Alex Franklin

Music has been my life since I knew how to walk. And since I was in 6th grade I was always writing music. It originally started with me doing a lot of instrumental covers because it was a lot easier than writing my own stuff, but over time I began to learn how to write songs to call mine. Movie scores and video game OSTs have always fascinated me. You have to write them in an entirely different way compared to normal music. Rhythms aren’t as strict, you have a full orchestra rather than a drum machine and some keyboards, and it’s pretty much free game as to what to write. So after a while I learned how to combine normal music and orchestral instruments and melodies. That was my preferred genre of writing for a while, but I learned to expand over the years. For years pop was the genre that I listened to in my free time. I studied Michael Jackson’s music and to this day know every single one of his songs by heart. But once I started diving into the world of Hip-Hop all bets were off. You can ask anybody I know and they’ll say the same thing…I can’t sing. But I can rap. I wrote and wrote and wrote until my brain started hurting every chance I could get. For me it was complete freedom. I could rap about certain topics that I can’t fit into a normal conversation. I could talk about anything and the listener had no distractions so they could really understand what I’m saying. But I never left the instrumental game. I was writing instrumental songs just as much as rap songs. But after a while, I began to write instrumental songs three times as much. There have been plenty nights where I’ve been up until 2 or 3 just writing melodies, bass lines, and drum patterns. The songs got longer over time. You can thank the band Yes for that. 9 and 10 minute songs were so much fun to write that I couldn’t stop. But I knew that one day I dreamed to have an album, so I decided to make an equal amount of songs on the shorter side. Now that the album that I dreamed of is here, I’m speechless. Music is my life and to contribute to that community means so much to me and I’ll always continue to write. It’s what I do best. And it’s not considered work to me, it’s considered a privilege to have the tools to write.

— Peace, Alex Franklin.