JohnMuhammadPodcast ep 07 feat AlexisAllon

Welcome to the JohnMuhammadPodcast show. Today my guess is a creative force whose artistry span music performance and visual storytelling. As an Emcee and an recording artist she brings multi - dimensional presence to every project she creates. In December she release her latest album the Golden Sphinx. With her creative range for connecting through music, AlexisAllon continue to carve her own path in comtemporary music.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:10

Today we have created for artists, music, performance, and visual storytellers. The golden space this album represents both sides of our golden artist nickname and nickname for a creative range for connecting through music. This artist continues to carve our own path in contemporary music, inspiring artists, audiences with strength, love, and personal growth. So without further ado, all my fans and followers, show love. We got Alex Alain in the building. How are we doing, Ma?

SPEAKER_02 1:13

I'm good. How you guys doing? It's Alexis Alain here, Goddess Queen Everything. Thanks for having me.

SPEAKER_00 1:20

Nice, nice, nice. So you out of Detroit. Detroit is.

SPEAKER_02 1:25

Yeah, what up though? We out of Detroit.

SPEAKER_00 1:29

Yeah, Detroit go all the way back to Motown. We're gonna talk a little bit about that later, but uh yeah, Detroit has been doing music for a long time and been doing it at a high level.

SPEAKER_02 1:41

So for sure, for sure.

SPEAKER_00 1:44

Right. Well, anyway, since you started off Detroit, tell us what was it like growing up in Detroit and what kind of pulled you to the music scene.

SPEAKER_02 1:57

Um, so growing up in Detroit, um, it was a very, very colorful childhood because music was all around, you know. Um I had my family members who everybody was harmonizing at the table, and then I had friends around the way, you know, that was spitting bars on the corner. Um my grandmother had 15 kids, and so she had 13 boys out of the 15. So you can imagine how many cousins I had around just on one side. How many, you know, and everybody wanted to battle. Everybody, uh me and my female cousins thought we were salt and pepper, you know. So Detroit is a musical city, you know, it's infectious. Everybody, somebody play an instrument, everybody knows how to sing pretty much, everybody feel like they're famous. That's the Detroit way. So yeah, I've been seeing examples of this thing all throughout my childhood.

SPEAKER_00 2:56

So how did Detroit music scene before you? Who was the people that you looked up to that kind of gave you that itch?

SPEAKER_02 3:05

Um, the people that I looked up to, you know, all of the Motown. Um Stevie Wonder was definitely a strong, uh, he's a strong inspiration for me, and I actually had an opportunity to work with him. Um, you know, uh there's so many different influences. Um in my hometown, I had different MCs, like, you know, I grew up around Super MC, which was one who inspired me previously in my younger days. Um, and he was actually in a rap group with one of my cousins. Um, and that's how I was introduced to rap on a level like that, you know, from that individual. Um, so it was just yeah, it was just it was so many different people. It was family, it was friends, it was all of these different people that inspired me to, you know, go into music.

SPEAKER_00 4:08

Right, right. That's what's up. That's what's up. Yeah, I remember uh Super MC. Uh ran into him a few times. I think we did a couple shows together, and uh I may have one of his last interviews.

SPEAKER_02 4:23

Um I grew up with I grew up with him, so that was a major force who inspired me to do a lot, you know. Um, but it was different different surrounding inspirations for me. Um I have a neglected taste in music, so it it goes from jazz to you know um pop influences, even um, it's not just one area of where I pull inspiration from.

