It should come as no surprise that London-area EDM artist Antony Alexander is devoting much of his life to the art of creating music. The Kent County resident will be the first to tell you about the pictures of him when he was a young boy experimenting with the notes and sounds coming from a keyboard. It wasn’t long until Antony was caught up in the synth revolution, experimenting with multi-tracking, and finding inspiration in artists like New Order, The Buggles, and The Shamen.
By Kamil Bobin
Discovered via Musosoup
Kamil) Hey Antony Alexander, super nice to have the chance to chat with you. What first got you into music?
Grew up with the synth revolution in the 80s. Loved the classic hardware synths like the Roland D series and Korgs M1 and T series. Workstation synths were a big draw at the time in the then absence of DAWS.
What is your creative process like?
I work through sounds and just play some riffs until i get something I like. I then add the vocals and tweak the riff so it fits. From there I layer upwards, adding bass, arps, pads and synth parts to add texture and richness to the sounds. I then take stuff away at various points to give variety to the mix.
Your latest song is 'I Ain’t Coming Back'. Can you tell us more about the making of it and if there were any unusual things happening during the process?
It came together really quickly. I found the riff that worked and the vocals fitted without needing too change anything. It sounded good in quite simple form so didn't add much in the way of more synth parts. Less is more seems to work for this song. Most songs I have done have way more synth parts. This sounded good with a relative few. Nothing unusual happened.
What was the most difficult challenge you faced?
Knowing when to stop and knowing when to keep going are always the hardest. If you stop too soon then the mix sounds empty and the texture of the song flat. But if you keep going too much then you mess up what works and start going into reverse.
What is the biggest mistake you have made within your career to this point?
Easy one! Getting too many online VSTs and effects! So much out there and I wasted a lot on tools I'll never use. Just a get a few of the ones that work for you.
Are there people who help you with the production of the songs?
Yes I use online mix/master services to add a final polish to my own mix and masters. They use my stems in a "wet" format. For this song and indeed a few others I used https://www.chromemastering.co.uk/
What are your long term goals?
Just to enjoy the music making process and be able to share with who may enjoy listening.
What do your fans mean to you? What do you value most in them?
Like a chef who gets pleasure in those enjoying food, it's fantastic when you get a like, a thumbs up or a good comment.
What memorable responses have you had to your work?
Any written message is appreciated if it comes with good intentions as takes effort for someone to do that even if they have some feedback which you may not like!!
Where is the best place in the world you’ve ever been to?
Thats a hard one as travel lots. Singapore stands out for always being warm and bars that close when the sun comes up as does a lot of the far east (not everywhere stays warm!). Buenos Aires stands out for great steak and an affordable price in a great atmosphere.