Quick-fire Questions: 10 minutes with Alex Izenberg
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(Credits: Far Out / Giraffe Studios)
“I wanted to make something that would endure the coming years and decades,” Alex Izenberg says of his latest effort, Alex Izenberg and the Exiles. To achieve that end, he felt he needed to undertake moves that most artists aren’t doing. He’s certainly succeeded on this front and has stepped out far from the eclectic electronic norm, displaying that assertive postmodern records do not have to be so heavily reliant on technology, with traditional instrumentation just as impactful, if not more so in this instance.
The Los Angeles-based musician’s new album, a deeply philosophical collection of 11 tracks, exists at the nexus of classic rock, funk, and indie, with stirring and sometimes playful orchestral twists adorning his full-bodied songwriting. Discussing the modern condition and the often inexplicable essence of life, it’s a cosmic American masterpiece that even the genre’s revered instigators Gene Clark and Gram Parsons would have been proud of. It rejuvenates their spirit, which was always too ahead of its time, finding a perfect juncture in which to return gloriously.
Coursing throughout this multifarious menagerie, Izenberg packages the sunny clime of California and its musical traditions, meaning that the warmth of his voice, swooning strings, and expressive slide guitars – not to mention the utterly exquisite chimes of the piano – all unite to form a vivid mental picture. They leave the listener rapt in dreams, pondering what might have been, what could be, and our place in the world just as he did when making it.
On his full band debut, Izenberg has firmly asserted himself as one of the best songwriters of the present, with a firm conceptual grasp that goes far beyond that of some of the most lauded musical thinkers of our times. Because of this, we wanted to get to know him a little more, so he answered our quick-fire questions, offering more insight into the complex mind behind the music. Enjoy.
Quick-fire Questions with Alex Izenberg:
1. What song would you want played at your funeral?
“I don’t think I’m going to have a funeral; they’re not cheap.”
2. What song features the greatest vocal performance of all time?
“‘The Great Gig in the Sky’.”
3. What song are you most proud to have written to date?
“’Only The Moon Knows’.”
4. What song do you wish you had written?
“’Hope in Suffering’ (by Yves Tumor).”
5. What is the weirdest gig you’ve ever played?
“When I was a kid, my childhood band played in the lobby of a baseball stadium.”
6. Dual Question: Do you believe in ghosts? Have you ever been spooked by a supernatural experience?
“Yes, once when I was sleeping in the middle of the night, and I saw a luminescent woman standing in my room making eye contact with me, and I yelled.”
7. Dual Question II: What’s your favourite soup? And what’s your favourite comfort movie?
“Split pea soup, The Fellowship of the Ring.”
8. Can you recommend an album we might never have heard?
“Chicago, Chicago Transit Authority.“
9. What song do you hate most in the world?
“Anything played on the radio.”
10. What was the first song you ever learned to play?
“‘Purple Haze’ by Hendrix.”
11. If you had to go on a two-week road trip with two other musicians, who would you go with, and where would you go?
“Claude Debussy and Jon Anderson, Paris.”
12. Are The Beatles overrated?
“Very much so, also very lucky.”
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