SPEAKER_00 4:53

Nice, nice, nice. So you got all them type of records at your house. Uh yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 5:03

Yes, of course, yes. Um, I'm always you know, my parents, my mother was a stylist, um, so she dressed a lot of people like um Steve Harvey and uh she dressed a lot of different people with the gators. She worked at the Broadway downtown. People from Detroit know what the Broadway is. They had the Versace, they had the Gucci, they had the Kooji, you know. So all of the celebrities would come in and get them a pair of gaitors because you know that's the Detroit way. And, you know, get their furs and get their Versace or whatever, and she was the lady, she was the pinpoint person. So um I used to be backstage at fashion shows, um, hair shows, just whatever, because she would be styling people, and it was just a really, really I had experience from all areas as a child, just seeing how things are supposed to go. So that's what explains the vision behind everything that I do because I've seen how it looks to plan it out, and you want this to look like this, and you want the hair to look like this, and so um I've had great examples growing up. So when you see any of my visuals, or you see any of you know the things that I create, you'll see like there's an actual story to it, or there's an actual meaning behind it. It's not just me just making a song. So that's how I grew up. Experiencing music. Music had a meaning. Somebody had a message in their music, you know, things like that. I don't just create to create, I create off a feeling, and I create with the message that I have to give.

SPEAKER_00 6:36

So nice, nice, nice. So, yeah, you have a father who's a DJ, right?

SPEAKER_02 6:45

Yeah, my dad, well, he was a DJ back in the day when I was growing up, you know, he would DJ all of the parties and DJ in the basement and things like that. Um, but he does something different for a career. Um, he's actually an adjunct professor and he went into teaching, which is another specialty that I know how to do, and I'm um certified in. But he does several different things.

SPEAKER_00 7:12

Oh, okay. Okay. Yeah, it seemed like you was pretty much breaded to be a part of music in a lot of different ways. So yeah, that's good. That's good. So at some point in your career, you was featured in Essence and Jet magazine.

SPEAKER_02 7:32

Tell us about that.

SPEAKER_00 7:33

Tell us about that.

SPEAKER_02 7:34

I was featured in Essence, Ebony, Jet, Uptown magazine. Um we were on the cover of Jet for Super Bowl XL, um, I dance back up for Stevie Wonder, India R. John Legend, and Josh Stone for when the Steelers won. Um, so they had the cover of our performance on Jet magazine. But I've had modeling pictures in Uptown, Ebony, Essence magazine. Um well while living in New York, uh t uh I I lived in New York ten years. Um I'm also a professional dancer, so I took some modeling pictures and 14 different companies bought those pictures. So my pictures were for different ads. I had a 72-foot projector screen in LAX and Chicago Airport. I had commercials with MSN. I had different things um off of those companies buying those pictures. Um, so that's how I ended up in those magazines and things like that.

SPEAKER_00 8:37

Nice, nice. That's what's up. Tell us about the 10 years you was in New York.

SPEAKER_02 8:45

Oh man, I love New York. Ten years in New York. So I went there to dance professionally and to work on my music because um I have a degree in dance theater performance and I have my master's in education as well. So when I got there, um I auditioned for a couple different dance companies, and I was accepted into Forces of Nature Dance Theater. Um, and I got to travel and dance um on big stages, the BAM, Brooklyn Academy of Music, um, Apollo Theater annually, twice a year. Um, and we traveled to different places and danced um at different theaters as well. And we danced back up for some celebrities, like I danced back up for Alicia Keys um while dancing with that company as well.

SPEAKER_00 9:39

So nice, nice. Yeah, that's what's up. That's what's up. So that was like that was before you came back to Detroit. You left Detroit, went to New York.

SPEAKER_02 9:51

Yeah, after I did the Super Bowl, I left and I went to um New York and like I said, I danced for those companies. I would sing at clubs at nights too, um, aura sessions or the lesson, different things like that. I would go to and do jam sessions with different musicians um out in New York City and different boroughs. I would just go, you know, just get up and go meet new people and create. Um and so yeah, that's what I used to do in New York. Um, and I loved, I loved it there. I made a lot of great connections, um, did a lot of great things out there with the great people of New York City.

SPEAKER_00 10:36

If there was one mistake that you made in New York that you could say, man, I wish I wouldn't have done that, or if I could take that back, or what would it be?

