Interview: Alex the Astronaut hits the road

October 8, 2018

We’re huge fans of Alex The Astronaut here at Something You Said. Our Editor, Bobby Townsend, caught up with her:

Howdy Alex! The last time we spoke to you, we were standing on a pebbly beach in Brighton. Did you enjoy your time in the UK? How was The Great Escape Festival for you?
Howdy! Yeah I loved it. I’d never been to Brighton before and it was one of my favourite places I’ve ever seen. The Great Escape was indeed great, I loved the shows I played, they were really warm there were lots of people I knew around and we all supported each other’s shows and I felt really happy to be there. I went to a chocolate shop there called Choccywoccydoodah, which was the cherry on the cake.

How have the past few months treated you since then? What have you been up to?
I’ve mainly been writing, I’ve been learning about music and looking at the music I want to make moving forward with my career. I also started learning the violin which I’m terrible at but it’s about enjoying the experience. My family is not enjoying it as much as me hahah.

You’re back in the UK to play a headline show at The Waiting Room in London on Monday 8th October (tickets here). Are you excited to be back over?
Yeah I lived in London for a bit when I was little and I love it there. It’s strange sometimes I’ll be walking around there and I’ll have a flashback to when I was ten and remember walking through Hamleys toy shop. It’ll be cool to play another headline show, it’s really crazy that there are people on the other side of the world that listen to my music so it’s really nice to share a live show with them.

You’ve also got some other shows in Europe. Are you going anywhere you haven’t played before? Where are you particularly looking forward to visiting/playing?
I’ve never been to Manchester and I was a big Manchester United fan when I was little so hopefully I can go visit Old Trafford and nerd out a little bit. Then I’m heading back to Germany which I love. I played Reeperbahn festival last year and loved Hamburg so I’m really looking forward to going back.

You’re doing a headline tour of Australia in November. What can we expect from that? Any surprises up your sleeve?
I’m just stepping up my performances as much as I can. I’ve had two years performing music professionally now so I’m starting to work through all the kinks of it and enjoy the experience of being on stage. I have a few surprises but I think they’ll stay as surprises for now I’ll let you know closer to the date maybe!

You’ve played a bunch of festivals this year and have some more festival dates lined up. Do you have a preference between performing to festival crowds or playing your your own, more intimate gigs?
I think they feel like completely different games. Festival crowds are really fun and sometimes a bit nerve-racking because you don’t know if people are going to turn up to your set time and then if they do it feels like a big party and it’s a huge adrenaline rush; if you mess up, I think people are less likely to notice too. Playing my shows are different, or at least they are for me because you have more time to chat and play around, and more people know more of the songs so the excitement and energy that comes out of the singalongs can be pretty amazing.

It must have been over two years since I first interviewed you. In that time you’ve done a lot of touring and recording and met a lot of people. Has anyone given you any words of wisdom/advice that have particularly resonated with you?
It has! I remember getting your first Q&A in my university dorm room, so insane. It’s weird, I think at that point two years ago I thought I knew everything and now I’m at a stage where I realise how much there is to know so I feel like I know nothing, haha. I really like the thing of you have to enjoy the experience. Music is shared and it’s insane to get the opportunity to do what you love, so even when there’s worry about all of it, taking moments to sit back and be excited about what you’re doing with the people you love around you.

Can we expect any new releases from you soon? Is there an album on the horizon?
Definitely, there’ll be at least one new song this year and an album somewhere on the horizon.

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Catch Alex at the following venues:

Mon, OCT 08, Waiting Room, London, United Kingdom
Mon, OCT 22 Sam Vance-Law, Leipzig, Germany
Tue, OCT 23, Sam Vance-Law, München, Germany
Wed, OCT 24, Sam Vance-Law, Wien, Austria
Thu, OCT 25, Sam Vance-Law, Erh, Germany
Fri, OCT 26, Sam Vance-Law, Berlin, Germany
Sat, OCT 27, Sam Vance-Law, Hamburg, Germany
Thu, NOV 22, The Corner Hotel, Richmond, Australia
Fri, NOV 23, Uni Bar, Adelaide, Australia
Sat, NOV 24, Shakafest, Gold Coast, Australia
Thu, NOV 29, Factory Theatre, Marrickville, Australia
Sat, DEC 01, Rosemount Hotel, North Perth, Australia