Alexander Flood
When Alexander Flood's music first arrived in my inbox it came with an instant level of intrigue thanks to his blending of two genres which I would not typically expect to see together. Alexander is an Adelaide-based drummer/producer who has fused his classical jazz training with a love of hip-hop & created something truly unique & special. Given the intrigue for his music, we immediately arranged an interview via Zoom to find out how this all came together, & how Alexander goes about this process.
During his chat with Pario Alexander explained that he feels jazz & hip-hop actually fit together rather naturally.
"Whilst these 2 styles are very different on the surface I do see a lot of relevance, connection & similarity between contemporary improvised jazz & hip-hop. In a sense improvisation & off the cuff spontaneity can be at the core of both of those styles of music. So that's how this all started."
As we explored his creative journey more to get a better sense of the person behind the music we came to learn a lot about Alexander. Surprisingly during his childhood music played only a minor role in Alexander's home life.
"At home, we had a piano, but that was more for my sister," explained Alexander. "My Grandfather was also an opera singer but aside from those two influences there wasn't really a whole lot of music at home."
So one might ask, how does someone with very little music around them at home become a musician? Well as Alexander revealed music came to him as a way to escape class. "I was 8 years old when I started learning drums, but the reason for me wanting to learn music was not your conventional reasoning. A few of my friends were learning music & would get to leave class for half an hour or so to learn music, so I decided 'Hey I want in on this.'" From that moment on Alexander has been "living & breathing music."
Typically when you are told someone is a drummer you immediately think of someone in a rock band. Alexander though quickly developed a different interest, instead focusing on composition, rhythm & membranophones as a whole subset of music.
"It wasn't just the drum kit but also the entire spectrum of drums for all of the different regions & cultures of the world," said Alexander. "My interest in drumming is a global interest, not just the Western drum set as we know it."
Following this passion Alexander then enrolled in university to study jazz, which he described as a "great experience" but one which also left him with a desire to experiment & play a variety of different music.
"When you are in that environment playing the same sort of thing for 3 years you develop a desire to play very different music. So while I was really enjoying the jazz stuff there was this other side of me that wanted to dive into beat music, which I was also listening to at the time. What ended up happening was a lot of my practice time was split between working on the jazz vernacular for my university degree. Then when I would come home I'd have the bigger kit set up & instead of practicing jazz, I'd play totally different music.
"Gradually over time, these 2 separate forces started to merge together, which is where I felt my sound started to emerge. My sound really came out of that amalgamation of jazz & the more contemporary hip-hop."
Upon finding his distinct compositional sound Alexander then set about creating his latest single, All For The Pocket, & upcoming sophomore album.
"The album is very diverse," explained Alexander. "So while All For The Pocket has a very particular style there are lots of other styles within the record. There is a lot of continuity both sonically & musically on this album, but you will get all sorts of styles."
In order to capture all of these different styles Alexander collaborated with a range of artists from all around the world.
"Some of the material was recorded here in Adelaide, some was recorded in New York, London, Washington DC or Los Angeles. At a time where I couldn't have physically had all of these artists together this record is a snapshot of 2021 & a very global collaboration."
Follow Alexander on Instagram at @Alexander_Flood or at www.alexanderfloodmusic.com.au
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