After a strong start to the year, Melbourne artist Alexander Biggs is ready to release his sophomore EP, Whatever Helps You Sleep.
The EP is by no means a concept album, instead each of its seven tracks has its own little personality – together, a collection of feelings and emotions. The record has been written over the last couple of years, with recording starting in spring of last year in Yarraville. For Biggs, he found inspiration for the songs in a lot of different places, such as his own personal experiences.
“Generally it’s all things that have happened to me or things that I’ve felt,” he says. “Sometimes it’s things that I’ve felt in a very honest and literal sense, and other times they’re just things I’ve felt in a dream or things that are metaphorical to how I’ve felt or things that are like a simile.
“Songs come in a bunch of different ways. I think it’s still all completely authentic and honest because it’s a feeling and sometimes being an artist is about catching the feeling out of the air.”
Biggs says he’s happy with how the record has turned out. After gaining a lot more confidence since his last EP, Whatever Helps You Sleep is a massive improvement – especially in that Biggs had a lot more time to focus on the quality and creation of the record this time around.
“I’m making music that I think is good work and I’m more conscious and aware of how I like to work and what I’m comfortable with and what sounds I like. It feels like I’ve stepped into the whole process a lot more confident and really wanting to make the record that I’ve made.”
To write the third single off the EP, ‘Dog Boy’, Biggs hunkered down in a blanket fort in a Melbourne ground floor apartment. This same location is where most of the songs on the EP were written and demoed – with the exception of a few taking place in the kitchen thanks to the room’s acoustics.
“Songs don’t just come to me or anyone in one particular spot,” he says. “People have their work desk or their office or studio or whatever. A lot of the songs were demoed in a blanket fort and there are a couple of songs written in my kitchen. Anywhere you can channel the creative spirit I guess.”
Later this month, Biggs will be embarking on an almost completely sold out Australian tour with Amy Shark. When Biggs performs live, he finds it best not to focus on people in the room talking and instead plays for the ones who want to hear. “It’ll be really exciting to play to these bigger rooms of people and hopefully someone gives a fuck and enjoys it,” he says.
“I’m playing to them, I’m not playing to anyone that doesn’t care. That’s fine, we’ll go our separate ways.”
Translating his studio music into a live experience isn’t something Biggs usually struggles with, for him it’s all just a bunch of emotion, words, and guitar.
“I’m still trying to work that out I guess, because I used to think what I do is pretty authentic and honest so the best I can do is just play on acoustic and play the songs stripped back – play them how I wrote them.
“But more and more, I’m thinking about how I can change things up and give people something new that’s not what the record sounds like.”
