.png)
Interview By: Caitlin Joy | Photos By: Rob Tirrell
Q and A disclaimer: This interview is lightly edited for grammar and clarity
As European girl summer winds down for the season, the enchantment and petrichor-perfumed wonder of European girl autumn — the former's shy and infinitely wise older sister — begins to unfurl. Ruby-red pea coats and berets, mulled wine and melancholy classics awake from their slumbers as the crisp winds blow in from the north, and the warming nutmeg of the holidays inches closer day by day. Barcelona-born musician Alexa Dark is in her happy place during such a season — its pomegranate tones, diffusive golden glow, curling fog and old, dark wood spiral staircases trickling into her creative releases throughout the year. A penchant for romance and darkness inspires the singer-songwriter and director's heart and eye, thus her finding comfort in the falling leaves, gilded art and introspection.
In the aftermath of Alexa's first EP, “Dark, Vol. 1,” and during the lightning storm of her latest single "Alibi," we talked cinema, her greatest inspirations and where she sees herself going next.
Q: To start from the beginning: How did Barcelona shape your childhood and approach to music?
A: My first real relationship with music was the Spanish songs my mom played in our kitchen. Music is so woven into the culture and the city, it became the soundtrack of my early years and is embedded in who I am as an artist.
Q: Who or what do you remember being your first inspirations? Not confined to any one sphere of art or life.
A: I was a big reader from a young age, with writers like Alexander Pushkin, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Sylvia Plath shaping how I saw the world.
Q: How did moving in between Barcelona, London and New York City affect your growing up?
A: Every city’s unique culture and energy shaped my sound and style.
Q: How did you cope with feeling homesick?
A: The beauty of not being from any one place is the freedom to find home wherever I go. The concept of home intrigues me, almost like an alien mystery, and it’s a recurring theme in my writing.
Q: You began creating and performing music during your teenage-hood; before then, had you experimented with other kinds of creative expression?
A: I was always writing from a young age — poetry, stories, etc. Those early creative explorations laid the groundwork for delving into music later.
Q: What drew you to performing live during your teenage years?
A: Living in London, surrounded by a vibrant live music scene, seeing my favorite musicians live regularly, performing felt like a natural next step from writing songs and practicing covers in my bedroom. When the chance came to play a small gig at a local bar, I took it. Practically no one was there, but it was the beginning of my journey into music.
Q: When you arrived in London and New York for the first time, how did encountering the cultures of these two cities respectively affect you?
A: London raised me, gave me my musical education — it’s where I played in my first bands and discovered my favorite artists. New York pushed me to explore new creative boundaries and embrace my sound in a different way.
Q: Did these experiences impact how you first felt when arriving in Los Angeles, to found a homebase in? How so, if yes?
A: Arriving in Los Angeles felt like stepping into a film I had always romanticized — echoes of old Humphrey Bogart movies I loved, the allure of places like the Chateau and Sunset Boulevard. Los Angeles has this cinematic charm and mystery that really inspires my music. Splitting time between New York City and Los Angeles, both cities became stages for different sides of my story.
Q: What is your songwriting process?
A: I don’t have a set process. I like to collect fragments — lines, images, melodies — and when I sit down at the piano or with my guitar, I let the moment take over, like chasing a feeling or a memory.
Q: Why are films a safe space and a site of inspiration for you?
A: Films offer a poetic escape, where every detail — from lighting to dialogue — shapes a narrative. Whether it's classics like “Casablanca,” Jean-Luc Godard’s cinema, or the old Bond films, films fuel my imagination and influence how I see the world.
Q: How did you begin creating your first EP, “Dark, Vol. I?”
A: The EP started as a collection of songs I had written, but as I put them together, they revealed a larger story. They captured emotions I had been struggling to articulate, like pieces coming together to form a larger puzzle.
Q: When it comes to creating a first EP, how do you know which darlings to kill? What guided your process of doing so?
A: I think you just have to trust your intuition as an artist.
Q: Which authors, whether film directors, writers and/or musicians are your biggest inspirations?
A: Jean-Luc Godard, Nancy and Frank Sinatra, Serge Gainsbourg, David Lynch, Leonard Cohen, Alexander Pushkin, Sylvia Plath, The Flamingos, F. Scott Fitzgerald.
Q: From your perspective, what is the relationship between romance and darkness?
A: To me, romance and darkness are deeply intertwined. There’s a shadowy side to lust and love, often bringing out the darker sides of ourselves — depths and desires we might not have previously acknowledged.
Q: How did the process of making “Alibi” begin?
A: Writing “Alibi” was a different experience than any other songs I’ve written. It came together in one afternoon with my friend Simon Oscroft in his studio in Los Angeles. I was feeling inspired by my tendency to over-romanticize situations and people, even bad ideas and toxic lovers.
Q: Having created an EP, how has your author’s perspective and process changed when working on “Alibi?”
A: I write based on my experience, and a lot changed in between creating my EP and writing “Alibi.” But there’s also a definite throughline.
Q: Can you say anything about what will be coming after “Alibi?”
A: I’m excited for the new music I’ve been working on and can’t wait to share it.
Q: How are the processes of authoring an extended musical work like an EP and designing a visual project, such as a music video or photoshoot, different?
A: It all comes from the same place for me. Creating music is like creating a film in my mind, and a music video or photoshoot is a snapshot from that world.
Q: What is the difference in the feelings of performing on stage, and being in front of a camera?
A: Performing live connects me deeply with my audience; it’s a raw and irreplaceable experience.
Q: What do you enjoy about social media?
A: At its best, social media is a great way to connect me with a global audience and people I might never have met otherwise.
Q: Which parts of social media do you struggle with?
A: The demand for constant “content” often clashes with the process of creating art.
Q: And to close out, what is your guiding ambition as a creative?
A: I always strive to create something timeless that speaks to those who need it, explores what it means to live, to love, to feel and hopefully echoes through time.
Click here to stream “Alibi."
Comentarios