Diandra Interviews Abraham Alexander: Parting The Waters To Get To A Song
Abraham Alexander is a thoughtful artist; trying to bring a level importance to his songs, which is not always a goal with every artist. Frankly, I understand why; if you think about making something important, you, probably, will take a long time over-thinking. Yet, for Abraham Alexander, you cannot nor should you avoid that life has a lot of questions and wounds that need to be acknowledged, and, in our interview, we discuss the depth behind his songs.
Diandra: You started writing music after a leg injury altered your athletic career. What do you feel that instance taught you about loss and pushed you to put in song?
Abraham: I think pain is, definitely, a good thing. There is always something you can learn from pain and loss, and it is something everyone can relate to in a fashion. It helped me be relatable to myself, and being able to write was therapeutic because it helped me to let go of something that was so major in my life. It gave me a new perspective. Throughout the centuries, music has always helped people connect and change perspectives.
Abraham Alexander – Stay (Official Video)
Diandra: You approach racial issues with your music. Why do you feel, at times, black beauty and culture is more appreciated than its people and creators?
Abraham: That is PHENOMENAL question. I think our culture is so beautiful and so dynamic and constantly changing and molding society. I think, sometimes, for individuals it is hard to give credit where credit is due like, blues, jazz, and Hip Hop. When I address this, with my music, it is not something that I, necessarily, was trying to shed a light through but it was something I was going through. Music sheds light upon darkness, and the easiest way to transfer the spiritual to the physical is to write it down. These were the things I was dealing with, and putting pen to paper was my way of figuring out how I can help.
Diandra: And I felt that in “America,” and I wonder if you see music as a way for blackness to mark its presence and history in America, despite so many times of being threatened or erased?
Abraham: Music has been, throughout our history, has been our most powerful medium of expression. Going back to slavery, it was our hymns that connected us and the civil rights movement, as well: Sam Cooke’s “Change Is Gonna Come.” Music has been our way of pushing us to keep going on, and I do not believe that will ever go away. Music will always be our most powerful tool as long as we are true to ourselves and where we come from.
Abraham Alexander – Lover’s Game | Mahogany Session
You have said we are all searching for truth. What are some truths you found about yourself in songs?
Abraham: That I can be myself and am good enough, just by being myself. It can be a slippery slope when we are trying to be like someone else. Yes, we have influences. I would be lying if I said I didn’t have influences; growing up in Greece and experiencing different cultures. Yet, I think there is something “original” in all of us that we have to take notice and hone in on. In music, I felt like I can be myself and see that my stories are not just my own. I can share them and heal people. We are strangers in a room, when we play, and, by the end of it, we become a family. Through a song, we all see how much we relate.
Diandra: What do you feel Lover’s Game says about who you are or want to be in relationships?
Abraham: I want to be just. Everyone can relate to Lover’s Game because we go through this cycle in love. We go through a cycle of pain or boredom, and we think that is normal. In a relationship, I want to be a man that is constant. Constantly healing. Constantly present. Constantly loving. In this society, we love out of lacking. I want to be with someone so I can feel better or so they can complete me. That is dangerous to them and ourselves. We need to love from abundance. We need to love others from how much we love ourselves. We need to love and help each other grow.
Diandra: Your parents are immigrants,. How do you feel their stories inspired yours, especially when it comes to achieving dreams?
Abraham: Never taking anything for granted and realizing how much someone has sacrificed for me to get in a room. If everyone went forward with their sacrifice, somebody gave time and effort from their self, to be here. It would be disheartening to ignore their blood, sweat, and tears, and not move forward with what I have been gifted.
Diandra: What is you favorite book and/or film that you would love to transfer into a song?
Abraham: There is one called, “Parting The Waters.” It is phenomenal and is about black history and Martin Luther King. It makes him the center of it all, and it is written by Taylor Branch. It would be really hard to do. He is one of my all-time favorite authors. Then, there is The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin. In the second page, it goes, “God destroyed to earth with water the first time. No more water. Fire The Next Time.” It is very intense and he writes to his nephew about his dad, which is his brother, and all the images he uses I would love to do a song about it.
Abraham Alexander – “America” – KXT Live Sessions
Diandra: I think Baldwin literally spoke to every Puerto Rican aunt before writing that quote because I was raised with that religious idea. “No more water, fire next time!”
Abraham: It is crazy though. It is absolutely insane. He is phenomenal; the way he thinks and articulates.
Diandra: Maybe, you can write a song for each chapter of their books and then name the album after the book like, Fire The Next Time or Parting Waters.
Abraham: Yoooooo! That is fire! That is such good idea.
Diandra: Please put me in the dedications in the album.
He laughs ….. I don’t
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