Here... have some greatness:
A little blatant self promotion:
this is new
a lot of things are new
TOKYO is hardly a womans domain, however Alex Coffey has managed to leave her mark.
She refers to it as her "smear."
Relocating to Tokyo at the ripe old age of 19, Alex forged a career for herself in publishing and the arts. Making numerous appearances in Japanese MVCs and TV commercials, the blonde, blue-eyed gaijin has always had a prickly time trying to go unnoticed.
A self-professed people-watcher, Alex always gets a little antsy when it comes to performing and the like. A recent performance saw Alex inviting her audience to close their eyes as "...this next song sounds much better that way."
And so it is, ghosts still roam loosely through her work-- "It's all pretty self-conscious stuff that Kinlay managed to funk up a little in Tokyo... In Melbourne I'm pretty well much on my own... People usually clap though, which is nice..."
Whether singing about the simplistic longings of unrequited love or the missed opportunities of her talented peers-- think storytelling you may or may not like to sing along to-- When Alex walks on stage the audience knows what to expect. An interactive performer who knows the value of entertaining her guests. "I make no apologies for breaking things down a little."
A born artiste who knows that its not only through the music that one can communicate but also through the clever things said in between songs. "There's this whole 8-Mile sub-culture that has emerged in live houses across Tokyo... Most of the time I'm the only woman on the line-up so I've had to get a lot more comfortable with standing up and out."
A sure fire way to get yourself canonised into folks pantheon of tortured artists is to make like Ani DiFranco and the like... "I started to sound a wee bit sad so I stopped writing for a bit."
What happens next is anyone's guess. Now based in her native Newcastle following a 2 year stint in Melbourne, Alex is one semester shy of completing a Masters in Creative Media. "I have this book I've written, you see-- and it's gotten way too big so I figured I'd cut it down to A4 size and stick it on the wall."
ABC radio has so generously defined her music as "neo-folk" with influences ranging from people you've heard of and people that you haven't. Alex says that ultimately she is a story teller who picked up a guitar at 15 and started writing about what she could see. Little has changed.
Currently recording and convalescing-- following extensive surgery and treatment for endometriosis and polycystic ovarian syndrome-- when she's feeling better you'll be hearing more of her.
I said think March 2008.
It's now mid-year and I'm back in the studio. Exciting times.
SOME THINGS I'VE BEEN NOTICING...------------------------------------------
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