SPEAKER_02 10:47

Um, I don't think it was anything that I didn't want to do in New York. It really was maybe I could have taken more vacations. Uh I was a workhorse when I lived in New York, so I would work seven days a week, whether I was out of town with the company on weekends, we would do our travel days on weekends, and um I had my own business, so I would teach in different boroughs um during the day and then at night it was just like I never took a break until I took a vacation. So I feel like I should have took a take more vacations while I was out there and get to see a little bit more of different places and explore different things. But um I enjoyed working like like now I enjoy working and and creating things and I can barely sit down. You see, I'm sitting in the car because I'm on my way to go do some other stuff.

SPEAKER_00 11:41

Oh, that that I won't keep you too long.

SPEAKER_01 11:45

No, you okay.

SPEAKER_00 11:50

You gotta do that though, you know.

SPEAKER_01 11:53

Yeah, for sure. Time waste for no man.

SPEAKER_02 11:58

I said time waste for no man, you gotta get on it, you know.

SPEAKER_00 12:06

So we was talking about Motown earlier back in the 60s. Does that sound that they created is do you hear anywhere coming out of Detroit?

SPEAKER_02 12:22

Oh yeah. Um we have different artists. Um they actually have like a Motown Accelerator program here in Detroit where they are grooming artists, um, RB artists, different type of artists, um, through Motown Records. And they take a certain amount of artists every year. So we have artists that are like a replica of what was created in the 60s out here in Detroit. You know what I'm saying? Um there's one art artist in particular that comes to mind. His name is Dre Sconey, but he wears the waves and everything, and he has his band, and he wears the suit, and you know, it's in true Motown fashion. So we definitely keeping it alive here in Detroit. We have, you know, every every type of artist you can think of here, but especially, you know, that Motown style is still here.

SPEAKER_00 13:17

Nice. Nice. Uh, who is your favorite from Motown?

SPEAKER_02 13:23

My favorite from Motown is Stevie Wonder and Diana Ross. They're my two favorite.

SPEAKER_00 13:28

Yeah. I was listening to that uh mahogany maybe about two weeks ago.

SPEAKER_01 13:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 13:35

That mahogany, I think it was from a soundtrack of a movie she did.

SPEAKER_01 13:40

Yep, it was.

SPEAKER_00 13:42

That song was always moving. Yeah, it was beautiful.

SPEAKER_01 13:46

For sure.

SPEAKER_00 13:48

All right. Talk about uh let's talk about Super MC. What what was he to you? What was the uh the chemistry that y'all had in the studio?

SPEAKER_02 14:01

Man, it was great. It was infectious, it was like, you know, like fire. Like we create we created so many different projects that haven't even been put out yet. We got a couple overseas projects that haven't been put out yet. We have a lot of stuff that we created with different projects with different people. Um and this is somebody I grew up with that I used to tease and be like, yeah, I'm gonna rap with y'all one day. And they used to be like, go sit your little butt down because I'm younger than them. You know, like, girl, ain't nobody paying attention to you. But then when I moved to New York, then people start hit me up, like, Whoa, well, when you coming back home, well, let's do something, you know. So once I came back home, we immediately started working, and then I was his I was his only artist on his label, Proven Records, um, that he had that he started. Yeah, and so that was our relationship. We created a lot of different things, we toured with a lot of different people, um, and made a lot of great experiences together with this thing. Um, so it's like home. Creating with him was like home.

SPEAKER_00 15:04

Yeah. Nice, nice, nice. Yeah, I seen you uh yeah, yeah, I seen you around a lot of people from Detroit. Uh I think I seen you there with DJ Butter. Maybe I did a podcast or something. Yeah, he's I seen you around a lot of cats that you know I know of from Detroit that's in the music scene. So for sure.

