by danielle holian
photo courtesy of alex porat
Alex Porat delivers lighthearted pop with serious skill, effortlessly combining memorable melodies with fresh electronic production and crystalline vocal delivery. Following much success on uploading covers on YouTube, now she's gained 900k+ monthly Spotify listeners, almost a million YouTube subscribers, and 150 million+ total YouTube views. She's back with a mini album titled miss sick world. We caught up with the songstress about her musical past, present, and what she's up to now.
Congratulations on your mini album miss sick world — what inspired this musical project?
Alex: “Thank you! My life was, in some cases unfortunately, the pivot point for this project. It’s hard to open up and write about your struggles but it’s also very freeing and very healing. ‘miss sick world’ is the title track because it became the overarching theme of the project. I feel like I found myself through writing these songs.”
You address typical 20-something relationship struggles throughout the project, also tackling social issues like racial prejudice and gender norms. Why was it important to discuss a wide range of important topics?
A: “It’s important to me because I’ve really struggled with my identity growing up. I feel like I’ve had to do a lot of work to even admit that. It’s ingrained in me to put on a strong face and keep pushing forward but it feels really nice for once to be free of that and just open up and say it for what it is. I feel like a lot of people struggle with their identities in different ways and for me it comes down to growing up mixed race in North America, whose entertainment industries had deeply lacked Asian representation. There’s been some progress made but still a long way to go. As I’ve been finding myself, I find it more and more important to talk about issues like this when I can, in daily life, in music, wherever I have a voice.”
And who or what are your musical influences?
A: “From childhood, mostly Whitney Houston, Christina Aguilera, and Celine Dion. I feel like I started the journey of figuring out my voice through their movies, The Bodyguard, Mulan, and Titanic. I also grew up listening to a lot of K-Pop, Britney Spears, and Miley Cyrus, which is also where I think my love for pop music really grew.”
You originally turned to YouTube and started singing covers to build an audience while simultaneously working on your own music. How did this experience build your musical abilities and confidence compared to making music behind the scenes?
A: “I feel really lucky to have been able to connect with people through YouTube, it’s so special to me because it was the first time I had people I didn’t know root for me so hard. I was doing so much at that time too, balancing school with filming, recording, working part-time jobs, and it felt like I was living a double life. Making music behind the scenes became my escape because it was the only time I had to myself. But everything I was doing on YouTube gave me comfort in knowing that someone out there would listen to my original music when I put it out, so it was all worth it.”
What do you want the listeners to take away from your music?
A: “I want someone to feel a little less alone in their struggles. Music connects people and when someone says, ‘I completely understand how you feel, I’ve been there too,’ I feel so comforted.”
How has the pandemic helped your creative juices?
A: “It’s forced me to be with myself and understand myself more than ever. I feel like a different person than the one who entered the pandemic in 2020. I’ve never looked more inward for inspiration. The only thing I could reflect on was myself since I wasn’t experiencing life outside of my home.”
What drives you forward as an artist?
A: “Confronting my struggles with my identity was a really important step for me and has helped me understand my purpose and continues to drive me forward. It motivates me knowing that I have a voice and an opportunity to make even the slightest impact.”
And finally, what’s one fun fact about yourself for our readers?
A: “I love Game of Thrones so much and named my dog after Arya. She’s a German Shepherd and super adorable.”