Videos by American Songwriter
ARTIST: Alex MacKay of Local Hero
SONG: “The Gold Coast”
BIRTHDATE: October 15th, 1993
BIRTHPLACE: San Francisco, CA
AMBITIONS: To start flossing 2 -3 times a week, to become the best tap dancer this little mining town has ever known, to carry the one ring into Mordor and drop it into the fires of Mount Doom.
TURN-OFFS: Hooves, pulp-less orange juice, Neil Diamond, the founding fathers, foghorns, Howard Stern, Elmer Fudd when it’s not rabbit season.
TURN-ONS: Traditional pottery, freckles, the sound of change jingling, Curtis Mayfield, jowls, yarmulkes, Elmer Fudd during rabbit season.
DREAM GIG: I would do terrible things to open for Vampire Weekend. Unforgivable things. Second choice: performing a hearty rendition of “Try A Little Tenderness” with Prince, Roger Daltrey, Ron Swanson, Whoopi Goldberg and a hologrammed Otis Redding.
CELEBRITY CRUSH: Abe “Babe-raham” Lincoln, Dame Judi Dench
DREAM VACATION: Recently I’ve been really interested in Dubrovnik – this coastal city in Croatia. Apparently it’s a bit of a tourist attraction, but I’d never heard of it until a couple months ago when I saw some footage of it. I think I actually started gaping. It’s just this outrageously beautiful medieval walled city on the Adriatic Sea. I’d love to go there.
WORST JOB I EVER HAD: I filed papers in the basement of my Dad’s office for a couple months, that was kinda odd. Great opportunity to listen to music, though. I rarely find myself having the time to listen to a full album start to finish, so that was enjoyable.
THE BOOK THAT CHANGED MY LIFE: “Notes From Underground” by Fyodor Dostoyevsky. You can hear his name in “The Gold Coast” during the second verse.
I NEVER LEAVE THE HOUSE WITHOUT: Recently I found a lucky quarter of sorts. Its only distinguishing characteristic is that it’s from 1982, so it might be difficult to keep track of. It seems to be fond of tails.
I WROTE THIS SONG: while conducting a seance with Sir Sean Connery and the ghost of Christmas Past.
*photo by Nathan Phillips
