October 2015 - Alex Mendenall
Archaeology & Acoustic Guitars: A Tale of Dinosaurs & Musical Paths
Story by LCC Radio Reporter Sarah Spohn
What
was planned to be a life full of velociraptors, tyrannosaurus rexes and
archaeological digs, took a seriously different turn for 23 year old Alex
Mendenall. The Mason native spent his entire life enjoying history and planning
to pursue the path of archaeology.
“Growing up, I was obsessed (still am) with dinosaurs and paleontology,”
Mendenall said. “That was what I wanted to do right up until applying for
college.”
But just as the student was busy unveiling old bones, and sources of lives long
since passed, so was he uncovering a new discovery- his future in music. He had
grown up dancing around to Frank Sinatra, played music in sixth grade, been in
concert band and performed the alto saxophone with his family band, Coolidge.
Music was never really ‘the plan’ though. Mendenall was comfortable going along
with life on the path laid before him the traditional track: high school,
college, work, retirement. All that changed after he lost his father. Suddenly,
life’s big picture became much clearer.
“In my second year at
MSU, in November of 2011, my dad
passed away and that changed everything for me. I suddenly understood the value
of time and how short life really is,” he said. “My dad’s passing taught me to
never hurry through things; be present in every moment and take advantage of
every opportunity.”
Perhaps the best lesson he learned from loss was to “live incredibly",
Mendenall’s current mantra on life. The student began spending more time
learning chords on the dusty acoustic guitar he had been given when he was 14.
He focused on writing songs and fronted the group Phantom Fundamental with his
high school buddies. During senior year of college, while peers and professors
were discussing grad school, Mendenall was focused on performing music.
Fast-forward to 2015 and the folk singer-songwriter is doing music full-time.
Mendenall describe his ‘hard-to-pin-down sound'.
“I take elements of soul like jazzy and extended chords, interesting
progressions, and expressive melodies and combine them with the earthy,
heartfelt feel and storytelling of folk music,” he said.
Plans change, and turns out, he is not for the traditional plans society set for
the 23-year-old.
“I struggle with the monotony and rigidity of traditional jobs as I know many
others do,” he said. “I just have this innate hunger for freedom and it’s really
almost debilitating when every facet of society dictates for you to be still and
unchanging.”
Plenty of changes have taken place since Alex’s musical debut. Starting out in a
family band, transitioning to a frontman, then going solo could have been enough
for an entire album worth of content. But the story continues, with Alex then
performing as a folk pop duo with Rachel & Alex, and now returning back to a
solo artist. Having met Rachel Curtis in December of 2013, they became a duo in
February, wrote and released their EP, Nights Like These
and played incredible festivals. Alex spoke about being part of the popular duo
and now, moving on. “We were both happy and surprised with the very positive
reception we received and enjoyed tremendous support,” Mendenall said.
The success and support made it hard for the duo to continue on separate ways.
“At the end of the day, I think we reached a point where we were ready for
something fresh and exciting again, just as the duo was when it started.”
Currently working on his third EP, Mendenall’s craving for adventures has taken
him plenty of places on tour. His travels and experiences have led to material
he’s most proud of. Armed with his anthropology and archaeology studies, the
singer songwriter is thankful for his arts and sciences background. “I think
it’s so important to learn things like culture and history and the scale of the
universe,” he said.
After a 2-week summer tour across Appalachia and New England, the singer found
himself amongst many brand new experiences. “From getting lost and wandering
around Charlottesville, Virginia at 3 a.m. to seeing a midnight NYC skyline and
walking across the Brooklyn Bridge; the tour was life changing,” Mendenall said,
“and I hope to spend the rest of my life doing it.”
MUSIC & LINKS
Official WebsiteSoundCloud
ReverbNation
BandCamp
YouTube
iTunes
Amazon