Alex Southey shares new EP, Common Fantasies
Toronto, ON-based folk and indie-rock musician Alex Southey has recently unveiled his EP, Common Fantasies, which picks up where his last effort (My Nights On the Island EP) left off in terms of going harder in the direction of aggressive alternative rock, and simultaneously peeling back acoustic dream pop songs and making them more grounded and intimate.
Listen to Common Fantasies below and learn more about Alex Southey via our Five Questions With segment.
Care to introduce yourself to our readers?
I’m Alex Southey, a Toronto-based indie rock and folk musician. I’ve been writing and performing since about 2018-2019 when I moved back to Toronto after spending a good amount of time in my early 20s in Vancouver. I play solo as well as with a backing band to shake things up between shows. Keep things interesting.
Tell us a bit about your most recent release.
My most recent release is Common Fantasies EP. Instead of fusing my two styles (folk and indie rock) as I have on previous releases, I decided to keep them incredibly disparate. Four of the tracks are hard-hitting indie rockers, and the acoustic tracks are like whispers. The push and pull of these polar opposite styles across the EP creates this inertia in the listening.
The Common Fantasies title refers to a rampant obsession with fame, or at least success, in addition to other types of fantasies – violent fantasies, romantic fantasies, and mental health fantasies. I flirted with the idea of naming the EP something more like “Common Ideas,” “Common Wants,” etc. But I felt like “Fantasies” encompassed far more experiences, in addition to adding a kind of abstract quality.
Where do you tend to pull inspiration from when writing?
I think about themes regularly, just in my daily life, and my medium of expression is music. Other people might think about themes regularly, not be an artist, and just express their thoughts through their own daily actions (the way they live their lives). What I’m trying to say is that inspiration is constant. Whether or not I can make something I deem worth releasing is something else. In short, I pull inspiration from whatever I’m preoccupied with at the time of writing, big or small, abstract or straightforward.
Do you have any upcoming shows you’d like to tell us about?
My first band show in 2023 is at the legendary Horseshoe Tavern on Thursday, January 12th, and I couldn’t be more excited about the lineup. It’s us, and local acts Fjord Mustang, Tired Kid, and the Pacifiers. If you are reading this and don’t know them, check ‘em out and then come out to the show. $10 at the door.
In addition, I’m doing multiple solo acoustic shows around Greater Ontario: Guelph, Kitchener, Ottawa, and Peterborough. You can find the dates and information on my website www.alexsouthey.com, on my Bandcamp, or my social media.
What’s your goal for 2023?
I have two goals: Play more shows, and record a full follow-up LP to Common Fantasies that I’ll release in early 2024.
Connect with Alex Southey:
Website
Bandcamp
Facebook
Instagram