Alexz Johnson On Kickstarter Fame & Her New Tour: Exclusive<\/strong>
\nby Rae Votta <\/p>\nAlexz Johnson may have started out as a TV star, but what she really wants is to be an indie musician, even if fans are always eager to see her on their screens again.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s the most common questions (fans ask),\u201d she explained to NewNowNext over cupcakes in the West Village. \u201cThey always ask me if I\u2019m going to be in another movie. I\u2019d really love to be. To be honest, I\u2019d love to be on Girls. When are they going to cast the female musician on Girls?\u201d<\/p>\n
Girls might be the exact perfect fit for someone like Johnson, whose current style places her as very much \u201cstruggling musician next door,\u201d who might throw the party that keeps Hannah Horvath up all night, or inspire free-spirit Jessa Johansson to pick up the banjo and join along. It\u2019s also a logical jump for someone who got her start on teen TV \u2014 first on Disney\u2019s So Weird and, later, as Jude Harrison on Instant Star, a part of the Degrassi-type Canadian teen show circuit (\u201cI remember when Drake was Aubrey, coming to show me his mix tapes,\u201d Johnson joked) to graduate to Lena Dunham\u2019s post-grad NYC, just so long as there\u2019s singing involved.<\/p>\n
At 12 she walked herself into an acting agency in her small town and told them she wanted to sing. After So Weird, her first ever acting gig and one that allowed her to write songs for her character, she swore she\u2019d never do TV again. When Instant Star came knocking she turned them down three times, until she learned she\u2019d be able to write her own music for the show. Johnson partnered with her brother (she\u2019s one of 10 kids in the family) to write music in a style different from her own, a more Avril Lavigne persona, although not totally in line with her own 15-year-old punk-rock loves like Anti Flag or Bad Religion. She even dyed her hair red for the part.<\/p>\n
The show\u2019s success lead to two different record deals, first with Capital, then with Epic. Johnson was dropped from both.<\/p>\n
\u201cI reached out to Greg Wells personally to do a record without a label,\u201d Johnson explained. \u201cHe told me not to sign with a major. I didn\u2019t really listen, I was young and labels come and and wine and dine you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Now Johnson is going it alone as an indie artist, foregoing the label route and assembling her own team as she goes. For now she\u2019s without a manager, but has a booking and PR team to set up the Skipping Stone tour, which is funded completely through Kickstarter. Johnson recorded her latest EP, \u201cSkipping Stone\u201d in Nashville with her now ex-boyfriend, completely for free. After it was completed, Johnson realized she wanted to tour, but had no plan. She packed her stuff into storage, moved from Canada with no visa and had six months to figure out a plan. At the three month mark she turned to Kickstarter, setting a modest goal of $30,000, which she hit in her first twenty-four hours.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was blown away,\u201d Johnson laughs. \u201cI\u2019ve been off of a label, I\u2019ve never had a chance to put out my music. I\u2019m happy, I just want to be surviving, and if I can survive and keep making the music I can believe in I\u2019ll keep going on.\u201d<\/p>\n
She eventually topped out at $67,000 in funding, which Johnson will use to amplify the experience for fans. Rewards for funding the tour ranged from EPs to tour videos all the way to private shows, with support pouring in from locales as far away as Germany and Brazil that won\u2019t even reap the benefits of an Alexz Johnson tour. She\u2019s also found a way to both supplement her tour income and give fans even more on her trek \u2014 which kicks off today in Toronto and ends August 18 in Los Angeles \u2014 giving fans a VIP option where they can come and chat with Johnson before the show.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe sold 80 for Webster Studio,\u201d Johnson explained. \u201cThey get to come talk to me, I\u2019ll sign whatever, and we can talk one-on-one. Honestly, I don\u2019t know what to expect (on tour). I don\u2019t know where my market is. I\u2019ve never done a tour before. My booking agent took a chance on me. I didn\u2019t know I was going to pack Webster Studio. That was my third show in the U.S.!\u201d<\/p>\n
Get More: Alexz Johnson, Walking, Music, More Music Videos<\/p>\n
