He’s a singer/songwriter and producer from West London and his soulful, atmospheric electronica has already earned him support from BBC Introducing and some not so far off comparisons to ‘The Weeknd’.
We caught up with ALECS, or Alex Treharne as his friends know him, at the launch of his new EP, ‘The Fulham Tapes’ at the Century Club, Soho. Treating us to a five song set of synth, soul and a surprising amount of bass, ALECS proved that he is definitely one to watch for 2014.
Your EP’s called ‘The Fulham Tapes’. How did you come up with the name and do you feel like where you grew up and your surroundings have influenced you at all?
I didn’t grow up in Fulham but I live there now. I recorded the whole EP, or finished recording it, in Fulham, so I thought it was just appropriate. My whole life is in Fulham now, basically. I think where I grew up definitely did a bit. I went to school with a lot of people who were interested in music and enjoyed writing and performing. That’s kind of where I got into performing and it was just nice to be around other people who did the same thing.
Having previously written and produced on your own, was it a fun experience working with somebody else (Eddy Atlantis) on this EP?
I loved it! Working on your own can get quite introspective and gloomy. Almost everything you write is sad just because you’re in your bedroom on your own in the dark. I’ve known Ed since I was about four. We went to little kid school together and when I moved up to London to go to Uni we were both doing music and our sounds were similar. It was definitely more fun doing it with someone else.
The other thing is, if you’re on your own it can get quite stale. If it’s just me, ten out of forty songs that I write will be ‘Give It Up’. When you’re working with someone else you’re working with someone else’s sounds so it’s much more fun.
Is ‘The Fulham Tapes’ based on your own experiences?
A little bit. Obviously it’s quite a personal experience writing music, but honestly my life is not that interesting! It’s kind of stuff that’s happened to friends and you’ve helped friends out with, or stuff you’ve heard about. It’s kind of a bit of both: a bit of me and a bit of everyone else.
Do you have a favourite song from the EP?
‘Whole’. I had to listen to ‘Give It Up’ a lot because it was the single. I must have listened to it three hundred times because you’re mixing it and mastering it. You just get kind of sick of it. But with ‘Whole’, we went into the studio and did it in a day, so every time I listen to it I still get a little bit excited. It’s definitely my favourite.
You get quite a few comparisons to ‘The Weeknd’ and Frank Ocean, but who do you feel has influenced you most? Would you include them in that?
I would. It would be silly not to. I listen to a lot of ‘The Weeknd’, a lot of Frank Ocean and I listen to a lot of ‘Banks’, you know, people like that. But I am also a pretty avid pop listener. Just anything! ‘One Direction’, Katy Perry, I will listen to anything that has a nice melody. I like writing pop music but I don’t like singing it. I think ‘The Weeknd’s’ stuff is really cool and I love what he does with drums and guitars. It’s kind of The Weeknd but with more poppy melodies.
So if you had to describe the EP to someone else, is that how you would describe it?
I would say, ‘do you like The Weeknd?’ If they say ‘no’, then I would say ‘don’t listen to it, you won’t like it’. If they said ‘yes’, I would say ‘good. But it’s not as cool as ‘The Weeknd’, so you still might not like it!’ (He’s being modest. It is pretty cool.)
As you’ve been writing and performing over the last few months, what have you enjoyed most?
Well I used to hate performing! I didn’t like being the focus of everyone in the room because I felt like it was a bit uncool to be like ‘this is me, watch me’. But now I really enjoy it. I love being the centre of attention!
Who would be your dream collaboration? Is there anyone established or up and coming you’d like to work with?
I love to do duets with girls because I like how the different textures sound. I would love to do something with Banks, she’s amazing. I think Lorde’s really cool and I think ‘George’ from ‘AlunaGeorge’ is an amazing producer. There are lots of people from that sort of group. Ella Eyre, she has an amazing voice.
Have you always sung as well as writing and producing?
Originally I just wanted to be a writer and write for other people. I’m still not massively interested in being ‘the guy’ that stands at the front of the stage. But when I wrote my own stuff and gave it to someone else, it didn’t sound how I wanted it to sound. I’m happy to write songs that I wouldn’t sing for other people, but if it’s a beat that I love then I couldn’t give it to someone else because it wouldn’t sound right.
What have you got planned for the coming months and what would you like to happen?
I’d like to get signed and get an advance of a billion pounds and never have to work again! No, I’m releasing the next single, ‘Prove’ at the end of May, and I’m really excited because I like it and I don’t like most of the stuff I write. It will be cool to see how people respond to a song that’s not ‘Give It Up’.
ALECS EP, ‘The Fulham Tapes’ is available now. Catch him playing at The Nest London next month, March 8th .