Interview With Switchcam
A new interview with Switchcam is out. This interview really focuses on Kickstarter and touring. Check it out below:
March 8, 2012
Alexz Johnson: Switchcam’s Interview with the Tech-Savvy Musician“I don’t feel like I should be asking for money for my music,” is perhaps not the most common stance for musicians to take regarding their work. To be fair, Alexz Johnson is not exactly a common musician–after a lauded run as the lead of the television show Instant Star, she was signed and subsequently dropped from Epic Records when they restructured, and set about pursuing music in her own way. Unlike many people who may have slipped through the cracks or given up at that point, Alexz took to the internet. For the past few years she’s been steadily releasing thoughtful, original music, and has garnered a fan base who helped her to raise
$50,000 on Kickstarter towards a summer tour. We talked to the queen of musical DIY about t tunes, the web, and what it actually means to be indie.How did it feel to get funded by your fans to go tour through Kickstarter?
Amazing. You know, people aren’t buying new records anymore, it doesn’t really happen that way. I think it’s a nice trade-off to give music for support, because this industry’s really falling apart when it comes to the old way of doing things. I think it’s such a cool new platform for artists–you know, “If you want me there, let’s make it happen!” It’s really cool that we can even do it. First of all, I had no idea I was even going to reach thirty (thousand). I didn’t want to look like a fool. It’s a hard thing to know; you’re with your close friends asking, “How much do I ask for?” “Ask for 100,000!” “Are you crazy?” “Ask for 15,000…” So I was like okay, I’ll just go for 30,000 and see what happens.
And you made it and you went way over that. If you didn’t have Kickstarter what do you think you would have done to get out there and get on tour again?
I’d probably just be playing shows in New York for the next five months, just staying local and playing all the venues there…just trying to play live and taking it from there. Maybe trying to meet with producers and get some new material together for an album. But I feel like it’s time to get across the states and play for the people who have been supporting my music. It’s time to stop talking about it and do it. I was really thinking to myself “If I get this money I’m going to rent a van, get the guys together, figure out the costs and expenses, I’ll be the tour manager, I can do this, I can make it happen.” And now with the amount of fans who’ve come forward I really want this tour to be great. I want it to be super-pro. It’s super overwhelming.
When do you start touring?
There’s no start dates yet. I’m going to play the Rockland and maybe get a residency at Hotel Cafe in early April, May maybe. And then June, July, August, whether I end up being an opening act for a band or co-headline a tour or I do it on my own, I’m just gonna get the Carolinas, get the East, get the West, and then hopefully get over to the UK for a couple of weeks and hit some spots there. It’s definitely going to be a summer tour.
Who’s your dream tour partner?
My dream….wow, I mean, I have a wishlist here. I think Matt Nathanson would be great to open for. Ryan Adams. John McLaughlin, Paolo Nutini. The Civil Wars would be awesome. I’d want it to be kind of complementary to what I’m doing so a guy would be good! Like Landon Pigg.
Oh, The Coffee Shop Song dude!
Isn’t that EP so good? I would love to open for him, I feel like everything I’m doing is so stripped down for this EP and classic and old school.
How do you feel about the way that everything has changed with music after the Internet?
It’s almost getting to the point where you give away music for free. Like at this tour I’m very much in the mindset of you pay what you can. You supported me and you got me here, and if you like it then give it to your friends. I don’t feel like I should be asking for money for my music. You can get it in any way now through the internet, and it’s cool the way it’s changing. You know, in the ‘80s and 90s, people bought records. To have a hit record meant you were set for life. Now it’s just a different industry. You see a lot of artists using new platforms to engage with their fans.
And I think Switchcam’s an awesome platform, I think it’s rad. It’s another thing that really shows you–bringing people together from all over the world, fans in other countries who couldn’t see me live otherwise can and that’s really exciting.
What do you think that does in terms of the staying power of music?
I think the songs speak for themselves always. I like to keep it old school–I’m going to be getting vinyls made of this EP, but in the end the music speaks for itself. There have been a couple of really great bands to come out this year–Foster The People, Gotye, The Civil Wars–there’s good music that’s able to come through. But you definitely got to be quick in this industry now. Everybody’s hustling, y’know?
Interview conducted by Rachel Vincent
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Check out Alexz Johnson’s Kickstarter campaign HERE!
