We chatted to Dorset based acoustic-folk-rocker ALEX HEDLEY ahead of his appearance at the SIDMOUTH FRINGE SESSIONS....
The Sidmouth Fringe Sessions are a series of intimate musical performances spread over 5 nights (7.15pm - late) which are running from 5th to 9th August. The lineup this year is immense, so much so, we wanted to get in touch with as many acts as possible for a chat about a whole bunch of stuff including festival survival, the best album in the world EVER, BBC Introducing and super-groups, read on to see how we got on....
Alex, please take a moment to introduce yourself, tell us about your music and give us one fascinating fact about you
Hi, My name is Alex Hedley and I play a mix of alternative, folk rock acoustic type music... I'm just about to release my second EP as a solo artist which will be out towards the end of the year. One fascinating fact about me is that I have secret gills and can sleep underwater!!
You play the Sidmouth Fringe Festival on Sunday 6th August, how did this come about?
I played the Sidmouth Fringe a few years back with a band I used to be in called Saturday Sun and have kindly been asked back to play this year.
The BBC Introducing team are heavily involved in the festival, have you had any dealings with them in the past?
Lots of my old band's stuff has been played and a few of the tracks from my first solo EP 'Shadow Lake' were played on BBC Solent last year.
You’re playing alongside some great acts (Firewoodisland, Tourists & Bryde), have you performed with any of these before?
No, but the band 'Flyte' who are playing this year played the same year I did and they were great!
You’re playing alongside some great acts (Firewoodisland, Tourists & Bryde), have you performed with any of these before?
No, but the band 'Flyte' who are playing this year played the same year I did and they were great!
Are you playing any other festivals this Summer? If so, which ones are you most looking forward to?
The only one left other than this one is Cornwall Folk Festival I think.
Music festivals can be quite messy affairs, what are your top three tips to surviving one?
Keep drinking and then you start drinking yourself sober... or maybe just get really ill... I cant quite remember the way it works!
You get some pretty diverse food at festivals, what’s been the strangest thing you’ve ever eaten?
Hmmm... thats a tricky one... CRUMPETS!!
In your opinion, what is THE BEST album in the world ever?
I'm not sure what the best album in the world is but some of my favourites are Grace by Jeff Buckley, OK Computer by Radiohead and Five Leaves Left by Nick Drake
If you could create your very own super-group using any musicians (dead or alive) who would be in the band and why?
Kurt Cobain because of his voice/songwriting skills, Neil Young because of his songwriting abilities, I'm not too sure who else but I think that they'd be a good team with a decent rhythm section behind them.
What advice would you offer to a band or an artist just starting out? Any pitfalls to try to avoid?
Just try to enjoy it, it's a fun but difficult journey and whatever happens it will give you some good wisdom! Although I'm still not very good at writing proper sentences....
Lastly, please give us the names of 3 acts/artists that we should be checking out?
- Manchester Orchestra
- Fleet Foxes
- Oceansize
We'd like to thank Alex for sparing the time to chat to us and we look forward to catching his set at the Sidmouth Fringe Sessions on Sunday August 6th. You can keep up to date with Alex's whereabouts and check out some of his music at the sites below;