Half a decade later, we’re nonetheless making an attempt to untangle how a send-up of vapid EDM one way or the other grew to become genuinely, unironically beloved.
The world has modified lots in 5 years, however one factor stays fixed: the cultural footprint left by “A Little Bit Alexis,” Alexis Rose’s gloriously kitschy anthem from Schitt’s Creek. It is a present that retains on giving, very like Moira Rose’s vocabulary.
When Schitt’s Creek star Annie Murphy took middle stage as Alexis—socialite, jet-setter and reformed get together lady—the campy monitor was meant to be nothing greater than a punchline. However “A Little Bit Alexis” rapidly grew to become a phenomenon, immortalizing Alexis’ wild and eccentric vitality by the use of shameless lyrics laced by way of a pulsing, formulaic electro home beat.
Her deliberately chaotic choreography and pitch-imperfect supply solely made it extra iconic.
In crafting this earworm, the Emmy Award-winning actress teamed up along with her real-life husband, musician Menno Versteeg, who stepped in as co-producer alongside his Hollerado bandmate Nixon Boyd. Murphy, the mastermind behind Alexis’ endearingly delusional pop star second, says they could not get by way of the recording with out laughing.
“Not even close,” Murphy tells EDM.com. “In fact, it was the laughing that made the song what it was. As soon as someone would cackle or blurt out, ‘Oh my god that’s so dumb,’ we would immediately record whatever that idea was.”
Numerous spontaneous dance events and karaoke catastrophes later, the monitor has amassed over 10 million digital streams and even managed to land on Billboard’s US Dance/Digital Songs chart, the place it climbed to a peak of #21. Within the annals of fictitious dance-pop stardom, who’d have guessed that Alexis’ squawking vocals about costly sushi and cute enormous yachts—and being somewhat bit single even when she’s not—would outlast her quarter-hour of fame?
“Sometimes the corniest answer is the only answer, okay?!” Murphy explains. “The most meaningful impact was seeing the giggles and the goofiness that it brought people. Seeing it being performed at drag brunches, or watching people do their own versions of it during lockdown, complete with the ‘choreography’ was incredibly special.”
When that rhinestone-encrusted lyrical cyclone swept by way of our playlists in 2019, it left us perpetually modified—and barely confused. It is a far cry from the uncooked indie-rock sound of Versteeg, who will quickly launch a brand new solo album, Why We Run.
That distinction, Versteeg says, is what made the music such a blast to provide.
“We knew it had to be kitschy and over-the-top, so the mandate was: check your restraint and indie sensibilities at the door,” Versteeg explains. “We sat down in the studio and immediately pulled up the video for ‘Work Bitch’ by Britney Spears. We didn’t even look at another thing. We came back the next day and Nixon had that awesome bassline… Yes it definitely sounds very similar. That was the point: derivative, catchy and fun.”
Kendel Carson
Why We Run is ready to drop December thirteenth on Versteeg’s personal label, the Toronto-based Royal Mountain Information. Followers of “A Little Bit Alexis,” after all, will not hear the identical indifferent, fantastically brazen trash-pop on the album.
However they will discover themselves at dwelling due to the playful unpredictability of Versteeg, who says he and Murphy “have taken some of the experience of writing this song into our other work.”
Look no additional than the wild music video for “Bad Dog,” a monitor about Versteeg’s canine greatest buddy, Roger. He says Roger is a cuddle monster that everyone loves, however within the video, he is “a sword-wielding, freebasing, peanut butter-gobbling ‘treat’ dealer” to all of his and Murphy’s buddies’ canine.
With tinctures of traditional rock’s soulful authenticity, there is a gritty honesty and raspy heat in Versteeg’s sound. Identical to the lifetime of Alexis in Schitt’s Creek, his music has at all times felt like a soundtrack to a fantastically imperfect life and the search to make sense of its messiness.
With that in thoughts, it is truthful to marvel if Versteeg cannot solely reconcile the enduring enchantment of “A Little Bit Alexis,” but additionally stability inventive integrity with industrial viability within the face of its runaway success. It is inconceivable to not second-guess artistic selections and puzzle over their implications, imagining if they could change into half of popular culture years down the road.
Versteeg believes music that stays true to itself holds worth past success and strikes folks deeply, whether or not it is present in a totemic TV present or a dimly lit dive bar with graffiti-covered partitions.
“I believe that artistic integrity always has to come first, but also that every form of art at every level of ‘success’ can be done with integrity,” he explains. “Coming up with original ways to express thoughts and feelings, helping people feel something inside themselves, or helping people escape themselves… great art does this weather it’s hanging on the wall in the Tate or being sung to three people in the pub down the street.”
“Some things make money, others never will. Part of being a true artist is following your own path, regardless of how bumpy or smooth it gets.”
Versteeg is now blazing that path’s path on a North American tour, to which followers should buy tickets right here. His upcoming album, Why We Run, is now obtainable for pre-order.
c/o Royal Mountain Information
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