Alex G’s Lonesome Crowded West

In the midst of a slew of tour dates across America, I caught up with Alex G to briefly talk about his filmic and literary influences, and adapting his creative process to score We’re All Going to the World’s Fair.

*This article was originally published in our 2021 Programme Booklet. It has been adapted and reformatted for the web.

Alex Giannascoli tells stories. Fans and critics also tell stories about him. Throughout his career, the prolific musician better known as Alex G, has been dubbed an indie underdog, a wunderkind artist, the internet’s secret best songwriter. A romantic narrative has been spun about him, parsing him as allusive as his sonic adventures.

Releasing music since the age of 13, the now-28-year-old Philadelphian has amassed a devoted fanbase with his unexpected brand of homespun tunes. Alex’s massive output showcases an undeniable affinity for hooks and cryptic but captivating lyrics, experimenting with everything from acoustic folk ditties, to spasmodic electronic sounds, to Americana-aligned ballads. Sure, it’s an eclectic mix, but Alex’s earnest DIY take is plenty clear. He captures the textures of American life, however strange or infectious.

In his last album, 2019’s formative House of Sugar, Alex expands on his sincere surrealism, painting an abstract image of the inner lives of his characters. It comes as his eighth full-length album, with the obscured images and people in his world drawing enthralling, place-based portraits of isolation and the possibility of comfort.

Alex’s latest output sees him dipping his toes in the foreign but familiar, composing the melancholic and feverish score for Jane Schoenbrun’s debut narrative feature We’re All Going to the World’s Fair. It’s only fitting for an internet superstar like Alex to craft the hazy soundtrack for a narrative excursion that explores uncannily similar themes through the dark, infinite chasms of the web. Here, his signature blend of uneasy and intimate lyrics and instrumentals effortlessly guides the film, an already evocative snapshot of suburban life.

“There’s something about Alex’s music and the intimacy and tone of it—the way that it can feel both lo-fi and incredibly extensive and dense at the same time—that was a huge inspiration for me. I find myself returning to his albums over and over again, to sort of get lost in the haze of them. As I was working on the film and thinking tonally about the kind of movie that I wanted to make, that aesthetic was something that I was trying to translate from a musical medium into a filmic one,” Jane tells Filmmaker Magazine.

In interviews, writers often depict Alex as, well, just a regular dude—unassuming, shaggy-haired, and down-to-earth. They almost always supplement that with musings on how his expansive résumé means he could easily fall into the trappings of a rock star, but chooses to keep things simple and close to home in Philadelphia. It’s as if they’ve added him—or whatever version of him—as a character in the lore of his songs.

“The landscapes that you’re surrounded by when you grow up in a suburban environment—the way that they look like anywhere in the country—you drive down a strip of chain stores and it’s just the same strip anywhere you go,” Jane elaborates: “There’s a strange comfort and unreality to that; all life surrounded by those sorts of monocultural symbols. It never felt quite real to me, and a lot of my work as an artist is about unpacking that and trying to figure out my relationship to it.”

The film is set in Upstate New York, but might as well be the outskirts of any nondescript town. This blurring of fiction and reality, a myth-making quality, runs a through line across World’s Fair and Alex’s discography. While there’s a shared fondness for America’s sprawls and myths, their work underlines the crushing solitude that pervades its people.

As the credits for World’s Fair closes in, “End Song” creeps up, and Alex croons: “You know what they do to little dogs like you.” This simplistic, ambiguous, and repetitive chorus reverberates through the dark screen, forming a pixelated landscape that feels something like Upstate New York and something like Philadelphia.

Leticia: What was the creative process like for scoring a movie as compared to writing an album? 

Alex G: I wrote the score in parts. The director would email me individual scenes from the movie along with some loose descriptions of the emotion that she would like the music to express in each particular scene. I went scene by scene and did my best to capture what the director was looking for with the music. Less personal than writing an album.

Did you have any idea what you wanted the music to sound like before the songs started to materialise?

I did not know what I wanted the music to sound like before the songs started to materialize. Most of the time I would write the music by messing around on the guitar while watching the movie. When I felt that I had found a good musical theme, I would record it and elaborate on it.

You mentioned that much of the entire process involved a lot of trial and error, sending tracks back and forth. Do you find yourself being more inspired by the imagery of the film or just the general vibe that builds up with seeing more and more of the scenes?

Hm I guess the general vibe? I mean, the acting and editing and script etc. along with the imagery. There are a lot of inspiring aspects to the movie.

Was there an image in the film that you used as a starting point for your score?

The title sequence was the first scene I wrote music for. It’s not exactly an image, but I thought those quick shots of grey skies and strip malls at the beginning set a clear tone for the movie. 

I saw you had searched up film scores on YouTube in preparation for this, were there any other unorthodox musicians or media that influenced your score?

Hm… I’m not sure what would be considered unorthodox. I think I looked up the Donnie Darko film score and the Phantom Thread film score because I remembered enjoying the music in those movies. In my personal music I tend to stick with ideas that are a little angular. Listening to those movie soundtracks helped me understand that I should make the score more straightforward and less intrusive.

I know Jane mentioned that the type sound she wanted is stuff akin to the DSU (2014) era. How was it like revisiting an ‘older sound’?

It was cool. It didn’t feel forced or anything. It was nice having a kind of sonic template. Having those limitations streamlined the process. 

Do you favour thematic consistency or sonic consistency, and how does that play out in film scoring?

I think thematic and sonic consistency are intertwined, so maybe I favor them both? I guess part of my job with the film was to help elevate the different moods in each scene while keeping a feeling of thematic and sonic consistency… Hopefully that answers your question. 

Much of your music captures a very particular kind of suburban malaise. Many of the recurring motifs in your lyrics stand out as, for lack of a better term, very American. Is that intentional?

As far as lyrics go—no, it isn’t intentional. Sometimes I use instruments that are typically heard in “Americana” music, like banjo or mandolin. But lyrically I just try to tell stories. I don’t think it’s ever crossed my mind to sound American. I guess it’s just a given because I’m American.

In many of your interviews, you mentioned being drawn to reading more than music. I know you’ve brought up Blood Meridian and Grapes of Wrath, but I was curious to what you’re reading now.

Right now I am reading The Fellowship of the Ring. I’ve never read it before. I recently finished an interesting book called The Magus.

What’s a stage of your creative routine, if you have one, that you couldn’t live without?

My music probably wouldn’t be as interesting without constant access to some DAW like Garageband. I like having the ability to edit and rearrange the sounds on my own time.

Given the chance, are there any older movies you would have liked to score? Is there any filmmaker in particular you’d love to work with?

Not really. I’ve never had the thought that I could score anything better than what’s already there. I don’t have a desire to work with anyone in particular. If it’s a cool movie I’d probably be happy to work on it.

What is a project that you’d like to make someday, however impossible it may seem now?

This is a nice question but I don’t have an interesting answer. Right now I am only thinking about music. So I guess I’d just like to continue making music.

Thank you so much for taking time out to answer these. Lastly, what’s an image/video you’d like to end this interview off with?

Thank you.  Here’s a cool video.