SPEAKER_02 15:31

But I just saw Butter um at one of uh another Detroit MC's events. It's called the Sleepover Video Miss Corona. Um we were there at that event. I've seen him. Um I think he was there with one of Nippy Mip Nipsey Hustle's counterparts. Actually, he came to Detroit for some events and came and stopped through there. So yeah, I definitely uh appreciate the legendary pieces of Detroit Hip Hop and Butter is one of them. Um, and that's a very, very dear friend to me. I also am on one of his projects, um, Eater Get Eight, I believe that's the name of it. Um he has me featured on one of their those projects. But I've collaborated with a lot of different um Detroit hip hop artists. I love doing it. I love collaborating and creating through new things with people from home. There's something different about it.

SPEAKER_00 16:25

Yeah. I mean, and the people you grew up with, even if y'all wasn't in school or nothing like that, you know, especially when it becomes you know, it's the music scene and people, you know, been doing music for 10, 15, sometimes 20 years, so it's kinda in the blood. So when you let's talk about your album. You said it was kind of inspired by your children. What other inspiration did you get um in creating this?

SPEAKER_02 17:00

So heavily um, you know, the beauty of the ancient Egyptian artifacts and um history um and the richness of it inspires me as well. I just love the elegance of a goddess and a queen, you know. Um that's who I am, that's every part of me. So that was another driving force behind this project. Um, and my children, they bring so much joy to me, and I am their protector, and I do feel extra power with them, and so that was another piece that inspired and drove me through this project as well.

SPEAKER_00 17:42

Nice. So what made you go with your children's nicknames?

SPEAKER_02 17:48

Um, because uh it's a ca uh it's a common theme. Like my love one of my other projects I did, ACES, once my daughter when my daughter passed, um, that project was dedicated to her. And I feel like I create some great things um when I think about my children, um, and just expressing the joy that I get from them. So yeah, that was why I decided to pour it into this project. And my son, he actually went back to the studio with me after I had my baby. Um, my son, I took him to the studio with me for the first time back in. Um, and every song that he was bobbing to, this is Josiah right here. Every song he was bobbing to, I picked those tracks to create the project off of. So that's another reason why.

SPEAKER_01 18:41

Nice.

SPEAKER_02 18:42

Yeah. That's another reason why. And he now he sings all of the songs because he knows them. He's only one. But he has his he has a passion for music already, too. So that was another um driving force behind the project as well.

SPEAKER_00 18:57

Oh wow. Every song he vibes to, that's the one you pick.

SPEAKER_02 19:02

Yes. Yeah, if you can ask DJ Cage. I was like, Cage, okay, send me that one. Because it was some he wasn't vibing to, but the songs that he was vibing to and look at me and smile, those are the ones I picked. And it turned out dope.

SPEAKER_00 19:17

Nice, nice, nice. So when you're creating, do you pull from real life experiences, or do you tend to write and create more from using your imagination?

SPEAKER_02 19:37

No, for the most part I pull from real life experiences for my music. Um and vibes, you know what I'm saying? Sometimes it could be a song where it's just vibes I want to feel too. You know what I'm saying? Maybe that music or that instrumental takes me to a different place, and so I'll create based off of that. It's just it's just like what the music gives me, you know what I'm saying?

SPEAKER_00 20:04

Yeah. I was um yeah, I was thinking about I was looking at your cover and I was getting a lot of Egyptian. And then I was kind of going through the the back of the album, kind of looking at the you know, the names of the songs and things of that nature. I come from that school where yeah you you know you sing vinyl too. You pick up that vinyl, look at it. You kind of want to see who was producing what. Have you ever heard of these cats and you know, all of that. So it's nice that all that information is right there. That you can kind of you know, cats like me can kind of you know, just kind of look at it and you know, feel the whole vibe, see where you was coming from. Yeah, yeah, with the names that you picked and yeah, it goes together very well. Now, did you do that by yourself or did you uh you had some help putting that putting that picture together?

