Alexz Johnson Island

Alexz was once again interviewed for Portrait Magazine! This interview was conducted by MrLaydeeSpencer.

Source

For those who don’t know, why don’t you tell us what Voodoo: Reloaded is?
It’s actually nice that I actually get to talk about this once and for all because I know that the fans have a lot of different opinions about the approach. It really is an album that I love, I love Voodoo, and I’m so happy with Voodoo. And what happened was Demo Castellon was very interested in the songs and wanted to remix it and it was quite complimentary and I felt at the time I was like “sure, let’s see what you can do.” And I was really blown away by the remixes of some of the songs. And I kind of let it go in a sense, I’m already working on new materials for my next record, and I’m just so happy with it. To me if it’s another opportunity to get it to more ears, then that’s awesome. I am still very proud of being an Indie artist and I will do the music I want to do forever. But when people want to collaborate, why not? It’s like, sure, share it with whoever. So that’s Voodoo: Reloaded in a sense.

Are all of the vocals from the original album or did you have to re-record everything?
All from the original album. I went to the studio a couple times just to vibe out with Demo and see what he doing. He did such a good job and I was pretty happy. The original vocals of Voodoo just came from a very, in the room, honest place. And I felt like just to go and redo the vocals just didn’t feel genuine to me. Because it’s not where I am in my life right now. I feel that music should be timeless when you’re creating something, it’s very specific to that time in your life. So if I hadn’t made Voodoo I don’t know if I could make this now in my life. I’m writing completely different things, and I’m growing and changing as a person, so I just wanted him to keep it what it was and just basically remix it because it seemed like he really wanted to, and it worked out well.

How did you feel when you first heard the finalized version?
I feel like my taste in music is a little more obscure than the norm. So sometimes I have to listen outside of myself. Demo got very involved with this project, and I had done what I had wanted to do as an artist, and I feel like I was a little bit disconnected more than other stuff that I had done in my life. Because I had heard these songs so much at this point that it was like, I knew what I liked off the bat, and his remix of Look at Those Eyes blew me away and Voodoo. Superstition is completely different and it was really fun to hear the songs in a completely different way outside of me and Brendan’s style and sound. So I’m happy with it. Does it feel like I did a lot of work with this Reloaded record? No, because it’s a remix of my last one. But I’m really happy with the direction it went. And if I wasn’t I wouldn’t have put it out.

A lot of your fans are nervous for this upcoming album because they’ve grown a relationship with Voodoo, and some of them can’t imagine hearing their favorite songs any differently. How do you feel about that?
It’s been interesting watching the feedback because I know that a lot of the fans have had time to digest this music and listen to it and it’s so funny to me. None of it is hurtful or anything because they’re really comparing to the first record. And everyone’s going “well, I love the first Boogie Love,” but really no one’s heard the full album in it’s entirety. And Reloaded is a cohesive record in itself and it really does fit, all the songs fit together really nicely, and I hope the fans are going to be really happy with the record.

Before you started remixing, were you also nervous about hearing them differently?
Oh yeah, for sure I was. There comes a point as a musician where you kind of have to let go a little bit. It’s really interesting, and this gave me some strength, because, to be honest, I really love the album Voodoo. I was really connected to that album and I’m on an Indie label and I didn’t feel like at the time it was really able to get out there as much. And it kind of made me feel like, “ugh,” because everyone who heard the record was like “oh my gosh!” So when the opportunity came around I thought this would be a way – I love my fans – but if there’s a way to get even more people hearing this music, then that would be awesome, people outside of Instant Star. And if there’s a way to get it out there than awesome, and was I nervous? Completely nervous, but what gave me strength was, I love Sara Bareilles, I think she’s awesome, I think her new record is amazing – Kaleidoscope Heart. And I love King of Anything, and I was in the car and I heard on the radio King of Anything and it was completely remixed. And it wasn’t authentic to what the record was. But I just know as an artist like Sara Bareilles or Bruno Mars, who I know, you have to make choices and let go of it. You make an album that you love, it’s yours, and we both write the music so we’ll be producing it as well and me and Brendan are really close to it so it’s like our baby, and there’s some amazing producers out there. If Mark Ronson came up to me and said “I love your Indie album, I want to reproduce it,” am I going to be like “No.?” Like great! I wrote the song, I love the song, let’s make it sound awesome! So, was it nerve wrecking? Yeah, but I think you can’t be too precious with music. Voodoo is out there, and that’s all that matters. If Voodoo wasn’t out there I wouldn’t have done this. But Voodoo is out, and if people want to find the original album, they can find it.

