Presskit: Alexandra Alden
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(Biography)
Alexandra Alden (24) is a Maltese musician who is currently based in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, where she obtained a degree in Jazz music at the CODARTS Conservatory in July 2018. She began writing lyrics and poetry from a young age and recalls first falling in love with singing as a child while living in Tutzing, Germany. She remembers shyly singing along to songs on the radio or home-stereo, improvising over the melody lines and inventing her own lyrics instead. She had found something preciously personal in this past-time. Her feeling for poetry and melody developed from this young age while a deep desire to perform began creeping up on her. Alden finally picked up the acoustic guitar to put her ideas to music in her teenage year and found her way onto the stage to perform her own songs. Her curiousity and her need to 'compress all that is important into its simplest form' continues to be the driving force behind Alden’s intricate and heartfelt storytelling, Some have described her music as 'minimalistic folk' with the sentiments of Nick Drake and Joni Mitchell, inspired by the warmth and sunshine of the Mediterranean with the distant undercurrents of a British heritage. Her first EP 'The Curious Child', recorded at the age of 16, resulted in two number one hit singles in Malta and her debut full-length album 'Wild Honey' is now available on VINYL, having been released in Rotterdam and Malta in March 2018 with further release scheduled in Scandinavia, US and Canada for autumn 2018. Alexandra was asked to be one of four judges on the first ever season of the international TV program the 'X Factor' in Malta from October 2018 to January 2019. 
"She writes timeless, classic songs with a hypnotic touch of minimalism. " - Ocki Klootwijk (Anouk, Herman Brood) (Solo)
(Quartet Performance
with piano, bass and cello) Current line-up (not featured in the video):
Yiannis Karygiannis - piano Marien Okkerse - electric cello (in video) Donatas Bielunskis - double bass |
"There is a mist of Mediterranean mysticism and poetry about Alden's songs that can be worldly and even raw at the same time."
- Mark Ritsema (review in the Popunie, Rotterdam, NL) Interview regarding 'Wild Honey' album and thoughts on her songwriting process, living abroad as a musician and life as a creative on a daily basis.
The Album: Wild Honey (2018) LISTEN on spotify 'The album features songs I have composed over the last three years while travelling back and forth between Malta and The Netherlands (where I am currently living). I think that the title of the album, ‘Wild Honey’ perfectly encompasses the themes and atmospheres I’ve explored throughout these songs often touching on sentimentality, loyalty and loss. These songs are formed around the core of my acoustic guitar playing, singing and lyrics with additional playing, production and engineering by my team at Rocktown Studios consisting of multi-instrumentalist and ambient artist Hanyo Van Oosterom, bassist Ocki Klootwijk and the incredibly diverse Marien Okkerse on acoustic and electric cello (all from the Netherlands).' 
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Notable Performances & Singles:
- Two number one spots on Bay Radio in 2012/2013 with songs 'Dancing Alone' and 'Just Like You'
- 15th Anniversary of Teatru Unplugged - Manoel Theatre, Malta (3 consecutive nights, solo)
- Background performer for Stalko's 'Grandiloquence' album release 2013 at Orpheum Theatre, Gzira Malta.
- Guest perfomance on Malta Eurovision Song Contest, 2014, Ta'Qali Malta
- Performance before her Majesty Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands (2 folk songs sung in Maltese) at Humanitarian Award Ceremony, Vlaardingen, The Netherlands (award given to Maltese organisation MOAS)
- Guest performance with Ira Losco at Ira Losco & Friends Concert in 2015, Teatru Rjal, Malta
- Won first prize for the JongQuiteQuiet Songwriting Award in Delft, 2015.
- Support act for Michael Prins (NL) at Theatre de Veste, Delft, NL
- Guest performer with The Busker - number one single 'Away with You'
- Support act and guest vocalist for Brikkuni (MT) at Ta Fra Ben, Malta
- Performance on Leiden Sofar Sounds, 2017
- Signed to Dutch label MARS Worldwide 2018.
- Judge on the first ever 'X Factor' Malta from October 2018 until January 2019.
- Selected for the 2018 Popronde performing shows across the Netherlands from September til November.
- Solo tour in Denmark (CPH) and Sweden (Malmo, Gothenburg and Gotland) in September and October 2018.
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(Duo with Cellist)
Marien Okkerse (1988) is a Dutch cellist, active in different musical styles and improvisational music (Ruben Hein, Sabrina Starke, Wudstik, Big, Ghostface Killah, Killah Priest, Michael Prins, David Ahlen,) Coming from a musical family he has been growing up with music. When he was 8 years old he decided to play the cello and (as rumor has it) he still does so today. Marien works as a recording artist/session musician and performs with different artist from the Netherlands and abroad. Since he uses both the acoustic cello as a 5-stringed electric cello, he is capable to work in various settings and is in high demand for his unique sound and reliability. |
Next to that he is also working as a musical accompanist at the dance academy of Codarts.
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(LIVE PERFORMANCE)
Solo: Guitar & Vocals - Alexandra Alden (vocal mic, one DI and jack to jack) Duo: Guitar & Vocals - Alexandra Alden (vocal mic, one DI and jack to jack) Electric Cello - Marien Okkerse (one DI and jack to jack) Art Installation: Projector with HDMI input |
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(BACKGROUND ARTWORK)
During Alexandra's final Bachelor graduation performance on the 19th of June 2018, she launched background art to accompany her songs using footage she collected over prior months during a particularly emotionally turbulent time. She based the footage on the lyrics of her album 'Wild Honey' and a poem called 'Distant Skies' which was written during the beginning of the recording process at Rocktown Studios in Rotterdam, NL back in early 2017. She gathered most of the footage during late-night bike rides around Rotterdam and quiet wanderings through rural Netherlands. The initial use of the footage was to create a series of 30 second films to illustrate significant lyrics in her songs (one clip per song) without imposing too much meaning on the listener. The result is compressed narratives within a short timespan. The short movies can be seen at her instagram account. She expanded these 30 second videos into a full film to accompany a one hour performance. |
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Performance Bookings & Lessons:
ALEXANDRA - ALEXALDEN@HOTMAIL.COM
(MALTA, INTERNATIONAL)
Marketed and distributed by MARS Worldwide, Netherlands
All Rights Reserved 2018
This project is supported by Arts Council Malta - Malta Arts Fund
With heartfelt thanks to all those who contributed through the crowdfunding campaign to fund the release of 'Wild Honey' at Zaar.com.mt
ALEXANDRA - ALEXALDEN@HOTMAIL.COM
(MALTA, INTERNATIONAL)
Marketed and distributed by MARS Worldwide, Netherlands
All Rights Reserved 2018
This project is supported by Arts Council Malta - Malta Arts Fund
With heartfelt thanks to all those who contributed through the crowdfunding campaign to fund the release of 'Wild Honey' at Zaar.com.mt
