Alex G on ‘abstract’ songwriting and why he shuns social media: the American indie enigma opens ahead of sharing a bill with Pulp, Idles and Yoasobi at Hong Kong’s Clockenflap – exclusive interview

Nov 30 , 2023

The artist Alex G, who released the acclaimed God Save The Animals last year, collaborated with Frank Ocean and Japanese Breakfast, and played The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. Photo: Handout

The prolific singer-songwriter got his start as a lo-fi bedroom producer, but went on to collaborate with Frank Ocean and Japanese Breakfast, and play The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon

Often compared to the late Elliott Smith, the artist born Alexander Giannascoli released his 12th album God Save The Animals in 2022 – tagged by Pitchfork’s tastemakers as the year’s Best New Music

Alex G is still in slight disbelief that his music has brought him to the other side of the world. “I wouldn’t have ever predicted myself going to Hong Kong,” says the American musician born Alex Giannascoli.

It’s no small deal – Giannascoli makes his local debut at Clockenflap on Friday (December 1), playing alongside the likes of Pulp, Yoasobi and De La Soul at the biggest and best music festival in Asia’s world city. “It is surprising, the amount of people that have grown to like [my music],” the singer told Style over Zoom, a few days before showtime. “I honestly didn’t expect to have such a broad reach.”

Alexander Giannascoli, who performs under Alex G, is set to perform in Hong Kong at Clockenflap for the first time this December. Photo: Handout

The 30-year-old singer, songwriter and producer has accumulated a cult following over the past decade among indie music fans, and enjoys frequent comparisons to musicians such as the late Elliott Smith, who wrote the Academy Award-nominated song “Miss Misery” made famous by Good Will Hunting back in 1997.

Staying true to the hectic, on-the-road lifestyle of the touring artist, Giannascoli is only in town for mere hours before he has to head off to Thailand, where he’s performing at another festival a day later. After that, he’ll be on yet another flight, this time to Perth, where he’ll kick off his sold-out Australian tour.

Giannascoli launched his career in the early 2010s as a DIY bedroom artist, uploading his work on platforms like MySpace and Bandcamp. In 2014, tastemakers at The Fader magazine called him “the internet’s secret best songwriter”.

He signed with indie label Domino, and released his fourth album on the label, God Save the Animals, last year to largely critical acclaim, even making the holy grail of Pitchfork’s Best New Music hot list.

The “Mary” singer has collaborated with multiple musical talents including Frank Ocean and Japanese Breakfast, and appeared as a guest on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon last year, where he performed “Runner” from God Save the Animals.

Alex G performs at the second Clockenflap event in 2023. Clockenflap is Hong Kong’s biggest music festival, and a pioneering event in East Asia’s festival circuit. Photo: Handout

His magpie-like, internet-era musical ethos is hard to classify – The New York Times once described Giannascoli’s music as “warped, scratchy transmissions from a sonic collective unconscious”. When asked to describe his own music, however, Giannascoli resorts to plainer terms: “fun rock music” and “guitar-driven stuff”.

The singer is an immensely prolific musician, having released nine albums and two EPs in the span of 12 years. His lyricism is known for its ambiguous and often quirky quality, sometimes written from the perspective of a fictional character. The song “Sandy”, for instance, is written from the perspective of a 14-year-old girl lamenting the trials of adolescence; for a while, the artist went by (Sandy) Alex G before dropping the moniker from his name in 2020.