At just 19 years old, Alex Spencer has quickly established a name for himself within the UK’s indie music scene, known for his upbeat tunes and coming-of-age lyricism. Born in Barcelona and brought up in Manchester, music has always been on the cards: “My dad got a guitar for his birthday when I was about 10, and he played the same songs over and over again, and I thought, “you know what, I'm just gonna pick up a guitar”, and from there, it all began.” 

Spencer has just finished his UK headline tour, with every night feeling like a hometown show: “That’s how crazy it was, everything felt next level.” He performed to his home crowd at Manchester’s Academy 2 back in February, a moment he said “you couldn’t beat!”. For Spencer, live music is an escape, “I want everyone to come and have a good time, leave with a smile, and just enjoy themselves to the fullest. Obviously, people have a lot of stuff going on in their lives, and I feel like gigs are a form of escapism.”

Spencer also reflects on the recent opportunity to support Louis Tomlinson on his EU arena tour next month, a major step up in both exposure and crowd size: "I've always liked his music; he’s always been supportive of the indie scene. I was commenting on his posts, and the day after my Birmingham show, his manager emailed "Are you up for it?” and I was like “Yeah!”. They sent me the full thirty dates, and I was telling myself, “don’t get your hopes up”, but the Friday after, I got a call confirming I’d be on the first 10 dates of the tour.

One of the most surreal moments of his career came when he performed at Manchester’s Etihad Stadium: “It was crazy, I’ve been a big City fan all my life”. Looking ahead at where he’d like to play next, Spencer says, “Reading and Leeds Festival - hopefully I’ll be playing there this summer, fingers crossed."

Singles ‘Farewell to Forever’ and ‘Masks’, have gained traction from their underlying messages, with the latter being a powerful anthem about the stigma around mental health - the “most vulnerable” he has ever been. “I’ve got another EP coming up,” he says, “it’s the first time I’ve written from the heart and about how I’m feeling. I feel like I’m growing up, everything’s maturing, I’ve left college now, doing music full time.”

When asking what fans can expect for the rest of the year, Spencer replies confidently: “bigger and better things. I feel like the fans are getting behind me, and it’s made me so much more confident as an artist. It’s made me believe that I can do it, and that I should keep writing songs.”

Micha Thompson
@x.micharose.x

Image: Isabelle Offer

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