A2M Interview

09.11.08
Alex Band - The struggle of an artist
Kat

"Wherever You Will Go" was a huge hit all over Europe and made singer and songwriter Alex Band famous. After two albums with his band The Calling it has now turned quiet around him but this does not mean that he has retired. Being busy constantly and working on his long awaited and upcoming solo record Alex took the time to tell us about the struggle today's artists face and what has been going on in his life lately.

How were the last months for you being on the road again?
-It’s been interesting…some shows have been a blast and others have been down right bizarre! The Brazil tour was by far the most fun where as a lot of these other shows I’ve been doing are one-offs at colleges or private parties. No matter what, I enjoy getting on stage and playing and seeing all the fans again…this was long over do.

Why did you decide to do a whole tour through Brazil? There are so many countries waiting for you to play there.
-Mostly cause we had a great offer by a Brazilian promoter to have us tour down there. I have yet to get a straight up offer like that from any of the other countries I am well known in. I wish I did! Next year when my album finally gets released I know I’ll make my way all over the globe.

What have you done after the break up of The Calling? What has changed for you since then?
-I wouldn’t call my absence from The Calling a break up really (The Calling was just me and my partner Aaron, we would hire touring musicians). I decided to pursue a solo career but didn’t end The Calling for good. I’m sure one day Aaron and I will get together and do it again.

Music

Why did you decide to release an EP rather than a complete album?
-The complete album has been done for over a year now! I left my label (interscope) earlier this year cause they were just sitting on it. I own the album now and am in the process of putting together the proper funding and structure for my own label and will release the album worldwide next year. I made the EP to simply give the fans something new that they could listen to. And after writing like 200 songs for my solo album, I had plenty good ones left over to share!

Which is your most favourite song on the EP and to play live?
-My favourite song on the EP is probably Only One and I would say that is my favourite song to play live too since I get to play piano on it which is new for me to do live and I’m really digging it.

In “Live Again” you talk about building a dream. Does this include your solo career and the new label or also sth else?
-I actually wrote that song for the movie Iron Man cause they were looking for a main theme song for the adds, They loved it and were in the midst of placing it in the commercials but I think the director ended up canning pop songs all together for the movie and just stuck with score (and Black Sabath’s “Iron Man”).

One of your songs on the EP is “Coming Home”. Where is home for you and what does it mean to you?
-That’s actually a song I wrote for the last scene of a movie called The Final Season that came out last year about baseball.  Home for me is Hollywood, California…born and raised. It’s a crazy city full of a lot of interesting people! I have been all over this planet and seen some amazingly beautiful places, but it always feels good to get back home to the smog! For someone who travels as much as myself, home is a very important thing…it gives you grounding through all the chaos.

I am always impressed about the depth of your lyrics. Where do you find all your inspiration?
-Really from everywhere and everything. The news, movies, books, fans, friends, family, crazy women! I usually start with the music to a song, then come up with the melody and from there the lyrics just come…I would say the feel of the chords and melody always dictate what I’m going to write about.

Label

You created your own label because of some problems with your old record company. Can you tell us what happened?
-Well my band The Calling was signed to RCA/BMG for 7 years and we had a good run there, but once I decided to go solo I left them and signed with Geffen/Interscope back in 2005. Geffen took their sweet time allowing me to record the album (after writing hundreds of songs!) and then once it was finished they just sat on it. Meanwhile all my fans are wondering what the hell is going on and I’ve been sitting here for other 3 years now going crazy myself! So, I decided to leave the label, buy my finished solo album and pursue putting it out independently. This is the way to go these days if you can get the $ to fund it and you have a fan base already. It definitely hasn’t been easy to get it all going, but we’re really close now and I hope to be able to release the album by next summer.

Isn’t it also a big risk to do all the business stuff on your own terms?
-I have been taken advantage of and screwed over by every facet of this business that I can’t imagine running the show myself could be any worse. If anything, it’s going to free me from the burden of always trying to please old record executives that have no idea what they’re doing!

What are your plans for the label? Are you going to sign other acts as well?
-Maybe down the line, but for now all I am focused on is getting this album out and doing it properly. I would love to produce and sign other artists in the future for sure once I build everything up nicely.

What advice can you give aspiring bands/artists to push their career?
-In this day and age you’ve gotta want it and you’ve gotta want it bad, cause it takes an insane amount of work to get a small payoff. Forget getting a deal with a label…you have all the tools you need around you and on the internet to make it happen for yourself. And don’t listen to one persons advice ever, whether good or bad…it’s all about the majority.

On your myspace profile there is a big banner that says “Don’t steal music”. As you know there are still many people, especially teenagers who say “I don’t care, I don’t have the money and the artists are rich anyways.” How would you try to convince those people to go from burning to buying music?
-It’s simple…people on my level need you guys to buy music or we’re screwed…truly. For every song or album you steal, that’s less money your favourite artist can spend on travelling to a town near you to perform, or for their next video or who knows what else to even happen. The point is no one is making the big bucks anymore and it’s hurting everybody…you gotta pay for the product or else the product will disappear.

Misc

 Which is your favourite record at the moment?
-The most recent Coldplay album is still my favourite at the moment. I honestly haven’t purchased too much new music in the last month cause I’ve been so busy.

You worked together with Santana on “Why don’t you and I”. If you could choose any person (dead or alive) to do a song with, who would it be?
-Definitely Bono from U2…I am a huge fan of his voice and song writing. Just meeting him would be enough to make my day! I’ll be down on my knees saying “I’m not worthy, I’m not worthy!”

Some of your fans were asking about your participation in Rock4Change? Can you tell us a bit about the project and how it came that you participate in it?
-Friends of mine were putting it all together and there was an event scheduled but it fell apart and I believe they are rescheduling it. I had been wanting to help the madness that is happening over in Darfur in some way, so when my friends came to me about the concert I was all for it. Hopefully it works out.

Future

 Is there already a release date for your Live DVD?
-No release date yet but I am trying really hard to get it done for the end of the year. I’ll probably just be selling it on my site, alexband.net, at first. It has been a massive undertaking since I’m pretty much doing it all myself with the help of my good friend and director/editor. It’s turning out sooooooo good, I can’t wait for everyone to see it!

What are your plans for the near and far future? When can we see you perform your songs in Europe again?
-If it were up to me I would be there right now playing shows! But really, until my album is out, it just doesn’t make financial sense for me to go their now as it has been a bunch of years since I last played over there last and my size of draw is uncertain. I’d be really surprised if I don’t make it over there next year when I start touring worldwide to promote the album. I can’t tell you how ready I am to go back to work!!!

Order Alex Band's EP here!