The Knockturnal had the opportunity to talk with Alex Aiono concerning his newest single: ‘Thinking About You’.
At twenty-one, the singer, multi-instrumentalist, dancer, actor, has a digital fan base of over 12 million active followers and subscribers. Alex averages a million views per day on his YouTube channel but the most impressive is how engaged his fans are with every song, image and post, finding refuge in his energy.
The Knockturnal: Inspiration for getting into music?
Alex: You know, music was something for me that was just super organic. I grew up in a family-my dad loved music, he loved playing the piano. My mom was the biggest Michael Jackson fan ever, and so I grew up and theyβd always be playing music in the house, and so it was supernatural for me to sing along. And then, when I got old enough to understand, you know-actually learning how to play music, play the piano and everything – my dad taught me how to play the piano, and I taught myself how to play the guitar, and everything so it was just really organic. For me, I grew up in it, you know it was something that was supernatural for me, and very easy for me to kind of have a connection with.
The Knockturnal: How was the process of knowing that you were into music to actually getting into music: to actually making the tracks, and so on. Was Youtube a big factor in this?
Alex: I like to think of Youtube as this little – it was always there, you know, even when I was living in Arizona. My family – they would put up Youtube videos just for fun, with no intention of anything at all, and so Youtube was something that was always there, and I wouldn’t say necessarily played a factor, but it more so played its role in kind of everything, you know? It wasnβt necessarily something. I donβt think that if I didnβt have Youtube, I wouldβve never been here or I donβt think that if I didnβt have Youtube, we wouldnβt be playing a sold-out show tonight. I think it would have just been a different route.
But Youtube definitely played a role in my life that I am very grateful for, and Iβm very very grateful for the amazing fans that Iβve met along the way, and the amazing relationships that Iβve built. But for me the transition from, you know, being a kid, just loving music and playing it for fun to saying to myself, βman, this is really something I could do, that I could pursue as something I could do for the rest of my life.β It was a lot of finding myself and growing up (like everybody does). And also just having a really supportive family. My parents were always very – I guess cognizant of how passionate I actually was about music, you know? I was just talking to a friend about it and my parents played such a big role to me in understanding that this is not just a hobby or just something that I do when I have free time. Itβs something that I was spending more than just free time doing. I was investing myself into and so, it was kind of a big mix of all of that, that kind of turned it into, instead of just a kid who liked to play music to this is something that I could do.
The Knockturnal: Where did you find the inspiration behind your latest track?
Alex: For βThinking About Youβ? Oh man, so βThinking About Youβ came to me at a very pivotal point in my life. The original track I had was an outside song that I got to finesse and write the bridge-make it my own. But when it first came to me, it was just a very, very raw, straight up song about missing somebody. And I was missing somebody really badly at this time (laughs). So when I heard it I was just like damn, like this is it, like this is how I feel. I need to tell people, because this is real, this is a real emotion, and itβs crazy because…with other songs that Iβve had, or other songs that have been sent to me because, as an artist I love writing my own music, and itβs so important to me to write my own music. Because itβs such a real emotion, and sometimes outside songs that come in donβt have that emotion because I didnβt write them, because theyβre not really how I feel.
But with βThinking About Youβ it came to me at such an important part of my life that, I was missing somebody, and I was thinking about them, and it sucked. Like Iβd tried getting with other girls, Iβd tried, you know, being single, living it up, whatever, and I was just missing somebody, right? And so when that song came to me, I knew I had to make it. It was already so raw and real for me. I just wanted to make it more of my own. And so I got to write the bridge and I wrote and finessed it to make it my own. And added different lyrics not even about being able to function and thinking about someone. I canβt even delete the pictures that are on my phone because I think about you when I do that, and it sucks to do that. So Iβm (going) to try to just not and so itβs kind of a big jumble of my emotions when I was missing somebody. So thatβs kind of the essence of βthinking about youβ.
The Knockturnal: Itβs universal.
Alex: Yeah! I feel like everybody misses somebody at some point in their life. Even if itβs like a good miss, you know? And everybody thinks about somebody I hope. If not, you know. You do you, you know.
