elektro exclusive interview with Alex Young

His Soundcloud says "I am not human," his Twitter continuously provides amusing and sometimes shocking blurbs, but we know the music and its dope! His name is Alex Young and we invited him to the elektro studio to get to know the 16 year old producer. We first took notice of Alex when his track "Boomerang" was mixed in by trap heavy weights Flosstradamus' on their "Banned" mixtape. He has since released a number of tracks, notably his most recent "Mastermind," which is a progressive banger, and shows the producer's versatility among EDM genres. On a side note, Alex also rolled up to our studio with his Mom-a-Ger and actual manager, again hes only 16! Read our conversation below:

- So, Alex, is your last name actually “Young?”

ALEX: Yes it is. It’s fitting. I think the question I get most when someone is asking me about my name is when you turn forty are you going to change it to Alex old? I get that question like fifty to sixty times. It is like the number one question asked. But yeah it is actually my last name it’s very fitting.

- Whats up with that “Boomerang” song?

ALEX: Floss hit me up like a while ago and we are actually in the process of working on some stuff right now. But yeah that was super cool getting on the Banned 2 mixtape because you know, they kind of innovated the entire hip-hop, rap, instrumental, trap like scene.

- You said you were working with Floss now?

ALEX: Yeah we have just been emailing back and forth and stuff because I got the chance to actually get into the studio with them. But yeah, I’ve sent them a project a while ago and we have been working on that but then they went on tour so they couldn’t work on it and got sick of the project. So now I am sending other ideas to them and we will see what happens. Hopefully we will get something out of it because we both really want to get a song out. I met up with them the first time at EDC and they were super cool and they were still about working together.

- So how did you get started with music production?

ALEX: Production? Well, I was doing the thing all the DJ’s do before DJ’s I was in a band and I was like playing guitar and stuff but like one of the things I think I am more prone to doing is working on my own. Just because I am better working with myself. But two years ago actually this month I was taking recording classes and mixing and audio mix classes at this music school a mile from my house and I heard a Skrillex record or something and was like woah this is insane. At the same time I think I heard Skrillex the first week I was at the school taking the DJ class because my mom was like you have done the audio engineering thing too much and the band thing too much so why don’t you try something new? And I was like but mom Djing is so lame. So I took it and at first I was skeptical about it but then I was like wow this is insane this is so cool. That week I started producing and Djing so I wasn’t Djing before I was producing and I wasn’t producing before I was DJing and now I am here.

- So how do you balance producing and playing shows with school?

ALEX: I probably wasn’t the greatest with school this year, but hopefully next year I will have my shit together.

- What year are you in right now?

ALEX: I am going into my Junior year.


- So you got a ways.

ALEX: I got a ways to go, unfortunately.

- You have a following now, and you say the craziest stuff on Twitter, so what’s that about?

ALEX: Alright. My Twitter, I think it is important to be an interesting person so you got to be about your fans and I love my twitter fans more then my Facebook fans because they don’t understand my humor yet, I guess that comes with that it will eventually happen, but I don’t know. I don’t actually smoke meth.

- Or do bath salts?

ALEX: I’m all about being weird. I don’t care what people think. It’s very cool that I have people supporting me and people think I am funny because you know, that’s awesome. Twitter is definitely my favorite form of communication on social networking so if you guys want to follow me on twitter. I am like “Mom, don’t read my twitter”.

- [Towards Alex's Mom] - As his mom and his manager, how do you balance?

ALEX: She is like a smart manager I guess because she comes to all the shows with me so. All the DJ’s that like play shows love her. They buy her drinks. Yeah we have fun. Everyone is super nice that’s like the one thing that. A year ago I wasn’t playing shows at all actually eight months ago I wasn’t playing shows. My first show ever was at Roxy in Orlando in January and it was just so cool how cool everyone has been. Promoters are awesome, DJ’s are awesome, the support I’ve gotten just in the last couple months has been amazing.

- Are you playing anywhere this summer?

ALEX: I am playing probably a couple shows in August and then I am playing the Electro Music Festival in August as well.

- What’s your favorite track right now?

ALEX: That’s a tough one, a really tough one. Wait favorite track like electronic music wise?

- Anything either one, both.

ALEX: Probably my favorite hip-hop track right now is either hold my liquor by Kanye or maybe Tom Ford on the Jay-Z album. Electronic music wise, we’ve got Garrix killing it on Animals, that track is insane. I will probably have to say that my favorite track… this is so tough.

- The last song you were jamming to.

ALEX: The last song I was jamming to was a song called Hot Damn by I think they are called Tropkillaz? Or something. It was one of those twerky songs but I was like damn. But last song I was like damn damn to was called Crystalssss by this guy Awe and he’s amazing. This guy is next hype now.

- Your look, how is that going to develop? Are you going to keep it or you know, everyone thats up and coming one day they are one thing and then the next day theyturn into Riff Raff.

ALEX: I am thinking all gold everything. Solid gold pants, t-shirt, backpack.