by mariah estran
photo courtesy of alix
R&B songstress ALIX is a true Cali girl, and she is reminding us why you will never want to leave the Golden State with her latest album Feel Better.
Her soulful tone glides over a range of pop beats and funky basslines, a sound you would imagine hearing from car speakers as a cool west coast girl drives down the 101. This ten-track LP never feels dull. It moves with finesse and confirms her sound progressing since the 2018 release of Since ‘96.
The Bay Area natives' admiration for her hometown is in her visuals and overall style. In July, she premiered the music video for "Good” feat. NEZZA, a stunning image of the scenic Redwoods and its storybook charm — it's an ode to California, but also an ode to her new phase in her artistry.
In honor of this new album, ALIX took the time to speak with us about Feel Better, the creative process, her new life chapter, and the many exciting projects she is working on next.
When listening to your music, you have this smooth R&B sound, but it also feels very unique. How have you developed your sound, and who have been some of your inspirations?
ALIX: “I genuinely love all genres and have been influenced by artists, songs and styles across the board. I feel the mixture of diverse musical influences has made my voice and writing style what it is. I wasn’t exactly born with crazy vocal abilities. I couldn’t really match other singers in some areas but I had a tone and a pretty wide range. I knew as long as I perfected that, the rest would fall into place. My favorite artists and writers were ones who were not polished but instead were very tone and style driven with edgy and relatable lyrics. My favorite artists didn’t sound or write like anyone else and I realized there was a major advantage to that. I’m seriously influenced and inspired by Rihanna and her songwriters like James Fauntleroy, Sia, Bibi Bourelly, SZA, Ester Dean, etc. (who are also amazing artists).”
Being from the Bay Area, you have great admiration for the nature that surrounds the area. It has even inspired your music. Why do you feel such a strong connection to California’s scenery?
A: “If California is anything, it’s beautiful. Living on the east coast has made me appreciate the unique nature of California even more. The scenery was just as big of an influence on me as the music was. So many of my memories involve the California outdoors and I am very grateful to have grown up in such a beautiful place. I was raised surrounded by nature and in a nature loving, environmentally conscious family. When I was a kid we spent a lot of time hiking, camping, and even went backpacking in the wilderness for a few summers.
Being 15 minutes from San Francisco was pretty amazing. There were a ton of festivals and concerts for free or cheap in Golden Gate Park and around the Bay. My friends and I used to go to Power to the Peaceful, Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, Shoreline, and stuff like that. The coolest part was that they were all in the trees, by the beachm or on the side of a mountain. So while we got to experience the music, we also got to experience nature too. It made for an even better time.”
Your recent music video for “Good” showcased that very dream-esque landscape that the Bay Area is known for. What was the story behind this stunning visual?
A: “Thank you so much. We felt that this song felt classic, light, soft and angelic. We wanted to capture that in a real and human way. The song is telling the story of two friends who have bonded over the fact that they have moved on from past relationships. This song is the well wishes they want to send to those former significant others.
The visuals started with a mood board I put together. The song sounded to me like a palette of pearly creams, beiges, browns, baby blues, and earthy greens. The music has a vintage, love song feel, so I wanted that represented in the visuals as well. I wanted a real-life meets ethereal woman. A representation of peace of mind and new maturity; a new chapter of attitude towards this situation and others like it. I sent the board to my director Lindsay Sunada and she created a storyline and put together a plan for the visuals. I did the wardrobe and Lindsay and I decided on final styling a few days before the shoot. We ended up borrowing a few of the clothing pieces from the closet of Brooke and Gia of 1323 (Pop Band featuring on the album-track 8: let’s leave).
Although the video was filmed in Palos Verdes in Southern California, the location was chosen as a favorite because of the similarities it had to the Bay Area.”
You just released your new album Feel Better. What was the creative process like while developing this body of work?
A: “During the creative process there were times where it was smooth and times where it was more challenging. Since we do everything from our home studio, it was nice to be able to wake up, go downstairs and get to work on whatever we wanted. Some songs were specifically created to be on this album and some just came to be on their own and fit right in. Our process varied. Sometimes me and Paul would jam on the couch creating from scratch, sometimes I would give him a song I was obsessed with and ask for something like it. Sometimes I would start an idea with an a cappella or I would look through the instrumentals we already had and start creating melodies or lyric concepts. Recording was nice because since I engineer my own sessions, I had a lot of freedom in the way I worked. It was very comfortable for me to be able to record alone without distractions. The frustrating challenges came when I would listen through after I was done recording and feel I needed to rerecord or rewrite something. I ended up doing recuts and rewrites to a number of songs. I went through a lot of change during the album process and I felt by the end my voice and writing had improved as well. It was hard not to redo everything.”
You’ve been releasing music since 2018. How does Feel Better show your growth as an artist?
A: “I think this album shows a lot of growth both sonically and visually. Both projects were just about completely done by my producer and partner Paul Sikoral and I. Since ‘96, my first project, it was important for us to learn the ropes of how to create and drop a release from start to finish. This new project shows our improvement as creatives, musicians, and as a label.
I feel with this album, we establish and solidify our sound and show that we are headed in a unique and memorable direction, paving way for a new sound and music style that’s all our own.
The whole album was recorded, edited, written, produced, mixed, mastered, and marketed from our living room. I think it shows growth in just about every area and a glimpse of what future releases will be like.
In addition to the album having a more solid brand, we are now in a position to execute other goals around the album such as dropping our merchandise collection, hosting live concerts and collaborating with our peers and associated companies.”
What do you want people to take away after they listen to this album? What do you hope people learn about you?
A: “I know this year has been especially hard and that going into winter and times of higher tensions might not help much. It’s been hard to keep our heads up and feel good about anything really. This album was made over the course of a big change in my life over the last two years. When I started writing it I was in a pretty bad place, very frustrated and discouraged. By the end of the album I had moved across the country and gone through a big mental growth. There was so much weight lifted off my shoulders. Half of the album is about that place where I finally started to feel better and relax. In the end I wanted the album to represent that change. This was the closing of a chapter and the acknowledgment of a new one to come. Because of this theme, I included songs about the mental struggles I had gone through, the feelings I battled with navigating how to move in this industry, and nostalgic stories about old chapters. The album talks about finding happy love and peaceful mindsets. It’s about reflection, acknowledgement and forgiveness in order to move on with nothing to weigh you down.
I hope my listeners can enjoy some of my stories while also feeling comforted by any stories they may relate to. I hope they can go through the same journey I did, realizing that it is important to surround yourself with things and thoughts that keep you comfortable and happy and able to focus on your passions and ambitions without losing love for them. I learned that in this new chapter I want to be able to let things go, focus on the things I can control, and do the best I can.”
photo courtesy of alix
Lastly, what can listeners expect next? Will there be more visuals?
A: “I have a number of visuals planned. Starting with a mini documentary episode, ‘Behind the Making of the ‘Good’ Music Video.’ This in depth compilation of behind the scenes footage of me, NEZZA, and the video crew will release on YouTube within a few weeks of the album release.
— I have a quarantine-style music video for Track 9: ‘Spoiled’ ft. Rozee coming out after the album release. This video was filmed, directed and edited by me and I am very excited to share.
— NEZZA and I also have a video and recording for the acoustic version of ‘Good.’ It will drop after a few weeks of the album being out.
— I will be doing a live show in early October in collaboration with Friendlysky.com and I will be posting flyers with info details on my social media and website.
— I will be dropping my merchandise collection with pre-orders starting October.
— We have some acoustic and live versions of select songs planned and we will drop singles according to which songs people like most. We will also have some new features and remix collaborations including one in the works from Franny Arrieta.”