Alex Rivers

Some more Ollie ❤️ 2024

Me drawn in various art styles by my talented artist friend Julian Castaneda. His only prompt being the fact I LOVE being a shape shifting alien 2024

My studio session as a feature on McCafferty’s song The Life of an Artist. The leads of the band are Nick & Emily (The two in blond and pink hair respectively). I remember busking like any other day outside when these two came across me and tipped me. Soon enough, Nick reached out to me and invited me to work with him on the band’s music after we chatted about video games & movies online for a bit.

I was shocked because I had never really considered doing that before. I’ve lived a pretty odd-one-out life and never felt like I quite fit in anywhere, especially artistically. My ideas seemed too out-there to so many people and I think lots of times people stop listening half way through the times I open up to them. So I’ve always been a solo artist. But Nick and Emily got to know me as a person first over dinner. They believed in me and they saw me as someone worth giving a chance to. That meant alot to me and I wanted to live up to the expectation especially with how McCafferty is already a very established band & I wanted to uphold that standard as a nobody lol. I also felt like it was alot of pressure & I didn’t know how the fans of the band would react. My writing style has always been to pop/electronic/dance music and McCafferty’s sound is more punk/raw/gritty.

I said yes to the offer because Nick was ambitious about the idea and it motivated me to try something new and I wanted to prove myself! I remember making several versions to the song we were doing to show him what he might like most and he let me pretty much give the interpretation that I wanted to on the song. Nick took us to Five Guys after we got done recording. Even though I didn’t personally know the band much yet, for a moment I felt apart of something like a “family” of sorts instead of an outsider. When the song was released I was so relieved that most of the fans loved it even though it was so different. I kind of wanted the music to feel cozy and warm as we made it in the Winter and I liked that the violin part conveyed that. I also LOVE the art for the song. (Thanks Emily!) The whole band are really kind and considerate people. 2023

I wanted to dedicate this post to Danielle, my first and only personal dance teacher I had instructing me through many different routines for the preperation of AGT. That year was the most life changing year not just because of that TV show but because Danielle’s lessons made me evolve drastically in the span of a couple months.

Playing the violin and dancing simultaneously is really unnatural. Early on it felt like I had to re wire my brain to do both and when I’d try my whole body would lock up. It takes many years to make it feel natural.

Sometimes the lessons felt too demanding especially cause I don’t like to work out past cardio but she was making me do crunches and so much more on top of the choreo and everything burned so much. Alot of the time I wasn’t even mentally there but Danielle would give me talks and remind me that I’m capable. I was still super determined and got through this. My performances to this day still are a reflection of her teachings, her style, and her discipline.

I also was releasing my first original album that year and also was in the process of moving out of Las Vegas to Seattle. This was the last moments of my time in Las Vegas and honestly I was really overwhelmed with emotions and still going through trouble with the police while performing on the street.

Oh and that equipment on my back when I’m working weighs around 20 lbs. I had to wear it that way and play while I walked so that I couldn’t be cited by police for “obstructing traffic”. I even spray painted some empty plastic jars green and attached them to my hips to get tips in them!

Lastly, that is me in my house streaming my home performances to Reddit and TikTok in my living room, practicing scales on my acoustic violin in the mirror, and at the very end I work on recording and production in my apartment’s guest bedroom.

I always wanted to make a documentary of my work in Las Vegas before I left so James and I did that before we moved out of there. These are some images from it (Day In The Life of a Street Performer on my YouTube channel) 2022