Today we’d like to introduce you to Devon Alexander.
Hi Devon, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Super great to meet you! My name is Devon Alexander, and Im from a small town in Northern California called Sonora. It’s a rural community located in the foothills that became popular during the gold rush in the 1800s. While it was a really beautiful place to grow up, it definitely had its challenges.
I also grew up extremely sheltered. my family and I lived in a log cabin in miles out in the middle of nowhere without access to Internet, TV, or any technology like that. I actually didn’t have access to most technological advancements like that until I was about 17. I also was raised as one of Jehovah’s Witnesses, which made things a little bit more interesting. Being raised this way definitely had its challenges, my father was pretty abusive when I was a kid, and there were so many times where I wondered if I would even make it to to the next day. However, during those rough days, I would always turn to music as my outlet.
I grew up writing songs in my room, and it would always sort of take my mind off of whatever tough situation was happening that day at home, and it just became a safe haven for me.
Because of the challenges that I had faced when I was younger, I wanted to give back to the community and work with youth who had gone through similar situations in their lives. When I was 17, I started working for a domestic violence and sexual assault prevention agency and worked in the local school systems, educating kids about anti-bullying, teen dating violence, healthy, relationships, healthy boundaries, and devolving healthy interpersonal skills.
As I continued down this career path, I eventually landed a job at social services where I managed a transitional home for emancipated foster youth. And while I loved what I did, and the career path that I was on, I just always had this dream of moving to Southern California, and finally getting to pursue music on whatever level I could.
When I turned 21, I bought a station wagon with the money that I had saved. I packed up my belongings, loaded them in my car, and drove down and moved to LA. I started out, renting a converted garage from a close friend, and I became a used car salesman. (Which was not a dream career choice). And that’s when I got a call one day from a casting producer from American Idol.
I ended up making it on American Idol, which was one of the most fun experiences I’ve had. To my surprise, I ended up making it way farther than I thought I could, and made it to the top 40 showcase round in Hawaii.
And while I obviously didn’t win, this experience did so much for me personally and for my life. This was the first time where I had finally met a group of amazing, talented friends who seemed to love me for who I was. They didn’t care about my religion or care about my sexual orientation, or all of the things that I had been raised to be so conscious of… it was finally a group of people that loved me for me, which is something that I can’t say that I ever felt that I had previously.
It wasn’t until after this experience going on American Idol where I finally had the courage to come out as gay and finally be myself. After I came out, life definitely did become way more difficult. I was shunned from my friends and family who are all still a part of the Jehovah’s Witness religion, my mom got diagnosed with terminal cancer, I got into my first relationship that I have ever been in, and then went through a devastating breakup.
So while I did take the time and space to deal with all of the loss and hardships my new life threw at me, I’m so excited to finally say that I have been working on new music very consistently and am so excited to keep sharing my art with the world!
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
Well, there’s an obvious situation of growing up with an abusive parent. This made my early life really challenging, and there were so many days that I thought would be my last. Even to make it out of the small town that I came from and to move to LA with the hope of making music was an obstable that I overcame in itself.
Coming out was also a very challenging experience. Someone in my previous Jehovah’s Witness community found out about my partner, took pictures of us, created a fake phone number, and sent them to all of my family and friends.
That was an extremely rough experience that I wish could have been different. I would’ve loved the opportunity to come out to my friends and family myself, and tell them when I was ready versus having someone else, take that power away from me. I ended up trying to take the power back by asking a friend of mine if we could do a “coming out” photoshoot! She said yes, and we did it!
Around the same time, my mom got diagnosed with terminal cancer, and while I lost my relationship with all of my family, friends, and everyone that I knew from my past life. This made the situation significantly worse because I knew that my mom and I might not ever get the chance to have the close relationship that I always wanted.
Up next came the breakup. I know everyone gets their heart broken, and it happens to everyone, but it was even more painful more because he was the closest person to me in my life, as all my previous relationships with my friends and family were severed.
However, looking on the bright side; all of these situations have given me some really good material to write songs about. Lol
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am a singer-songwriter! I think a huge accomplishment for me was being a finalist on American Idol. It really gave the confidence that I never had to pursue music. It really showed me what I was capable of.
Like I mentioned, I grew up singing in my room, not on stage, so this was the first time I saw what I could do, and it lit a fire under me. I think vocally I have a wife range and I sing with passion and meaning! I make Music that’s from my heart and write songs about what’s really going on for me in those moments whether I’m happy, angry, missing those I love, or anything in between.
I also have a dating podcast with my amazing talented friend Madeline Chalk. She is an incredible comedian, and we talk about the hardships of navigating the dating scene in LA and trying to end up with our special someone by the time we’re 50. @themarriagepactpod
In terms of your work and the industry, what are some of the changes you are expecting to see over the next five to ten years?
It’s hard to say! So much music promotion and success comes from TikTok, and other social media platforms and personally,I have avoided getting on TikTok until now. I think what captivates audiences is different now, and it’s hard to tell where that is going to take the music industry in five years. Either every new top song will be from TikTok or other social media platforms, or maybe everyone will get sick and tired of it, and things will become more traditional.
Regardless, it’s so easy for people to create a platform and brand off of any niche these days, I think Mainstream music is going to become a thing of the past. There are so many talented singers and songwriters and technology has made it so easy for you to put your ideas out into the world that I only see it becoming more saturated, however, I’m so excited to be apart of that!
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Image Credits
Stephanie Saias
