Scott Alexander
Oakland, CA, U.S.
What kind of music do you play?” is probably the most awkward thing you can ask a musician. Lately, I’ve felt most comfortable calling it “nonrepetitive pop.” What I mean is, most of what I write has a nonrepetitive structure, but I still prefer to make music that is catchy and not difficult to understand.
Some people tell me that the music is weird (meaning they probably don’t like it) but funny, and I should be a comedian instead. Being funny on purpose is not really my thing. I prefer when thoughts just happen to be funny. I find myself inclined to write about things that are difficult to talk about or embarrassing, so funny happens rather frequently, but I am rarely, if ever, joking.
I live in Oakland, but grew up in Mendota Heights, Minnesota. I went to college: first to study bassoon at the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore. It wasn’t for me, so I transferred to the ethnomusicology department at UCLA. Academia wasn’t for me either. My education gave me an appreciation for contrast in dynamics, structure, and aesthetics as a whole. I came to look at music as a vital dialogue within a society and I arrived at a belief that music is the art of putting sound into context: It's more than just the notes and lyrics one hears. It’s the way in which one comes across them, the people they are with when they hear them, what’s going on in the world and our lives when a song is played. It matters how well an audience knows a musician and how well a musician knows their audience.
So I try to approach “promotion” as part of the music. I’m still figuring this out. But one thing I do is give out free cookies at all of my performances, and on an inflatable couch at random times and locations.
Oh, and I also try to talk to as many people as much as I can. So please, contact me.
I’m not famous. I think that would be annoying, but less so than working a day job all my life. I’m still searching for those special thousands of people that will support my career, because a strong cult following would be nice. So I hope that you, your friends, and I will be a good fit for each other.