DIY multi-instrumentalist Alex G released his first recorded album Beach Music, with Domino Records last October. Following six self-recorded LPs, including hit album DSU that featured as Best Album of 2014 by Noisey, Time Out, The Washington Post and Consequence of Sound, the Philadelphian singer-songwriter has kicked off his full-time music career with new singles “bug” and “Kicker”. The rock/pop indie melody reproduces and refines similar sound heard on his older EPS, DSU and Tricks and Rules.
Larry caught up with Alex at SXSW to talk about his new album and the changes over the past year.
Larry: Thanks very much for joining us.
Alex: Thank you!
This is not your first rodeo, but I imagine it is a little different for you. You have a record label now and album number seven to promote. How does your experience at SXSW this year compare to past experiences? How many times have you been?
Yeah, we were only here last year and it is pretty identical. We are not doing much more than what we did last year.
So tell me a little bit about the last twelve months. Did a lot come from the last time you were at South By?
I’m sure something came of it, but it is hard to get a concrete answer from it. But, it was an experience. But I could not tell you like, ‘ I got this deal, or this thing from South By…’
Congratulations on the new record, it seems like you approached it differently to anything you have done in the past. Was that a product of circumstance or a deliberate effort to try approach it in a way that said, ‘Hey, I’ve been doing this for a while, I know what I’m doing now and I know how I want to do it’?
I did not think about it too much. I went about it the same way I made my other records, but I guess it just naturally turned out sounding a lot different because I was at a different time in my life. With the previous albums, I was working a day job or going to school and so with this album, I made while I was on tour for a most of the year. It came out differently as a result of that. Then I got it professionally mixed, which was cool.
Is that a strange experience, to say, after all the music you have already made to say, ‘I’m going to let go into someone else’s hands’?
Yeah it was very difficult at first, but then I started working with the guy, his name is Jacob Portrait. I would sit with him the whole time. He would not push ideas on to me, but he would listen to what I had to say. It was a super friendly experience, so I was not disappointed.
That has got to be a relief almost?
Such a relief. I was expecting my shit to get fucked up, because I was really going home about doing it myself.
Well you managed to make six albums by yourself, which is pretty fucking impressive for anyone.
I guess it is impressive, but a lot of those albums sound a bit crappy. A couple are from when I was 16 or 17. It is funny saying that, because I do have a lot of albums, but a lot are goofy and old.
Do you ever listen to older stuff, and think ‘I should rework it and do something as now that I am getting a wider audience?’
No, because I usually make a point – I use music to express myself currently. It would not make sense to rehash something old, because I am not in that place anymore.
So Beach Music represents you now and the rest is from the past?
Yeah exactly, or it represents me a year ago. It is important to me to keep that honesty and integrity as it is all I do. It is important to me to keep it real as possible.
Some people spend ten years perfecting that first record and putting something together that is the product of years of touring and years of hard work. Are you glad you went about it the way you did and really refined your craft, rather than wait until the record deal?
I have to be glad with the way I did it, because I do not think I would have got the record deal if I had not made music the way I did. There are plenty of bands that have classic perfect records and take years and years doing it. That is also really respectable, but I think my appeal to people is that I had such a high output. Hopefully that is not my only appeal, but that is what got people’s attention.
It is that you were fucking trying something I guess is the point of difference there, regardless of the result. Do you think that, from your day to day now, there is a lay behind you? Is everyone putting too much emphasis on it, is it the same thing for you but they are just paying for a bit of it now?
Yes, I try really hard to keep it the same because I do not want to soil that. I still want it to be really pure. I make an effort to treat music the same way as I always have. There are necessities that come with being on a label that is to do interviews, not that interviews are bad, but you have to advertise yourself more which is something I am not used to. Other than that, I try really hard to keep it the same.
What is your live set up today and how does that compare to how you started out when you were performing?
It is pretty much identical to how it was when we started. It is two guitars, a bass and drums. We work the songs into that format the best way we can, and that is how it started. I did not play this stuff live until a couple of years ago. I would record this privately and send it to my friends. Then when we formed the band it was two guitars, a bass and drums and we have kept it like that.
How many people do you have in your live show?
Four of us.
But when it comes to the recording, is it all you?
Yeah, it is all me recording. The recordings usually have a tonne of different instruments. It would not just be four instruments on the recording, but we convert that for the live show.
It is a real cohesive record, it flows really nicely. Is that something that came naturally or was that something that the production, editors and mixers brought together?
I think most of the albums I made do flow together. They are all coming from the same place, so it always works out as a cohesive thing. I do not think too hard about it, other than putting it in order once i am finished.
So for the rest of the year, what is it holding for you?
A lot of touring. When we are home, I will try get another record done. Besides that, we are touring all the time.
Is it mainly domestic touring or are you starting to fit in some overseas stuff as well?
Mainly domestic touring, but we have one or two overseas things which will be cool.
Is that Europe?
Yes, we have this festival in Barcelona called Primavera and we are also talking to a promoter in Brazil who is trying to get us down there, which will be cool.
Then maybe get you down to Australia one day!
That would be great.
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