About the message, not the money!
By Joseph May
They say that there are two types of musicians out there: ones who strive to achieve stardom, and others who play for a passion for music itself. Alex Gillard, a musician from Corner Brook, believes himself to be in the later category.
“A lot of musicians do it for the fame, but not me. Writing music is about your love for the art and shedding a light on the important issues that are going on in the world. But to each his own.”
Gillard, 25, has been writing and playing music since he was fourteen years old. In April 2007, he graduated from the music industry and performing arts program at the College of the North Atlantic in Stephenville. Since his graduation, Gillard has been working on his first album under the name X.E.L.A. and the UFO Acid Godz.
On March 13 of this year, all that hard work paid off when Gillard’s first album, titled X.E.L.A and the UFO Acid Godz Part 1, saw its retail release. The album consists of 10 original tracks, with all the album art done by his girlfriend.
Gillard’s music can be described as a blend between Folk-Rock and, what Gillard calls “Space Folk." However, he said the best way to sum it up would be to call it blue collar folk, or people music.
Dreams of money and fame are common goals among a lot of musicians when they get into the business, but Gillard said neither are on his list of priorities. He feels that a true musician plays for the love of music, not the fame or high paying gigs.
“Music is all about getting your message out there,” said Gillard. “It’s not about your face, your fame or your glory. There is a lot going on in the world.”
For Gillard, these words couldn’t be truer, and the evidence can be seen in the album art alone. Within the artwork, there are multiple caricatures of him but no real photos.
“I do it to keep a barrier, not necessarily between me and the fans, but to help them concentrate on the meaning behind the music,” said Gillard. “I sing about things that I think are important in the world and I want people to listen to my music and think about the message, not what I look like.”
Along with having this down to earth philosophy about music and its message, he also has a unique way of promoting his new album.
Shortly after the CD was released, Gillard held a CD release party and redesigned his X.E.L.A and the UFO Acid Godz website. If you go to the buy section of the page, you will see an intriguing promotion unlike any other promotion out there.
The promotion states that if you purchase a hard copy of the album, $10 plus $2.50 for shipping, you will receive not only a free digital download for yourself but also, within 24 hours, another digital download of the album to e-mail to a friend. A free digital download is a standard extra when you buy an album online, but the extra digital download to send a friend is something new.
Gillard said that giving the extra digital download was a no-brainer.
X.E.L.A and the UFO Acid Gods“The digital download doesn’t cost me anything, and this way two people get my album for the price of one,” said Gillard. “My album gets out to more people and I get more exposure. Why wouldn’t I do it?”
As well, with the purchase of every album, Gillard will donate $1 to War Child Canada, a charity dedicated to providing humanitarian assistance to war-affected children from around the world
Shortly after the CDs went on sale, Gillard decided to put his album on all torrent file-sharing websites on the Internet for free download. Gillard feels like he is capitalizing on the advantages of the Internet.
“This way, the people who can’t afford the record can have it; people who wouldn’t otherwise get the record can have it,” said Gillard. “It’s the way it should be.”
“If they download it for free and like it and they want to give me $7.50 for a digital download, then awesome,” he added. “If they don’t want to then that’s fine too.”
According to Gillard, he just wants his music to be heard. He said without the torrent sites the guy in Germany or the girl in Japan wouldn’t be able to get his music. Between sales at his CD release party, the ECMAs in Corner Brook and his website, Gillard has sold approximately 70 albums within the past 4 weeks.
The torrent websites have been very active as well. Since the uploading of his album on April 2, the full record has been downloaded more than 150 times, while each of the ten songs have also been downloaded over 100 times. This makes Gillard happy because that’s 1,150 people who will hear his album and possibly show it to others.
“A person downloads my music and puts it on their iPod, MP3 player, or whatever they’re going to do with it, and shows it to somebody else, that’s payment enough for me,” said Gillard.
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Project Newfoundland
XELA or Alex Gillard may be based in western Newfoundland
but he's making music that defies any region or strict classification.
He's Donny & Marie rolled in one -- a little bit country and a little
bit rock-n-roll. Well, perhaps more folk than country, but I stand by
the little rock bit as I could stand by a rap and hip hop argument --
he's that eclectic.
