Alexander Wren Deck

“To a God, a woman, and an audience all unbeknownst to me...”

To Whom It May Concern, is my debut record and serves as a formal introduction to my work as a songwriter and artist. The project is an amalgamation of 12 songs picked from my 500+ catalogue – many of which I wrote during an 8-year stint living in Nashville after skipping college. It was produced by Micah Tawlks (COIN, Usher, Hayley Williams) who I believe captures my affinity for the tradition and magic found within classic American genres and recordings. The result is a nostalgic yet somehow timeless soundscape as if it were made from a peculiar and entirely unplaceable era.

Everything about this album has a story to tell. From the songs, to the recordings, to the photo and design; it’s all intentional. I’ve lived all of it.

Take for example, single, Full Time Blues. After a year spent doing exhaustive research and outreach seeking potential industry help, I was met with seemingly incessant rejection; I decided that the burden lay upon me to see my vision through independently. The song depicts my years of wearing hairnets, cleaning toilets, and scraping dead rats off the city sidewalk, in order to fully fund the creation and marketing efforts of my project. Similarly, the understated country B-side, Barely, which started as a prayer written from a hospital bed, unpacks a near decade long struggle with anxiety disorder. Current outward looking issues are also explored, like the uniquely American pandemic of mass-murder gun-violence.

While other young indies strive for mood and vibes and trend, I am solely interested in the song - the memorability of a lyric and melody. And I am beginning to see this as a key difference of mine and even leaning into it as my strength. In a world in search of instant gratification, I find beauty most profoundly embodied in the forgotten – simplicity, craftsmanship, and the like. And these days I’m starting to think of music less as a vehicle for popularity in the 21st century, rather, a rich sociological tradition that we all get the chance to participate in.

I’m now based on the Upper West Side of New York City, and I mostly wander around and have coffee at the diner with my 93-year-old friend, Wayne.  

Listen to my record if you’d like. It’s addressed to you.