Alexa Swinton – You, Me, and My Purple Docs

By starrymag | August 10, 2020

 

 

By: Maggie Stankiewicz

 

 

 

Q) What kind of music do you like to listen to? 

A) My favorite music is pop and Broadway songs. Currently, I have been loving songs by Tones and I. I can’t get OVER songs like “Dance Monkey” and “Bad Child.” I also love Panic! at the Disco’s “High Hopes.”   I love “Learning to Fly” by the Surfaces and Elton John.

I also listen to a lot of Broadway. I have so many favorite shows – it’s hard to list them all.  I love the soundtrack from Something Rotten, “Never Grow Up” from Matilda, the whole “Mean Girls” playlist – I love “I’d Rather Be Me.”  I also LOVE the movie SING.  It makes me cry every time because of the story and the music.  Jennifer Hudson is incredible. I love all the live musicals – we watched Hairspray and Jesus Christ Superstar.  Over the quarantine time, we have been catching up on classics like Joseph & the Technicolor DreamCoat and Phantom.

 

Q) Besides your upcoming song, “You, Me, and My Purple Docs” what’s your favorite song of the summer? 

A) My favorite song of the Summer so far 1000% is a song named “Heathens” by Twenty-One Pilots. It’s scary and funny, which is always fun to listen to when you are with your brother trying to annoy him. I also like “Maniac” by Conan Gray. Actually, I love the Gacha Life music videos of the song. I also love Sabrina Carpenter’s “Looking At Me” and “Bad Child” by Tones and I.

 

Q) With your new single coming out soon, do you have any plans to release a full album in the future? 

A) I hope so! I would like to release a few singles and then make it an album in the future for sure! I also recorded “Happy As I Wanna Be” by Micheal Jay, Nicole Anderson, Aiyana-Lee and Andre Mieux. So, we would like to release that sometime soon when it is all finished! I am also currently writing some new music, so stay tuned and follow my Instagram @alexaswinton for news of what’s next!!

 

Q) Your song “You, Me and my Purple Docs” was written as a part of a protégé program with some incredible musical talent. How did you get into that program? 

A) Dawn Elder started the Ultimate Vocal Music Summit.  We learned about the program from a fellow performer friend of ours.  The kids acting business in New York is both big and small (we actually know a lot of the kids), so we share our tips with one another.   My siblings and I decided it would be fun to meet Dawn and we love LA so it was sort of taking a chance on something.  We sent her a few recordings of songs and were selected.  We had a fantastic time, met great artists and had the chance to perform live with incredible musicians. Dawn has high expectations for her mentees, so we do have to work hard.

 

Q) What was your inspiration for writing “You, Me, and my Purple Docs”? 

A) Dawn and I were brainstorming about topics to write about and she asked me what I loved to wear and what made me feel happy.  I mentioned my purple Doc Martens – which I love because they were just a bit tough so any outfit would instantly have some EDGE.  They’re a little rock and roll.  And so, we took it from there.  It’s important to put on your power suit – or your power shoe – or do whatever you need to feel good.   Purple is my dad’s favorite color. It’s a royal color and he is Scottish, so he loves all that stuff.  Fun fact – he is actually the head of a Scottish clan – the Swinton clan.

 

Q) When did you know that you wanted to get into music and singing? 

A) I have loved singing and dancing FOREVER.  I sang the song “Happy Birthday” as my first words!  I was ten months old and about to speak and it happened to be my grandfather’s birthday, so I was hearing that song a lot. Suddenly, I sang “happy birthday to you!” Well, I probably didn’t articulate so well, but that was before I had singing lessons.

We all sing and play instruments in our family – my older sister Ava is thirteen years old and she sings and plays piano and cello and younger brother Maxim is eight years old and he also sings and plays piano.  He was actually about to originate a role in a big new musical when the quarantine started.  We all work with Dawn and also study classical singing in New York.  My mother’s grandmother was a singer and so are other relatives – there was even a Yiddish child musical theater star.

 

Q) What was it like working with producer Dawn Elder and composer Dwight Rivera?