SPEAKER_02 21:08

Um, so what happened was I saw a picture um that was similar to this, um, but it was a Caucasian woman. Um, and so I went to in the mix print, um, there's this guy named Kim P here that I go to for all of my covers, and I asked him, I said, Is there any way that you could put my face on this this goddess's image? Um, because it was an actual sphinx. It was the this face, but then you know, the cat body at the bottom. Right? So I uh he altered it to where he put my face on the image and he cut it off. And so that's how we got the cover. And I had to pay the people who created it. The original rich image too to be able to use it. And the back, he crafted that just me telling him what I wanted. So usually I I have a vision of what I want the covers to be, and I just go and explain, or I'll mock draw it up. I can't really draw that good, but you know, I'll I'll go with something to explain to the yeah.

SPEAKER_00 22:27

Right, right. How much we got a lot of technology now. We got AI, we got uh what's that, auto-tunes, we got so much technology now. How much of it do you think is good, and how much are we leaning on that too much? Because we got, I believe, if I'm not mistaken, we have a song that is now charting and it's made by AI music. The only thing I think a a person wrote it, but everything else around it was AI.

SPEAKER_02 23:10

Yeah. Um, so this the thing, me, I can create on my own. I try to stay away from, you know, auto-tune and things like that. Um, I like to create in my natural voice. Um, but I feel like when you do something too much, you know, it's gonna be, it has to be like a perfect balance, you know what I'm saying, and not a dominating thing. But there's no there's no way to like pull it back. Like we're here now, so where are we gonna go with this thing? So, you know, it's just about people being smart with using it, and I don't know if if everybody's being smart with using it, to be honest. So it's one of those things we gotta wait and see what's getting ready to happen, you know, because it's already here and it's already um advancing every day, you know. So right, right, right.

SPEAKER_00 24:14

Yeah, I I was talking to a guy in an interview and he said that uh what we've seen in the Terminator is probably the future that we're headed for. I was like, wow, that's pretty good. Yeah, it might be with the way technology and seem to be advancing. So yeah. Yeah, um so you said you was raised up and you was listening, you had your father, a DJ, you had your mother who was doing uh clothes and no uh fashion. And uh so where did the music come in to where you kind of it seemed like I don't know, I'm still because I went through a few of your tracks, and you do have a diverse uh arrange of sound.

SPEAKER_01 25:14

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 25:15

You can tell, you know. So where did you where do you think you got that from?

SPEAKER_02 25:20

Mom, I know I um got that from my mom. My mom used to play like Phyllis Hyman, which is one of my favorites, and brand new heavies, or Mesa, um, incognito, um in vogue, you know, so or Simply Red. So it was the vast selection of music that I would wake up hearing, or driving in the car hearing, or seeing, you know, that my mom was heavily into because she loved music. Um, and so I know that I got a lot of um the love for different styles and creating different styles from you know, just hearing and being around and listening to different things.

SPEAKER_00 26:04

Right, right. What would you rate today's music?

SPEAKER_02 26:13

Um, you know, it's interesting.

SPEAKER_00 26:17

If you if you could make any corrections to it, what would what would you say?

SPEAKER_02 26:23

I would say like leave some things to the imagination. Like, especially with some of our female artists, like, it's certain things that I don't want to hear um like that. You know, it's a it's a different way that you can say that or convey that or get that across to where it doesn't seem like you're demeaning yourself. And so, you know, that would be the only thing. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 26:54

Yeah, yeah. No, I agree, I agree. Um, it takes you back to them songs where you had to listen to it a few times to understand what they were talking about because they kind of talked the riddles when it came to uh sexual subject matter. Yeah, we'll put it like that. So, and they would kind of code it. So maybe that was their way of I know kids won't figure this out, but the adults know what I'm talking about. Yeah, so but no, no, we we're kinda in that that era where they tell it like it is.

SPEAKER_01 27:37

Man, raw. Yeah, yeah, real crazy.

SPEAKER_00 27:42

Like I come I come from the the place where you did use some imagination.

SPEAKER_01 27:48

So and then like building funny at all.

SPEAKER_00 27:54

Yeah, so yeah, but that's where we at. That's where we at. So what was the first single you decided to go with to push this album?

