Interview // Alex & Sierra

 I first met Alex & Sierra on the orange carpet at the 2014 Kids Choice Awards. 

I'm not a huge X Factor follower, so I had only vague impressions that they had won some singing competition show, and judging by how excited the other reporters were, they had some higher level of talent. Then they got to my stop on the carpet, and that's history. They are two of the most talented + adorable humans I've ever met, and thankfully, 

think excited fangirling is completely acceptable during interviews.

Justina: Hey guys, it's been a while!

 Sierra: It has! I'm sorry we didn’t get to see you at Teen Choice!

Oh my god, did you see me waving like a lunatic? That’s so embarrassing. The girl who was standing next to me was like “Um, who are you waving at?” and I shouted “ALEX AND SIERRA”.
 
Alex: Did she ask “who’s that?” 

I very quickly educated her, but how would you describe your sound to people who don’t know you?
 
S: Oh man...Oh, I know! I wrote it down once. It’s a teaspoon of pop, a cup of singer-songwriter, a sprinkle of fun, and a dash of energy.

A: You didn’t know what you were getting yourself into with that question.

You know, I ask that a lot, and every time the answer surprises me, but that’s the first time it’s ever been really cute.

S: Well thanks! There’s so many different styles of music we like, and I think it kinda reflects in the songs that we write. There’s a little bit of everything in it.

I actually asked because I listened to all of your music and all your X Factor covers, and had no idea how to describe you, so I thought I’d just have you do it.

S: Yeah, yeah. It is hard to describe, but we like it.

I like it too. So you know you’ve got one in the corner. This next question might be a little harder, or maybe not. Here we go: Alex, if you only had one word to describe Sierra, and Sierra, one word for you to describe Alex, what would it be?

A: Oh shoot. Um...I think “cute” is the best describing word for her. Because she IS cute, but she also acts cute.

S: You’re funny. Um...-

A: Was that flattering enough?

S: It was exactly what I would expect you to say. Oh man, there’s always so much pressure when you have to pick just one word. Then ten minutes later I’m always like “Huh, this word would have been so much better!”. But I think one good word to describe Alex, and I think he’ll enjoy it, is “funny”. One of his favorite things to do is make people laugh, and that’s one of my favorite things about him.

A: Good answer.

Laughter and fun are so important. I just had a conversation with someone about how important it is to me that musicians enjoy the music they’re creating. Some just don’t and it makes me sad.

A: Yeah that sucks. You can’t take it too seriously, the whole point of music is to enjoy it, have fun, smile, cry, just feel something. You can’t do it like it’s, you know, saving the world. It’s just us up there, chilling.

I like that. Speaking of your music, let’s talk about your single, Scarecrow. What’s the story behind it?

S: Okay, so -
A: *starts coughing*
S: You good?
A: Yeah, sorry.
S: Sorry, Alex is choking and we’ve got you on speaker. But anyways, the story behind Scarecrow is definitely us. Every relationship, we think, has to communicate to be successful. The song is about how one person is the scarecrow who doesn’t communicate, and that’s Alex, but you care so much about your relationship that you’re going to work through it because nothing can stop you from being together. It’s a hopeful song, and you know, we really wanted an upbeat, hopeful song to counteract all our really sad X Factor songs


Veering into X Factor for a minute, which of your covers on the show was your favorite?

A: Um.. *both Alex and Sierra start laughing* Funny enough, my favorite was “I Knew You Were Trouble”. I don’t know, there was something about that song, I think it was mainly that we had come up with the version that we performed on the show maybe eight months prior to actually being on the show. So it was something we’d been doing at our little gigs in Daytona, and it was a really special song to me for that reason. Then to have a 28 or whatever piece band playing something that we had written was so cool, and to dress up like we did... it was like we were taking on alter egos. It had a Roaring Twenties vibe, and I didn’t play the guitar for the first time on the show. That was one of those performances where I can put myself back on the stage and relive it.

Do you still listen to it?

