While many artists have said they've grown up around music, Alexa Wilding was really in the thick of it. With grandparents who were opera singers and her mom being an actress, performance and melodies were just part of her upbringing. However, it wasn't until she was 11 that the New York City singer-songwriter really felt like she got to know music.

"My parents split up, and my mom had a new younger boyfriend, who made mixtapes," she reveals to Myspace and admits to stealing one of them in the early '90s. "That's when I heard Kate Bush for the first time, and that exploded my consciousness. It was the most beautiful and weirdest music I've ever heard."

While that relationship eventually ended, she still refers to him as a friend. "He was the best," she says. "I can credit him, even though that relationship didn't work out. You just never know who's going to land in your life and deliver the gift of your future."

We had the chance to chat more about the making of her EP, Wolves, and how that helped her deal get through her son's cancer treatments. Find out more about Alexa Wilding below.

Hometown: New York City

Talk about the first song you ever wrote.

It was in high school, and it was about frames. I had just gotten glasses. It was about not being able to see the world without my glasses. And when I wore the glasses, I wished they were rose-colored glasses because the world would look better. I was an angst-ridden teenager so it was a song about glasses. I don't even wear them anymore.

So let's talk about Wolves. This is a personal one for you. How did working that help you cope with what going on in your personal life with one of your sons being diagnosed with cancer?

It was the tool. It was my lifeline, really. It was a six-month treatment that my son went through. It's pretty rough in the hospital. I've never been in that kind of environment. I just didn't know what to do. I'd sit in the dark while he was asleep, just staring outside the window. I was just in such a state of shock. We'd be there every week or two, and my husband and I would go back and forth between the boys. It wasn't until the second round of chemo therapy that I sat in the dark and realized, All right, that's it. I'm still a person. I'm a person that writes songs, and the only way I'm going to be able to get through this situation is if I turn to what it is I do.

And as a new mother, I had no time to write much. I wasn't even sure if I was even going to keep going with this, which, in retrospect, is a really scary thought. I had been doing this for so long. But that night I picked up a toy piano that we had during the day for my son, and songs just started pouring out. I realized that you don't really have a choice. When you're a creative person, you just have these things that you turn to. It's how you process the world. In order for me to process the world, I had to turn to my way of doing that.

It was quite an image. Our room overlooked the East River, and I would sit in at this deep window seat, cross-legged in my pajamas with this toy Casio piano. And even though it's the worst circumstances, I noticed the stars looking at the bridge and looking at the river — knowing I was going to get both of us out of there. It was an incredibly personal group of songs I wrote.

But the funny thing is, people thought the songs were about things I was going through. [But] actually the songs deal with a period of my life before I became a mother.

Oh wow.

So they were memories — this is going to sound so dramatic — but the last time in life that I've been free. So it was a specific tour I'd been on that was a long 23-city tour throughout the country. So it was really an escape. But of course, in reflecting on those times and telling those stories, I was able to be in the present. So that was an interesting experience.

You're very open about your feelings when it comes to your music and even this conversation. Were there any moments during the making of Wolves that you felt you were too vulnerable?

Yeah definitely. In "Wolves," I'm pointing my finger at someone who couldn't get it together to be in a relationship with me. I'm like, "I'm waiting! What's the problem?" That's a memory. Yeah, there's a song called "Road Song" that's about desiring someone that was taken, and that was a big deal for me — being a married woman with children. It was a memory, of course, from before. That was a big deal for me to write that song.

And likewise, there's a song on there called "Black," which is the short one where I just play piano. I think that's the only song on the record that directly addresses how I was feeling during Lou's treatment. Although it's about this room I used to know, I'm saying that I can't go there anymore. But there's this line that goes "Things go blacker and blacker and black and black." I tear up every time I hear that song because it was the most honest I was. I felt that I was descending into darkness. I'm a very cheerful person, so that was a big deal for me to put it out there. But I listen to it now and think it's beautiful.

And you recorded the music live. So do you feel that added more authenticity to the final product?

Absolutely. I was really nervous about expanding my sound into a full band. My last couple records were just me and a collaborator. We played everything. And so my producer Tom Beaujour said, "Let's do this the old fashion way. Let's get a bunch of people who play together all the time so they're used to each others' energy." And I've played with them before. So it was kind of a practical thing.

First of all, [Tom] thought I was out of my mind. I called him from the hospital. I was like, "Hey, I really want to come make a record." And he was like, "Right now?" And I told him,"Well, yeah between [treatment] cycles. His counts are up, and it would be nice to have a little break." [Laughs]

I was afraid that people would think that I was a selfish mother like, Shouldn't you be home and be with your son? But I would choose the days when he was doing well and could be with my mom and my husband. I really needed that space as a person. And I say to all new mothers, "You have to take care of yourself first before you can be there for your children." And for me that meant making a record. But we did have this logistical situation, which was that my son was in the middle of chemo. But that's how we got to doing it live. We only had two days. So Tim Foljahn, who plays guitar, I basically stole his band, and we're all friends. We have a good energy together, and we just played it out. And it was an exhilarating experience.

Now your son is well.

Yes.

Although they're young, does he and his twin brother know what you do?

Absolutely. They think that any female singer that comes on Spotify or the record player is mom, which just cracks me up. I'm like, "No, that's not mommy. That's Joni Mitchell. Thank you." They are music geeks. They're only three, but any chance they get, they'd grab my instruments. They learned to be gentle. And there's this look that they get. And I'm not touring with this record because they're still small. But I am playing locally as much as I can. And on the nights I have shows, they can tell that somethings up. It's like "Mommy's dressed up. She's leaving with all the instruments. Where is she going?" And the next morning after I had my first show a few months ago, they woke up and went, "How did it go?" It's so funny and cracks me up.