Alex Giannascoli, who makes music under the pseudonym Alex G, was regarded over the past few years as the Internet’s best-kept secret. Known for low-tech recording from his bedroom in Philadelphia, the singer-songwriter released his most recent album, Beach Music, on Domino Recording Company in early October. The artist is set to perform his intimate brand of off-kilter rock at a Fun Fun Fun Fest Nites show.
The Daily Texan: How is the new album different from your previous work?
Alex Giannascoli: All of the songs sound a little more diverse than my other albums. Beach Music was made in multiple sittings where I’d be on tour for a month or so and come back and record a couple songs. I made [the past albums] more in one sitting. That gave them more of a sonic theme than Beach Music.
DT: In the song “Brite Boy” and others on the new album, you distort your voice to different pitches. Do you intend for those to be different characters?
AG: It’s not something that I would want to put a concrete message on. It’s just supposed to be an obvious shift in perspective. I think that it just makes more of a trip for the listener, which is my goal, I guess. I usually write from a perspective that’s my own, but warped enough to the point that it becomes its own character. I use myself as a compass because I want to make things that seem honest.
DT: When you’re working by yourself at home, do you do anything to help you stay focused?
AG: No, it just sort of happens at any time. Every day, I’ll try and play guitar for as long as I can. I try and just keep going. I don’t put ideas down and come back to them later, because I just won’t come back to them if I don’t get on it right away. I guess that’s a method I use — just going right ahead with it and not saving anything for later.
DT: You have a lot of older content open to people on Bandcamp. How do you feel looking back on your older releases?
AG: I think it’s good that people like them. That’s all that I care about. Something that rubs me the wrong way is when people are just like, “Wow, you have like seven albums already. Look at that.” Stuff like that makes me want to take them down just because I don’t want to be significant because of the quantity of music that I have out there. I just want to be significant because it’s good. Having a lot of albums might give people the impression that I sort of cast stuff off and that I don’t try. I’d like to avoid that. It’s not me anymore, but it’s nice to look back and listen to shit you made when you were a young kid and see how it’s kind of oddly similar to your perspective now. It’s kind of funny.
DT: What do you like to do other than making music?
AG: Besides that, I do whatever. I don’t really think about other shit. Music is the only thing I’ve got that I feel specifically. I like to make music. That’s what I like to do. Everything else is like I’ll do it, but I don’t really care.
DT: Why do you name all of your songs with one word titles?
AG: I just always did. I think something that runs through most of my stuff is that I don’t want to pinpoint anything. The longer the title is, the more of a defining effect it has on the song. I like that I can have one word and it’s sort of just like this blanket that you could put over the whole song, but it doesn’t sum up the song. It sets the tone slightly and leaves a lot for interpretation.
Who: Alex G, Title Fight and Girlpool
When: Friday, Nov. 6
Where: 611 E 7th
