To celebrate our 9th birthday, we caught up with ALIGN to discuss 9 topics, ranging from his favourite artists, favourite beer, upcoming singles and more.
T.H.E – Upcoming Singles
ALIGN – I’m releasing multiple singles from my EP moving forward all of which showcase new elements of my sound. I’m excited to share these to show what I’ve been experimenting with.
T.H.E – Favorite Festivals / played and attended
ALIGN – My favorite festival that I’ve played is North Coast Music festival in Chicago. My favorite festival that I’ve ever attended is Electric Forest. Both offer really different vibes, but bring everyone together to listen to good music at the end of the day.
T.H.E – Upcoming show plans
ALIGN – As long as we’re allowed to have shows in October, I’m planning on my headline show taking place at the end of the month. (Oct 28th @ Schubas). I’m really looking forward to this one because I’ve had a lot of downtime to make the show special during COVID. I’ve re-created a lot of songs, and I’ve remixed some of my own stuff too. All together, I think it’s going to be a really cool night.
T.H.E – Favourite artists
ALIGN – Currently Kaskade (especially all his Redux stuff), Kygo, Odesza, Bonobo. There’s a lot of house music out there in general right now, and I’ve really been enjoying listening to as much of it as I can.
T.H.E – Inspirational places to travel
ALIGN – There’s something to be said about being on the beach. Whether that’s on the east coast, west coast, or outside of the US, it’s always so nice and relaxing. I grew up going to beach vacations, so I’m in love with it. Generally speaking, Mexico is probably my favorite place to vacation right now.
T.H.E – Food + Beverage favourites
ALIGN – Sparkling Water, Coffee, Beer (Pilsner, Kolsch)
T.H.E – Inspiration for songs
ALIGN – Living in Chicago, I love the summers, and in the winter, I miss the warm weather and the beach. I think a lot of the reason I write the music I write is in the feeling of missing the warm weather. I kind of get into the summer headspace when I’m able to lock myself inside when it’s fall and winter time to write music. When it’s summer here, I’m out enjoying it as much as possible.
T.H.E – Plans moving forward out of COVID
ALIGN – First and foremost is my EP that fully releases early June. After that, my live show is another main focus for me as well, I think that will show the next evolution where my sound is going. I’m also planning on teaming up with some fitness instructors to do some things like Yoga DJ sets.
T.H.E – Lessons learned during COVID
ALIGN – It was nice to have some downtime, I was really able to be introspective. My lesson learned is that “if you think you want to do it, you should”. There were some experiences that I missed out on pre-covid, and being stuck inside for a year, I had wished that I took advantage of them. I’m excited for things to open up to travel, and start playing shows.
Stream ALIGN’s “California Coast” here.
