Rising British pop star, Alexander James Rodriguez, returns to Celeb Secrets to share his latest accomplishments as a singer, songwriter and now talk show host!
Since we last caught up with him, Alexander has been busy on his rise to stardom! During this year’s Grammy Week, he was selected to perform his new music at the iconic Avalon Hotel in Los Angeles California.
In addition, he has been garnering plenty of media attention, with his latest single “Euphoria” debuting on New Music Top 40 Charts and currently sitting at #28, while the video has exceeded a million views on YouTube. Rodriguez consistently releases impactful clean pop tunes, and “Euphoria” is no exception!
Celeb Secrets caught up with Alexander to learn more about his latest release, his musical influences, and his upcoming projects! Scroll down for the full Q&A and don’t forget to let us know what you think of his latest single, “Euphoria,” by leaving a reaction at the bottom of the post or by sliding into our Instagram DMs at @celebsecrets.
Celeb Secrets: Hi Alexander! It’s so great to catch up and chat with you. Congratulations on all of your recent success! Can you tell us a little bit about what you’ve been up to the last few months?
Alexander James Rodriguez: “Hi guys! I am so happy to be back chatting with you. Since we last spoke I have released a further seven pop songs, scooped up a couple of awards, created a talk show for teens, ‘The ALEXANDER Show’ which is a bit like The Graham Norton Show meets Jimmy Kimmel on a British culture set, and I have been juggling in-person High School in Los Angeles. I am in Honors classes and taking AP History this year early so the homework has been beyond grueling!”
CS: We LOVE your latest single “Euphoria.” It is so catchy, and it’s stuck in our heads. What inspired the song and what was the recording process like?
AJR: “Oh my gosh, thank you! ‘Euphoria’ was made from scratch, and what I mean is that my record producer Gemini Muziq and I started with deciding on the tempo and then we chose a bassline. For this song, I always wanted it to be more dance driven in comparison to my other records, and I wanted vocal chops in there. We played around with tempos and decided on a 124 bpm. I knew I wanted a lot of 80’s synthesizers too, especially after ‘Mister Fahrenheit’ did so well last year, and with that we added temporary drums and started selecting chords, synthesizer sounds etc. We have over 48 different sounds on the song, plus stacked vocals – of which I recorded eight different harmonies for just the chorus.
When the instrumental was ready to write on, we started playing around with melody ideas. Usually, I like to start with the chorus, but there was no real inspiration, we just went with the flow of what the music and chords were speaking to us. The first written were the “Do Ya’s” in the post chorus and the last were the verses.
The song was written by myself, my mom (who writes on all of my songs) and Stephen ‘Bud’da’ Anderson. Bud’da is insanely talented. He started his career in the 90’s making music for Ice Cube, Dr. Dre. and Aaliyah. Now he does all of that plus composes sound tracks for hit TV shows and big movies.
To finish off the ‘Euphoria’ we brought in mega-mixer Ken Lewis, who has mixed on multiple BTS hits, Usher, Alicia Keys, and Justin Bieber to name a few, and then the song was stem mastered by AJM Mastering out of Madrid, Spain.
It really takes a village.”
What do you hope fans take away when they hear “Euphoria?”
AJR: “I just hope people feel euphoria and enjoy it as much as we did making it, and that it is added to their favorite pop playlist somewhere between The Weeknd and Dua Lipa!”
CS: “Euphoria” has been blowing up! The video has reached one million views and we heard you are even getting love on the radio. What has it been like seeing all of the support? How has the fan reaction been?
AJR: “Yes… isn’t it wild! I am thrilled that ‘Euphoria’ has been receiving so much fan support and great radio plays especially the early support from SiriusXM Hitbound, who started playing ‘Euphoria’ the day it was released. Two days later, I performed ‘Euphoria’ at the Avalon Hollywood, during the GRAMMY Teen Concert, and I think seeing it performed live early on really helped. Since then, I have performed ‘Euphoria’ at a few places including KidzCon in Brooklyn, New York expanding the songs reach to new friends and fans. Everyone seems to love it, so honestly, I couldn’t be happier.”
CS: As you’ve grown, your music has been evolving. How did you discover your new sound and how would you describe it to someone who hasn’t heard it before?
AJR: “Thank you, I have been super busy recording new music and finding my ultimate sound in the music business. I am in year three now, which has raced past, and I finally understand my voice and what I want the music I put out to be.
My new music coming through is very dance pop and has a lot of 80’s and 90’s synth sounds. I put a lot of effort into my vocals, and always add sections in just falsetto to give the song some dynamic. I personally sit with the record producer and add sounds and elements… I am very particular about the kick drum and usually strings get added or subtle bells. I love vocal chops and a dynamite beat drop too!”
CS: You’ve mentioned before that you are inspired by Brit-Pop and artists like One Direction, Dua Lipa, and Harry Styles. Has that changed at all, or are there any new influences over your new music?
AJR: “I am still inspired by my fellow Brits, Harry Styles and Dua Lipa, but I am adding The Weeknd to that line-up and the insane talents of Mike Dean as a super producer. I’d love to work with Mike Dean and Max Martin on a record … one day. If I had to choose my top artist who is influencing my music as of right now, it would be The Weeknd.”
CS: And of course, We are Celeb Secrets. Do you have any secrets you can share about upcoming projects that fans will be excited to hear about?
AJR: “Yes! Whilst ‘Euphoria’ continues to climb the radio charts, we just released the UK House remixes of ‘Euphoria’ by LiMiT3R on March 31st. It premiered on Kiss FM UK in London, which is exciting. Plus, I am finishing up a new song called ‘Hold On Me’ releasing in May, I haven’t decided on the cover art yet … and I just received the instrumental of another which is a bit faster at 128 bpm so stay tuned for that!”