A: *sheepish laughter* The recording of it is actually my alarm, so literally every time I set an alarm, that’s the song it plays. That’s kind of douchey, isn’t it?

Well mine is usually me talking, so I think you’re good.

A: Okay, well, as long as there’s other people who like to hear themselves wake them up in the morning, we’re good.

Yeah, I’m a lot nicer than the rest of my family, so I’d rather hear myself in the morning. Sierra, do you have a favorite?

S: Well I did like “I Knew You Were Trouble”, for the same reasons, but I also really enjoyed doing “Say Something”, because I got to play an instrument, and show that I can do something other than just stand there, so that was special for me. But I was SO nervous. You can’t really see it on the show, but my foot, on the pedal of the piano? It was shaking so bad. You know when you pet a puppies stomach, and then it tickles them, and their leg starts shaking? That’s what it looked like. I got lucky though, and they had fog come out, which kind of covered it.

Well the good news is that now you can just think about rubbing a puppies stomach every time you’re nervous, and maybe that will help?

S: Hahah, I hope so!

Okay, I got us a little offtrack there, but lets get back to the music. I LOVE the video for Scarecrow. What was your favorite part of filming?

S: The part that’s super in the field with the sunset, that was the first day of shooting, and we were at the top of this mountain in Malibu, which you’d never know. We’re standing in the middle, and there’s this track built in a circle around us, so the camera could circle, and we’re singing the last chorus of Scarecrow, which is the biggest one. We really had to sing too, because we can’t lipsync, so we’re screaming it out along with the song. We were both tearing up by the end, because it was so emotional, and we were so into it. For lack of a better term, it was a really magical moment.

That is so cool. I love that you can feel the song, and your personalities in the video. Apparently, there’s something missing though. Alex, a fan wrote me on twitter and wanted to know what happened to your freckles in the video? I guess they’ve disappeared?

A: I didn’t know I had freckles.
S: Wait, let me look at you. I don’t know, there might be a few? I think it’s honestly probably because we’re from Florida, so when he’s tanner, there might be some freckles that pop up?

I felt like I needed to bring it up because she’s the only one who brought it up.
A: That’s the ONLY person who’s ever asked.

Well now we know. Okay, let's get a bit in about  your album because I AM SO EXCITED. It’s called “It’s About Us”, and comes out October 7th (that's today guys), right?

S: That’s right!

Okay, so right now only a few of them are released, but what is your favorite track off the album?

A: So there’s a song called  “All for You”...
S: It’s the first song we ever wrote together, so it has special meaning for us.
A: It’s also kind of a jazz tune, or as jazzy as you can get without knowing anything about music. It came together really quick, and it’s got a cool story behind it. It’s about all the illegal things you do for your significant other. The chorus goes “If you wake up and see me on the news/I did it all for you”. It was such a fun song to write and mindset to really get into. It’s deep, and musically, it sounds awesome to us, so we hope everyone else likes it too.

I am so ready for it. OKAY: LAST QUESTION. You guys just followed me on twitter (I screamed) and I noticed that in your twitter bio, you say that you like food. But what is your FAVORITE food?
S: I was surprised that we weren’t following you already! Dropped the ball there. Okay, so my mom makes this Vietnamese dish called “caramel fish”, and its freaking amazing. When I was younger, I did NOT like fish, except for that. I have no words to describe it.

A: My favorite food...oh man
S: That’s the hardest thing you could have asked.
A: It is. My mom makes vegetarian sausage gravy and biscuits. So if I was on death row, and it was my last meal, that’s what I would eat. I don’t now if Sierra likes it or not, but it’s so amazing.

Send me the recipe, okay? I can’t cook, but I’m sure I can find someone who can.

 Their debut album, "It's About Us" releases TODAY, October 7th, on iTunes!

I would recommend reading this interview, 

buying the album, listening to the album while rereading the interview, 

then spending the next several hours of your life watching their X-Factor performances. 

Or I can do that by myself, it's chill, whatever.

x Justina

ps. Let me know what your favorite song is off the album in the comments!

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