Intro by Caitlyn McGonigal. Interview by Sydney Durst.
Based in a small Canadian village, ALLY NINE isn’t your typical solo artist. Self-produced and never fearing to experiment with a new genre, ALLY NINE is pushing the boundaries on what it means to be an artist.
We had the opportunity to catch up with Alex, the musician behind ALLY NINE, to discuss the newest addition to the ALLY NINE discography: “Wabi Sabi”.
What are some of the influences behind your music?
ALLY NINE: “I’m influenced by a lot really, I listen to so many different kinds of music and the stuff that really influences me are bands and artists that aren’t afraid of branching out and experimenting, I suppose. I always find it really inspiring hearing elements of different genres that I really like and find a way to incorporate it into my own music. Lyrically so far in my ‘catalogue’, I guess you could say, just life experiences and personal things I wouldn’t normally talk about openly, but I feel like music has always sort of been my way of best expressing my thoughts and feelings towards certain situations.”
What is the story behind the name ALLY NINE?
“ALLY NINE, so this stems back to when I was a teenager, actually. I used to be heavily involved in the gaming YouTube scene and you would always have to come up with aliases to go by. I wanted to pick a more creative and personal name to be known for so my real name is Alexandre (Alex) which starts with the letter “A” and has nine letters and I was also born in the 9th month, so I combined them and used the name ‘Anine’ for years. When I decided it was time to finally go solo and start my own personal project I knew I wanted to incorporate that name somehow. Since I was a kid my family always called me by various nicknames like Al & Ally, so I figured I would use a name personal to my childhood and incorporate the “NINE” to commemorate the alias that’s stuck with me since I was about 14. I feel like a lot of people think Ally is pronounced like and referred to the actual word Ally, like a teammate, as opposed to the actual name Ally, haha.”
Your new song “Wabi Sabi” just dropped, and it’s great. How are fans reacting to it?
“Yeah, ‘Wabi Sabi’ dropped and so far the reaction has been really great! Of course it’s quite early to tell since I don’t have a massive following or anything yet, but I’ve been told it’s my best work so far and people seem to be really connecting and relating to the lyrical content, which is something I always strive for. I actually had this track finished for months now, almost finished it after I released my second single, ‘FEEL,’ actually, but then COVID-19 picked up as well as the other global tragedies and it just didn’t feel right trying to promote myself in the start of these bad times. But it definitely feels good finally having this song out so I can start planning the new material I’ve been accumulating!”
Are you currently planning out an EP or album? Or currently releasing singles?
“I would LOVE to do an EP or album, as a listener and an artist I appreciate albums as a single piece of art a lot more than singles, obviously. But I feel like we live in a time where people’s attention spans are so short that as a new developing artist that does not have quite the following, it wouldn’t be the right move to put out a full body of work yet. I think I will stick to singles for now since they are easy to consume and you don’t have to invest a lot of your time as a listener to enjoy it. As time goes on and growth starts to show, that’ll definitely be in the plans at some point.”
You’re from a small village in Alberta, Canada. How has that affected your career as an artist?
“Yes, I still live in this tiny village actually, haha. It has affected my entire life and lifestyle honestly. Growing up in this place of around 500 population, completely secluded from most of the outside world, seeing how people live here — it’s just always made me want to do the opposite of that and take a different more creative approach. As for it affecting myself as an artist, I feel like it’s harder to get out there, especially since I am completely solo with everything I do. It’s hard to get connections and market in real life since I am so far from everything. Thank God for the internet. “
Wabi Sabi, in traditional Japanese culture, means acceptance of imperfection. Assuming that’s the sole theme in your latest single, are you speaking of self acceptance or acceptance in relationships (romantic or not)?
“I’m happy you caught onto that! Yeah, I remember hearing this phrase a while back and thinking it was so cool to describe something so complicated in only two words, so it kind of always stuck with me. I’ve always been really intrigued and influenced by Japanese culture in general. When I was writing this song the phrase just suited it so well when you use it in the context of people in a relationship always being attracted to and trying to see the good and beauty in people that are imperfect/broken, when you know they are clearly not good for you; constantly trying to help and save them when they are putting in no effort to save themselves. This is something I have struggled with a lot personally, not only in relationships but even with friends and such. Tearing yourself and your mental health down for someone else who isn’t worth the time, but you’re too invested to just give up and let go. I hope the song sheds some light and could maybe help somebody in these same situations.”
You’ve stated earlier that you’ve experimented in multiple genres and even have a history in the metal scene, do you plan on showcasing that experimentation in your solo work?
“Absolutely. I was raised on metal and spent the majority of my life playing and listening to it as my main genre, and even now I still keep up with some of my favourites from that scene. Like I said before, I am really genre-fluid these past few years in terms of listening, and there are too many cool elements and styles from different genres to just ignore and just stick to one thing. Even the songs that I am working on now definitely have a lot more of an RnB/Hip Hop influence to them, and I do plan to keep pushing the boundaries of what ‘genre’ I am. I never really wanna be classified and put in a box as an artist. Who knows, maybe one day there will be a metal influenced ALLY NINE song!”
Where would you like to see yourself, musically, a year from now?
“I would like to see myself continuing to become a better songwriter and producer, continue growing a listener base as an artist, and eventually I would like to play shows when there is an actual demand for it. As well as becoming a better singer, that is something that didn’t come easy to me ever, and I really had to experiment and practice to find my tone and the music that complimented my voice and vocal style.”
What’s some of the process behind you making your music?
“There are a lot of different ways I approach writing, could be from just messing around on the guitar or keyboard, or it could be from a vocal melody. Mainly I find a general outline of a chord progression and just let it play over and over and kind of hum melodies over it and start adding different pieces and instruments to it over time. Honestly thinking about it now I don’t really have a set process a lot of the time, it just depends on how I am feeling and what emotion I wanna convey through the music and that usually determines how a song is gonna sound and get made.”
For Fans Of: The 1975, Cherry Pools, Chase Atlantic, R I L E Y, Joji, No Rome, MUNA
You can stream “Wabi Sabi” below.
