I really like this article, hopefully you guys get something out of it too.<\/p>\n
Source<\/a><\/p>\n \n They could be the Canadian von Trapp Family.<\/p>\n There are 10 kids in singer\/actor\/songwriter Alexz Johnson\u2019s family and more than half of them are in the entertainment biz.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is a very artistic family,\u201d allows Johnson, flipping through records at Rotate This, a vinyl and CD shop at 801 Queen St. W.<\/p>\n She is right at home. The album Here\u2019s Little Richard, priced at $24, catches her eye but her heart belongs to Rickie Lee Jones.<\/p>\n \u201cRickie Lee is a huge influence,\u201d she says. \u201cShe is the coolest cat ever. I love vinyl; I am looking for a turntable.\u201d<\/p>\n In fact, Johnson, who played lead Jude Harrison on the series Instant Star, about a singer who wins a Canadian Idol-esque reality show, is releasing her first album Voodoo on vinyl also.<\/p>\n She is only 23. How does she know from vinyl?<\/p>\n \u201cVinyl is so old school,\u201d she says. \u201cMy dad had Neil Young records and my mom loved James Taylor. My brother Brendan\u2019s middle name is James after him.\u201d<\/p>\n Okay, what about the \u201cz\u201d in her first name?<\/p>\n \u201cIt was my hippie mom,\u201d she explains. \u201cShe called me Alexzandra. She sent the birth certificate back three times before they got it right. I was a tomboy with short blond hair and on stage, they thought I was a boy. I had operatic training for 9 years, from age 8. I have a four-octave range.<\/p>\n \u201cAs a kid, I did some David Foster charity events where I sang C\u00e9line Dion songs. But I wanted to sing my own songs.\u201d<\/p>\n Born in Westminster B.C., Johnson was also influenced by her father\u2019s Roy Orbison, Rat Pack and Billy Joel records. By 14, she was listening to Peter Gabriel, Kate Bush and Rickie Lee Jones and was performing the national anthem at NHL and NBA games in Vancouver.<\/p>\n At 18, she landed Instant Star and bagged a Gemini. She has also appeared in The Chris Isaak Show, The Collector, Cold Squad, Final Destination 3, and Smallville, where she played the super hero Saturn Girl, whose super powers were reading minds and flying.<\/p>\n The record shop clerk, Steven, recognizes her from Instant Star.<\/p>\n \u201cI watch it every day of the week,\u201d he says. \u201cI only have three channels.\u201d<\/p>\n He promises to stock Voodoo for the store.<\/p>\n Johnson co-wrote the songs on Voodoo<\/strong> with her brother, Brendan, 27, who also served as producer and plays drums. They have been performing together since she was 12 and they wrote songs featured on Instant Star\u2019s soundtrack.<\/p>\n \u201cThe title Voodoo<\/strong> represents the symbolic veil that was placed over our music when someone else was pulling the strings,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n Voodoo<\/strong> is technically not her first album. In 2006, Johnson signed a deal with Capitol-EMI Records, but before she even got a chance to record, the label execs who signed her were released from their contracts. In 2008, she was signed by Epic Records to a multi-album deal and wrote all the songs with Brendan but because of staffing turmoil there, the album was shelved.<\/p>\n \u201cBut it gave me a fire in my belly,\u201d she rationalizes. \u201cI said, \u2018Let\u2019s do a Beach Boys record.\u2019 We tapped into The Police, Beach Boys, Annie Lennox and Rickie Lee Jones.\u201d<\/p>\n She describes her sound as \u201ceclectic pop.\u201d<\/p>\n In 2009, she signed with an indie label, inDiscover Recordings, and voil\u00e0 Voodoo.<\/p>\n The supporting video for the debut single \u201cTrip around the World\u201d was shot in New Orleans.<\/p>\n \u201c \u2018Trip around the World\u2019 is like The Triplets of Belleville and French New Wave. I love the French New Wave; I love Jules et Jim and New Orleans really captured it,\u201d she explains. \u201cThe video is freestyle and black and white like Jules et Jim. We speeded it up to look like old Charlie Chaplin films.\u201d<\/p>\n The black hat she wears in the video is very Chaplin-esque even though it comes from Australia via Edie Hat shop on Granville Island.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is an Australian cowboy hat,\u201d Johnson says. \u201cYou can put it upside down and water your horse.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m influenced by men\u2019s fashion. I love keeping up with the guys; you can\u2019t put me in a box. I think it is really sexy to wear a man\u2019s shirt. I used to watch Michael Jackson and did the \u201cFree Willy\u201d song. I wanted to wear MJ\u2019s white shirts.<\/p>\n \u201cI love vintage. I got schoolboy saddle shoes for $4; the same shoes were $670 in Gastown. I want to spend money on good wine, good food, travel and equipment for the studio.\u201d<\/p>\n Her three-buckle brown boots look like Frye\u2019s but are Steve Maddens. She paid $50 for them.<\/p>\n \u201cThey are three seasons ago \u2014 I\u2019m such a boot girl.\u201d<\/p>\n Her boots will be taking Johnson all over North America this summer on tour to support the album, available online at www.alexzjohnson.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n
\nAll In The Family
\nEntertainer Alexz Johnson, who is releasing first album, \u2018Voodoo,\u2019 comes by talent naturally <\/strong><\/p>\n