MC Celebrates SXSW's 30th

Singer/songwriter duo, Alexander Jean, comprising of BC Jean and Mark Ballas, sat down with Music Connection to talk about their first time performing at SXSW, how their music has evolved and about their recently released single "Thief."

Music Connection: What are your plans for the festival?
BC Jean: Well, barbecue was first on our list.
Mark Ballas: Yep, we had some great barbecue yesterday at Cooper’s.
Jean: It was really good.
Ballas: It was really good.
Jean: Some Texas mules.
Ballas: We’ve just been walking up and down-
Jean: Taking it in. It’s our first time.
Ballas: … Looking in the bars. We heard some amazing bands just kind of walking around, and we have a second show today, second play stage, we’re playing at the--
Jean: Holiday Inn. We be chillin’ at the Holiday Inn. (laughs)
Ballas: And tomorrow we gotta fly back home.
Jean: We wish we could stay, I wanna see X Ambassadors, but we have to get back home for work.

MC: How did you guys prepare for SXSW?
Ballas: I don’t think you can prepare…
Jean: We just bring our hats. Because we don’t know when the next time we can brush our hair is. And, just enjoy the ride, really. We’re up for anything, we’re always prepared.
Ballas: We’ve been playing a lot of shows, so we’ve been warmed up and rehearsed for a while, but we had some time yesterday before the show to kind of prepare and go through all our material, but we’re just kind of going with the flow and seeing where we end up, walking around.
Jean: Enjoying the experience.
Ballas: It’s been really cool.

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MC: This is your first SXSW. What were your expectations and why did you come?
Ballas: I mean, over the years, as a musician, you just hear wonderful things about SXSW. And Austin is such a great town.
Jean: Supporting independent music, and music in general. And now its grown to film and things like that, so the arts, just enjoying the energy that people bring here of the festival. I was surprised how spread out it was and how big it was. So that was kind of cool to see, how it was all around the city, I thought it was going to be-
MC: It’s only expanding. It’s been taken over the east side, and it’s going to get bigger.
Jean: Is that what’s happening? Crazy, it’s really cool.
Ballas: And the spontaneity of it, just kind of walking around and hearing people from the street…
Jean: Running into old friends, meeting new friends…
Ballas: Getting pulled in to hear new bands and new artists, some incredible musicians here.
Jean: And they’re from all around the world, so that’s pretty cool.

MC: How do you think attending SXSW will affect your career?
Jean: It’s just another check, we can take that off the bucket list of things to do.
Ballas: We were very humbled and excited that we got invited. It’s such a huge thing to play and to be invited to for indie music. We were excited when we got the email, we were very stoked, and made sure we can make time to be here. We got two days, two full days here, which have been great.
Jean: Yeah, hopefully next time, next year we’ll come back and have more time.
Ballas: Next time we’ll make it for the whole week.

MC: How did you come together as a duo?
Jean: It was pretty natural for us. It wasn’t calculated. It started off as a session, we were like, “Hey, we’ve been in a relationship,” we were in a relationship for a year and a half, and then Mark said, “Why don’t we write a song? We’ve never done that.” So it was really for fun, we wrote a song on the couch, bottle of wine, pen and paper, that’s it. After we did that, it was such a raw, honest, cool sound that we came up with…

We went and recorded it—that was even cooler. The way we did live, organic instruments, and everything was hand played. Then from there on, we were like, “Maybe this is where our paths are supposed to go.” It’s all just been very natural. What he brings to the table is so powerful and different from what I bring to the table. I think us together is…
Ballas: It’s a good balance.
Jean: It’s a cool balance. We trust each other’s instincts. I think we’re going to be a force to be reckoned with. It’s really fun.

MC: How does Alexander Jean differ from what you’ve done individually in the past?
Jean: I think right now we’re not trying to fit in any kind of box.
Ballas: Yeah I think that’s a good thing about being an indie act. We’ve both been through the label grind and the grind in general.
Jean: The wringer! (laughs)
Ballas: The wringer! The gauntlet! So what’s great about this and why I think it’s working is because we completely created this thing 100% ourselves. We’re happy with it, we love it.
Jean: We’re not doing it for anybody else. We want people to enjoy it.
Ballas: Yeah, we’re not doing it for any other reason, other than the fact that we love what we’re doing together, and we love sharing that with people that wanna listen and wanna be a part of this.
Jean: I feel like we’re really passionate. This project in particular is just pure passion.
Alexander Jean2_72dpi Ballas: Yeah our heart and souls are into this, and I think that’s why it’s been doing what it’s been doing. The first song [“Roses and Violets”] shot up to No. 1 on Singer/Songwriter, hit No. 6 on Pop, it charted in seven countries, and at that time, no one knew who Alexander Jean was—they didn’t know it was her, they didn’t know it was me—and that spoke volumes…
Jean: Letting the music speak for itself.
Ballas: It was letting the music speak, and that’s what’s really important to us. We thrive on a live stage, I think that’s where we really, really feel the best, and it’s an awesome way to connect with our fans. And we’re looking forward to going on tour in June. We’re dropping a new single that comes out tomorrow, Friday [March 18]—“Thief” comes out tomorrow.
Jean: The EP should be June 3rd.
Ballas: I think it’s just really cool and different. There’s really nothing that sounds like this. What she brings as a writer and top-liner and just vocalist is extraordinary. As a guitar player, I’ve studied flamenco for so long and moved into rock and blues and jazz, and I’ve played in a lot of different bands. Bringing those rock elements and the percussive flamenco element with her pop melodies and soulful vocals—there’s just nothing that sounds like that. It just feels great.

MC: What can fans expect from your live shows?
Jean: Right now it’s just him and I. We do this, what we call, a gypsy setup, and Mark has an array of instruments and different guitars he plays with. I think we just have an amazing chemistry on and off stage, and we just have a good time. When you see a good time, you wanna have a good time as well, and we make sure that the energy’s up even if there’s…
Ballas: And it’s raw and real. And like you said…I run a loop station, I record my guitars live as I go, I switch to electrics, I’m running a steel string acoustic and nylon string acoustic and BC’s upfront on vocal.
Jean: And our songs are super real and honest and truth, so I think that we leave our hearts and souls on stage. Blood, sweat, tears, heart, souls—it’s all out there for us! We’re super ourselves.
Ballas: Cause we’re doing it raw and organic, there’s no tracks, there’s no bells and whistles.
Jean: We might incorporate bells and whistles on the tour. (laughs)
Ballas: Every show is different—you’re gonna see something new every time. We just vibe and we just do it. It’s always a different experience on stage every time.

MC: Is the sound from the latest single “Thief” the sound you’re moving towards your upcoming EP?
Ballas: I don’t know if you call it a “direction.”
Jean: We call it an “experience” because there’s not one slot you can put our music into. They all have a cohesive sound, every song connects to the other yet they all have something very different.
Ballas: And unique about them, yeah. I think it’s a great follow up to “Roses” cause it is more on the up-tempo side, great electric guitar sounds on there—not to mention her vocal is amazing. We write songs that feel good and we think that people are gonna be able to soak up and relate to. And I think it’s gonna be cool.

MC: Do you have any advice for new bands?
Jean: Keep grinding and don’t stop. Don’t take “no” for an answer.
Ballas: You’re gonna hear “no” a million times—let it roll right off your back.
Jean: Mhm, just be you.

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