So, let's see what happens when Alex Hoskyns visits Section 36 Music!
I absolutely love your recent single. “Secondhand Love”. What can you tell me about it?
Secondhand love was the first song I wrote in college. I was essentially starting over making friends, and I was thinking about the types of relationships I wanted to build, and the mistakes I made in the past. It is a piece that combines my love of folk and cinematic instrumentation, reflecting on the feeling of being someone’s second choice/last priority, and feeling like you are constantly compromising by accepting that.
What was your favorite part of the recording process?
The song was produced by Carlee Morales, and we recorded in Valencia, Spain. Both of us were only just starting to learn the ropes of working in the studio, and it was just super fun spending all the time in the studio experimenting with different samples and ideas. I feel like it is just as much Carlee’s song as it is mine, and I loved seeing how her ideas really brought my lyrics to life.What do you enjoy most about performing on stage in front of an audience?
I am a very shy person, and I think a lot of people don’t expect me to have the voice or presence that I have. It sometimes feels like I’m Clark Kent, and I get it show my true self on stage. I find it like just seeing the surprised reactions of people, but also showing them that people can be a lot more/different than you expect.
Who or what would you consider your biggest musical influences?
I am inspired by big voices, like Ray Charles, Nina Simone and Tower of Power. However, compositionally I take a lot of inspiration from João Gilberto, Adele, and Gregory Alan Isakov. It is definitely an interesting mix that I’m still trying to navigate.
What is the most challenging part of your music career?
For me, it has been choosing what things to focus on and when. Performing was my first love, but while in school I really networked and studied the film and tv composer path. Its hard to juggle wanting both those things, since both really require you to be “all in” in terms of time, and focus. I also feel like I have two different sounds. I write a lot of folk music, but when I perform I also do a lot of funk, blues. In my head those are two very different things, and I’m still trying to find out how to combine those into one project that feels cohesive.What are your immediate music goals?
I’m headed to Valencia Spain to pursue a Masters in performance and production. I really wanna try the artist thing, potentially going to the UK and really just writing and performing as much as I possibly can. I always say yes to any opportunity and hope that’ll take me to the next one.
I'm sure you’ll all want to follow her and see what she has going on. I would follow her on Instagram, and Spotify to make sure you don't miss a thing.