Here are a few of the questions that I have answered during the Watch Party. If you have questions, about anything, really, don’t hesitate to let me know. I really value this communion that we have together!
You and your team were part of a group… After the hardships you have faced, you have released a wonderful album, but under your name. Does that mean that the band is over? Did the other band members not hesitate? To finish, thank you so much for being this available with us.
We are first and foremost friends, some kind of a family. This is who we are, and what we aspire to be. So I think that the bond between us is very singular. The measure of love and understanding between us cannot be calculated in terms of “I”. It’s about offering oneself to the others, and being available to receive others as well. This is how everything started, naturally… The doubts and anxiety I had have been lived in the peaceful state of mind that my friends have offered me. They understand that I am someone who’s hurt, and their kindness is a great comfort for me. I don’t think I would have had the courage to share nor produce Windows in the Sky without them, let alone put my own name on it and assume its nature.
How would you define those 2 years you spent in Morocco? That’s a long time!
I would say that it’s been an opportunity for me to look at who I was despite the fear of discovering who I had become, condemning myself to stay the same while I was totally unhappy. It’s been a very dark period, yet it was also very bright. Over there, I lived a profound solitude, but this has allowed me to discover myself. I have learned to exist beyond the noise I was using to cover the silence that lived within me at this period of my life. I had only spent 3-4 days in Tangier before going there, I didn’t know anything about the city, didn’t know anyone. But I made wonderful friends, very generous of their love and with their heart on their sleeve.
How are things? Not performing for a live audience, I mean?
I’ve got mixed feelings right now, and it’s not about not being able to perform… I see how heavy the present crisis is starting to become on people… I lost a friend who wasn’t able to take any more on his shoulders last week… It’s a difficult time for everyone and it goes back to the foundation of our values as individuals. So I’m trying to be more receptive, more sensitive to others. It’s a season of great transformations, and we need to feed our hopefulness through what we share with others, to remind ourselves of what it means to be human beyond the tech-driven world we are all plugged in…
What are your personal feelings when you sing that song which is so intimate for you?
I think more in terms of images, like flashes that come and go. It’s more impressions than visions. I never want to pre-dispose myself into feeling a particular type of feeling when I play, I want to dwell in the invisible and to be part of it in a communal way. It would be easy for me to simply hold on to my own emotional desires and expectations, but the way I perceive music is one of communion… it’s images, sensations, flashes and abandonment…
Alex bro, when did you start learning or studying music?
I actually never learned instruments, let alone study them… Music was always being played in my home when I was a child. The fondest moments I had with my father mainly revolve around music and art… But it’s only when I saw one of my friend’s older brother’s band rehearsing in a basement that music truly became central to my life… But I never learned or studied it. It must be a beautiful thing to read music and all, but I’m more of a deconstructionist of my own creation than someone who has any kind of interest in playing someone else’s creation… so I guess that’s my excuse!
During the live performance, I felt the bond of the band members and crew gently wrapping the deep emotions of Alex. I would like to know how Alex felt. Also I would like to know how the people who were involved with the performance, image, production and fan-follow ups felt as well.
For me, music involves a total abandonment of self. Not the denial of my own emotions, but a complete let go to its nature… And in order for me to do so, I need to trust those who live those emotions with me… that bond is essential. The spirit that I want to touch, if I can say it like that, when I play music is very “fragile” and it is always about the moment for me… Sometimes, I’m able to feel it greatly and sometimes I just can’t feel anything. I need to remain grateful when I do, and thankful even when I don’t. As for the team members and fans follow ups, it’s hard for me to say what they feel or make out of it… I always wish people feel included, welcomed and received, because it’s always that communal gathering that matters the most to me. It’s about us all in a very global sense, never me or them…