A) Amazing! They are both so talented and taught me so much.  Dawn has a real passion for world music and a deep knowledge of American music history.   She has an incredible knowledge of music from the US and around the world and truly loves singers.  With her I have worked on songs from the Carpenters to Norah Jones to Miley Cyrus and Marshmello.  Dawn writes the chords and the hook.  She can take an idea of a melody, so I may sing a snippet of an idea (that maybe we have recorded in a voice memo) and translate this into music.  She has worked with some amazing singers such as Cheb Khaled, who sings the hit song “C’est La Vie.” So, she is also sharing her experience not only about singing and performing, but also how you make and share music.

Dwight is really fun to work with.  He makes making music feel so easy.He helps take ideas and find great ways to express them.  He has a deep knowledge of music and really knows how to make the most of your voice.

 

Q) “You, Me, and My Purple Docs” was recorded at the legendary studio Sunset Sound in Los Angeles. Was it cool to record in such a historic location? 

A) It was crazyyyyyyy!!!!! We recorded in the same studio where Prince recorded “Purple Rain.”  That studio must really LOVE purple!!! The walls of the studio office are covered with gold and platinum records recorded there. It’s an inspiring place.

Los Angeles is so full of music history and music now. I love going to the Hard Rock Cafe on Sunset Boulevard.  Last time we went we just watched all these videos – Pink Floyd’s “The Wall” and “Take On Me” by AHA. There was a band playing and my brother fell asleep and it was so loud. We also went to the Grammy museum where there was a Backstreet Boys exhibit!

I recorded another song at Sunset Sound and I am excited to drop that song, too.

 

Q) Do you own any purple shoes, as your new song might suggest? If so, where’d you get them? 

A) I do! (I own purple Doc Martens!!) I’m onto my second pair now, as I outgrew the first.  I love them.

 

Q) In “You, Me, and My Purple Docs” you also got to work with vocalists Natascha Corrigan and Lynne Fiddmont. Did you learn anything from them? 

A) Lynne is a wonderful person and so warm and she is amazing at riffing.  She has sung backup for so many great artists such as Stevie Wonder, Lou Rawls and Phil Collins.  She has a jazz background and she helps you learn improvisation.

Natascha Corrigan really encourages me to sound like myself and to speak the song so that I really make sure my own voice shows through.  She talks about speaking on pitch too!  She also has a lovely voice!

 

Q) You’re also an actor, starring on shows like Emergence. How does your acting process differ from your musical process?

A) Well, in both acting and singing – you tell a story and you express feelings through action and also through language.

A song is really a monologue set to music. In musicals the actors sing when they just must.  Like I love “Glee” and they are always breaking into song when things are super intense.

Also, in a story there is a beginning, middle and end and in a song, you also have that.  And in both, you go on a journey.

 

Q) Did you learn anything from your time on “Emergence” that you apply to your music career?

A) My co-stars Clancy Brown, Donald Faison, Robert Bailey Jr – all sing!  And when I asked what his favorite episode of “Scrubs” was in his long run there Donald said the musical episode.  If you haven’t seen it – check it out!   But it doesn’t surprise me that so many actors also love to sing and perform music.

Performing a song is just like acting a monologue.  You need to know what you are trying to say, what you are trying to accomplish.

 

Q) Do you have any other big projects in the works?

A) We have a couple of great projects.  We are in the middle of filming a short film my mom wrote called Kooky Spook about a Russian girl’s first Halloween in America.  We had almost finished filming and then quarantine hit.  We look forward to finishing shooting that as soon as we can!

My mom is a comedian and a writer and she and I are also working on a young adult novel based around my experiences at school and about our family.  I am doing the illustrations for the book.  We are going to use our time, once we have released this song to get that book finished!

 

Q) Is there anything you’d like to say to your fans and followers? I 

A) Hello!!! Love you all!  Thank you for your support.  It is amazing of people to share all their positive reactions to the work that I do.

Follow me on my Instagram – @alexaswinton and my YouTube, the Swinton Show! We are always posting to our YouTube and I go live once a while on Instagram!!

 

You can listen to “You, Me and My Purple Docs” here