About Caffeinated Corner:

Caffeinated Corner was created to replicate the feeling of chatting at coffee shops with new friends. From the warm taste of coffee, the slightly chaotic energy of the espresso machines, to the life stories shared, caffeinated corner aims to replicate this environment online. Join me as we talk with different artists about their favorite things, stories from their childhood, and new projects on the horizon.

I was able to sit down with Alec and chat about their debut album, “Guard Dog” and upcoming music. Listen along here or read the transcription below:

The Interview:

Laura

I know. I feel like we started talking right when the album was released or a little bit before that because I know I was kind of following you for a bit. And so I was like, oh my gosh, I’m very excited. 

And then I know Julia brought up I think she sent me some of your stuff. And I was like, oh my gosh, I have been following him for a while. 

So okay, that’s definitely something I want to meet someone I want to meet and talk with because I get so interested. 

Alec

Oh, my God. Yeah. I’m so excited. 

Laura

So I’m just going to ask a couple of questions. It’s like those ice breaker questions where you have right before, but 

What are some things that you do in your normal life when you’re not writing or singing, such as hobbies or habits you do daily? 

Alec

Let me think. I feel like I will get really into specific crafts and then I’ll never do them again, and they just kind of rotate. But I feel like I draw a lot, that’s a consistent one. And yeah, I do a lot of drawing when I’m not working on music.  

And I sometimes read books, but sometimes I go years without reading a book. So I don’t know, I feel like those are really what need. 

Laura

 I get that. I think I have reading times where I’ll read seven books at once and I’ll finish them and I’m like, Okay that was fun, no more. And then i’ll move on. 

Things Alec loves:

1. Specific Crafts
2. Drawing
3. Sometimes books
4. Breaking Bad
5. Their cat
6. Public Library

Alec

I read twelve books last year, which was the most I’ve ever read in a year. And the year before that, I did not read a single book. And I don’t know, I haven’t even thought about reading a book this year, so who knows what’ll happen. 

Laura

I have seven books that are halfway done or I’ll get too sad. I started reading the Song of Achilles and I got too sad. 

Julia 

That one’s heartbreaking. 

Laura

I couldn’t finish. Cause I knew it was going to happen. 

Alec 

Yeah. I think that’s the only book to this day that has made me fully sob. There were tears.  

Julia 

I tend to finish books when it’s really late at night, and this was the moment where I read it really late at night and I’m in my bed, tears are dripping. I didn’t have a physical book. I had a Kindle, but the tears are on my Kindle, and I had to take an actual physical breath. Great book. I feel your pain.

Laura

I do a little thing where I talk about each person’s favorite things. Sort of like what’s in your bag if you’ve ever seen those videos where they pull out what’s in their bag. 

Just a few of your favorite things that you like, such as your favorite TV show, your coffee order, if there’s, a specific place that you frequent every day. 

Alec 

Okay. Yeah. Should I answer those?

Laura 

Yes, you can answer whatever.

Alec

I really like Breaking Bad. That’s a show that I really like and has been my personality for the last year or so. My coffee order is something with oat milk and usually just a regular latte. I have a cat who is a daughter to me.

Alec’s Coffee Order: Regular Latte with oat milk 

She is everything. I would die for her. Let’s see. I don’t know what else. I feel like the only place that I go to….I don’t go very many places currently when I leave my house. But I really like the public library in my city. 

Laura

That’s perfect. That’s how I did that exercise a couple months ago with someone. And it’s nice because it helps you think about things that you really enjoy doing or to do. And I use it more as a reset. 

Where you’re like, okay, what do I actually like to do, and what do I actually like in my life versus, you kind of get most of the time very obsessed with one thing, and for me, that’s music. And so I have to be like, okay, what do I enjoy doing besides music? 

What’s, some little things that make me happy throughout my day? Yeah, that was it. So we’re going to start with the best topic. I know you definitely love to talk about TikTok. 

Alec

Oh yes. 

So what kind of made you want to start posting on TikTok? Was it like you kind of saw other people doing it?

Alec 

Yeah – I feel like I had found a couple of random artists who I think I probably still follow to this day, who had just posted their songs, and they were just so good. 

And I didn’t even really think about posting my own music on there. I was just seeing that other people, that there was an audience that wanted to hear people singing. And it wasn’t just I feel like I thought of TikTok as being, like, I don’t know, you post, Vine or something, not really having such a dedicated audience of people who want to hear that kind of stuff. 

Yeah, and actually, my partner was like, you should post something on TikTok. It would do well. And I was like I don’t think it would. I don’t know about that. (Laughs). I didn’t assume and it worked out.