SPEAKER_02 28:07

Um, so the first single that I decided to go with for the album was I believe uh, which is featuring Ellie San Diego and a high five visuals out for the project, and Mob is one of them. Um she's another female artist. Um but it's just like an inspirational song. It's it's kind of it's on the hip hop side and kind of on the pop side a little bit like you can hear it on the pop radio station, but just you know, it's an empowering song about how you don't have to look for anyone else to have your back. You can have your own back. You know what I'm saying? Because I got my own back. You know, I'm not worried about what this person is getting. I'm not worried about what type of money they making. I'm focused on myself and making myself better. You know, and that's how I try to live my life. So I thought that that was an important single that should be out.

SPEAKER_00 29:03

Right, right. Yeah, I remember hearing that song. That's what's up. I um I think the one that caught me, and I'm still going through it, I'm still listening to it some more. Uh the very first one off the uh the album.

SPEAKER_01 29:21

East Dana?

SPEAKER_00 29:22

Yeah, East Dana. Eastana, yeah. That beat that beat was infectious. That that beat was and then when you came in, you was doing your thing on it. So yeah, yeah, that's I I love that type of music. Yeah. That's the very first one off the album. So I won't I definitely gonna go through it and check it out a little bit more, dig more into it and for sure.

SPEAKER_02 29:48

I appreciate you saying that. DJ Cage, you know, he's a great inspiration also in this thing. He produced this project and he produced my last three projects. Um, and he does all of the videos. He's a videographer too, so he films all of the videos, edits them, and everything. So he's out code. So that's why I haven't I don't even really move it around messing with other people because he I feel like he gets me. Like once I explain to him what I want and I pick out the scenery and everything, he does his thing with it.

SPEAKER_00 30:18

So nice, nice, nice. Yeah, yeah. You have those combinations and they come together, and you keep making magic, you might as well keep going with it.

SPEAKER_01 30:29

So for sure.

SPEAKER_00 30:31

Yeah, that's what's up, that's what's up. But yeah, um, like I said, I wasn't gonna keep you too long. Um, but I appreciate you coming through. Um tell the people where they can find you, where they can go and look at your videos, they can listen to your music, all your um everything you, all your information out there.

SPEAKER_02 30:56

All right, so you can find me everywhere, Alexis Alon, A-L-E-X-I-S, A L L O N, um, Instagram, Facebook, Bandcamp, iTunes, uh, everywhere, every platform. Golden Sphinx is available in my other five uh solo albums are on social um on social media everywhere. You can also check my Link tree. Um and if you're in Michigan, Golden Sphinx Vinyl is available at SoundSound Solo Records. It is also available at Spotlight Detroit. It is available at Melodies and Memories, um, and it is also available at Village Vinyl. So you can go to all of those record shops and ask for Golden Sphinx and you can get your copy. And if you're not in Detroit or in Michigan, you can go to Bandcamp and you can order you a copy of the vinyl or download digital.

SPEAKER_00 31:59

So you got vinyl, digital.

unknown 32:05

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 32:06

You got CDs still?

SPEAKER_02 32:08

Um, no, I don't have any CDs. I didn't press this up on CDs, yeah. Um, but previous projects I have, but I've sold out of all of those. Um, so you can just get all of those digital. This is the first solo project that I pressed up on vinyl, but you can catch me on other people's vinyl as well, like um Apollo Brown, Sincerely Detroit. I'm on there. Deciphered by Nick Speed, I'm on there. Um, there's different projects on vinyl that you can find me on.

SPEAKER_00 32:37

Nice, nice, nice. Well, I appreciate you coming through. I appreciate you sharing your information, and uh I'll keep in touch.

SPEAKER_02 32:48

For sure. Thanks for having me.

SPEAKER_00 32:51

No problem. You take care and uh keep making that music.

SPEAKER_02 32:56

Thank you. Bye-bye.