{"id":5719,"date":"2014-04-01T18:40:44","date_gmt":"2014-04-01T23:40:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.alexz.net\/?p=5719"},"modified":"2014-04-01T18:40:44","modified_gmt":"2014-04-01T23:40:44","slug":"uu-interview-unsignedunleashed-com","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.alexz.net\/?p=5719","title":{"rendered":"U&U Interview — UnsignedUnleashed.com"},"content":{"rendered":"

Alexz was interviewed by UnsignedUnleashed.com<\/a> and discussed moving from a major label to being independent and the meaning of from her “Heart” EP.<\/p>\n

\nSource<\/a><\/p>\n

Canadian singer\/songwriter Alexz Johnson has been in the spotlight for years, beginning her career acting and singing as a child. These days, Alexz is more interested in being taken seriously as a musician – something that shouldn\u2019t be hard for her, considering her huge vocals and relatable, yet intelligent and creative, lyrics. We recently had the chance to sit down with Alexz and discuss moving from a big label to being independent, as well as the inspiration behind her latest EP, Heart<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Tori (U&U): Tell me a little about yourself \u2013 your hometown and what it was like growing up there, the first album you remember knowing all the words to.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Alexz Johnson: I\u2019m from the West Coast and I had a very normal, uneventful childhood. I was the sixth child in a family with ten kids, so I had a lot of brothers and played a lot of sports. I started singing and became obsessed with Les Miserables and started being very dramatic at the age of 12 (laughs) and doing impersonations of Barbara Streisand. I definitely knew all the words to Les Miserables, the whole theatre production \u2013 all the songs. <\/p>\n

Tori (U&U): Was there a specific moment or experience you can pinpoint that made you want to become a musician?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Alexz Johnson: I always knew I wanted to sing, but then I realized when I was thirteen or fourteen that I didn\u2019t just want to be a singer, I wanted to write my own music and play the guitar. I kind of started hiding away from how big my vocals were and focused on the songwriting. I wanted to be taken seriously as singer\/songwriter.<\/p>\n

Tori (U&U): What bands and artists influence your work? How so?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Alex Johnson: Not any one artist influences my work. It\u2019s a lot of different cultural influences and books, all by different authors. It\u2019s just not really any specific artist. I mean, I loveFrench New Wave movies and that has an influence, too. I feel like when it comes to music, it\u2019s an expression, it\u2019s so many different things; I can\u2019t do one thing. There\u2019s always different things or ideas influencing it. Places, too -if I go to New Orleans, I get a certain feeling and that might translate into a song.<\/p>\n

Tori (U&U): What are the three best words you can think of that define your sound?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Alex Johnson: I hope it\u2019s timeless and authentic and soulful.<\/p>\n

Tori (U&U): Is there an ideal experience or feeling you want your fans to have when they\u2019re listening to your music? If so, what and why?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Alex Johnson: I feel like if somebody can listen to what I wrote and have some comfort in knowing we\u2019re all equal and we all experience pain and joy, and it can just be real, [then that\u2019s what I want.] I think that\u2019s what\u2019s so cool about the live show process and why I love connecting that way. When I grew up, I went to a lot of concerts and it helped me become who I am. [Other artist\u2019s] struggle gave me hope in my struggle. I hope my fans get that from my music and that they can relate to it. I want to be real.<\/p>\n

Tori (U&U): Do you consider yourself a role model for young women and girls through your music? Why or why not? Would you like to be?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Alexz Johnson: I don\u2019t know. What\u2019s a role model, anyway? I don\u2019t know. It\u2019s so hard. If I had a little girl who came to me one day, who was so passionate about a certain artist, I feel like that would tell me a lot about them. If I am a role model, I hope that I\u2019m a good one.<\/p>\n

Tori (U&U): Tell me about your recently-released EP, Heart. What are some of the stories and emotions behind it?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Alexz Johnson: Survival. It\u2019s such a vulnerable thing to fall in love and let yourself be loved. I feel like so much of me goes into songs. I couldn\u2019t help but write an array of songs coming out of an experience like that. Heart is my heart and it\u2019s an appropriate title. It\u2019s very much a testimonial.<\/p>\n

Tori (U&U): Your career in the spotlight started early and you\u2019ve had some experience with big labels like SONY and EPIC. Now you\u2019re independent. What did you learn when working with big labels? Why did you make the decision to become independent?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Alexz Johnson: Because I feel like it\u2019s [being with a big label] kind of an archaic system, not being able to take risks that need to be taken with music. I feel like a lot of artists are being shoved down people\u2019s throats, and the artists that I like and discover and believe in are the ones that I find myself through word of mouth or opening acts. The industry is changing, and I think people it\u2019s an exciting time to be an independent artist. But you have to be creative and fearless and get yourself out there. There\u2019s more security in knowing you have control, not [relinquishing it to] a big label.<\/p>\n

Tori (U&U): If you could work with any artist, living or dead, who would it be and why?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Alexz Johnson: I\u2019d love to play with Stevie Nicks one day. That would be amazing!<\/p>\n

Check out Alexz\u2019s latest music video here<\/a>.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Alexz was interviewed by UnsignedUnleashed.com<\/a> and discussed moving from a major label to being independent and the meaning of from her “Heart” EP. Source Canadian singer\/songwriter Alexz Johnson has been in the spotlight for years, beginning her career acting and singing as a child. These days, Alexz is more interested in being taken seriously as […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","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_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"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":[302,813],"class_list":["post-5719","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-interview","tag-unsignedunleashed"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t