22 Sep 2018

Meet Rex Orange County

From RNZ Music, 1:15 pm on 22 September 2018

Rex Orange County is the music making name of 20-year old Alex O'Connor. Yadana Saw speaks to the British artist who's duetted with Randy Newman, worked with Tyler, the Creator and is heading to Laneway Festival 2019.

Rex Orange County

Rex Orange County Photo: Supplied

Rex Orange County is experiencing a new and unique problem for a musician.  He’s trying to write a follow up album to Apricot Princess - his record that has been streamed over 50 million times,  made him runner up in BBC's Soundof2018 poll and taken him on sell-out tours around the world.

“It’s been the best and worst thing that has happened to me,” though he quickly catches himself, not wanting to sound churlish or ungrateful of his rapid ascent that has seen him on a hectic northern hemisphere tour schedule.

“It feels bad at the time when I’m not doing much and I’m on the road. You really have all the time, but you don’t.

He’s speaking to me from the studio where he’s working on new music in between the touring.

“Some people can work on the road and that’s incredibly impressive... maybe I’m not working myself hard enough.

“I was working a totally different way the whole of summer I was around America, I just went to Japan and I had to just write down any thoughts.”

Returning to first principles and priorities has been an important step for starting the second album.

“Really I’ve just gotta be making really great music that I love and not worrying too much about what other people are gonna think about it. At the moment I’m here, in the studio, so it’s okay.”

20 year old Alex O’Connor has always had an interest in music growing up in Grayschott, a small village an hour out of London.  He sung in choirs, performed in school productions and on the strength of his drumming, got accepted into the BRIT school (alumni include Adele, Loyle Carner, and Amy Winehouse)

It was his first self-released album bcos u will never b free that caught the attention of hip hop artist Tyler, the Creator who became a fan of Rex Orange County’s material.

The internationally banned rapper and producer of most feared collective Odd Future reached out to Rex Orange County via email.

“When he reached out I didn’t even believe it was him, honestly.”

Eventually, Tyler, the Creator flew Rex Orange County out to Los Angeles where they recorded 'Foreward' and Boredom for Tyler’s Flower Boy LP.

“It was great at the time. It was very weird for me, very surreal I was a person that listened to him and all of Odd Future for a long time,

It was Rex Orange County’s first international trip with no parents, “or anything like that” and was a “very inspiring time”.

“Looking at the way he has all these songs and so much self-love and he really is a fan of his own music. He taught me a new way of working and I just had to get the music out.”

“I think Apricot Princess actually came out before Flower Boy”

The album is broad palette of Rex Orange County inspirations Supergrass to Stevie Wonder. A lot of the subject matter focusing on the blossoming romance with Thea Morgan Murell, his girlfriend whom he duets with on ‘Sycamore Girl’.

While older, cynical souls may worry about the direct honesty and permanence of commiting young love to the record, it’s no bother for the English multi-instrumentalist.

Most young artists of Rex Orange County’s trajectory would leap at the chance for major label representation. But for time being, being unsigned and independent is working in his favour in a big way, he says.

"I met a lot of label people at the start of doing this music thing and I just realised soon that it wasn’t much about music but more so about their paycheck at the end of the day. That doesn’t go for everyone, there are a lot who work in the industry that I like a lot."

But for the purposes of trying to start on another album, he's "really grateful" that he isn't under pressure to deliver to a new album to a label. At this point.

“I’m not saying that I’ll never sign a record deal!”

Music details

Artist: Rex Orange County
Songs: Sycamore Girl, Television
Composer: O'Connor
Album: Apricot Princess
Label: Private

Artist: Tyler, the Creator
Song: Foreword
Composer:Tyler, the Creator, O'Connor
Album: Flower Boy
Label: Columbia

 

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