Fans Interview Bands: Alexis Gerred

It’s that time of the month; time for our Fans Interview Bands feature.  The time when we give you the reigns and ask bands questions you (the fan) have sent us!  Moving across to the UK, our glance has moved to the outstanding Alexis Gerred.  Here are the top ten questions fans asked us to ask Alexis, along with his responses.

OSR:  Who is your favourite singer and why?

AG:  Freddie Mercury, without a doubt!  I was bought up on the music of Queen.  His voice, to me, is what every singer should study for so many reasons.  His tone, range and the deliberate and precise expression in each song is a masterclass.  I don’t think there has been anyone like him, nor will there ever likely to be.  But, I have a lot of singers that I admire such as Rod Stewart, Paul Rogers, Steve Perry, Steven Tyler and George Michael.  They’re all unique, distinct voices that are all recognisable immediately, that’s what sets a good from a great singer apart.  If you know it’s them after just a couple of notes, they’ve got something special, and that is the key to longevity.

OSR:  How did you select the ten songs for the album?

AG:  I wrote lots of songs or parts of songs – some that I knew were just moments of madness, that should never be played again.  On the whole, I was intrigued by maybe 20-25 of them, and they’re all my babies.  I liked writing and listening to them; I must have, I took care, attention and time to finish each one.  So, to stop my clouded judgment making any unpopular decisions, I sent out batches of songs to many different people and asked them to rate each song out of five.  The top tracks would be contenders to make the album, and the others would be scrapped or re-worked.

It was an interesting experience and taught me a lot about where a ‘general opinion’ thought my strengths and weaknesses are.  Believe me, I sent these songs to all sorts of people, and my harshest critics were often the ones who you’d think would love anything I do.  That’s great though because you could tell that everyone wanted me to present my best work.  I think it’s a plan of action I’ll be using again.

OSR:  What or who inspired you to become a singer?

AG:  I’d love to say that Elvis came to me in a dream inspiring me to curl my lip and shake my hips, but it was all a bit of an accident.  My Dad always sang around the house, and he was in a couple of bands.  I always admired his talent, but never had the confidence, especially in my teenage years, to test my voice.

I was, however, interested in drama and auditioned for the school production of Grease thinking I’d get a non-singing role, but ended up playing Danny Zuko.  The rest is history.  So, I guess you could say that a cocktail of my Dad, my inherited taste in music, and the support from certain teachers at school inspired me to carve out a career in singing.  The support I now get from my family and all those that have followed what I do now inspires me to carry on.

OSR:  What have been your worst and best jobs?

AG:  There haven’t really been any ‘worst’ jobs.  I enjoy what I do.  I suppose the cancellation of The West End Men UK tour was tough to deal with as we were days away from our first venue.  It was unexpected.  There is no security in theatre, and that is something you have to be very aware of.

As for ‘best’ jobs?  How long have you got?  American Idiot was pretty special, not just for the incredible role I was playing, but for the people I was working with.  In fact, I’m constantly switching my phone on silent due to the constant group chat messages from the cast, and a few of them are now even godparents to my children.  It was pretty special.

OSR:  Do you have any phobias?

AG:  Snakes.  I’m intrigued by them.  I could watch them all day, but I will not hold one.  I think it’s the fangs and the thought of being bitten.

I also have a really odd phobia of people brushing their teeth around me; it’s the sound rather than the visual.  My mates used to pin me down and brush their teeth in front of me.  You can shut your eyes, you can hold your breath, but you can’t close your ears.  Torture.  Some ‘mates’, eh?

OSR:  Thinking outside of the box – if you were planning a gig somewhere different, that wasn’t a traditional music venue, where would it be?

AG:  Difficult one.  Maybe the Colosseum in Rome.  The most amazing city in the world.  Maybe a bit beyond me though, eh?

A beach would be cool, not like Camber Sands.  Brown seawater isn’t particularly picturesque, but somewhere with clear waters and a beautiful sunset.  I know they do raves on beaches, but a rock gig may be cool.  I’m sure that’s not overly original, so I’ll remain in the hope that they let me book some Roman architecture.

OSR:  You already have two duets on your album Alexis, but is there anyone you hope to duet with in the future?

AG:  I suppose it all depends on what songs I write.  For this album, I did pen a track with Natasha Barnes’ voice in mind.  Her voice is incredible, and she recently got the recognition she deserves through her debut album Real and her stint in the show Funny Girl.  So maybe I’ll write another one for her and hope it’ll work for a different project.

Aside from that, I can’t really answer without having a song in mind.  There are plenty of artists that are far beyond my reach that I’d dream to duet with, Brian May could solo over any of my work!  I would, however, like to collaborate on songwriting though.  If Luke Spiller from The Struts fancies a jam, then I’d love to write a track or two.

OSR:  Who is your celebrity crush?

AG:  I often ask myself this, and I don’t know really.  I guess Margot Robbie is beautiful and Megan Fox was once every man’s fantasy, but there’s nothing too unsurprising there.  I’ve always joked that I have a guilty crush for the UK celebrity chef Rosemary Shrager.  Don’t laugh; I won’t have it!  She seems lovely, and she could chat to me about choux pastry all night long.

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OSR:  Who is your childhood hero?

AG:  David Beckham.  I wanted to be him.  I had the curtain hairstyle for years, way after it went out of fashion.  I also tried to play football like him, winning ‘most improved player’ two years running – it actually means ‘you tried your best, here is an award’.  I wasn’t great, but I had the flicky hair on a rainy day to sell it!

OSR:  Are there plans for a tour to promote ‘Alexis’? 

AG:  I have the gig on the 12th of January at The Water Rats.  It’s going to be a great night; I’m really focusing my energy on that night.  After that?  Who knows?  At the end of the day, people have to want it!!  There’s a lot of people kind enough support me from all over the country, but there has to be a roomful of people for each venue for it to work.  So, let’s see how the album goes down, and then see if I can make it work!  It’s looking promising, there have been some lovely comments from across the country and even Europe!

Thanks to Alexis Gerred for getting involved in Fans Interview Bands and answering your questions!  To enjoy more of Alexis’ awesomeness, you can engage with him via his Facebook or Twitter.