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sometimesalwaysmusic · 7 years

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ALEX SILAS 2017 is looking to be a pivotal year for Alex Silas (AS). Riding high off the success of Tunnels: Season One, Alex is currently working on Season Two, all whilst managing the hiatus of his affiliated band, the Subterraneans. We chatted about lyrical inspirations, his dream tour-mates and what the future has in store for him moving forward.

VITALS

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SubterraneansAKA/

Web: https://www.subterraneans.ca/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/silasphere

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/mralexsilas

Latest release: Tunnels: Season One (EP, June 2016)

Upcoming shows: Stay tuned!

SA: How did you first get your start in music? AS: I started off rapping in high school. Mostly it was a way for me to fit in, to belong, to find a “thing” I could do. I moved to Ottawa from New-Brunswick when I started high school so everything was new to me then. Not only was I starting high school at a new school but also moving from small town NB to big city Ottawa leaving everything that I knew behind at the time. So I was trying to find a way to fit in and at the same time a way to stand out. So rap was going to be my thing.

SA: What bands, musicians or artists would you cite as the biggest influences on your sound? AS: Bob Dylan.

SA: At this point in your musical career, what would you consider to be your biggest success? AS:: My most recent album, Tunnels Season One. Until we drop Tunnels Season Two, then it’ll be that.

SA: Conversely, what is the biggest challenge you have faced, and how have you dealt with it? AS: That’s a really interesting question for me to answer at the moment. Right now I’d have to say it’s the uncertainty that I’m currently facing, the band’s at a weird place, for lack of a better term, on hiatus, and in a lot of ways I’m back to square one. There was a sort of perfect storm of life events that happened to each band member that led to this hiatus almost immediately after the release of our last record. Not through any fault of any of ours really, things are still on really good terms between us and we’re all still close friends. The best explanation for it really is just “life happens”.

One of the important lessons I learned in 2016 is that life happens whether you meant it to or not. You can’t always be in control. I’ve also had to face myself and my shortcomings and admit that there were things I needed to work on both as an individual and as a member in a collective, things I still need to work on.

So yeah, that’s been the biggest challenge so far. After we finish up Tunnels Season Two. Where do we go from here? Do we figure out a way to get the band back together? Do I put together a solo set? Do we try and concoct something in between those two things? Being back at square one is at the same time challenging & intimidating but if I try and look at it in a positive light, it’s also freeing in a sense. Nothing but blank canvas from here.

I think only time will tell where we go from here. Regardless though, I love those guys and I’ll always rep subterranean.

SA: How do you approach the song-writing process? AS: With gusto.

No but, it really depends on the song. Some songs (or parts of songs) are almost entirely technical where it’ll almost feel more like math and I’ll be trying to put together a set of bars to be as “technically dope" as possible. Other times it’s a completely emotional endeavour where you throw the rules out and just try to let your pen bleed. Finding that balance between can be tough sometimes. I think more often than not though I try to err on the side of emotion. Ultimately my goal with writing is to produce something genuine. Something real and something honest.

SA: What are your thoughts on the Ottawa music scene? AS: It’s a music scene and it's in the city of Ottawa.

Don’t mean to be cynical whatsoever but I guess if I’m honest I feel kind of neutral about the Ottawa music scene. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love the city and the people in it. The people, the musicians, the listeners, the MCs, the singers, the poets, the bands, the “band girlfriends & boyfriends”, the “friends & family who just came out to support”, the promoters, the bookers, the venue-owners, the bar-staff, the soundtechs, the reviewers & bloggers (Hey! Shout out to you guys by the way!), the photographers, the graphic designer that did the poster, the people working the door, the dude hosting the show for 2 beers… the list goes on. My point is the Ottawa music scene is filled with a lot of incredible people doing amazing things creating new sounds and new ideas and wanting to be a part of building something unique to our city, and I love those people, but the scene as a whole, as its own entity, the “ecosphere” if you will, I feel pretty neutral about if I’m being honest.

There really is a lot of really cool stuff happening in Ottawa. There’s amazingly talented performers and there’s a thriving crowd hungry for Ottawa music that supports it to an unreal level. There’s a lot of love in Ottawa too. Just like any other scene. But also just like any other scene, there’s politics, nepotism, favouritism, a lot of fakery, attention-seeking, people that seem to be doing it for the wrong reasons and I could do without all that noise in all honesty. I’m just not in it to play the game. I don’t know. Last thing I want to do is talk down the Ottawa music scene, there really is amazing stuff happening (and I didn’t even get into the plethora of different genres & styles emerging from the city). The city has shown me a lot of love but I’d be lying if I said it’s always been love or if I acted completely enamored with the idea of any music “scene”, not just Ottawa’s. I guess I’m just trying to give you an honest answer and avoid the boilerplate “there’s a beautiful new scene emerging and I’m stoked to be a part of it!” There is, and I am, but there’s also more to it than that. A lot of other feelings swirling around. I guess a definition of real love could be accepting something and its flaws. And I love the Ottawa music scene, and in a larger sense, “the music scene”, warts and all, not while ignoring its flaws but despite them.

SA: Hypothetical question: if you could tour with any musical act, active or not, who would it be and why? AS: The Who in their day. Just to fuck some shit up.

SA: A philosophical question, for fun: Why do you perform music? AS: Answered philosophically; out of necessity.

SA: Lyrically, what or whom would you consider to be your biggest influence, and why? AS: Somewhere between Regina Spektor and Cam’ron.

SA: What comes next for you as we move forward in 2017? Good luck with everything, and thanks for taking the time to answer our questions! AS: Big question. Honestly I think I’m still figuring that one out. Tunnels Season 1 is out now and doing the rounds in college radio. We’ve been getting great feedback on that record and I’m proud of it. Tunnels Season 2 is nearing done. Still working on that one in the studio (Shoebox Recording Studios in Kanata ON, shouts out, they’re amazing over there). I’m even more proud of that record, it’s another step up sonically & progression-wise from Season One, so I’m eager to put that out there and see what kind of a reaction it gets. After that, like I said before, it’s mostly blank canvas right now. The band had plans of releasing a Tunnels Season 3 which would’ve completed the trilogy and culminated with Season of The Subterranean, but TS3 would need to be a band project, a Subterraneans project, that’s the only way I see that album ever getting done. So I guess my answer would be that after we finish up TS2, I’m just gonna go from there. There’s a spoken word project with local slam poet Shaun Sullivan called Dubliners that I’ve been sitting on for a bit, just needs to be mixed, so maybe we’ll put that out. There’s a collaborative project I’m a part of with fellow rapper/fashionista Fabien Pleure called La Prochaine Chicane which we’ve been meaning to work on some more. There’s solo material that I’ve been putting pen to paper on that I might start working on too. We’ll also be releasing a music video for one of the singles off TS2 which will be dropping soon. We’re also finishing up a piece that’s been in the works for over a year now called Bohemian Rap City. That’s been a work in progress since TS1 and will get released before TS2. So I guess to answer your question, 2017 is off to a busy start, we’re about to release another ep-length record with Tunnels Season 2 and the bulk of my focus will be pushing that album once it’s done, that combined with collaborative projects and the current timing pointing towards me working on some more solo material, has the next year looking pretty busy. At the same time, 2017 is an ocean for me. I got a lot of figuring shit out to do over the next year and I’m both apprehensive as well as excited about that.

Peace & Love.

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