Based in London, England, Ilja Alexander has been making music and taking the world by storm in places like Indonesia, Japan, and other Asian countries. His music has gained him a massive following on social media that allowed him to tour these countries after the release of his album “Hold On To Her.” Ilja Alexander has dreamed of creating music from a very young age and learned to play the piano to further develop his performance skills. After signing with his band in London to the label The Playground just recently, Ilja Alexander is looking to further his career as a solo artist and expand his audience to western countries as well. With the talent and promise that he shows, we do not doubt that Ilja Alexander will pass that barrier and continue to make a name for himself.
“Someday” is the latest song release from Ilja Alexander and it did not disappoint. The song has a mystical atmosphere that almost leaves you in a trance, it is no wonder so many people became captivated by his music so quickly. His voice is soft and angelic, very easy to listen to and leaves you feeling happy and bubbly. “Someday” paints a picture of seeing someone beautiful on a street one day, and dreaming of seeing this person again because you can’t get them out of your head. An enchanting song with a story to tell, this one is not one to miss!
Check out “Someday” by Ilja Alexander here.
Hi there Ilja Alexander! Thank you for taking the time to chat with us at BuzzMusic today, could you tell us a little bit about “Someday” and what inspired the writing of this track?
At the time of writing the song, I was at a stage in my life where life was about nightlife and studying at university. I worked at bars and clubs as a bartender, and when not working at nights, I would party at clubs, go to after parties and end up with random one night stands. I was nearing a breaking point where it all seemed meaningless and purposeless. Instead of experiencing nightlife as a fun social event, I was experiencing it more and more in negative attitudes, feeling lonelier each subsequent time ending up at another party, after party or with yet another random date. I guess I was in desperate need of love but didn’t quite understand that random sexual contact was different from love. Something was off, but due to some past and at the time unprocessed traumas, I just couldn’t get my hands on the emotional concept of love. I visualized it to be romantic, joyful, and happy. I romanticized nightlife, falling instantly in love when exiting a club, instant eye contact with my dream girl on the early dark morning streets. It was late at night, sitting behind my digital piano with a pair of headphones when I looked for chords and rhythm that gave me joy and happiness, matching the emotions of love that I had been visualizing for some time. Then chords and rhythm came to me, and suddenly I was standing in my desired scene, on the early dark morning streets, meeting my dream girl, and the words followed.
You have had tremendous success on the eastern side of the globe, can you tell us how you plan to expand your sound and appeal to an even larger audience?
To be honest, until a year ago, I was so emotionally disconnected from myself and as a result also emotionally disconnected from everyone else, that I was never able to consciously connect feelings to my own music. It may sound strange but I was emotionally disconnected from myself, and so my music was also disconnected from myself. Yes, I was successful in recording singles and even an entire album, to include recordings in English, Japanese and even Indonesian and promo touring through Asia, but I managed to achieve these results by focusing on a somewhat analytical process-oriented approach. I had great memorable experiences, but when my album Hold On To Her was completed, I just didn’t feel my own music. I tried to adapt my album sound to a more British indie live sound, but as a result, I was misunderstood by my audience and music biz partners, and so I disappeared from the music scene, paid to recycle my entire stock of CD’s, and subconsciously began a journey of mental healing and personal growth. I am still learning and growing but came a long way in building my emotional vocabulary, being more and more connected to myself and as a result of everyone else and my own music.
“Someday” is an incredible track that we thoroughly enjoyed listening to! Would you say this song is different from the sound of your previous record?
Without a doubt, this song breaks with my past sound and breaks with my past self. As I am growing, so is my sound. I am thankful to everyone on my team for being so patient in listening to and understanding me. I have instructed everyone to pull me out of my comfort zone, and without their support, I would never have been able to grow and to evolve my sound. Can’t wait to hear my future sound evolving? So can’t I!
How have you shown perseverance in the music industry? What is one piece of advice you would give to aspiring musicians?
There was a war going on in my mind during my self-induced absence from the music industry. I was fighting against my own emotions and cast my creativity out, focusing on an analytical mindset, even starting a remote university course in physics and mathematics at the Open University in Milton Keynes, UK. It is easy to fill your day studying and keeping yourself busy so that you don’t have to face your inner traumas and feelings. That being said, I never consciously made a decision to quit music altogether, and always kept a grand strategic vision of a possible return to the music industry, and immersed myself in voice, speech and performing arts classes, building safety pins to stay connected to music. Metaphysically, some force always handed me lifelines to stay connected to my own music. Let me tell you a story about this. During my absence from the music industry, I started working as a freelance IT project manager. One day a former IT colleague invited me to a masterclass in songwriting, as he found a new job with a music publishing company. I really didn’t feel like attending the event, didn’t know the speaker, a US songwriter, and producer, named Curtis Richa. I reluctantly showed up but turned out to be fascinated and captivated by Curtis’ experiences and stories. Normally I shy away from speaking to seemingly popular and outgoing people in the room, but this time, after the masterclass, I somehow decided to approach Curtis and start a conversation. I could never have imagined we’d become such good friends and along the way, we started collaborating on a first single, and with the release of my single “Someday” I can tell you that my sabbatical from the music industry has ended. I think fully understanding your own emotions and feelings is a precondition of finding your own path, that may or may not be in music. But should you aspire to a career in music, work hard to improve yourself and grow. A professional career in music includes lots of setbacks and even negativity, but stay focused and look forward. You would even need to work part-time jobs to be able to invest in your own music career, and therefore you would need to work harder than most people with only a daytime job. It requires constant self-reflection and strategic thinking, staying focused on your ambition and purpose. You cannot let your career depend on external factors and other people. You need to own your career, but at the same time you can’t do it alone, so, be open to receiving input and feedback from anyone on your evolving team, and treat everyone with respect and kindness, and realize that they can only work with the input, be it strategic vision, song materials or even your own energy, that you give to them.
We can’t wait to hear what else you have been working on! Do you have any details you can share about your next release?
Last year I completed 8 new single recordings, including a remix to “Someday”. You will see a lot of my new music being released in 2020. As for the next release, I haven’t decided yet between two possible releases, but both single recordings again equally positively surprised me as the moment when I first got to listen to the production of “Someday” and I hope they will also positively surprise you.
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