Alex Pansino, SWAYE Artist, created a piece called “Pure Imagination” for the SWAYE September Issue. Matthew Chen (Founder, Editor-In-Chief) interviewed Alex to learn about his artistic process, inspirations, and goals.
Q. What kind of art do you do?
Alex: I make music!
Q. How and when did you become interested in it?
Alex: In second grade. I started to get more serious about it towards the end of 8th grade, and that’s when it really started to become a much bigger part of my life.
Q. How do your family and friends play apart in you pursuing your music?
Alex: My parents have always supported my music, and have also inspired my musical taste as well! My friends sometimes collaborate with me too, and that’s always fun to work with a little team of sorts.
Q. Why did you join SWAYE?
Alex: I joined SWAYE because I thought it could be a really cool way to share my music with more than just my followers, and I also thought it could be fun to be part of an organization that’s purely dedicated to the arts.
Q. How is music special to you?
Alex: I find it to be one of the greatest tools to reach out and connect with people, and it’s always done that me.
“It’s rather unique in the idea that there’s a type of music for everyone, regardless of background.”
Q. What memorable responses have you had to your work?
Alex: I usually do cover songs and put a spin on them, but the one time I put out a snippet of an original song I had a ton of people messaging for the full version, which had me in awe given I thought it was rather rubbish.
Q. What is your process like for creating a song or music in general?
Alex: Given I mainly do covers, I always look for a song that’s simple but meaningful. The more simple the song is, the more room I have for artist interpretation.
“I typically look for a song that I can envision a story from or a song that I can envision a specific scene playing out in my head, almost like a three-minute movie. “
Once I have my song, I can grab my guitar and lay down my rhythm tracks, which are crucial for giving the song it’s the main feeling. From there I add my bass lines, solos, vocals, and drums, all of which are live tracks as opposed to sampling. I feel like the live sound my recordings have to allow for imperfections, which allows for the listener to relate to something that sounds more human-made. Even with those imperfections, however, I take a lot of time to get the mix right so I can attempt to relate to the listener on an emotional level, and so I can try to get them to see what I had envisioned for the piece.
Q. Describe a real-life situation that inspired you?
Alex: I remember when I first saw Bohemian Rhapsody I had this huge wave of inspiration hit me.
“It was one of those movies that really made me want to become a better musician and bring more creativity and energy to my work.”
Q. Who or what are your greatest inspirations?
Alex: The Beatles are really my #1 inspiration, just because they really pushed the boundaries of what music could be. I’m also inspired by the music of Summer Salt, which is really meaningful to me and touches in nostalgic places.
Q. What is your ultimate goal as an artist?
Alex: Honestly, my goal is just to inspire people through my music, and to make them feel something that they connect with.
“If I can do that, in my mind I’ve succeeded as a musician.”
Check out Alex’s project from last month: “Pure Imagination” here!
Alex’s Social Media links: