Conversations with Alex Goeke

Today we’d like to introduce you to Alex Goeke.

Hi Alex, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
Good times with my sister first sparked my love for music. We’d lay around listening to artists like Jason Mraz and Corinne Bailey Rae in her room just absorbing the moment of the music. Soon after, I’d realize my attachment to the lyricism. I definitely was a misunderstood kid, and never really knew how to articulate my thoughts, so I found solace in lyrics for the situations and feelings I knew so deeply, but couldn’t describe on my own. I’d write songs with the neighbor kids who lived in the house behind us and used my drawing notebook to journal lyrical ideas. I’d long kept this love, but never as something I thought I’d be doing now. Then, I heard “Ignorance” by Paramore, and it was inevitable that I would want to pick up a guitar and absolutely shred. Absolutely shredding, however, I don’t know if I can do this day, but I did start lessons at the local Ken Stanton.

Soon after beginning my lessons, my teacher proposed that I try writing a song — the very next lesson I came back with a full song(my first ever). From that moment, I was hooked. He helped me record my very first songs, and I will always be grateful for the purpose that he illuminated for me. For years and years after I’d suck at songwriting and my accompanying open-mic-attendance, even after taking various classes to hone my budding skills. Eventually, one chilly holiday seasoned night during my Junior Year of high school, something clicked in my process and I wrote the first song ever that I felt proud of, “Will”(not out on streaming platforms). I knew then that this was something I had to pursue. Brave by my certainty of purpose, I soon started jumping into opportunity wherever I could find it, attending events with musicians and producers a median-age much older than myself, by myself, to find anyone who could connect with my vision. It wasn’t until I started playing with Jackson Foster from local Atlanta band, Silly Goose, that I understood what was missing— I needed a band. To summarize how we met, months before the pandemic had reached western consciousness, Jackson found me on Instagram and invited me to one of their upcoming shows.

Coming straight off a shift bussing tables at a local Roswell pizzeria, shoes still likely stained with marinara, I came to the last, and my first ever, Kapoorhouse show with a cheese pizza in hand(I might not have known anyone, but I was bound to make friends with a pizza at least, right?) Jackson began drumming for me after that show and so started our professional relationship and our friendship. Then, one week, Jackson informed me that one of his guitarists had injured his wrist in an ATV accident and that he needed someone to fill-in at a skatepark show in seven days time. Of course, me not being able to shred from barely having touched my electric guitar since it entered my possession(I used my acoustic solely as a vessel for chords to write songs to), I said, absolutely, yes, I will. Did it go well? Perhaps not, but it would be the start of my introduction to matters of band membership. I joined Silly Goose months later and through failing many, many times I got somewhat passable at guitar, headbanging, and the ins-and-outs of basic band business and gear nitty-gritty.

Slowly over time, we’d started adding members to gokey, the first who joined aside from Jackson was Foster Wells(Lead Guitar), and then, later, at another skatepark show, we met Kam Haliday who we had dual-wielding keys and bass at the time. Then as the tendency to overcommit yourself would have it, Jackson and I realized we needed to focus on our own respective projects. I was scared out of my mind, didn’t think I was capable to lead, down a drummer, and Kam had returned to DC for college. People have been asking why It’s taken so long for us to get out music after “Let Go”, and this is the principle reason, members are so damn hard to find. Ricky found his way to me by means of an app called Vampr (looks like a dating app, and many people tried to message me like it was, grateful I didn’t give up before we connected on there), and Ruy joined us through a recommendation of a friend. So, here we are, with the wide expanse of possibility in front of us, finally all together and ready to explore where it takes us. We get in the studio in June to record our new project. I hope that our coming project does for others what music has done for me in my life— by donating words to tricky feelings and giving space to relate.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I’m definitely a creative-minded person so all of the other organizing and planning that entails with being a band leader/manager is a lot sometimes. You have to wear so many hats and learn so many different skillsets well. Many of the other gokey members have several full-time commitments, so I only have them for a limited time each week; therefore, I have to be as on top of my game as possible. Additionally, I used to be in the restaurant industry for several years, but I had to step away this year due to a pre-vocal node scare. I’m really living up that starving artist stereotype, I guess, but I’ve also never been able to fully focus my efforts into only the band a few other congruent creative areas, so that has been invaluable.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I really take pride in my lyrics, and the determination I have to find the root of honest truth in a song. Often, I don’t understand exactly how I feel until I start writing a song, but I think that’s what makes my music relatable. I’m never trying to fabricate emotion, and if I have tried, it just doesn’t come out as good as me being real.

Contact Info:

• Website: gokeyatl.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gokeyatl/

Image Credits
Haley Mewborn and visualleighh (Jayleigh H)