The Knockturnal: Talk about your creative process as an artist.Β
Alex: I think thatβs what I love about it. I was just talking to my manager about it. Like, Iβm not a big fan of doing things the same way. I didnβt love going to school too much. I had a job for three weeks and didnβt love it, you go into the same thing. And thatβs why I love music so much, itβs never the same. Sometimes I start by having lunch, sometimes I start by getting dumped. Sometimes I start by watching a movie, itβs always different and through-out the whole creative process of making a song is different. You know sometimes you start with a beat, sometimes we start with lyrics, sometimes I just start with a melody, sometimes I donβt start with anything. Sometimes Iβm literally like I got nothing, letβs just shoot from the hip. And so itβs always different, and thatβs why I love creating it, is that itβs always different, but at the same time, I do my best to make the raw pure emotions of what Iβm feeling at the time, you know? You gotta lay it out, thatβs why thereβs some songs Iβve written that I donβt even like showing people because itβs who I am you know? Itβs like telling somebody all your secrets, you donβt want to tell everybody all your secrets, you know? (laughs)
The Knockturnal: How does it feel to have a lot of adoring fans, millions of views and hits? How do you feel about all of the love people have for your songs?
Alex: Man it’s such a blessing to have, especially on good days but even more so if Iβm sad or Iβm missing home or if Iβm out on the road, nothing makes me get less homesick and feel a lot better about everything than meeting the fans cause like you said it’s real, it’s raw love, it’s true belief and support.
The Knockturnal: What was the most difficult obstacle that you had to overcome in your career?
Alex: Boy, where do we start, you know what I think honestly the biggest obstacle that Iβve had to face was probably myself… I moved to Los Angeles when I was 14 years old and being a naΓ―ve 14 year old I was like, “cool I want to be famous tomorrow and I want all the money in the world the week after that, and then right after that Grammyβs and then thatβs it, I retire”. It was six years before I even had any recognition, it was years and years of building and building starting from one fan to two fans and it was that true build that made myself the obstacle. My patience was like, oh man like this is really taking forever and you have to train yourself to really expect and prepare yourself for the marathon… If I could go back and tell myself anything it would be, be patient… I think that the biggest obstacle is myself but it has also been my greatest victory because Iβve found out how to be patient.
The Knockturnal: What comes next for you down the line?
Alex: I’m so excited for 2018. 2017 was wild. It was a mixture of so many amazing things and a lot of hard things. I put out a lot of music and I think 2018 I just want to do that. We started out with this tour, which has been amazing. My first headlining tour in the United States. Weβre going to Australia right after this. Weβre going to New Zealand and the Philippines after that so it’s going to be a lot of moving around and meeting fans which Iβm so happy about. Iβve spent my first six years of building fans and making YouTube videos in my parentsβ living room. So Iβm excited to be traveling all around releasing more new music, it’s crazy we just started the year off; we already got two new songs out.
The Knockturnal: Where have you been prior to NY?
Alex: We were in Minneapolis, Chicago and Pontiac Michigan and Detroit, right outside of Detroit.
The Knockturnal: Is there anywhere in the world where you can’t wait to visit?
Alex: Oh yeah, Iβm excited to play a show in New Zealand, my dad’s from New Zealand so it means a lot to me personally that I get to go and play a show for the people of New Zealand out in Auckland where my dad’s from. So thatβs exciting. I really want to go somewhere that I havenβt been, even if it’s not this year is eventually Japan. I want to go to Japan very badly, I love sushi, I love everything about the culture, Iβm so ready.
The Knockturnal: Have you experienced culture shock in regards to the places you’ve visited so far?
Alex: Iβve been to so many different places. You go to the richest places in the world and you go to the less fortunate places of the world and the love is so strong no matter where you go. Theyβre just excited to be with you. They donβt care about how freezing it is outside or whatβs going on in their lives theyβre just excited to be with you for that moment. As much as I experience different cultures and everything it’s also the same because the fans just come out, they support, they show love and it’s crazy cause I go places that I never thought I would even go.
The Knockturnal: What do you miss most about home?
Alex: I miss my mom cooking me meals. She makes bomb food and Iβm such a family person. But my mom actually just flew in town for the show tonight, so Iβm excited Iβll get to see her and my sisters too.
The Knockturnal: How does your hometown of Phoenix, Arizona compare to New York?
Alex: I moved out of Phoenix when I was fourteen, I lived in Los Angeles for the last eight years. Phoenix to Los Angeles is completely different; in essence, it’s small- town vs. the big-town. When you go to a place like New York City or Los Angeles it makes anything else feel pretty minuscule. It makes it feel like youβre in the big pond now and you left the small little pond, itβs different but I always love and I cherish the time I get to go back to see my grandparents and my cousins in Arizona.
The Knockturnal: How excited are you about tonight’s show?
Alex: So itβs the first completely sold out show of the tour, so that means something to me, it also means so much to me that Iβm in New York City. One of my first shows that I ever played was here in New York City. It was Arthur Ashe Kids’ day. So just coming back, playing a sold-out show for my first ever headlining show in New York City. Iβm excited to see what tonight brings.
