Interview with:Alex Hademenos [alexhademenos]
MUSIC
 | What do you do? What is your musical specialty? Violin. Also, writing and recording acoustic tracks. |
| Do you work alone or in a group? If in a group, who are the others you work with? Alone. |
| Is there a web address where one can listen, see, or read some of your work? http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/with-fourteen-eyes/id514200676 |
| Please list any awards, competitions, or other acknowledgments you would like to mention. None...yet. |
| Please list discography in which you have participated. With Fourteen Eyes, 2012. |
| How did you begin making music? Who introduced you? My grandfather, with the violin. |
| What was your musical education? Ten years of voice, nine years of violin, eight years of guitar, with a sprinkle of piano since I was six years old. |
| When did you realise that making music could be a way of life for you? Just recently, in January, when a friend suggested I should put my songs on iTunes. |
| What is your creative process? Poetry first. Poetry always first for me. When I write, it's for a purpose. There's always some message I'm trying to convey. Then after I have the words, I'll usually pull out my guitar or my piano and put a simple progression under it, like may I V vi IV, or I vi IV V. I prefer conventional progressions, but sometimes I like to go out on a limb. |
| When do you have your most lucid moments, in the morning or night? I'd say more night than morning. I've woken up at 2am to record rhymes before. But more than whether it's morning or night, I'm usually either away from home, or writing about a time when I was somewhere other than home. When the idea for words hit me isn't always when I think to record them. |
| Have you ever awoken with a melody created from your dreams? YES. Only one time, but it was wonderful. Usually I work in solfedge from all my years in choir, and it was so easy to say, "Oh, let's see, that was 'Do, Ti, Sol'." So, then I grabbed the nearest hotel pad of paper and scribbled DTS. Intro, done. |
| How do you know when a song is finished or needs no more changes? You'll get that tingly feeling. For me, it's, "Oh, he's gonna lovvvve this." |
| How did you discover your creative territory? How would you describe it? I always liked music. I hated poetry until English class freshman year. We were assigned a five-poem project with different requirements for each one. I procrastinated until the night before, then I cracked down and whipped it out. I knew I was onto something when I scored a 95. Even then, it was solely poetry I wrote until one day, I woke up with some lines in my head, and when I wrote them, I furrowed my brow and thought, "No, this is wrong. This isn't just a poem, it's a song." When I write, well, I never know when it'll hit me, that's the scary thing. I've written on napkins and sugar packets...one time I was really lucky and had my iTouch on me, so I recorded some lines with that. I try to be as clever as I can. I like hiding things, like traits about guys, or certain things I'll know they'll identify and be for sure the song is about them. |
| What part of your job is your least favourite? Well, I'm not a professional, so if it's not a job, I can't really have a least favorite part! The hardest part for me is the attachment. It's an emotional thing to write about someone. I've only written about two guys though. I wrote most of my songs about the first one, who, when I handed over my album, I didn't just get a 'no', I got nothing. I got his ex-girlfriend's rear in his grasp, is what I got. |
| How often do you practice? Oh, every day, just about. |
| How do you feel right before going out on stage? Nervous as hell. My fingertips freeze, which doesn't really help the whole guitar and piano thing. |
| Which musicians or groups have been inspiring to your career? Oh, it's not a career, I'm just an ammy. I grew up listening to mostly country, but now I listen to a lot of Lil Wayne, Lady Gaga, and Gavin DeGraw. |
| List three songs that are key to your life. Please Remember Me, Tim McGraw. Paparazzi, Lady Gaga. Glass, Gavin DeGraw. |
| What should be done to stop piracy? I'm not quite sure, but I think blocking all the YouTube video converters are a good start. |
| What type of music do you detest? I'm not a big techno fan, though I do, however, respect it as an art form, most definitely. |
| What time did you get up this morning? Later than usual, about 8:45am. |
| How do you sell yourself? What has been your experience with record companies and representatives? Oh, I'm not much into selling myself. I don't deal with record companies, not really. I have a producer who works out of his apartment, I upload my stuff to tunecore.com and have it distributed to iTunes and Spotify. I'll screenshot a few things to my facebook, but that's all, really. |
| What other things have you done to make a living? I was an at-home medical caregiver for over a year. |
| Have you ever played on the street or in the subway? How much did you collect each day? No, but I've always wanted to! There's not really a safe place to do that where I'm from. |
| Who would you play with, without a doubt? Lady Gaga and Gavin DeGraw. |
| What advice would you give to someone starting out in the business? Well, hmm. I can't say I'm "in the business", exactly, but "just do it," sounds pretty legit. |
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