What is your favorite song from the album?
Look at Those Eyes.

Fans from all around the world want to see you live, do you plan on touring outside of Canada ? More specifically Chile, France, Mexico, or LA?
Yes I do. That’s kind of the purpose of all of this is that there’s a lot of artists right now, especially in Canada , fighting to get on a great tour. And a tour costs a lot of money, and to get the funding for a tour and to get on to a great tour, in Canada at least, getting on the radio and getting your stuff out there seems to really help in that regard. So my focus and my goal is to get on a tour. I would love to do that this year, this summer, I would love to. That’s all I really want to do is be on stage performing, it’s my favorite thing. But I want to make sure I do it the right way, I don’t want to join some lame tour because I’m fear-based or something. I feel like I’m taking the right steps to that direction.

What was it like filming Boogie Love?
It was fun! It was awesome to have some friends come out and support, and it was like a reunion of a lot of my Toronto friends which was cool. It was fun shooting in Toronto , and it was just fun. I wanted it to be laid-back and I didn’t want it to take itself too seriously because the song is called Boogie Love. It’s not rocket science; I just wanted it to be a fun video. And it turned out to be really cool.

What made you decide to make it your next single?
That was a joint-decision between close friends and obviously Orange Records and management. There’s just something about the remix of the song, I think it’s different, I think its eclectic and I think it kind of catches you immediately. I didn’t want to come out with Voodoo first or Look at Those Eyes. I feel like I want to build with this a little bit more, and then come out with them. I just don’t want to come out serious and sad. I’ve taken so many hits as an artist and I feel it’s important to keep it fun and light, and then hit them with the stuff that really comes from my soul. I wrote Boogie Love, I love it and I think it’s really fun. And people have their own opinions and think “why Boogie Love for the next single?” but there really is a science to singles, and I’m not going to pretend to know what that is, because I don’t really listen to the radio, and I don’t really know. So when I’m in a room with 20 people and they’re going “oh my gosh, this is the single,” and it just catches you and it’s so catchy, I’m like, “oh, sure,” if that’s the single, that’s the single. So I don’t know, I haven’t had a hit single yet so I’m just doing the music I love to do and I’ll keep putting out songs and whatever happens, happens. I’m not holding on to it too much.

Will there be a Reloaded Package, similar to the original?
Yes, there’s going to be packages and everything. The album comes out in March so they’re working on it right now.

What will the differences be?
I know that there’s some Behind the Scenes Footage of the music video. I think there are some special remixes that are being put together and Behind the Scenes photos and cool stuff like that so I think they’re putting together little packages. Really cool.

Have you already started working on your next album?
I don’t really ever stop writing, when things get busy or if I’m uninspired on a day or something obviously it’s hard to make it happen, but I always have ideas and I’m always working on new songs but yeah I definitely have, I’d say, a good couple of songs that I see on my next record. I’m really excited about it, it’s kind of acousticy. I’ve really enjoyed writing completely by myself lately, on the guitar. And I like Tom Petty and these classic kind of, Bruce Springsteen, and it’s kind of this Americana, using my voice kind of simple songs that I’ve been writing and I’ve been having a blast. We’ll see how it comes together yeah, I’ve been writing.

Was Mary a song you wrote for your next album, or were you just writing it for fun?
Mary will be on my next album, yes.

