Today we’d like to introduce you to Alex Charles.
Alex, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
From a young age, I knew I was destined to be an entertainer with all its trappings. Apparently, as a toddler, when my parents failed to pick me up on time, I asked, “where’s my people?” In school, I also had a tendency of converting nonperformance venues into my own personal stages. For example, in sixth grade, I turned our “study hall” into an open mic starring me where’d I’d sing anything from Britney to Beyoncé with headphones on in front of hundreds of students. Looking back, that couldn’t have sounded too great. I also would turn my classes into my own comedy clubs: making jokes, creating alter egos and doing impersonations of my teachers resulting in calls home, getting kicked out of class and even having to sign a contract of silence. However, I did also find the appropriate settings to entertain. In high school, I was first chair clarinet in orchestra, played tenor saxophonist in the jazz band, and would play lead characters in school plays as well. I also performed in theater cabarets and several rock bands. By the end of high school, I knew music was my calling and got into to Berklee College of Music in Boston. At Berklee, I discovered my love for composing and producing music as well leading to a degree in Contemporary Writing and Production.
From there, I moved to sunny Los Angeles to pursue my dream of becoming a music artist. Since moving here, I’ve done a variety of jobs in music. I’ve been a cruise ship singer & sax player performing all over the world from New Zealand to Aruba. As a sax player, I’ve performed or recorded with artists including Camila Cabello, Eric Bellinger, Brent Faiyaz and Kat De Luna to name a few. I’ve also been working as a songwriter and composer for Warner Brothers Television in particular the Ellen DeGeneres Show. I’ve written and performed custom songs for several of the show’s promos and a few guest spots as well. I’m actually working on a couple as we speak. To date, my music has placed on about twenty different TV shows. As an artist, I’d consider myself an R&B crooner. Some of my biggest influences include Miguel, Justin Timberlake, and Stevie Wonder. So far, I’ve released four EPs and eight singles. I’m currently working on a new album I’m extremely excited about and a music video that should be out in the next couple of months.
Has it been a smooth road?
For the most part, I’d say yes but yes there’s definitely been some bumps that have had positive and negative effects in my life. When I was growing up, I was picked on a fair amount for being unique looking. This led to a great deal of loneliness and depression especially during high school, college and beyond. In hindsight, I feel as though a lot of the pain was self-inflicted and could have been avoided but at the same time, we all have our own insecurities that just display themselves differently. The positive byproduct of the bullying however was I compensated by learning how to sing better and perform on stage to help boost my confidence and feel accepted. This includes spending junior prom in the studio. Fast forward to now and I feel as I’ve gotten older, I’ve grown into my look but those experiences of being singled out for being different have definitely molded who I am for better or for worse.
Alright – so let’s talk business. What else should we know about you and your career so far?
My business is called Alex Charles Productions which is essentially a music production house. Some of the services offered include music production, songwriting, engineering, sax session work, vocal coaching, composition for TV & film, as well as live (or streaming) music performance. What separates me from other producers is that I’m also a professional singer and artist myself which makes it easier to bridge that gap for my clients more than someone who just produces. When it comes to the TV composing world, shows are becoming more and more interested in featuring full songs as their soundtrack rather than purely instrumental which has given me somewhat of an advantage as well considering I’m able to sing, write and produce broadcast ready material. Finally, what separates my production house from others is that as a producer in the traditional sense of the word, I am able to bring together a large network of top-level creatives (session musicians, producers, engineers, etc.) to create top-notch content at very competitive prices.
How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
I believe that the music industry will become dramatically more saturated in the next 5-10 years with more artists and producers having access to music production technology as well as promotion tools such as social media. Artists are going to have to find new creative avenues to stand out from the crowd in order to reach fans beyond just music. However, I am also hopeful and optimistic that this overall growth of the music industry (primarily via streaming) will create a larger musical middle class with more opportunity for indie artists to be properly compensated and ultimately sustain a living doing music. As a music producer myself, having access to several subscription sound libraries services has greatly streamlined the process of making music for me as it has many of my colleagues. I believe this will only continue making it so the computer has a larger and larger hand in the music creation process. Also, I believe there is a large future in virtual reality technology for streaming concerts for people who can’t make it to the real-life shows. We’re seeing that more and more especially now given the current state of affairs.
Contact Info:
- Address: 15239 Stagg St, Van Nuys CA 91405
- Website: www.alexcharlesmusic.com
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: alexcharlesmusic
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/iamalexcharles
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/AlexCharles1022
Image Credit:
Mav (@shotby_M_A_V), Tara Mier (@tarabearaports)
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