Julia

Shoutout to your partner. 

Laura

Yeah. I feel like there was a moment when you realized making the videos I know you kind of talked about it. 

Was there a moment you realized it was more than just, oh, I’m kind of doing this for fun? 

Like, it could turn into an actual music path or career.

Alec

I mean, I feel like it was weirdly….after I posted one video, I was kind of like, I don’t know, I feel like I posted that video and I was like, oh, that’s cool. Got some people who have….a bunch of people like this, and that’s cool. But I feel like it wasn’t until I started posting other songs, because kind of soon after that, I just sort of posted some original songs. 

And I feel like when there was kind of a consistent amount of people who really liked it and who wanted to listen to it, and I don’t know, even if it wasn’t, blowing up or anything, it was just people being really nice to me about it. 

And I’d never really shared my music with more than my friends, and I don’t know, it was just….I feel like I realized that you can actually get people, like random people who want to hear what you have say or make.

Laura

Yeah, I feel like there was a difference? Obviously, there was a bit of a difference, but how was it when I know you’re making these videos, performing, basically in front of your phone, 

How was the change between doing that to performing in front of an audience with people? How did you feel?

Alec 

It was very wild to kind of, like, see. Because I feel like on the Internet, it doesn’t feel like I know these people are real people, but they’re not in front of me. So I don’t really…. I’m not picturing a crowd of people, but yeah, I feel like playing in front of actual audiences, and especially when there’s a few people in the audience who know my songs that I don’t know is just kind of crazy and humbling in a way, just very special. 

Laura

Yeah, I know. You recently went on tour.

Was it weird having that experience for the first time playing on a bigger stage with a bigger person? Matt Maltese is pretty large. 

Alec

Yeah. Yeah, it was very wild, and I kind of felt like I don’t know, it’s probably just I feel like every night I was like, I don’t really think I would walk on stage and I’d be like, I don’t think I’m supposed to be here. I just can’t.

Laura

This is an out-of-body experience.

Alec

No, once I was playing the music, I didn’t really even have a chance to think about it. I just blacked out and was like, oh I’m done. Yeah, gotta go to another city.

Laura 

Was there a specific song you really enjoyed playing on tour?

Alec

There was one that I played, the last song I played that was one that I wrote that wasn’t on the album, but that I wrote right before leaving for a tour, like a couple of nights before. 

And I don’t know, I really liked playing that one. Maybe it’s just because I get tired of playing songs really quickly. So that one was new, so I was excited about it. 

Julia

What’s that one called?

Alec

Right now? It’s called “Ferris Wheel” because it has the word ferris wheel in it, but I don’t even know.

Julia

Okay then we won’t keep it at that. I will look for the song whenever it comes out. 

Laura

(Laughs) One day.

Alec

One day mark my words.

Laura 

It’s like yeah, when you become friends with a lot of singers, you start hearing they’ll send you stuff and I’m like, oh my gosh, so exciting. 

And then we’re like, okay, it might come out in the next year. 

Julia

You’re like this is great when is it coming out on Spotify? They’re like this is a demo. 

Laura

Not real. Yeah.

Speaking of tour, again, was there a specific city that you really enjoyed playing? 

Alec

I really think my favorite show on the tour was San Francisco. The audience was really nice. The people at the venue were really nice, and the venue itself it looked like it was called “The Chapel”, but it looked like a church inside. 

And it was just beautiful. And that was also the show that my family could go to, I have family in Santa Cruz. So they came down to see it. Yeah.

Laura

You’re from that kind of area, right? You’re from Portland? 

Alec

Portland. Yeah. 

Laura

I was trying to remember. I was like, I’m pretty sure you’re from Portland. I’ve always wanted to go to Portland. I’ve heard mixed reviews. Some people are like.. 

Alec

I also have mixed feelings about it, but there are some very good things about it and also bad things, I feel like, just like, most places. 

Laura

But I think I’ve spent most of my life in the south, so a lot of people who go there are, like, oh, people are kind of, like, mean. What’s your perception of “mean”? Because I grew up in Dallas, and I feel like it’s a very weird city because they’re not southern nice. They’re more of just a mix of random people. And so when I moved to Nashville and people were in your face nosy nice, I was like, why are you talking to me? I was like, do not talk to me.

Is there a specific memory on tour besides San Francisco that you kind of enjoyed? 

