Deep velvety vocal lines weave around a wandering folk guitar. Alex Golisti is a refreshing break from the loud band-driven Leeds music community.
How long have you been working on your solo project?
This current thing, like a year and a bit.
What are your biggest inspirations as an artist and how do they influence your music?
The normal kinda stuff inspires me: like people I bump into, or when I’m driving around in my mate’s car. Vonnegut, he’s got a lot to answer for. Anything that pulls my head out my arse.
Have you found that music scenes differ between where you’ve lived before and Leeds?
There’s a lot more jazz-based stuff going on here, which is neat to be around. There’s a broader range of stuff, but its a bigger place, so you expect that I guess. There’s a lot more interesting stuff going on here than where I used to live. It was too safe; in a way, there wasn’t like a sense of risk. It was a bit placid; your mind just turns to mush. I’ve been pretty fortunate; I’ve fallen in with a good bunch here and I greatly appreciate that.
But in essence, they don’t work much differently. ‘Scenes’ are often taken too seriously and they become like ever decreasing circles. The world gets smaller, too familiar and fatally repetitive. So it kinda suffocates itself with its own identity and self-awareness? Or something. Just best to just keep it in perspective. I dunno, I sound daft as. I just don’t think people need to get their knickers in a twist about ‘scenes’, it’s here for a little and then it’ll be something else. Or maybe I’m missing the point entirely, so more fool me.
Since moving to Leeds who have your favourite bands been?
I was gonna say Van Houten, but then I read that they’re on the same line-up as [this Issue’s] launch gig [3/2/20]. I should probably avoid some circle jerking, but I’m not; they’re on point, pretty close to a sound I’ve had in my head for a while now but not quite reached yet. There’s a bunch who play tunes down at Cardigan Arms who are a good laugh. They’re good unprompted nights.
Book were great to see, their keys player is annoyingly tasteful. I always enjoy catching Hannah Willwood’s gigs as well as James Shakeshaft’s shows. Anyway, I won’t start a list just so I get invited to the right parties. Though, I would still like to be invited to these parties (good to have something to do between sandwiches).