According to his bio, he's 22 years old and recorded
13 albums worth of material. He's ambitious, to be sure but,
luckily, he has ample talent to back it up.
Gillard has four tracks streaming and available for download
on his myspace.com site. My favorite is Calling All Satellites --
I think it is fantastically evocative.
Not to oversell him, but he so brilliantly captures the mood and sense
of longing in this song that it almost screams relentless anguish.
It may be the battle cry of the broken hearted.
I admire any artist who can tap
into genuine emotion and channel it to the public --
it's clearly a gift Gillard has mastered.
GarageBand.com -From The Moon!
Reviewed by: Armond Blackwater from Neptune Beach, Florida
A gravely voice grabs you with his first words. Starting off slowly, reminiscent
of Irish Folk, the song picks up momentum continually save a brief break around
1:50, which works like a restart that hikes the emotion. Backed by a single acoustic
guitar is a gifted singer with a passionate communiqué.
What I really love is the quirky multi-track backing vocals. They are not harmonies
in a traditional sense; more inharmonic in nature they emphasize the words beautifully.
Offering a lesson in how to effectively use rhyme, the author expertly crafts the lyrics
into a powerful and lasting message. Great lyrics paint a mental picture within the listener
and this cat is a Picasso. The harmonica "solo" that comes late in the tune demonstrates
why it became such a popular instrument: anyone can pick one up, blow into it, and make
noise that is somewhat musical. It's cool that the part fits perfectly in the context of this song.
You wouldn't be looking for an overblown John Popper here.
Vocals are always the focus in focus songs. This song steps past the monotonous drone that
often characterizes folk music. Hats off for injecting freshness into this genre.
Project Newfoundland
Chasing the Rain by X.E-L.A & The U.F.O Acid Godz
A little more than a year ago I said X.E-L.A was so ecclectic that he
was Donny and Marie rolled in one -- a little bit country and a little bit
rock-n-roll. I stand by that. The twenty-something year-old musician
has recorded many albums, my quick count puts it at 14 or more, and
has cut a wide musical swath. From folk tinged ballads to instrumentals
to hip hop he remains shockingly committed to the songs, generating some
first class music.
Chasing the Rain is one of X.E-L.A's more recent song postings. It's a mellow
folky sounding instrumental that's worth listening to. It's one of four MP3's available
for download from his myspace page. Check it out.
PJ Newfoundland
From The Moon by Alex Gillard
It takes a long time in the dirt to see grace, or so sings Alex GIllard in From the Moon,
the latest track from X.E-L.A and The U.F.O. Acid Godz. It's a poetic sentiment but not
one I'm sure I agree with. Perhaps, Gillard is his own exception -- the grace and beauty
of this folky dining room-recorded Myspace track shine through almost immediately.
Set against a sparse acoustic guitar and harmonica accompanyment, Gillard's beautifully
layered vocals take a listener an out-of-this-world journey of escape and regret. It's worth
hearing.
Do yourself a favour, venture away from MySpace and check out the version of From
The Moon at xela.ca -- it's of far better than the MySpace version. While you're there,
surf around. Gillard has posted lots of interesting material including a rather graphic video
for From The Moon. Check it out and stay tuned for a full-length release from Gillard later
in 2008. Do yourself a favour, venture away from MySpace and check out the version of
From The Moon at xela.ca -- it's of far better than the MySpace version. While you're there,
surf around. Gillard has posted lots of interesting material including a rather graphic video for
From The Moon. Check it out and stay tuned for a full-length release from Gillard later in 2008.
"Finaly Rally" Review
Harry Tucker - Microsoft USA
The opening act was Alex Gillard, a young
singer-songwriter from the West Coast. His
performance just about blew the roof off the
centre, and was received with enthusiastic
yells and applause from an audience who
has mostly never heard his music before
you can bet they’ll be hearing it again,
though.
Harry Tucker
Harry Tucker - Microsoft USA
When Alex Gillard played his heart out to open the concert,
I sat in awe as I watched our province's version of Bob Dylan,
Neil Young, Arlo and Woody Guthry (all rolled into one) pour his
passion into his music.
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