Today we’d like to introduce you to Alex Owen.
Alex, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I came to music late. Country, folk and blues were on heavy rotation at home and my Grandma was a completive square dancer. Turns out, I was surrounded by music at an early age, but I wasn’t paying attention. But, once I started paying attention, I couldn’t stop.
I grew up in Springfield, MO. We lived 45 minutes from Branson, MO. If you are not familiar with Branson, it’s the country music mecca for Nashville legacy acts. Folks are bused in from all over the country to spend money on riverboat casinos, wooden souvenirs and most importantly the music of the Ozarks. It’s the Las Vegas of Missouri. I legit miss it.
I began playing guitar in college and it quickly took over my life. I also started going to open mic nights and bars to watch local bands. Branson session players would come in town and sneak on stage with the locals the way a pool shark would casually ask “wanna play?” I will never forget watching these ringers step in, steal the show and thinking to myself “I want to do that!”
After college, I drifted west and ended up in LA where I played in a few projects before starting my own country band, Lasers Lasers Birmingham. The music I write feels like Father John Misty’s head on George Jones’ body. Weird Country Music from Los Angeles.
I get asked about the band name a lot, it confuses people. So here’s the deal…
My favorite country songs reference Jukeboxes or payphones, but those things are not part of my life. I want to make traditional country music, but I want to do it my way. If I got on stage and sang about riding a horse or going to jail it would come off flat because that’s not me. It is not my goal to perfectly recreate the sound of any bygone era. The job of the artist is to report on their time and place. I’m doing that right here and now. I just happened to use pedal steel and ¾ time.
My high school baseball coach was named Birmingham and he had a pearl of wisdom for every occasion, “Life is simple. You just learn the fundamentals and execute them. You don’t need anything flashy”. But, L.A. demands everything be flashy, so what is more flashy than Lasers Lasers? Put those together, Lasers Lasers Birmingham. Plus, it looks hilarious on a marquee.
Has it been a smooth road?
Playing music is to be at the service of others. I’m told a popular way to fail is attempting to please all the people all of the time, but as a bandleader, that is generally the goal. Sometimes it feels like an ocean of adversity to make everyone happy; insuring the band is having fun and gigs pay; the crowd better be big enough to justify your spot at the venue; the performance must be spot on because the show is the currency we trade. The show is all there is.
To see a band for the first time and be blown away or feel like a song was written just for you is such a gift. I love when it happens to me. So, if I can do that for someone else, all aspects of global happiness will fall in line by themselves, right? Most days I think so, I dunno ask me tomorrow.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Lasers Lasers Birmingham story. Tell us more about the business.
This fall I will be on the road supporting the new album “Warning” that came out in July. “Warning” is certainly a left of a center country album. I was listening to a lot of Pink Floyd and Waylon Jennings during the writing process. I think it shows. I was also influenced by the likes of Gram Parsons, Jerry Jeff Walker, and Lucinda Williams. The album has a sense of place too, it feels like Los Angeles. The city is looming over every track.
There is a great scene for country music in Los Angeles and so many kick-ass country bands. We frequently play in Echo Park, Hollywood, Highland Park, and Downtown. You can tell it will be an atypical night just by scanning the crowd at a Lasers Lasers Birmingham show. Mohawked fans mingled with unironic cowboy hats, and some country-loving fans bring their kids along. We have a good time.
How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
Music recommendation algorithms will become the new tastemaker. It begs the question, will it be harder to find new music or much easier? If your recommendation is based on what you’ve listened to in the past, how are your taste supposed to evolve? Disruption is key to the evolution of thinking. In my case, disruption comes in the form of music. I’m not sure you can buck the system if you are saddled with an algorithm.
Contact Info:
- Website: laserslasersbirmingham.com
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: instagram.com/LasersLasersBirmingham
- Facebook: facebook.com/LasersLasersBirmingham
- Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3gM78J38rVRDpzVkppBnGI
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