely independently.