Alex Napping Interviewtion
Alex Cohen is the mastermind behind the dream-pop band Alex Napping. Their latest album, Mise En Place, is one of the best albums that’s been released so far this year. In this interview we talk about her love of music videos, the collaborative writing process in the band, and her dreams of writing a YA sci-fi novel.
Q: One of my favorite aspects of your music is your lyrics. How do you usually go about writing your lyrics? Is it a very intentional process where you say, “I’m going to sit down and write a song now,” or do you have a journal that you draw from when you’re feeling musically inspired?
A: It’s a process that is always evolving and changing for me! I would say, for the songs on this record, the lyrics came as I wrote the music and accompanying melodies. All of the songs were very reactionary to things that were happening in my life at that point in time and I wasn’t really drawing from any past experiences, but rather responding to my current state of mind. But, that’s not really the case with the ‘Trembles’ singles or the record I’m currently working on. Q: You just returned from an extensive tour and you’re setting out on another tour in a few weeks. What has it been like for you to play this new batch of songs from “Mise En Place” for audiences all over the country? A: Touring is super fun and very exhausting and so many other things all at once. It’s been partially strange to be touring off of songs that were written as early as 2014 and recorded in early 2016 and that have been part of our live repertoire for a while now, especially since we have a ton of new material we’re working on, but it’s obviously fresh for pretty much everyone else, so that helps to keep it fresh for us too. We also did finally get to add a live version of 'Wife and Kidz' to our set in May which has been fun to perform and one of my favorite moments in our set right now.
Q: It seems like on this album the songwriting was a highly collaborative process, so did you have any trouble arranging these songs for your live sets? Was it something that you had in mind while you were in the studio to make sure you would be able to recreate the songs live?
A: The album was about half and half in terms of things that we had been performing before recording and vice versa. It was challenging, but both fun and rewarding to figure out how to perform songs live once we’d finish making the record. In those instances, a lot of pieces may not be present, but I almost prefer for live performances and recordings to be completely difference experiences from one another. I also don’t like to limit us in the studio by being concerned with how we’re going to figure out the live version. I feel that we’re an innovative and adaptable group and we will end up figuring something out that not only works, but is different from the recording in a special way.
Q: You recently released a music video for “Fault,” which is one of my favorite songs of the year. You wrote and produced the video, so was it a challenge for you to put visuals to such an emotionally intense song? A: Thank you so much!! Making music videos is one of my favorite auxiliary aspects of being a musician. I think in another life I would be a filmmaker. Coming up with the idea was actually a very natural process for me and I knew early on that I wanted to parallel the guilt and blame over the crumbling of a romantic relationship (what the song is about) with the guilt and blame experienced with having an eating disorder (what the video is about). The original concept was something that was pretty different than what we ended up with (due to things like budget limitations, etc), but the same emotional thread was always present and even as the loose “plot” adapted and evolved, I always knew the feelings I was hoping to move people through as they watched the video. Having Eleanor Petry, the director, on board helped streamline that process even more because she was spot on in interpreting all of my ideas visually and just generally did an amazing job bringing my vision to life.
Q: What was it like working with Father/Daughter Records to release Mise En Place? A: Working with Father/Daughter was amazing! Jessi, who runs the label with her dad (hence the name!), is one of the hardest working people in the music industry right now and she cares so much about her bands and her projects and their interests, which is extremely refreshing and rare.
Q: According to your bandcamp, Trembles Part I and Part II are based on a short story you wrote. Have you ever published your stories or have you only put your lyrics out into the world? A: I haven’t published anything! In college, I used to make a zine filled with poems I wrote, but that’s the closest I’ve ever gotten to publishing anything. There’s going to be a big storytelling component of the next record and I’m working through what that’s going to look like when it’s released and if there are going to be any companion pieces. I also have big dreams to one day write a YA sci-fi novel. Q: What’s in store for the future of Alex Napping? Does the new record you’re working on build off of the sounds and style found on Mise En Place and your earlier material, or would you say as of right now that it’s taking a bit of a different direction?
A: I’ve been working on writing and arranging the next record for the last year now and we’ll be recording that in December/January. I think there are aspects of Mise En Place that it is derivative of, but it will sound completely different. I’ve spent the last couple of years developing my abilities as an arranger and producer (mostly through another project of mine) and that has inherently bled its way into this next record. Be sure to follow Alex Napping on Twitter and give them a like on Facebook!