Today we’d like to introduce you to Alexx Calise.
Hi Alexx, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Well, first and foremost I’ve always been a writer. I wrote my first story in kindergarten, and I haven’t stopped since. I decided to pick up the guitar to put my lyrics and melodies to music when I was about 12 I believe. I was very much inspired to play by my father, also a talented musician. From then on, I played every talent show and venue I could, and I fell completely in love with the stage. I played in a few bands throughout high school and college, eventually landing an opportunity to record with producer Luigie Gonzalez out in LA. I jumped at the opportunity and ended up tracking some songs for a few months in 2006. I went back home for a little while and Lu called me on the phone telling me I needed to get the hell out of Florida and just move here. He even graciously offered up his couch to me, which I crashed on for about six months (thank you, buddy). Since moving here officially in 2007, I’ve had a plethora of my songs in film and TV, I’ve played live on Dance Moms and Abby’s Ultimate Dance Competition (more on that later), I’ve acted in commercials, I met my best friend and lifelong songwriting partner Dennis Morehouse, I met my husband Ken Gust, I’ve worked for and with major music brands, and I’ve sung in major commercials. On the whole, I’d say it was a pretty positive move!
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Not in the slightest, haha. I found it most challenging to find good friends and feel at home in a place like LA. It took me about five years to really find my people and start feeling a little more comfortable out here. It’s a very stressful place, especially with traffic, the expense of living out here, and the frantic nature of the city. It was tough (and still just as hard) to find a way to make a living playing music. I had to come up with a way to control my own destiny and have enough freedom to do what I love, so I started a kids’ party company to supplement my income, which I still operate to some degree today. After the pandemic, I feel like I’m kind of back to square one in a way, trying to find ways to pivot and support myself. It’s not a bad thing though-the past few years have forced me to reevaluate some things and come up with new ways to push my music and career.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I am a musician, and that’s always been my primary focus, but I do have a lot of other areas of interest in the creative field, like photography and videography, production, writing, PR and marketing, and consulting (all of which I’m available for, so feel free to drop me a line, haha).
I’d say that most people probably know me for my song, “Cry” which was very popular on the show “Dance Moms.” That whole story is an interesting one. I had written “Cry” many years ago in my old apartment in about 15 minutes. It was written during a very low moment, and I knew there was something very special and vulnerable about it, especially because of how it just poured out of me. It went on my 2nd album, “In Avanti,” and was the sole ballad of an otherwise all-electronic rock record. We were really pushing “Break Me” as the single at the time, which was very uptempo, and while it did okay, it just didn’t do what I wanted it to commercially. So fast forward about a year later when I’m working as the office manager at a music and sound design firm. I open my inbox and it’s flooded with all these girls telling me how much they love my song “Cry” and they’re doing all these dance routines to it. I was taken aback and very curious as to why this was happening, so I did some research and found out that it was being used on a new show called “Dance Moms,” and a little girl named Maddie Ziegler was dancing to it. I told my dad about it, and he suggested I ask Maddie if she’d be willing to dance to it in a music video. I thought it was a great idea, and ended up cold-calling the dance teacher on the show, Abby Lee Miller. I asked her if Maddie could do it, and two weeks later, she was in LA dancing to it.
That and the whole Dance Moms affiliation I’m pretty proud of. They even asked me to sing “Cry” on the show a few seasons later, and I also performed my song, “Survive” on their sister show, “Abby’s Ultimate Dance Competition” with Maddie dancing again. It’s so wild, and it totally changed my career trajectory as an artist.
As far as what sets me apart from others, I think it’s my voice and lyrics. I have a really distinctive vibrato and timbre, so you can definitely identify my voice right away. It’s a blessing and curse. When I’m writing music for licensing, for example, a client wants a voice without a lot of distinctive qualities because they want audiences to focus more on the product. When I’m writing for myself, it’s great, and it’s my calling card.
My lyrics are also very introspective and at times self-deprecating. My dad likes to call them “ball and chain” lyrics.
We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you?
While luck has definitely played a role in my life and business, I have always tried to put myself in a position to be lucky. I work very hard, I’m driven, I’m not afraid to ask for the things that I want, I always try to keep moving, and I’m always working to be a better musician and human being. I find that the more I put in, the more I get back.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.alexxcalise.net
- Instagram: instagram.com/alexxcalise
- Facebook: facebook.com/alexxcalisemusic
- Twitter: twitter.com/alexxcalise
- Youtube: youtube.com/alexxcalisemusic
- SoundCloud: soundcloud.com/alexxcalise
Image Credits
Anabel DFlux, Daniel Corey