Alec

Actually, yeah, I think it was actually. The show in Dallas. I think it was the show in Dallas where, they like I think during the last song, somebody pulled out their flashlight and then and then the whole audience started doing the little flashlight thing. I was like I’ve seen that at concerts my whole life but nobody has ever did that [for me before] and that was cool. And somebody else threw a flower at me and I was like, it was really sweet. 

Laura

That’s surprising for Dallas. That’s surprising (Laughs). I feel like Dallas is a very interesting city. People either play Dallas or just completely skip middle America and they’re like, nope we’re not doing that. Yeah. I definitely get that. That’s super cool. 

Is there a specific thing you were excited to get home to after tour? Did you miss your bed or?

Alec 

Yeah, I missed my bed very much and my cat. Those are really the main things and getting to just not having to wake up at four in the morning and go on. 

I’m not a fan of planes, which I should probably get used to, but I hate them.

Laura

No, I can do, like, buses. Buses have been nice in terms of anywhere you go in, like, the Northeast you can just take a bus and not have to take a plane. 

But, if you think of anywhere, like, if you go on tour in the west, you’re playing, Denver, LA. And then, like yeah, in Seattle. Nowhere is bussable, that you’re like, I have to take a plane to every single place. 

Yeah. Well, I want to talk a little bit about the album because I feel like when you’re coming up with all these songs, 

When did you write your first song for the album? 

Alec

I got to remember the timeline of events. I think…. I can’t get my month from my year straight, like, in 2021, like, the winter. Wait, no, that’s not right. Maybe it was the fall of 2021.

Julia

I can’t fact check you. I’m sorry. I’m not that much of a fan, even though I’ve been following you since Covid, that’s all I could give you. 

Alec 

I think the first song that I recorded for it was “Roadkill”, and I didn’t post anything about it, but I recorded it. 

Before that, I had been contemplating signing to a label and getting a producer and doing a whole thing where I have a lot of people to help me and it’s produced by somebody else. 

And I feel like after I recorded that one, I was like, I think maybe. Yeah. I don’t remember when I wrote it.

Laura

Yeah, sometime two years ago.

Alec

Yeah.

Laura 

Awesome. Is there a specific song that took a long time to write versus one that took a shorter time to write that you kind of just knew what you wanted to write? 

Alec 

Yeah, I feel like. Hold up I’m going to pull up the actual track list of the album. I don’t remember.

Laura 

I think it’s very interesting because I know a lot of the times you’ve had these songs for a bit before even putting them out that you’re like once you kind of put them out, you’re like, okay, that was fun. And then going back, it’s an intimate diary. You’re going back to your memories and kind of like how you felt in that moment. And sometimes it’s okay, and sometimes it’s like, EW why did I write that?

Alec 

Yeah. I feel like I go really, I get so tired of songs so fast. I feel like I’ll write it and I’ll be like, I’ve moved on already from this.

Julia 

Yeah. You’re in a different place.

Alec 

Yeah, I’ve grown. I’m a different person, man. I don’t know. 

Laura

You’re like what’s this? Tracks on the album again?

Alec

I feel like. “Dragon” took a lot of time. I feel like I just had so many production-wise, I was like, I had so many ideas, I didn’t really know how to execute them. But I wanted it to be perfectly what I wanted, which is impossible.

I think “Coming Clean” took a while too, just lyrics-wise, I wanted it to be very intentional with the lyrics. Maybe more than some of the other songs. 

The one that took the least amount of time to write was probably ”Cry Baby” because most of it was the first voice memo I took of the song is most of what the lyrics ended up being in the final song. So it’s a very stream of consciousness, honestly. 

Laura

Kind of back on a difficult thing.

How did you decide what to put on the album? Did you just kind of put the tracks in a specific order and you were like, okay, cool, or did you kind of nitpick and okay, I want this track in this place with the order. 

Alec

I think I kind of just put them wherever seemed right. And then I think after I shared it with some people I feel like there were a couple of people who were like, maybe move this one. So that’s it…. I feel like other people would be like, oh. And then it works because this goes into this one, and I was like, oh, I didn’t even think of that. I just put it there for fun. But yeah, I didn’t think that hard about it initially. 

Laura

Are there specific people in your life that you kind of rely on for help like this?

Alec

Yeah, definitely, my partner, I show them all my stuff, probably before anyone, and my older sibling, who is the one on the cover they helped me with the track list and everything and my mom. 

Laura

Speaking about the cover, did you just kind of come up with the cover or how did you come up with that?

Because it looks so cool, especially now that I know your sister is on it. 

Alec

Yeah, it was like I knew that I wanted to use this picture, and I wanted it to be like I don’t know, I liked the blue, like the dark blue of, like, cyanotype prints, and I wanted to make it a cyanotype of the picture. 

