{"id":3729,"date":"2021-10-22T06:26:50","date_gmt":"2021-10-22T06:26:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/platinummind.net\/?p=3729"},"modified":"2021-10-22T06:26:54","modified_gmt":"2021-10-22T06:26:54","slug":"blog-interview-alex-spinney","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/platinummind.net\/index.php\/2021\/10\/22\/blog-interview-alex-spinney\/","title":{"rendered":"Blog interview: Alex Spinney"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-spotify wp-block-embed-spotify wp-embed-aspect-21-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Spotify Embed: I Remember\" width=\"100%\" height=\"380\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen allow=\"autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture\" src=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/embed\/album\/6hXgiC0vThl96mDQXwk70j?si=S8ceeprkRmKQkQ8yZVO_kg&#038;utm_source=oembed\"><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n<div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><strong>Hello Alex how are you?<\/strong><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">\u00a0<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">Very well thanks! I&#8217;ve got a lot on at the moment, mostly music-related, but that&#8217;s got to be a good thing!<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">\u00a0<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><strong>Congratulations on the release of \u201cI Remember\u201d how does it feel?<\/strong><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">\u00a0<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">Thank you! Well, I was supposed to be releasing this a year ago, so it feels like I&#8217;ve been waiting for such a long time to share it with everyone. I&#8217;m mainly just excited about it, but of course I&#8217;m a little bit apprehensive, as I&#8217;m putting my own music out there to be judged, rather than just sending it off to my one friend who I always send everything to!<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">\u00a0<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><strong>What\u2019s the story behind it?\u00a0<\/strong><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">\u00a0<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">To me, it has a simple but heartbreaking message &#8211; that feeling of looking back at a relationship that was once thriving, but has now broken down.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><br \/>Musically, the song starts out as a piano ballad, and then gradually grows until it&#8217;s morphed into this celebratory, gospel-like anthem. I love pop music, and also love the vocal freedom that gospel and soul music give you, so pairing the two together was quite exciting for me! Also, I find it really interesting when sad songs are treated with optimism, and so I&#8217;ve tried to create a sense of an optimistic ending here.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">\u00a0<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">I like to keep my songs slightly vague in terms of the specifics, and I hope that allows the listener to find their own meaning within the song.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">\u00a0<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><strong>You are a singer songwriter from South London (Hey, so am I!!) how did it all begin for you?<\/strong><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">\u00a0<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">\n<div dir=\"auto\">Nice, where are you from? <strong>(Blackheath!)<\/strong> Well, I&#8217;ve been playing the piano and singing since I was about 4 years old, so I guess around then?! I&#8217;ve always been performing, and have been songwriting on and off since I was about 17. However, I didn&#8217;t seriously pursue writing until around 3 years ago. I started properly\u00a0writing lyrics to my music, which then allowed me to create full, complete songs, which I&#8217;ve just adored doing.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">\u00a0<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">(Growing up, I was exposed to a lot of classical music, but no matter how much classical music came my way I seemed to always gravitate back to pop music!)<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">\u00a0<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><strong>What did you listen to growing up?<\/strong><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">\u00a0<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">A big old mix of stuff. I loved a lot of British bands growing up, so I listened to a lot of Oasis, Blur, Travis, Stereophonics and Muse. Then I also listened to a lot of pure pop like the (early) Sugababes, Beyonce and Lady Gaga. Then added to that was a mixture of various other things, from Aretha Franklin and Michael Jackson to Greenday and No Doubt, and even some country artists like Alison Krauss, who I still really love.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">\u00a0<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><strong>You started learning the piano at the age of 4, what was your favourite piece to play when you started?<\/strong><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">\u00a0<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">Haha this question is far too tricky! I&#8217;d have to look back at those piano books. However, when I was about 12 I really got into playing these Christopher Norton jazz piano pieces, I think it gave me a chance to add a bit of soul into my playing.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">\u00a0<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><strong>You play multiple instruments what\u2019s the easiest and most challenging part of writing for you?<\/strong><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">\u00a0<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">I think the most challenging parts for me are when I can&#8217;t match up a verse and a chorus, or I can&#8217;t come up with a good enough pre-chorus. I can spend days trying to come up with the right verse if I&#8217;ve already got a chorus I&#8217;m a big fan of.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">\u00a0<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">The easiest parts, well I don&#8217;t think any of it is that easy haha, but in general the music side of things comes to me more naturally than the lyrics.