CREATIVE CONVERSATIONS 088: ALEXANDER BLACK NORMALISES DEFIANCES THROUGH SONGWRITING

Words by Brooklyn Gibbs.

Adelaide artist Alexander Black is here to say that good times don’t stay the night, with his latest release, Good Times.

Futuremag Music’s Brooklyn caught up with Alexander to talk about normalising defiances through song.

FMM: I’m so thrilled for you about the release of Good Times! How does it feel to have this out there?

Alexander: It’s really exciting! I’ve put out heaps of music over the years, so it’s really exciting to get back on the train and put more things out, more often.

FMM: I’d love to hear about the story and inspiration behind this release. Do you mind sharing?

Alexander: Of course! It’s basically the experience of queer culture as a man and trying to analyse my own feelings of not being connected to the idea of romance and feeling a heteronormative force pressed against you. It’s like, you have to be a certain way and follow certain rules in society and be with people in a specific way in terms of monogamy or sleeping in the same bed as someone. Kind of like having these relationship sets that seem made up for you to follow. You feel like those things don’t represent you, and you discover yourself through all of these different interactions. Those things don’t fit the way your life goes and you have to push against them.

FMM: Thank you so much for sharing! I understand you write music that speaks to your younger self. What are some of the things you’re trying to tell your younger self through song?

Alexander: I guess I’m normalising all these defiances by saying it’s okay to not want to get married, and not having exactly the same kinds of relationships that straight people want you to have just because you see it in movies all the time. There’s always been culture in small pocket that you have to find that really speak to being different and seeing things in a different way. So that, but also trying to be the coolest person that my 10-year-old self would think was cool. I just want to be his hero because he got me through to where I am now. That’s a whole sentimental thing to me.

FMM: I love that, because I feel like other people would be able to listen to this, relate to your experience, and perhaps feel a connection to you which is essentially what music is all about, right?

Alexander: Yeah, totally! There’s so many different binaries that people want you to fit into, like ‘Well, if you’re not this, then you have to be that.’ There’s so many people out there they don’t really feel like this, or don’t really feel like that. If I can just have a little piece of something that someone can listen to and relate to, then that’s really cool!

FMM: Of course! By the way, I love your sound! Listening to this release, as well as your previous release of Just Friends, I’m really feeling a The 1975 vibe going on with both your voice and instrumental. Would you say The 1975 are a band that have influenced some of your sounds that we love?

Alexander: Yeah, they’ve been one of the biggest influences over the past four years which has been the time a lot of these songs were written from. I think Matty, the singer, talks a lot about trying to make music as beautiful as possible and putting realist things into music, which is what I love to do. Artists like this help me find a way to talk about things that I want to talk about in my own way in terms of the language they use. You think, ‘Wow, I didn’t know you could put phases like that into a song.’ Troye Sivan is another artist I look up to for this reason.

FMM: Is your sound self-produced?

Alexander: Yeah, everything is produced by me. I took the last couple of years to develop things, then I would go into the studio with a friend and do all the vocals and production stuff there.

FMM: That’s great! I guess that means there’s less barriers and you can put out the music that represents you and your uniqueness?

Alexander: Yeah, totally! At this stage in my career, it’s cool to just do things by yourself and then find ways to collaborate with people later on, but I’m happy to just take control. I think I want to establish what I do myself and collaborate later, naturally.

FMM: For those who may be coming across your music for the first time by hearing Good Times, do you mind sharing a bit about yourself and how you came into the music scene?

Alexander: I’ve played guitar since 12. Im 27 now. Started off playing guitar and been singing since I was only about 18 which I have been really developing. More or less, my whole thing is finding the best way a song can speak to you, while making it as loud and as fun as possible so other people can enjoy it.

FMM: Is Good Times part of a bigger project or a stand-alone single?

Alexander: It’s definitely part of a bigger project. There’s this release, a few more coming, and then a bigger drop. I’m working on things as we speak.

FMM: That’s great! We can’t wait to hear them!

Good Times is out now!