Artist to know: Alex Winston

A Q&A with the inventive pop artist about her new album Bingo!

In 2012, Alex Winston released her debut album, the “wildly unique King Con,” as music writer Dan Ozzi put it, “a bombastic and confident burst of weirdo pop that was a bit ahead of its time.” Twelve years later, she has finally returned with her sophomore album, Bingo! It’s just as delightful, whimsical, and ambitious.

But why the decade-long wait? Well, the best place to read all about it is Ozzi’s newsletter, where he chats with Winston about her many “major label horror stories,” and the road back to making this record. Here’s the quick TLDR:

Shortly after signing with Island, Winston and King Con got swept into another label, V2, and largely got lost in the shuffle. Without tour support or a marketing push, King Con did not get the chance it deserved. She then signed with the Lyor Cohen-founded 300 Entertainment and made a follow-up record in 2015 which ultimately got shelved before she was dropped. After these frustrating major label experiences, Winston took a long break to regroup and reimagine her music career. But the more time that went by, the harder it got to step back into the ring. There were the practical challenges of how to scale down her big-budget style to a more manageable level, but also the emotional challenges of overcoming years of crushing disappointments. 

Over email, I got to ask Winston a few follow-up questions about her fantastic new album, her approach to collaboration, plans for a potential tour, and influences. Our full conversation is below.

Of the many things I love about Bingo! — I'm particularly blown away by just how *big* it all sounds. I know you mentioned working with a smaller budget and team, but the swells and flourishes on "Stassia" // "Swampland" // "Special Feeling" and others feel as massive as anything on King Con. Was that a conscious effort to have these still be theatrical, ambitious songs — and how did you accomplish that this time around? 

I'm not sure it was intentional but it seems to be where I always end up! I like to create a world around my songs, but sometimes that can be a crutch too.  I will say, lyrically, these songs are nostalgic, but also frustrated and indulgent at times, so there is a thickness or sort of sticky swampy feeling that I wanted to come through in the production.  I told myself the next record is going to be stripped down, we'll see how that goes.

On a related note — can you talk about your approach to collaboration on this record? I know you mentioned working with producer Thomas Onebane, I'm curious what that dynamic was like? 

I love to collaborate. There is something really exciting to me about exchanging ideas and seeing what small moment can spark inspiration or lead you down a path you weren’t expecting. Thomas and I work well together because we both have similar taste but different strengths. Thomas is a fantastic guitar player, so working with him really helped me to expand musically — to not rely on my go-to chord structure or time signature. Things like that. It was also important for me to work with someone who was patient enough to let me explore what I needed to, even if I wound up where I started, which I often times did. 

How about the other vocalists and instrumentalists you worked with? Where did you record most of it and how did the process go compared to past experiences? How did you approach being a fully independent artist without label support but still pulling in these contributors to help give the record a full feeling?

I am fortunate enough to have very talented friends who understand the plight of being an independent artist. Though most of the production was just me and Thomas in various home studios, Jacob Schreiber and Aaron Steel added drums, Kelly Pratt played horns, and Nigel Hemmye, Max Hershenow and Simon Oscroft added additional production.  

I've been loving the "Bingo! Inspo!" playlist you put out, so many gems. Between Liz Phair, Madonna, Beck, and Sheryl Crow, I noticed a lot of '90s pop on there. What is it you love the most about that sound? Do you think there's an element of that sound missing from a lot of today's pop and indie rock that you're trying to recapture?

There is definitely some childhood nostalgia in there for me, but also just really good songwriting that fused genres together in really interesting, fun ways. Madonna's "Don't Tell Me" was on repeat when I wrote the record. I love that guitar part so much! but I also love the surreal elements in the production of that song. It wasn't just "Madonna doing country" it was cool and different. I'm also a massive Sheryl fan, she is an incredible storyteller. 

I hate to even ask you this based on your quote at the end of Dan's article ("People are like, 'Well, what are you going to do now? Are you going to tour? What's next?' I'm like, I don't fucking know!'") But, now that it's been a few weeks...any updates? I, for one, can't wait to hear these songs live! 

Haha that answer hasn't changed. I will say, one downside to writing a "big" sounding record (your words not mine!) is to try and strip it back to something that could make sense to perform live, financially and also musically, but its something I'm thinking about. I will say, being in the studio and writing is where I am happiest these days. 

Finally, this is an extremely indulgent question, but — I'm curious if you have any affinity for any of the "remixes" from your old albums? My friends and I were obsessed with the RAC and King Charles remixes of "Velvet Elvis" that soundtracked our summers in 2012, plus the Star Slinger "Sister Wife" remix. I'm super curious if you view them as foundly as we do or do you view them as unfortunate remnants from your label horror stories!?

I like them all! The Darwin Deez Velvet Elvis remix is maybe my favorite. It’s absolutely unhinged and I love it.