Alex Lacasse: An Everyday Teen With Extraordinary Talent

With today’s pop and R&B music scene being dominated by the likes of Justin Bieber and Jason Derulo, there is one young Canadian artist looking to add his name to the list. Seventeen-year-old Alex Lacasse was exposed to music at a very young age and hasn’t looked back since then. With his fame starting to grow and his career evolving in the right direction, Youthink caught up with Alex during his press stop in Vancouver to gain insight on how he got into music and what the road to developing his career has been like.

YT: Where did your interest in music and performing come from?
AL: Well I started taking piano lessons when I was six years old. My mom put me into piano, because my grandpa gave my parents some money to spend on their kids. So they decided to put me into piano lessons. My mom always loved music and so did my dad. I started the piano lessons and then my mom bought a karaoke machine and it went from there! By the time I was eight I started taking singing lessons and never stopped.

YT: Has your family always been supportive of your dream or was there a time when they were skeptical?
AL: Oh yeah, they've been really supportive. Well, without the family being behind this, there's no way any of this could have been possible. Just driving to the shows and buying equipment… without my parents' support I would not be singing.

YT: You're very active with your tweets. How have Twitter and other social networks impacted the way you connect with your fans?
AL: That's the biggest thing to socialize with, using those - like MySpace, Twitter and Facebook. If you don't do that then you’re stupid. That's the best way to market yourself. The way I look at it is, If I was able to talk to Justin Timberlake on Twitter I'd be crazy happy! I'd become an even bigger fan. So the way I look at it, I'm obviously super-thankful that I have anyone even writing to me. So I spend a lot of time just writing back just to make sure they know that I care.

YT: How do you feel about being compared to other artists such as Jason Derulo and Justin Bieber?
AL: Well, there is no way I see that as a bad thing. I think that those are two artists that are huge. A lot of people say to me "oh you must hate Justin Bieber," but that's really not true. He's a great artist. I've got a lot of respect for him and he's paved the way for new Canadian artists to actually make it. Before Bieber there was nothing for guys doing pop. There was Shawn Desman and he's made a comeback now but other than that there's been nothing. So he's [Justin Bieber] paved the way for Canadian artists. So I'm really happy to be put into that boat.

YT: What inspires your music and lyrics?
AL: It's all based on relationship stuff. I dated a girl when I was turning 14 till I was 16. So that's like two-and-a-half years, and you can use that one relationship for so many songs. You can use it for when it's going great, you can use it for when you first met her and then you can use it for when it's going bad and when you break up. So I really use that one relationship for most of my songs.

YT: What was it like filming your first music video for your debut single Like This, Like That?
AL: That was pretty cool! It was actually at my school too. So I got all the extras… I got all my friends to be in it, so it was just fantastic; I had all my friends in the video. I even had some teachers from my high school. It was just great.

YT: You are all over Youtube performing covers of songs. How do you choose which songs to cover?
AL: All the songs I am doing are all songs that I love… songs that I want my fans to hear I can put a spin on it. Like, I took a Lady Gaga song and made it completely different and I think it's a lot of fun taking songs that are great songs and then making them my own.

YT: Which song will you be covering next?
AL: I'll have to see what hits the radio soon. I usually just go for the top 40 stuff and take songs that I like. I just did an Usher song. So I'm not too sure what will be next.

YT: Tell us about the night you met Nelly Furtado.
AL: Yeah! I was singing in Toronto for Universal Music with a band. It was our first show as a band. We wanted to show them that we could go across Canada with this, and in the audience there's Nelly Furtado. So I started singing to her and then at the end I met her and her husband. Her husband is actually the sound engineer and writer for Timbaland and he said he wanted to write a song with me so to me that’s crazy!!! So now I could be working with Timbaland. So that was just amazing!

YT: You mention Timbland and brought up Justin Timberlake earlier. Who influences your music?
AL: My music is really like Justin Timberlake type stuff. Growing up I always loved *NSync and I kind of grew up with his music as it changed. I have always been a big pop fan.

YT: What are three songs on your iPod that would surprise your fans?
AL: I really don't listen to anything different. Everything is usually top 40 songs. I can't think of anything crazy. The Lonely Island's song? Funny songs like that. Honestly, I listen to the most generic songs. This is funny though. I like to listen to my own demos. It sounds really weird but I kind of have to do that so that I can see how I can make them better. I spend a lot of time listening to my unfinished demos.

YT: How do you cope with the stress of being a teenager?
AL: Well, this last semester has been the hardest for school, because grade 12 as you get near the end, it is not easy. So keeping up with studying has been the hardest thing. Other than that I don't find it too stressful. I love music and I love doing this, so for me this is great. I couldn't ask for anything better.

YT: You have been so successful in a short period of time. Has it surprised you how quickly things are happening?
AL: I am surprised how quickly it evolves. I've always wanted to do this and I've always wanted to make it happen. There is no one way you can make this happen, it's kind of a series of events that leads to all the success. It's been really, really quick lately and I am just enjoying the ride so far.

YT: How would you like to see your career grow in the next three years?
AL: I just really want to be able to sing more than anything. I want to have a career in singing and be able to travel the world and be able to sing in front of fans on an actual stage. It's one thing to have a song on the radio but to perform it in front of thousands of people… I'm kind of being greedy by saying thousands of people but just to perform in front of an audience who understand my music. So being able to perform, start off across Canada and then maybe one day try to make it into the States too and just be able to sing for the rest of my life would be great.