Concert Preview—

Alexa Ray Joel: ‘Don’t Call Me The Piano Girl’

By John Voket

It’s hard to imagine 10 or 20 years down the road, to a time when Alexa Ray Joel is less enthusiastic about media interviews. But even if she becomes more selective — even reclusive — regarding her interactions with the press, it is impossible to imagine Alexa Ray Joel not having an incredible future as a music star.

She has deftly laid a foundation with her six-song EP entitles Sketches, and her MySpace site has been offering appetizing samples of new songs, many of which are undergoing the necessary refinements in preparation for her first full-length project, and for live play.

Anyone interested in seeing this rising star, the daughter of “Piano Man” Billy Joel and Christie Brinkley, can head out to a free show at the Wolf’s Den at Mohegan Sun Casino next Saturday, February 24.

The infectiously bubbly Ms Joel engaged The Newtown Bee for an exclusive interview earlier this week in advance of her Mohegan Sun show, and a Manhattan homecoming at The Mercury Lounge on February 28.

Newtown Bee: So I see from your previous interviews that your favorite club show so far in your entire career was at Toad’s Place — a venue that coincidentally hosted a show with your dad, Billy Joel.

Alexa Ray Joel: It was wonderful! I was very relaxed there. A lot of times I find myself playing in venues in front of a big crowd, and it’s a respectful audience, but the energy isn’t always there. When you’re playing somewhere like Toad’s, it’s like a real rock club experience…you don’t often find that.

The closeness of the people allows you to have an intimate connection with your audience, which I love. The wilder the crowd, the better. When they’re shouting out reactions to the songs and calling for the titles, I really value the interaction.

NB: Second only to looking out and seeing the front row singing along to your songs, right?

ARJ: Well, I think my songs have to get a little more well-known before that happens. But actually it happened once.

It was a show in New York City where a couple of people were singing along, I think it was “Now It’s Gone.” People in the Northeast are a little more familiar with my material. It’s really amazing to see someone singing along in the audience, a real confidence booster.

NB: I heard you refer to yourself as a control freak, and that you get that from both your mom and dad. Does that mean you have a hand in every aspect of your music experience, from which instruments play which parts of the songs live to how the final mix of a recording is produced?

ARJ: For some songs the instrumentation happens a little more naturally. For the Neil Young cover on the EP (“Don’t Let It Bring You Down”) I just told them make it edgy. I already came up with my own soulful vocal styling for the song, and everyone went with the vibe. When that happens it’s a beautiful thing.

But from song to song, the musicians are so good that a lot of times I’ll just give them a general direction, like “think funk” or “make it edgy.” It’s important for them to get a vibe going for themselves and help an arrangement take on its own life. Otherwise it can become kind of stiff if it’s just all my own input.

NB: Some artists say that when they create a song, or even a piece of a song they are bringing in to the full group, there’s just no compromising on how they hear it in their head.

ARJ: I think that’s true too for some things, for others I don’t. I’m working on a new song that I haven’t even played for the band yet. I hear the guitar part in my head and I know exactly how I want it. I don’t play guitar, so I’ll just hum it to the guitar player, and he’s so good he’ll just pick it right up from there.

NB: There’s some pretty cool stuff on your MySpace site. Is it some of the same material on Sketches with new takes on the arrangements?

ARJ: I always encourage people to go to the MySpace site if they already heard the EP, because it’s new material and extra stuff. The song “Sapphire Night” I’ll definitely be putting on the full-length project. “For All My Days,” we have a nice acoustic version which we are doing live.

I’m almost a bigger fan of the stuff at MySpace because I got sick of the EP stuff awhile ago — we recorded that last May.

NB: I was pretty impressed with that arrangement on “For All My Days” – it sounds like you just ran tape on the first take.

ARJ: We literally just threw it together. I wrote that whole song that night in my head. So by four or five in the morning I was so hyper and excited, my boyfriend, who conveniently is my bass player, really liked it so we kind of worked it out and ran tape on the second run through and it came out.

I actually am getting a lot of feedback on that from people who say we should do it like that live.

NB: Do you cover other artists material live?

ARJ: No, I really just have that Neil Young song. It’s quite a bit of work just getting your own material together.

Believe it or not, my dream is just to have more time to rehearse. As a musician, that’s what you need to do most of the time. But now things are crazy just preparing for the shows, never mind working new material in. I have an idea for maybe doing a cover of “Tempted,” by Squeeze, but that’s down the road.

NB: How does all this promotion affect your ability to balance the creative side of the songwriting? You’re obviously a talented singer-songwriter, but your also becoming a product of the music business. Is it a real tightrope walk, yet?

ARJ: I’m not fully in the swing of being a product yet, because I haven’t signed a record deal – that’s when it’s going to be all about promotion and imaging and all about the product.

Growing up with my parents, I’m very familiar with the industry and marketing and such. I find the media very interesting. I’m always watching, so the media doesn’t scare me. It’s very natural for me to do interviews and photo shoots… I really have fun with it. I think it would be really scary for me if I wasn’t my parents daughter because I wouldn’t have the experience of seeing anybody dealing with the press firsthand.

I would love to be the perfect combination of my mom and dad. My mom is so sweet and so charming with the press, and yet my dad is so grounded and has a healthy skepticism about the media. I hope I can develop that good mix, a good balance.

NB: You have “Now It’s Gone,” on the EP which is a touching and very personal song about your mom’s former relationship. Have you started working on a song about your dad?

ARJ: There’s a new song called “Hard as Hell,” that I wrote a couple of months ago that we’re going to start working out with the band. It’s so funny because it’s about feeling the pressure of being my father’s daughter and how do you compare to a legend. And trying not to compare yourself, even though he’s such a huge part of everything I am.

NB: I know you spent hundreds of hours at your father’s side watching him play a piano, and probably playing along. Are there any other contemporary piano players you admire or listen to all the time?

ARJ: I think of the piano as a tool I use to create my music. For the shows I just play a few songs and let my keyboard player take over for me.

That’s a real difference between me and my father. I have a love for singing, and I think that comes much more naturally to me. My dad’s big love is piano playing. I actually joke about it, but I plan on going back to taking piano lessons. Piano is really hard for me, and it’s something that’s important to have, but I’m nothing like my father, or Elton John. Don’t call me “The Piano Girl.”