Before the upcoming concert on Sunday, July 9th, RussianMix had this rare opportunity to take an interview with Alex after his recent return from Argentina. In the interview, he says that "Singing and dancing can also put you on stage, as it turns out." But we think a bit differently -- his concert is titled "Drinks and Dancing" after one of his songs, so we would paraphrase Alex and say that "Drinking and dancing can also put you on stage..." :). But don't take our word for it, just read the interview...

I was feeling claustrophobic in New York.  Unhappy.  So one day I just looked at the map and picked a spot.  It turned out to be Cordoba, Argentina.  I had it narrowed down to South America previously; I’ve always liked people from there.  This impression has not changed after 2 years of living in Cordoba and traveling through the neighboring countries.

I’ve always liked to be in the center of attention.  I think I could have been a clown or some other kind of entertainer.  Singing and dancing can also put you on stage, as it turns out.  I could always sing.  The guitar I learned to play when I was a kid from other kids.  Then I invented some of my own tricks, but never got really good at it, unfortunately.  When I got older I discovered that a lot of happiness could come from sincere self-expression.  Singing other people’s songs put me in the center of attention, but did not satisfy my need to dispose of the excess of the feelings that were difficult to contain inside.  That’s when I began writing my own songs.  Dancing tango also works in a similar manner.

I have a need to figure out how different people live their lives.  What they do, how they think, what they love and hate and why.  I want to understand their language, temporarily share their views, eat, drink and live like them, be like them, so that I can understand them better.  I do not know why this interests me so much, but that’s really all I ever want to do.  I probably hope to learn something I can apply to my own life, I am not sure.

I will dedicate a lot of attention to my children and to my research and development business.  The latter is a new activity for me; I have to learn a lot about running a company.  It is interesting, although a bit scary.  I also hope to write many songs and do a lot of dancing.

Right now, Spanish, or, rather, Latin, since it is relatively new to me still.  There is a lot to discover.  Remarkably, there are many similarities between the two, both are very emotional cultures, I think.  That may be why so many Russians dance tango and salsa, and why so many Argentineans love Russian literature.  I would love to find a way to blend the emotions of both cultures in my songs.  I’m working on it.

I don’t know.  Does anyone know?

Q:  What are you trying to express with your music? 

Myself.  What I sincerely feel.  I do it for myself; it helps me make sense of things.