'Ask for help, and carry a spare battery' | Alex Alden

Were you always into making music? What is your earliest memory of playing some form of instrument, or at least of wanting to?

I didn't start playing guitar properly until I was 15, but I remember being tempted by it ever since I watched my dad playing at home when I was younger... but I always sang and made up tunes in the meantime.

Listening to music has always been one of my favourite past times. I remember sitting in church as a kid and cupping my hands over my mouth to harmonise with the hymns being sung and change the words to create a different song. We also had a tiny keyboard at home which I'd smash around on behind the sofa, thinking I was Chopin.

What, or who, have been some of the key inspirations?

One of the reasons I was inspired to start writing lyrics and poetry was the frustration which came about when I realized Britney Spears hires people to write her songs and she was basically their dummy.

I thought 'crap, I can write songs just as good as this, if not better! AND sing them myself' I must have been about six years old at that time and still, the poems I came up with had some level of depth Britney could only ever dream of achieving.  

The first gig I ever went to was during the Simon's Pub Music Marathon sometime in 2004 and my great uncle Marc Storace was singing there.

I think it was the first time I ever went into a bar too. The mixture of good music combined with the atmosphere created by his fans drinking merrily, singing along to the songs and smoking cigarettes on the front steps in the fresh air all made me think it would be pretty great to achieve the same thing.

From then on I became a huge fun of rock music and spent a few years trying to imitate Amy Lee of Evanescence... thankfully, I was unsuccessful.

How would you describe your career as a musician so far? What have been some of the most important lessons you've learnt?

Being a musician is oodles of fun but definitely unpredictable. The spontaneity of it all can be a bit stressful because you never know what's coming next or, for example, you never know where your funding is going to come from to produce more music! I've already had some amazing opportunities to collaborate with brilliant local musicians and perform on the best stages Malta has to offer.

Performing at the Manoel Theatre was on my bucket list and I've already ticked it off!

I am loving every second of this journey and the beauty of it is that it is limitless, so it is impossible to become boring since music is constantly changing and people change with it.

There is always more to learn, study and listen to and there are so many venues to play in and musicians to meet.

What is the next step is a question I constantly ask myself. Where do I go from here? I try to keep it creative and generally trust my intuition a lot.

Where there's a will there's a way, and people are willing to help more than you think they are too. So that's one thing I've learned:  don't be afraid to ask for help when it's needed. Also, always carry a spare battery for the guitar.

Would you say that the Maltese musical scene is accommodating to young, up-and-coming artists? How did you find it, having to establish yourself gradually?

The Maltese scene is a very small, close-knit community of talented musicians who don't even realise their full potential.

We're limited by the size of the country to an extent, in the sense that once you reach a certain level, there's nowhere to grow as a musician unless you leave. Many musicians I've met have told me that Malta is like a practicing ground... make your mistakes and gain as much experience as you can over here and then pack your bags and hit the road, Jack!

So Malta is definitely great to find your feet. I'm still finding mine but it hasn't been NEARLY as tough as I thought it would be. We're a small country... everyone knows everyone... I don't think it's that hard to get the word out here if you have something to talk about.

How would you describe the process of putting your album together?

Making this album was quite an unusual process since I was working with a foreign producer (Mark Mcae from the UK, now based in Sicily) and we did some of the basic vocal and guitar recordings in Jimmy Bartolo's garage.

Mark would then take the tracks back to Sicily to work on in his studio there and communicate via e-mail, sending me edits and keeping me in the loop of the process of finishing the songs.

Initially I had chosen two songs to record, but seeing as I had saved up some money I decided to include three more songs to have a longer, more complete EP.

I feel it's now more of a proper introduction to myself and my music!

Tickets for the concert are at €10 with the EP, €6 without. Bookings: http://alexalden.dehydratedmarshmallow.com/. The EP is supported by the Malta Arts Fund.