Alex Christie
Alex Christie is a local teacher, creative, musician and so much more. Regardless of which artistic hat he is wearing, it undoubtedly has to do with music and sound. His eye-catching UVA biography touts that his work is “vibrant,” “interesting, I guess,” and “responsible for ruining my day.” Despite the hilarity of some of these reactions, he is extremely proud of them. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Alex continued to create his avant-garde and noisy works with synths and saxophone alike. Flashing lights and theatrical elements also grace the stage in some of Alex’s creations.
When Alex had to take a step off the stage and enter the world’s quarantine, he did so with creativity and community outreach. This time for Alex was marked by making some music and teaching Synths for Beginners through The Bridge PAI. Alex noted that this virtual class made art and knowledge more accessible to a larger group of people, and this aspect of the pandemic should continue to be considered in the future. However, Alex told WTJU he also found comfort in cooking with his partner, staying in touch with loved ones and simply having a place to live.
INTERVIEWER: You're listening to WTJU Charlottesville. We talked to Alex Christie for our COVID-19 arts exhibition titled “We Hope This Art Finds You Well.” Alex shared a bit about the experience of online teaching during such a difficult time.
ALEX CHRISTIE: It's this whole community funding the community type of situation. And it was great. I think it sort of proved that as a teacher, you're always thinking about learning goals for your students and that those learning goals should be specifically adjusted to whatever situation you're in. And the situation was we need to have young people engaged in creative artistic practices during this really soul-crushing time. And that was all that needed to happen and that's actually pretty easy to accomplish.
INTERVIEWER: You're listening to WTJU Charlottesville. We talked to Alex Christie for our COVID-19 arts exhibition titled, We Hope This Art Finds You Well. Alex shared a bit about why he enjoys building analog circuits and synthesizers.
ALEX CHRISTIE: I discovered that I cared about this more than a lot of the other music I was making. When something's physical like this, first of all, you kind of like have to deal with it. It's like in physical space and you have to recognize it and ou know, there are a lot of things we'd like to change about the world and I like the idea of putting something physically into the world that I think makes it a little bit more fun or interesting. I discovered that I liked it just for that reason and also because it's unique. There's only one of these, you know, and I can even just enjoy looking at it. And I kind of just discovered that that type of intimate connection with it is more meaningful to me than being able to make music that lots of people care about.
Alex shared a bit about his current favorite synth, which is built into a foldable chessboard. He also wanted to let the record show he created this synth before the release of The Queen’s Gambit and the public’s obsession with chess that followed. The chess pieces are knobs that dictate sound, and this melding of shape and noise is no coincidence. Alex explained that he is interested in the duality of what something is meant to do and what it can also do when turned into a synthesizer. In much of Alex’s work, physicality and music mesh to create an unpredictable listening experience. Look up Alex Christie to learn more about his upcoming projects that may feature glitter, a dissertation turned interactive website, and more physical music pieces.
INTERVIEWER: You're listening to WTJU Charlottesville. We talked to Alex Christie for our COVID-19 arts exhibition titled “We Hope This Art Finds You Well.” We asked Alex about what brought him comfort in such a unique and lonely time.
ALEX CHRISTIE: Honestly, just knowing that I had a place to live and like shelter and access to food was what brought me comfort. I mean, after the election, I think then I started to sort of be able to breathe and take stock of my creative practice a little bit more. And I guess I found comfort in the fact that I stayed connected with the people I love and cared about. And I found comfort in the fact that I kind of got my priorities straight during the pandemic. And I was like, oh, I want to be with certain people regardless of what that means for my career. And part of that was doing this stuff with the bridge, where I was like, oh, I figured out that I can make things happen that I think need to happen. And that seems like a very important skill for me as an artist, because I do think curation and community organizing is an artistic practice.
INTERVIEWER: You're listening to WTJU Charlottesville. We talked to Alex Christie for our COVID-19 arts exhibition titled “We Hope This Art Finds You Well.” Alex shared his feelings about virtual concerts and performing live.
ALEX CHRISTIE: I mean, as an audience member, I kind of liked some of the virtual concerts just because a lot of them are like super long. And I like to like walk around my kitchen making dinner or, you know, go get myself a drink and leave the room and come back while the concert's happening. It's kind of nice. but it's a different type of attention. I'm not sitting there super engaged as I would be at a live show. I I performed in front of a live audience, full of physical human beings in a physical space for the first time in June, and it was awesome. And I forgot how wonderful it was to make music for people, and it felt much more like a gift to the audience. And as an audience at those concerts, too, it felt like it was much more of a gift to me, and it was personal and connected in a way that I think is a little intangible but makes sense to a lot of musicians.
INTERVIWER: To find out more, visit artfindsyouwell.org. This is WTJU Charlottesville.