After Instant Star, Johnson held other acting gigs, including a role in Final Destination 3, and guest spots on TV shows like Smallville and Haven. Johnson admits that acting has been a breadwinner for her. \u201cI\u2019ve been doing it my whole life,\u201d she explained \u201cIt\u2019s the one thing that\u2019s made me money.\u201d Still, she\u2019s not looking for a quick jump back to TV or movies, but shooting House of Bodies with Queen Latifah and Terrence Howard this year is what got her a visa that allows her to tour this summer. However that\u2019s the exception, not the rule, and Johnson amidst that she often \u201cshoots (herself) in the foot\u201d in her career.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not hungry for (TV success), I\u2019m hungry for authenticity,\u201d she elaborated. \u201cI want the respect from the musicians that I love. I don\u2019t need to go and be on Glee. I\u2019ll get an audition and forget to tape myself! I carry the weight of what I\u2019ve been through as a musician, and that\u2019s what gets me all the time on the acting end. I need to be the blonde Kristen Stewart, in my head that\u2019s the only thing that fits for me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Even when she\u2019s trying, sometimes the acting powers that be are conspiring against her. \u201cI\u2019ll do pilot season, I\u2019ll screentest a lot and they\u2019re end up going with a gay guy for the part,\u201d she laughs. \u201cThey change the whole character! I want to be in a position where I\u2019m touring and I write my own damn script and make a cool series.\u201d<\/p>\n
At her last show in New York before tour, a small headliner at Rockwood\u2019s Stage 2, her on-stage persona takes over. The chill girl from the Village cupcake shop is gone, replaced with an energetic rock star. Her inspirations \u2014 performers like Robyn or Linda Ronstadt, who she admits isn\u2019t the same music, but who \u201ctook the same hits\u201d as Johnson has \u2014 shine through in the way she carries herself. The Skipping Stone EP, she says, embodies heartbreak, even though Johnson wrote the record while she was still with her boyfriend, Jimmy.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was actually a heartbreaking time in my life,\u201d she said \u201cAll the songs we wrote together were heartbreak songs. In my head it was like \u201cwe\u2019re so strong, we can write this stuff together. But in my heart I was scared. I look at this EP now, it\u2019s empowering to play. I\u2019m so proud that I got something out of that. They\u2019re so honest, and I think it\u2019s good for people to know that you can survive.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her fans definitely connect with the message \u2014 the truth in her lyrics reflected back as they sing along with her every word. A group of guys are celebrating a birthday, and before the set, the birthday boy had approached Johnson for a picture and hug, then gabbed with his friends about the encounter all through opener Theo Katzman\u2019s set. During the show they call out the birthday again, and Johnson fluidly dedicates a song to them.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have a lot of female fans, I have a lot of gay fans which is awesome,\u201d she exclaims. \u201cWhat\u2019s interesting about this tour is they all know the Skipping Stone EP, but they\u2019ve followed me from my acting. It\u2019s such a blessing\u201d.<\/p>\n
After this hectic year, Johnson is cautiously optimistic about her coming one. She\u2019s written with big names like Bruno Mars and up-and-comers like Joy Williams of The Civil Wars, but hasn\u2019t signed a publishing deal yet. Her next steps, she says, will be getting her music in movies or commercials, and when this tour is over her next stop will be London, a place she feels is really open to the kind of pop sound she embodies that doesn\u2019t conform to stereotypes, to record a new album.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to be touring again (next year), opening for someone like Matt Nathanson. I don\u2019t expect anything to go fast, but I want my ducks to be in a row<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
NewNowNext has posted an article about Alexz. It’s about her background, her tour, and Kickstarter. Source Alexz Johnson On Kickstarter Fame & Her New Tour: Exclusive by Rae Votta Alexz Johnson may have started out as a TV star, but what she really wants is to be an indie musician, even if fans are always […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[13],"tags":[330,410,551],"class_list":["post-4153","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-kickstarter","tag-newnownext","tag-skipping-stone-tour"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3Pf1c-14Z","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.alexz.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4153","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.alexz.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.alexz.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.alexz.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.alexz.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4153"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.alexz.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4153\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.alexz.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4153"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.alexz.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4153"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.alexz.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4153"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}