And before I did it, I had an image of or an idea of it being just like the picture, but in a deep contrasty blue. And then when I actually did it, it ended up being, like, blotchy and not really you can’t see the picture very clearly. And I did a lot of different versions, but I kind of like it like that.

Julia

I’m looking at it right now to hear what you’re saying. It’s cool, the texture that it shows.

Laura

I think when I first saw it, I liked it because it was something I had never seen before. And as someone who really loves art and I kind of see art and music as hand in hand, that when I saw the cover I was like, oh, my gosh, this is perfect. This is insane. So even before I even looked at it, I think cover work is so important, and I talk to people about that all the time, because you do look at the cover of a book before you decide to read it, and it’s hard to be like, yeah, but you do. 

Alec

And yeah, that’s true. I feel like that’s always been very important to me, and I feel like that’s a part that I get very excited about with music, is the covers, because I love when it’s visually pleasing and also meaningful to the things that it’s representing. 

Laura 

Yeah.

So my favorite song on the album is “Walk Me Home”. Is there a specific song that kind of has sentimental value to you or that you’re usually like, oh, I want to play this song.

Alec 

Um, good question. I like playing “Walk Me Home”. I feel like I haven’t. It’s kind of hard to play on the guitar sometimes. I mess it up half the time, so I get a little scared to play live. I like playing “Keep The Rain” also. That was fun. And I feel like those two are kind of sentimental about and definitely “Coming Clean” I feel sentimental toward. And also “North Star”.

Laura 

I know. I feel like it’s one of those albums where you go through and I’m typically someone who will start with one song and maybe this will help you because this is how I kind of trick my brain into savoring music, because I am also known to being, oh, I hate this. I go through music so often, especially with albums that I’m like, okay, you get one song a month. I slowly savor albums and kind of go through them versus being like, okay, I must listen to the whole thing. And then that will become my personality. So slowly I’ve gone down the list every month of, okay, I did that with your album. I did that with the new SZA album. Okay, you don’t get everything now because I’m such a music addict that I’m like, okay, do we have to scarcely siphon everything out? 

But yes, that’s been great.

Were there any inspirations that you drew for this album or all together?

Alec

I mean, I don’t know. Not like not particularly. I think it just kind of came from, I feel like each song was just whatever I was thinking about at the time, and then they all just kind of came together as a whole thing. I don’t know. Yeah, I don’t know.

Laura 

I know you’re a big Phoebe Bridgers fan.

Are there people like Phoebe or other people that kind of influence the album?

Alec

Yeah, I mean, yeah. I feel Phoebe influences a lot of what I write, even when I don’t want her to. And I feel like Bon Iver and Sufjan Stevens are kind of also always a constant influence. I’m so bad at remembering the artists.

Julia 

I’m personally waiting for an Ethel Cain crossover.

Alec 

Yes.

Julia 

When she posted you. I was like, yes. I was so hype for you.

Alec 

Yeah. Yeah. I really would really like to make something with her.

Laura 

I would like a heads up before I get blindsided. I will cry.

Alec 

I’ll give you a heads up.

Laura 

I’ll be crying (laughs).

Alec 

I will also be crying (laughs). 

Julia

You’ll hear it on the track. 

Laura

Yeah. Sad, but also extremely happy. Oh, keep going. Yes.

Alec 

I don’t remember when her album came out, but as soon as it was released I was listening to it constantly, so I think definitely a chunk of the songs I was listening to that while working on them. She’s….I’m obsessed.

Laura 

What’s your favorite?

Alec

I think my favorite of hers is “Sun Bleached Flies”. Feels like a religious experience in the, I don’t know. I’m not a religious person, but it’s so special.

Laura 

What’s some of your future plans that you can talk about or just what you’re doing? 

Alec 

Future plans? I am really excited to record all of the music that I have written. I don’t really have much of a specific a real plan. So I’m gonna release the song that I posted on TikTok. It’s my pinned video right now. 

I’m gonna release that, I think, as an independent, just one-off single soon. I haven’t even told anyone that, but I will be soon. Saying that to whoever.

Laura

I’d like to wrap this up, but if you want to just re-enter the zoom, we can wrap it up that way so we don’t just count down.

<break> 

Laura

Overall, thank you so much for everything. I’ve really enjoyed talking to you. Honestly, I’m very jealous that you didn’t come to Nashville.

Julia

Thank you for letting me join. I wanted to say hi. 

Alec 

I want to. I would love to.

It was so lovely to meet both of you and to chat.