Alex Cheatle
My Addiction
FAULT:How was 2010 for you?
Alex: It was a great year. I’ve come such a long way as an artist. Now that I’m sixteen, I’ve found a lot more doors are open to me.
FAULT: Was there a defining moment of your childhood that guided you into a career as a musician?
Alex: I’ve been raised by a family of music lovers, so spent my early childhood dancing about to Queen, Bowie, Abba, ‘Come on Eileen’ by Dexter’s Midnight Runners and ‘Tears of a Clown’ by Smokey Robinson – all of which has had a big impact on who I am – but the definitive moment was probably trying to write lyrics, aged six, for a band my dad was in. I was so excited that they were rehearsing at my house, and I convinced myself that if I wrote lyrics for them in brightly coloured pens, they would be completely blown away and let me be the lead singer. Of course things took a turn for the worst when the bassist informed me that brightly coloured lyrics were, in fact, illegal, so I would never be able to join. Very distressed by this news, I stashed the illicit felt tips down the back of the sofa, and set out on a solo career to prove my worth to the band and make up for my law defying antics.
FAULT: How would you rate yourself as an artist?
Alex: That’s difficult. I think that songwriting and producing are probably my greatest strengths; I have great fun on stage, love to sing, and spend many happy hours writing lyrics, but making music that people come away from feeling great has always been the thing I love most about what I do.
FAULT: What is it like being a band based in London?
Alex: Well this is awkward – I’m very flattered that you think I’m a Londoner because its such a great place to be, but I’m actually from a tiny village in the midlands. I get such a good buzz from the crowds at gigs and events in the city, but I’ll always be the type of girl who falls over when the tube starts.
FAULT: What is the story behind “My Addiction”?
Alex: Every teenager can relate to the words “You’re my friend, but I want to be with you”. It’s one of those classic head in hand situations you encounter whilst growing up, and I figured it would be fun to write an upbeat song about the person I had this experience with.
The backing was very spontaneous – I just had this urge one night to make an electronic dance track, and the tune suddenly hit me out of nowhere. It was one of those wonderful moments when you drop everything you’re doing and sprint to the nearest place you can play it out loud – normally, I run to a piano, but it was way past twelve on school night, so I ended up tapping every single note into a Garageband file using the keys on my Macbook. I was so tired the next day that I fell asleep on my desk during Maths, and my teacher confiscated the lyrics he found under my head. As for the friend, I won’t tell you his name, but he got back to me with good news.
FAULT:Do you have any live shows planned?
Alex: I’ll be playing in London, Liverpool, and Birmingham quite a lot over the course of the year, so keep an eye on my pages for updates.
FAULT: Where can people hear more of your stuff?
Alex: I’m on Myspace at this address – http://www.myspace.com/alexcheatle, but you can also download some of my songs here – http://www.facebook.com/pages/Alex-Cheatle/164488919493
FAULT: What are you currently working on? And what can we expect from you in 2011?
Alex: At the moment I’m focused on writing lots of new material. 2011 already looks like its going to be an awesome year – I had an amazing time playing at the O2 Academy on the 4th, and a lot of exciting people have been in touch since, so who knows what I might be up to soon!
FAULT: What is your FAULT?
Alex: Ahaha yess – Green & Blacks vanilla ice cream and impulse buys.
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