Alexander Wesley Releases His Debut Single [Q&A].
Interviewed by: Sarah Evangelista
Alexander Wesley has been posting covers on YouTube for a few years now, and has gained a large follower count since. The Brampton based artist has just released his debut single, titled “love me or not”, focusing on diving into a new relationship. Read my interview with him below.
You're about to release your debut single! How are you feeling?
Honestly it’s still pretty surreal. I’ve just been taking the time to really reflect, even as far back as taking my first vocal lesson, and it’s just rewarding to be here and finally released some music. It really feels like everything is coming full circle.
You've been posting covers on YouTube for a few years now, but have you always wanted to release original music?
I have always wanted to release original music. I enjoyed making renditions of covers for the time being, but it got to the point where it wasn’t fulfilling anymore. I also remember a close friend of mine at the time, had asked where my original music was, and I was so invested in these covers that I hadn’t even begun to think about them or even remember why I wanted to do music in the first place. Ever since that something in me shifted and I knew it was time to move my focus back developing and working on myself as an artist.
Your debut song "Love Me Or Not" focuses on diving into a new relationship, which lyric from the song hits home most to you, and why?
I think the first verse stands out the most to me. ‘If I speak too soon, would it mean less to you, it I keep waiting ‘round will it be overdue’. It tackles two thoughts that had been circling around in my mind for a bit. I worry about speaking out too soon in relationships and being the person who may feel more attached or invested, but I was also worried about not acting soon enough and possibly missing out on what could’ve been.
You've also released a music video along with the tune, did it turn out how you first imagined it to?
I think it turned out better than I could’ve imagined. It was quite a challenge filming a music video during a pandemic, given the severe limitations on who we could hire and where we could rent to shoot, but we did what we could and made it happen and we all couldn’t be more proud of it. The director Kevin Lien is a very close friend of mine, and we had been trying to work together for years, and this ended up being our first project together.
I know you just released something, but what could we expect this year, musically?
After this release, I have another track planned to release for the fall as well. Sonically it’s really difficult from “love me or not”, and to me, that’s something I’m really excited about.
Who are your favourite artists on the rise?
Some of my favourite artists on the rise, would be Jayde, emawk, New West, Dylan Sinclair and LOONY. Highly recommend check each of them out.