Xavia Claire Alice's music is enigmatic. It's comforting yet deeply unsettling. It's fantasitical, otherworldly, yet familiar. Both removed and visceral, empathetic and estranged. You really have to listen to it. It's music you could fall asleep to, and perform a seance to.
With soft, almost childlike vocals, Xavia lends an element of broken innocence to the songs she covers-- whether it's Daniel Johnston or nursery rhymes. She's self-aware, but still sings with so much emotion that you can hear her heart break in every tremor of her voice. Listening to her songs is like experiencing the same story through a multitude of perspectives-- you're Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf, the naive and the wise, the romantic and the cynic, the magical and the human.
If you were to compare your body of work to a fairy tale, what fairy tale would it be and why?
Although I have other favorites, I would relate my work most to Little Red Riding Hood. The story of trusting someone only to find out they take your innocence away is a similar story line to a lot of my writing.
How would you describe the style of your music?
Describing my music has always been hard for me. I used to define as a made up genre of Fairy Folk. The newer things I’m making will be much different as I’ll be breaking away from acoustic style, I’ll always stick to my sad and somber lyrics though. I love to tell stories and paint visuals for listeners.
Do you usually come up with lyrics first or melodies?
I have always written lyrics first. My songs are very lyrically driven above anything else.
What do you look to for inspiration?
Almost everything I’ve written has come from my life stories. I have schizophrenia and a lot of my writing is influenced by that, sometimes I’ll make up false worlds as well.
Do you think that there's power in being vulnerable?
My writing is very vulnerable to me, it’s like reading from my diary. I don’t know if it’s necessarily powerful to me but it definitely inflicts emotion in others.
What was the most transformative experience of your life?
The most transformative time for me regarding music was when I was sixteen. I discovered DIY music in Worcester, Massachusetts from a former partner of mine. Before that I hadn’t really considered music was something I wanted to do. A lot of things I write are a reflection of that time period.
Do you consider yourself spiritual?
I grew up going to catholic school and although I don’t believe in it I do reference and collect a lot of catholic art. I don’t identify myself as spiritual right now though.
Images used in collage via @rosie.riviera
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