You recently tweeted that you were writing songs with Toby Gad, will those songs be on your next album?
Possibly, I’ll have to wait and see. To me it’s like ‘May the best songs win.’ No matter who I write them with. I’ve also written a couple songs with Jimmy Robbins, who’s an artist who’s based down in North Carolina and he’s a super talented writer. I know I have some sessions here with Lester Mendez coming up. To me I want the songs to be authentic and it doesn’t matter where they come from. And I don’t mind co-writing. We’ll see, once I have all the songs, I’m going to put it together at that point. I also have a couple songs that are pretty dear to my heart that haven’t been heard. And I might rework…I don’t know, I’ll have to see what wins out.

A lot of your fans have heard some of your old demos such as Running Back, Where’s the Sky, Crawl, and Shianne, but they’ve only heard half of each song and would love to hear the other half. Do you see yourself ever releasing them or re-recording them?
Yeah, actually, those are one of the first demos me and Brendan ever did. It’s so bizarre that they got out there. They actually only got out there because my brother’s e-mail was hacked a couple years ago. So a lot of our songs that we didn’t intend on coming out yet got released so we’re going to have to see. I would love to be able to reword those though at some point. I’d definitely rework them though because they were very young demos but sometimes your best stuff is in those young demos so I’ll see.

From Instant Star, to your Epic Album, to Voodoo, and now Voodoo: Reloaded, you’ve proven that you can do just about any sound. Is there a certain “mode” that you get into or is there a different way of writing for each sound?
I just stay authentic to what I like in that time. It just comes from me and my experiences and what I’m going through. That’s the only way I feel to make it real. But I never really know, like I didn’t know I was going to do a 70’s video. I was just like “this is awesome, let’s make this 70’s.” I don’t really have a plan in motion when it comes to that, at all actually. I get into what I’m into at the time and I try to keep it as authentic as I possibly can.

Would you say that you write more for yourself, or for the public?
I always write for myself. First and foremost I always make sure that I love what I’m doing and I really respect people’s opinions and I’ve always taken criticism, criticism is constructive if it’s given the right way. But I always make sure that I love it and then I hope that the public does.

You tweeted that you’re in LA looking at some scripts, can you tell us anything about them?
Yeah, just a couple of cool opportunities, fingers crossed. I’m really excited about a project; it looks like it could happen. I’ll keep you guys posted, though. My dream part would be to be involved in a feature where I could bring my music into it. You know, play some kind of musical character or a song writer and be able to help on the music end of it, it’s probably my dream thing. So there have been a couple of things that have come my way recently that are looking like that so I’m definitely looking at my options.

Twitter Questions

jasminrowley: What are you looking forward to most in the years to come?
I’m looking forward to just creating more, and sharing more, and going on tour, and playing live for my fans. That’s what I look forward to the most right now.

jasminrowley: What do you do to relieve stress?
Hot yoga, and sometimes I’ll just watch movies, and I’ll make dinner for either friends or myself. I find it very cathartic just getting a recipe and making something. So yeah just watching movies and relaxing, or sometimes I’ll go for a walk at night. I’d say that hot yoga has really changed my life and it’s so funny because I’m not really like a workout queen at all, but I just tried it once and there’s something about stretching that feels like you’re going for a massage. So hot yoga for sure calms me down.

alandrel: Do you see any European tours, France especially?
I do, I want to go to Europe so bad. My support in Europe has been amazing. I can’t believe all the Voodoo Packages that went out and the posters that I signed going out, there were so much that I couldn’t believe it, how much they really get my sound. So I will definitely, there’s no question, I’ll be there, singing for them and doing signings and meet-and-greets. I want to do it all!

