Interview With StarsEntertainment.com
Alexz Johnson is a Canadian born Actress and singer/songwriter from British Columbia. At a young age she was already dedicated to what she loves the most, Music. She began singing at a really young age infront of her family and on other occasions that presented themselves to her. It was at the age of 11 that she began her entertainment career landing a spot on the TV show So Weird. She then went on to do other acting jobs such as on the CTV Original Series Instant Star.
It wasn’t until after Instant Star that Johnson began to focus on her musical career. Now at 24, she has been able to show her diverse acting skills and amazing musical style and talent, with 2 albums under her belt and currently working on some new material she doesn’t plan on taking a break any time soon.
She recently released her new album Reloaded. The album is a remix album that consits of remixed versions of her debut album Voodoo.
Johnson writes a lot of her own music along with her brother and has recently partnered up with a small Indie label in Canada, Orange Lounge Recordings. For her latest project she teamed up with acclaimed music producer Demacio ‘Demo’ Castellon (who has worked with the likes of Jay-Z, Beyonce, Rhianna, Madonna and many more) to create her new album Reloaded.
You can read my interview with Johnson below.
Could you describe yourself in one word?
Ambitious
How did you get started playing music?
I’ve always been singing and officially started with my brother around 15 and I just started writing with him and focusing on music I liked with my brother and my management firm in Vancouver helped with opening and it was with capitol and they started with opening doors for my musical career.
Do you have any acting roles lined up in the future?
Right now I’m focusing on my next record, though I’m kind of open to anything.
Any reason you decided to pursue acting to begin your career and not music?
It kind of happened naturally, I never set out to be an actor, and I seemed to get these offers for TV shows. I know what the job entails for TV shows and you have to sign years of your life away with a contract, which I spent a couple of years locked into my TV show (Instant Star). My acting career kind of just happened and opened tons of doors for me.
You occasional write music with your brother Brendan, is it hard to write really personal songs with him?
The majority I write with him haven’t been love songs, but I find that I have been writing more love songs now and my next record will consist of more love songs.
My brother and I began writing and focused more on other situations like financial situations and situations we both were getting into together.
Of the two Acting and Singing, which one for you is harder to do?
Acting is very scheduled, you get an audition and you kind of now what to expect, and on the music end its all unexpected, you write and record all these songs and you have to wait until the music comes out and hear the reactions of the fans.
While with acting its all done before and less risky than music.
Music is more personal and I personally believe you can hurt more and you can take it incredibly personally compared to acting.
How has the change in the music industry impacted you as an artist?
Positively and negatively, there are always changes in the music industry, I was flying to RCA when 9/11 happened and that had a huge impact on the music industry as well as other industries. Twitter has helped me a lot with reaching out with fans. I’ve been embracing the Internet and I’m embracing being an indie artist. As an indie artist I have more control over my music and how to create it.
Being a Canadian Artist slowly making her way into the US Market, do you find the US very different from the Canadian music scene?
I’m in the process of looking for a US Record label. Canada has a great industry and There is defiantly a huge and different music industry in the states compared to Canada e.g. Toronto is an urban and hip-hop centered music scene while the states is diverse and really open to genres like pop.
Canadian artists who are able to break out into the states are usually then able to sell out Canadian shows. Its like Degrassi, it didn’t become really popular until people in the states started watching it and that’s when Canadians began to really watch it.
What Do You like Most about music?
It’s completely healing and it’s one of the most amazing things we have. I think it’s a wonderful thing and the one language everyone speaks
Do you have a favourite song to play live?
“Skipping Stone” and I’m having fun playing some of my new material live
If you could give any advice to your fans about the entertainment industry, what would it be?
Not to wait for people to make decisions for you. Always be creating and having no idea where it’s going is a good thing. Do it on your terms and make people believe in you, be patient and don’t give up, anything worth anything is worth the time do it and do it all the time and perfect what you do and it should be fun
Any plans for the future with possibly collaborating with any artists?
I’m in the process right now of writing and creating new material and my contract is up and I’m looking for another home for my music. It’s been a crazy couple weeks, since some of my material has been leaked online. I have a pretty strong visual for what I want my next album
And if you could do a song with any artist, who would it be and why?
Ryan Tedder from OneRepbulic is super talented and there is just something that is appealing with what he does. I think it would be great to work with him.
What can your fans expect in the coming months?
Its an exciting time, and its also a really scary time and I’m trying to make decisions I have to make by myself, I have some cool ideas and I’m putting together something cool for my fans with Brendan, its been years in the making and it will have a lot of heart in it. I’m going to keep writing and creating and make it out and available in the right way.
Thanks again to Alexz for the interview and you can check out and find out more about Alexz Johnson through her website:
