“It’s Not Cool To Make the Music I Make”: Alex Warren on Giving Fans the Outlet He Never Had (Exclusive)

Alex Warren wants people to feel something. Following the release of his sophomore album, WILDCHILD, the singer stopped by American Songwriter’s Off the Record podcast to tell host Lisa Konicki about how he created “a tutorial on how to feel” with the LP.

“Each track is kind of a life lesson. It’s an experience, but also something that you learn from,” he explained. “One is teaching you about grief. One is teaching you about loss… There’s a falling in love song, or a breaking up song. Every season of life you go through, there’s a record that can help you understand that feeling.”

Warren hasn’t always been in touch with his emotions, which is why creating an album like this was of the utmost importance to him.

“For so long growing up, I didn’t understand the feelings that were happening to me that I couldn’t control,” he said. “… A huge part of taking control of that is being able to identify that feeling, because then you’re one step closer to healing from that.”

Warren has certainly had a lot to heal from in his young life. The 25-year-old singer lost his dad to cancer at age nine. Afterwards, his mom battled alcoholism, and Warren wound up homeless when he was 18.

“I would say that the biggest reason why I got into music was to give people an outlet that I didn’t have when I was going through all these things,” he said. “It’s not cool to make the music I make. I mean this candidly, and I’m not saying this to try and be a pick me, but it’s not.”

“There are different songs that you could write if you want to be the cool, mysterious musician, but I write music that helps people get through the loss of their parents, a breakup, and falling in love,” Warren continued. “I feel like the type of music I make encapsulates that feeling, instead of running away from it. I think that’s something that most people aren’t used to, and I think that that’s important.”

Alex Warren on Using Music as a “Coping Mechanism”

Throughout all of his personal ups and downs, Warren has used music as “a coping mechanism.” He hopes others will be able to do the same when they listen to WILDCHILD.

“I hope that when they do the first listen, and let’s say they go, ‘Nah, not for me, whatever.’ I’m like, ‘OK, go. Remember that feeling,’” he said. “And I hope one day, when maybe they go through something that one of these songs could help them with, they go back to it. I hope that that’s maybe something that might help them.”

Though his journey hasn’t been an easy one, Warren has felt a special kind of support all the while.

My dad’s been a huge part of my life. I’m a musician because of him. I write music because of [my parents]. I don’t think that I’d have any of this without them and their passing,” he said. “… Everything happening in my life kind of just feels like they’re watching over me.”

Now that he’s made it to the other side of a lot of hard times, Warren is ready to celebrate that success alongside his wife, Kouvr Annon.

“I’m really excited for what the next chapter of my life holds,” he said. “I just want to make sure I spend enough time with my wife after this crazy and hectic touring life that we’ve gotten accustomed to, be able to just enjoy everything that we’ve been able to do together.”

Photo by Theo Wargo/Getty Images for iHeartRadio

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