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">\u00a0<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><strong>You\u2019re working on releasing your EP at the moment how\u2019s it going?<\/strong><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">\u00a0<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">Not bad thank you! I&#8217;ve found a producer (Adam Connor at Iguana Studios Brixton) who I really enjoy working with, and we&#8217;ve been able to take our time with the tracks. We haven&#8217;t finished all of the EP yet, but are aiming to by December.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">\u00a0<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><strong>What\u2019s your favourite track from it?<\/strong><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">\u00a0<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">Probably my 2nd single, which may be a bit of a polarising one! It&#8217;s a dark, folky, jazzy acoustic number that I have really enjoyed working on.\u00a0<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">\u00a0<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><strong>You recorded it at Iguana Records, what\u2019s been a fun moment from the sessions?<\/strong><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">\u00a0<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">I mean this is a very boring answer, but I&#8217;ve found all of it pretty enjoyable. I think hearing the mix of my 2nd song come together was pretty exciting. Also, I have had a lot of fun with BV&#8217;s in these sessions.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">\u00a0<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><strong>COVID impacted the creative industry in a big way what kept you motivated?<\/strong><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">\u00a0<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">Well, I knew that you could still release music, as it&#8217;s such an online game these days, so I saw it as time to just keep listening and writing. So I was able to write quite a lot of stuff over that period, which was one positive.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">\u00a0<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><strong>2020 was a time to reflect what did you learn about yourself?<\/strong><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">\u00a0<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">That as a creative, it&#8217;s so important to surround yourself with some sort of culture, be it film, music or art. Even if you&#8217;re not being particularly productive at that time, it can really help to inspire you.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">\u00a0<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><strong>Did you pick up any new skills?<\/strong><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">\u00a0<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">I bought a George Foreman?! Does that count? I also started my Instagram account, so I saw that as a new skill haha, even though everyone else had been doing it for years.\u00a0<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">\u00a0<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><strong>What are you listening to at the moment?<\/strong><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">\u00a0<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">Griff, I just love her. She&#8217;s creating really relevant and engaging pop music. I also got really into Lauv last year. Oh, and Luz this year! Basically, artists with abstract one-syllable names haha. I also loved Miley Cyrus&#8217; latest album, I&#8217;ve loved her development as an artist.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">\u00a0<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><strong>What are you looking forward to next?<\/strong><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">\u00a0<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">Well I&#8217;m releasing my debut EP over the next few months, so that&#8217;s going to be my main project for the foreseeable future! Also, I&#8217;ve just been filming a music video for my 2nd single in North Wales, which was a really interesting experience.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">\u00a0<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">Then I&#8217;m looking forward to getting back into the studio, and starting to work on new songs. As much as I love the songs I am currently releasing, I&#8217;m still so keen to start recording the ones I&#8217;ve written more recently.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Hello Alex how are you? \u00a0 Very well thanks! I&#8217;ve got a lot on at the moment, mostly music-related, but that&#8217;s got to be a good thing! \u00a0 Congratulations on the release of \u201cI Remember\u201d how does it feel? \u00a0 Thank you! Well, I was supposed to be releasing this a year ago, so it &hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3730,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[30,37,73,150,126],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3729","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-music","category-piano","category-singer-songwriter","category-songwriter","category-vocals"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/platinummind.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3729","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/platinummind.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/platinummind.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/platinummind.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/platinummind.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3729"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/platinummind.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3729\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3731,"href":"https:\/\/platinummind.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3729\/revisions\/3731"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/platinummind.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3730"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/platinummind.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3729"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/platinummind.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3729"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/platinummind.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3729"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}