KA: Hey, Xander! Thanks for chatting with me. So first off, you are a 15 year old guy and you've accomplished so much already. Tell me about you and your music. When did you first start singing and playing guitar?
XC: Well, I started off with releasing a song called Goodbye Song, a piano ballad written about my uncle who had passed away in September of that year. I started singing when I was 5 years of age, but started singing in front of crowds just before I hit the age of 8. I started playing guitar just before I had turned 14.
KA: You also tried out for last seasons American Idol. How was that adventure, and why didn't you get let on?!
XC: The American Idol experience was absolutely crazy. I met amazing friends there that I actually still talk to quite often, and they’re truly amazing people. We all kind of bonded over being stuck in the blazing sun for 10 and a half hours together. By the time I had made it to the little audition tents they had set up, they didn’t seem to want anymore people, so they kind of just waved me off and were like, “go home and have a nice day”
KA: What Are your opinions on such shows as the Xfactor, Idol, the Voice? Do you think they are even relevant at this point with so much social media platforms aimed at musicians?
XC: I wouldn’t say they’re not relevant, but they seem so fake, and bringing it back to American Idol, there were so many terms and conditions in the forms you’d have to sign, like, I don’t want to sign my life away as a fifteen-year-old just trying to make a living off my music.
What is your favorite platform for getting your music out there, Spotify, BandCamp, etc?
XC: I’d definitely have to say Spotify because I have a Spotify Artist account which lets me see how many streams I’m getting daily, where the people are streaming from. Did you know I have actual frequent listeners from the UK, Mexico and more?
KA: The UK seemed to really like my stuff more than Americans as well.
KA: How would you describe your music, singer songwriter?
XC: I’d say lately my music has been more of an Alternative with more of an acoustic mix.
KA: I have one of your albums-it's amazing! How many have you released thus far?
XC: First off, thank you! I’ve released 2 full-length albums with a third coming soon and 3 EPs
KA: How supportive are your friends and family when it comes to a career in music?
XC: My friends and family are extremely supportive. In fact, my long-time best friend John isn’t a fan of the style of music I sing and make, he’s a complete metal-head, but he still went to like, 10 of my shows and that really says a lot in terms of how supportive he is!
KA: Support is so vastly important!
KA: What is your favorite part of the recording process?
XC: Easily that feeling when I play it back real quick and found I’ve finally mastered that high note or that vocal run I’ve been working on for hours on end.
KA: You perform live a lot. Are you comfortable onstage, or do you feel a sense of anxiety like many much older than you still do?
XC: It depends on the crowd, to be honest. The smaller the crowd is the more nervous I am, which is pretty weird cause I always thought stage fright was the other way around!
KA: That's actually pretty common. the more intimate, the more all eyes on you! Or at least it FEELS that way.
KA: What would be your dream tour, who would open for you, headline, what locations, etc?
XC: I’d love to do a world tour. I’ll know I’ve truly made it when I play Tacoma Dome and if I could have one person open for me, it honestly would be Lord Huron, even though it would be cool to open for them too!
KA: What inspires your lyrics?
XC: Anything that happens in my life. I have a song called ‘Feelings’ that is about a girl who led me on hardcore, and I have a song called Berlin off the upcoming album that’s about the friends I used to have that were driving me down the wrong path in life and that are gladly now out of my life.
KA: If you were to give other young musicians advice, what would it be?
XC: Never EVER give up. If you keep practicing and keep dreaming, you can thrive.
KA: You're on a soapbox, tell us what's coming soon from Xander and why we should listen...
XC: Well, on June 22nd, I’m releasing a new single called ‘Bad Boy’ and I personally feel like it gives off some solid summer vibes, but also it’s just so catchy, and so bad ass and it’s unlike anything I’ve dropped before. My album, Awakening, which is coming out in September is gonna be one that people are gonna wanna hear because it’s just so unique. There’s not a single song in this album that you’re not gonna not wanna sing along to, and I have other people hopping on some tracks with me, and it’s just gonna be such a solid and wholesome album, and I really hope that people enjoy the album as much as I enjoyed writing it.
KA: Who do you feel is overrated in the music scene and underrated?
XC: I personally feel that Halsey is a bit overrated. Like, I see the appeal, she has some solid tracks, but also, her voice is not my type, and people see her as a “bisexual queen” because she sings about bisexuality in one song when I’m pretty sure other people have done so way before her time. Of course, this is biased because they’re my favorite band, but definitely Lord Huron is very underrated. Like, yeah, they have a song on Thirteen Reasons Why, but they have plenty more songs with more meaning than that song, and I’m not saying the song is bad, it’s just they have better songs, plus, the lead singer is a total babe.
KA: Many MANY before she was even BORN sung about that stuff, love
KA: You have some chronic health issues, how does that affect your performances?
XC: It’s funny, because it never really ever affected me until one of my small wine bar gigs from late March. I was in the middle of a song, and my heart went into SVT real quick and it lasted like, 3 songs or so, and the only thing I could do was alert my mom during a break I had between the hour and a half increments of singing.
KA: I also have some chronic illnesses and creating or trying to perform with them can be a real bitch! I commend you.
KA: What do you think makes you different from other singer song writers right now?
XC: One major factor that makes me different from other singer songwriters is I truly write what I feel. I don’t really filter my emotions because if I really filtered down what I feel to make it fit musical standards, it wouldn’t be what I feel anymore. I also change up my style as much as I can. You can especially hear it when you listen to the upcoming album, there’s not a single song on it that sounds the same as any other song.
KA: What makes you, you?
XC: I mean one thing that makes me, me is that there’s not a lot of 15-year-old boys that can say they’ve written, produced and recorded three albums and two EPs all by themselves at this age. I’m also notorious at school for my contagious laugh and very different sense of humor.
KA: Keep being you, and don't change to fit into the mold of whatever is popular at the time!
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