DaynaDoughnut: Do you know of any set tour locations for your album?
Not yet, I’m back from LA in March, the album comes out in March. I would say definitely Spring and Summer I’m going to start posting dates and venues and stuff. It’ll be on my website and on Facebook and MySpace. I’ll make sure I keep everyone posted.

nickiboi91: What will happen to the Epic Masters now that Amanda Ghost is no longer head of the label?
I don’t get those masters back, unless I buy them back, or another label buys them back. I get the songs back, and I can reproduce the songs though Greg Wells did such a beautiful job. You know it’s interesting, I heard a story, which I don’t mind sharing now, but the reason why I love Sara Bareilles’s song King of Anything so much is because she was on the same label as me at the time, with Epic, and that song is written for Amanda Ghost, actually. And I think it’s kind of out there now, I think everyone in the industry knows that so it’s safe to say. But that was one of most scarring experiences on the business music hand that I’ve been through. I didn’t even know how to start over; I put everything into that record. I put so much time writing and sculpting it and I was feeling really genuine about it but sometimes business and timing really gets in the way. So I’m not going to get the masters back but when I do get the songs back I am definitely 100% going to do an album of those songs eventually. I’m going to reproduce them and put them out and call them, I don’t know, maybe I’ll call it like The Prequel of Voodoo or something. It’ll be like Album Number One – Alexz Johnson. So we’ll see. There are some really cool songs on that record, songs I wish I could’ve used on Voodoo but I can’t touch them until…well soon actually I think I get them back this year.

Lovemycelebz: How do you feel after Instant Star and how did it change you?
Instant Star was a really fun experience. It was four years and so much fun, and I got to play a rock star and it was so awesome. And I got to be on stage and write songs for it and it was really fun. At the time, I probably didn’t acknowledge as much as I should’ve because I so desperately wanted to be doing my own music. And I was working on songs with Capitol first and then with Epic and I was so focused on my own music, during that experience, that I was a little disconnected from it. But it was awesome and it got me on my legs and writing, I was learning how to write, and it gave me the confidence on stage. It has its goods and it has its bads. As an actress too, it was kind of difficult right after that to not be looked at as Jude. You become such a defined character, I’m naturally blonde and people would come up to me and go “oh my gosh you don’t have red hair,” and I’ll be like “oh my gosh, no I’m naturally blonde.” I mean I’m not dying my hair blonde. But it was such a positive experience in my life and the cast was so much fun and the crew was great. And I miss everyone, it was a big chunk of my life…well so far, I mean it won’t be when I’m forty if I make it there. But it was really fun and I think all experiences just change you so…let’s just say I came from being a lead of a show for four years and then losing a major record deal and losing so many things that I’d worked so hard for right immediately after. So that was a very interesting growth experience for me; going from go-go-go-go-go to everything being taken away. And I think those things in life really make you realize what you’re doing and why you’re doing it, and I think it made me stronger.

alexzjohnsonbr: Do you plan on making other movie genres like Drama or Action?
Yeah, I want to do drama, for sure. Right now in my life I feel like I would love to do a great Drama role, for sure.

redballoonx: When are you and Jimmy Robbins going to write a song and put it out in the public?
Well we already write together a lot so I would say…I don’t know…I mean I can’t really say anything yet but I definitely see hopefully one of the songs that we’ve written in either of our futures. Maybe on one of his records, or my records. When you have people in your life that are so creative in writing, you just write with them. So it just ends up happening naturally. So yeah, it’ll happen.

merzylicious3: What’s your inspiration for your songs?
My inspiration for my songs come from my experiences; good, bad, or ugly. I’m basically just pretty honest. I’m a pretty honest person, it’s a good thing but it’s also kind of gotten me in trouble a lot of times because I’m just brutally honest about things I see and feel in life and in myself so when I’m feeling something I’ll just get it out. And once I’m looking at it on paper I’m like “oh, I feel better.”

MusicFan7974: Will Brendan provide more vocals in the next album?
I would love that. I don’t know yet but that would be awesome.

Alexz’s album Voodoo: Reloaded will be out in March. For more information you can check out her websites:
www.alexzjohnson.com
www.twitter.com/alexzjohnson
www.myspace.com/alexzjohnson

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 2nd, 2011 at 10:41 am and is filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.