PHOTO COURTESY OF ALEXINA
For those who don’t know you yet, what would you tell them about yourself and your music?
Alexina: “I’d tell ‘em that I’m a young girl who grew up in the wilds of Scotland who now resides in London making pop music about the reality of being a 20-something, broke artist and other interesting areas of girl life — elusive friends, going out too much, bad dates, the internet etc. I make all my music with producer Rob Brinkmann in a studio in Battersea, South London — we spend hours inside talking, therapising, experimenting with sounds, recording things in weird ways, constantly listening to new music and watching weird videos on YouTube — the end result is the music we make.”
You just released your debut EP Partying On My Own. Can you tell us a little about the EP and the process creating it?
A: “It’s a monumental moment for me. These songs in a weird way mean everything and nothing to me now — it’s incredible to have them out and for people to message me about how they relate to and understand these pretty sad stories. I wrote these songs in the dark winter of 2018 after a bad break up and produced them last summer — with Rob — during the incredible London heatwave we had. I spent an hour every morning lying on the Common and replaying all the music we’d made the day before walking across the burnt out park to the studio where Rob and I would sit and produce for the next 12 hours. For weeks. It was a wonderful routine and I didn’t have to get on a bus or a tube which was amazing. By the summer I was pretty much over the relationship and wanted to turn these sad, piano ballads into big, anthemic, F-You pop songs which you could put on in your car in stick your head out the window and sing to. Which I think we did. It was an amazing process. I was incredibly happy during that time we spent making the Partying On My Own EP.“
What inspires you while writing music?
PHOTO COURTESY OF ALEXINA
A: “Words. Real feelings — anything that hits or happens to me I have to write down in a rhyme form on my notes in my phone. Or in my notebook. My notes section is probably the most personal place in my life, it’s like my weird little brain diary which I’m constantly adding to. I normally write on the tube or in my bed. I’m inspired by people and love and friends and books but mainly, by my own weird feelings which I try and translate into stories & songs people can understand. Like, ‘oh she’s in her mid-20s, single and going out too much and all her friends have serious jobs and are moving in together — I’m totally like her. I get her.’ I don’t know, I want to make more REAL pop music.”
Of the songs you currently have released, which one would you say best represents you as an artist?
A: “I would say Partying On My Own — it encompasses everything for me. Lyrics which I feel I’ve got right, a story that tells itself alright and production I could eat, I love it.”
Is there anything else we can expect from you in the future – music videos, shows, etc.?
A: “I’ve just finished producing my second EP - my most favorite body of work (even more so than EP1 if possible) which I’ll be releasing really soon. I’ve also just played my first show with my brilliant band so you can expect a LOT more of that too!”