Interview: Alexa Wilding
Meet You At The Show: In the next few weeks you’re going to be on tour promoting your latest self-titled EP. What can we expect from this tour? Is there anything in particular that you’re hoping to experience?
Alexa Wilding: On this tour I’m expecting to feel like the out-of-town guest at a friend’s party! You hope that your conversation will be witty enough to make a new friend! With that in mind, I’ve put together a compact little solo set that I hope best conveys who I am and what my music is all about. This way, audiences can get a taste, hopefully be curious for more, and invite me to the next fete! I’m very much the traveling troubadour on this tour, just me and my guitar, and I hope this direct, almost old fashioned approach will be the most effective and fun way of sharing the songs.
MYATS: Seeing that you first started out in the music biz as part of International Shades, has that influenced you as a solo artist? Did legendary Bob Bert from Sonic Youth and the rest of the gang pass along any valuable insight of the trade that you would like to share?
AW: My time playing with the Shades is very dear to me. I was like the kid sister the older boys let into the club house! There would be times in practice where I’d wonder, why did they let ME in. I was thrown into a musical landscape very different from my own, and I had to learn, fast, how to swim – all the while playing it REALLY cool. I was too embarrassed to let on how exciting it was to play in a real rock band, opening for my idols like Mudhoney and Genesis P’Orridge, and maybe they thought it was pretty funny that a little girl in a dress had idols like that! But playing synths and singing with Bob and Mark C. made me feel for the first time in my life like a real musician, not just a girl who writes songs in her bedroom. If they passed along anything, it was permission to be myself. Knowing that these cool dudes believed in me gave me the courage in the end to chase and sharpen my own vision.
MYATS: Us Montreal folk are really excited to have you come perform with galpals Au Revoir Simone this July. Do you think that touring with a band will make you miss the whole dynamic of performing with a group, or do you prefer having the spotlight on stage as a solo artist?
AW: Yay! I’m psyched to be passing through your beautiful city. I think touring with a band will give me the confidence to play alone. I adore Au Revoir Simone and the musical communication that goes on between them during their shows is incredible to watch. Its magic. But I also think a certain kind of magic happens when one plays alone. Its just you up there, and you have to navigate your way from beginning to end and there’s space for detours and, some times, discoveries. I saw Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland recently, and I couldn’t help but liken the feeling of getting up on stage alone with Alice approaching the Jaberwocky with her sword! I personally love hearing artists play solo because you get to see their minds at work, its a very intimate experience, different than watching a group voyage together. Its also something that doesn’t happen much any more, so I hope I do it well!
MYATS: It’s really refreshing that you write and perform your own songs. I’m sure you’re aware that many other artists in the industry don’t tend to partake in the writing side of their music. What’s your opinion about that gap between writer and performer?
AW: I think there can be a beautiful remove and room for exploration that happens when a performer interprets someone else’s material. Take Joan Baez as a classic example, or all those wonderful jazz ladies of yesteryear! Unfortunately this sort of artistry doesn’t happen much in mainstream music today. Too much of the time writers are brought in to craft what the industry thinks will sell, which is fine, but where does the integrity of the music go then?
MYATS: What kind of inspiration do you turn to, or look for, when you write your songs?
AW: My songs are, selfishly, private little spaces where I figure out how I feel about things! I for one love it when people share their experiences with me, as it makes me feel less alone in the world. I hope my songs can do the same thing. Like having a conversation with a kooky but understanding confidante. So I’m seeking honesty with myself when I write. I love reading memoirs for this reason, but I also love faerie tales and folk lore. This paradox sometimes make me feel like my songs are in 3D, real but distorted to get the moral of the story across! For me the music is netting, it’s there to support me as I fly over it.
MYATS: If you could collaborate with someone for a track or two on an upcoming album, who would it be and why?
AW: I would love to work with Michael Gira. Or Nick Cave. I love Lou Reed’s New York album. I’m interested in masculine energy since my work is so feminine. Which is why I love collaborating with Tim Foljahn. He gently
reinforces the dark side of my music, and I was lucky to have him on play on the record. Next time I’ll bring him on tour if he lets me!
MYATS: Your work with designer Paola Suhonen is quite unique and notorious, and moreover your collaborative works have been quite successful. It seems like a bit of a far stretch that this young Brooklyn based musical lady ended up working with a Fashion design house from more than half way across the world. How did you initially get involved with the Finnish Fashion design house IVANAhelsinki?
AW: I have no idea how we have anything to say to each other at all, but we do, and there has never even been a language gap! A mutual friend acted as Cupid and I wound up agreeing to act in a small film of hers in exchange for an IVANAhelsinki dress. Next thing I know we’re making films together, my music is appearing on her runways, and her clothes became my second skin. We seemed to share an inner life, obsessed with the same metaphors, mythologies, and casts of characters. I’m proud of the work we do together because we don’t hesitate, we just do it! This kind of spirit is hard to come by these days, where everyone’s concerned about being cool, etc. We’ve seen some pretty loony ideas come to life, believe me. Have you seen my Black Diamond Day video with the polka dots? We just thought it would be funny to have me attacked by dots and next thing I know we made a 16mm film! This is the mutual insanity I’m talking about!
MYATS: It’s becoming quite the trend for actors and musicians to expand their horizons and dip their toes in the fashion world on top of their busy lifestyles. Like some of these other artists attempt, do you see a future for yourself in the fashion world as well as the music world? Maybe an Alexa Wilding clothing line of some sort? Or would you rather leave all the fashion stuff to the experts?
AW: Oh no, leave that to the experts! If I did anything else it would be writing. I would be the happiest girl in the world if I published a novel. The trouble is I feel like my life has just begun, I’m still writing the story, so in the mean time, I’ll sing about the process!
MYATS: Are you aware that there was another Alexa Wilding from the 1800s who was the acclaimed (and somewhat risque) model for the artist Rossetti? Maybe in the cosmic world, you guys have a twisted ressurectional type bond that somehow swayed your tunes into having Victorian vibes… any chance, or not so much?
AW: Oh yes! I changed my name to Wilding actually. I knew I wanted to take a new name a few years ago, it runs in my family, there have been a ton of performer types. I remembered that there had been an Alexa Wilding in paintings I loved as a child, and at first I just thought it would be funny to take her name. Around that time I met Tim Foljahn, a dear friend and musical soul mate, and one of the first songs of his that I heard was called “Wilding.” So that sealed the deal. From what I’ve read, the first Miss Wilding was a brave little beauty who liked to take risks. I hope I can fill those shoes, and yes, some times I think I’m channeling her, perhaps my guitar is like a Ouija board!
MYATS: What’s the best compliment a fan has ever given you?
AW: That my songs gave her courage.
MYATS: Do you think having a formal education in music from Bard’s College has helped you as a musician and/or an artist? Do you see a difference in those performers who have had some sort of educational training versus those who haven’t?
AW: Actually I didn’t last long in the formal program, I felt I didn’t fit. I quickly switched over to study Experimental-Electronic Music and Performance with some pretty fantastic teachers. It was seriously me and a bunch of guys in New Balance sneakers. I think formal training helps but it can limit ones willingness to think outside the box. If anything it was my training as a child ballerina that got me here. You have to sweat, it hurts like hell, and you have to really, really want it! Because in the end it can be really beautiful.
**Interview Conducted by Sarah Touyz**
Well, there you have it folks! We wish all the best to Miss Wilding, and can’t wait to see her in play live in a few week’s at Montreal’s La Sala Rossa on July 16th. Tickets for that show can be purchased via Blue Skies Turn Black by clicking here.
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sarah
