Alix Page Shows a New Level of Maturity in Her Latest Song “25.”

Photos by Dillon Matthew.

Alix Page shows a new level of maturity in her latest song “25.” The song is equally as complex as it is catchy. It moves through time as Page looks both backward and forward at a failed relationship. It is both quiet and loud. The explosive guitar in the song is a new sound for Alix Page. It is such an exciting track and if you can’t already tell, Twenty Minutes Later is a big fan. We got the chance to ask Alix a few questions about her latest release. Read our interview below. 

YOU FIRST POSTED A CLIP OF “25” IN SEPTEMBER OF 2020. WHAT WAS GOING ON IN YOUR LIFE AT THAT TIME? 

I had just finished the song when I posted the Instagram clip. I had the first two verses done in July of 2020, but I didn’t really know what to do with them. And then, in September, I found out new information about the person it's about. That was when I wrote the bridge and finished it. I debated for a while about posting the bridge versus the part of the song that I ended up posting because the bridge is intense. It’s more of a dig on that person and I didn’t want to be that obvious on social media. But when I posted the clip, I was still in the heat of finding out new stuff about this breakup that happened months ago. It was hot off the press, and I was still in my feels for sure. 

DOES THE PERSON KNOW THIS SONG IS ABOUT THEM? 

I don't know. It’s funny because we’re not on bad terms. I’ve run into them a few times and we’ve been fine. I think they probably will know it's about them when the song comes out. But based on the clip, I don’t think they know.  

HOW HAS “25” CHANGED AND EVOLVED SINCE YOU STARTED IT? 

When I first started writing it, it was definitely more reminiscent and melancholy. I had kind of thought that this person and I would be friends in the future and all this other stuff. And then I found out that they had basically started dating the person they had told me not to worry about right after we broke up. When I finished the song, I was angry. The song takes a very clear turn halfway through. It’s been over a year since I’ve finished it and it’s funny because me and this person are now on good terms. It feels so irrelevant now to have this intense song about our relationship. Now I think about my most recent breakup more in terms of relating to this song.  

HOW HAVE YOU CHANGED AND EVOLVED SINCE YOU POSTED THIS TRACK? WHAT’S BEEN GOING ON IN YOUR LIFE OVER THIS PAST YEAR? 

So much has happened this past year. I went through two breakups, there was a pandemic going on, and I was living at home until I moved out this August. I got a haircut and that changed me more than I thought it would’ve. I’ve made a lot of new friends, but simultaneously felt really lonely at the same time—just being in school and away from home. I lost a lot of friends that just moved away or I lost touch with while being at college.  

TELL ME MORE ABOUT THIS LIFE TRANSFORMING HAIRCUT.  

When I got it, I was in a pretty good place. I feel like I didn't even know how much I needed to change until I cut my hair. Then I was a new person, which was so weird because it’s just a haircut. It’s funny, but I felt that I needed that transformation and growth.  

YOU ALSO MENTIONED BEING AT SCHOOL. HOW’S THAT ENVIRONMENT BEEN FOR YOU? 

School's been tough. It was hard not being here freshman year. A lot of people were and did classes online. I missed out on a year of figuring out LA. I almost feel like I’m a little behind. School itself is great. It’s not that competitive of an environment, but in a small music program like USC, you’re very aware of what everyone’s doing and how everyone aligns and what playlists people are getting on and all that stuff. I’ve made a lot of friends here, but I’ve also made a lot of friends that are just people in LA who I’ve connected with for music stuff. The guy who did the music video for “25” has become one of my best friends. It was a filming period of four days, but we just got super tight. And then this guy from my high school acted in it and now we’re like this little friend group. That’s been really fun—just running around LA and being stupid.  

DO YOU GO INTO THE CITY A LOT? 

I have more recently. I went bowling in Highland Park a little bit ago. And I’m seeing Ben Schwartz on Saturday—he’s doing an improv show. I got sushi downtown the other day. I’m trying to get out more.  

IS IT HARD TO BALANCE SCHOOL AND MUSIC? 

Totally. It’s funny because my major is songwriting and so you would think it would be more like “write songs and try to get inspired.” But then you have all this other schoolwork and you’re trying to figure out how to feed yourself and drink enough water and do your laundry. It’s so much more than I thought it would be. Sometimes it’s hard to find the time to do what I'm here for, but I’m making it work. I’ve had time to promote stuff and make a music video and do all that, but it’s been overwhelming.  

DO YOU SEE THAT ANYWHERE IN THE SONG? 

I think so. The second verse, that I didn't post on Instagram, is about the possibility of running into this person when we’re “25.” We have a very small circle and LA is small and so is the music world. I think a lot of the song is about the future and this is a time when we’re all realizing how many different directions our lives could go in. And a lot of that could be living in LA and going to shows and playing shows when we’re “25.” This is such a multilayered song about growing up and relationships and love and loss and just a lot of mixed emotions.  

THE SOUND OF THIS SONG IS VERY DIFFERENT FROM YOUR LAST TWO RELEASES. DID YOU KNOW YOU WANTED THE PRODUCTION TO SOUND AS BIG AS IT IS? 

I just knew I wanted it to be big. I knew it needed to be a song that could be played at night, played in the car, and played very loud. I was listening to a lot of “I Know The End” and “Waiting Room” by Phoebe Bridgers and “Night Shift” by Lucy Dacus and “Fake Plastic Trees” by Radiohead. Those were my main sources of inspiration, and that’s how I ended up with the insanely huge guitars—which I’m super stoked about.  

WHAT WAS THE RECORDING PROCESS LIKE? WHERE DID YOU RECORD IT? WHO DID YOU RECORD IT WITH? 

I went over to my producer Brett’s house in Long Beach with my friend Andrew Pham, who I went to high school with and who now goes to USC. He plays bass and electric guitar on everything I do and he's just the best partner to bring to everything like that. I did the acoustic guitar and vocal tracks and then Brett had the idea of having little synths and a drum machine come in, so that it almost sounds as if I press a boom box. The first verse is small and then the guitar comes in and it explodes. We just kept adding more and more stuff. In the bridge, the drum patterns change and my voice gets pitched down an octave lower. And then we took the demo to Jonny Bell in Long Beach and it just got elevated from there.  

DID YOU HAVE ANY FAVORITE MOMENTS OR MISHAPS FROM THE RECORDING PROCESS? 

There was a moment when Brett left the room to go make more coffee and while he was gone, Andrew found the perfect guitar part. It was the guitar tone that comes in verse two. Brett came in and started freaking out, and that’s how we knew we had got something.  

DO YOU HAVE A FAVORITE LYRIC? 

I love the bridge. I love how big it is. I also just love the line, “Your name’s getting sour. It wasn’t supposed to/always such a sweetheart ‘til someone adores you.” I have a song about the same guy that’s called “February and You” that’s kind of about Valentine’s Day so the sweetheart line is kind of a callback to that. No one is ever probably going to hear that first song, but in my head it’s cool. I also like the “you don’t get the details part.” When I first wrote the song, I was so specific, but then I was like, “That’s dumb. You don’t even get to know how I got over you. That’s too much information for you.” That was a fun part for me—when I realized that. 

IT'S BEEN A BIT SINCE YOU’VE RELEASED MUSIC, HOW ARE YOU FEELING HEADING INTO THIS RELEASE? 

This is definitely the song I'm excited to come back with and show what I’ve been working on over this past year. I hope people think it was worth the wait. I’m proud of this one. I think it’s going to be good.  

WHAT IS YOUR RELEASE DAY GOING TO LOOK LIKE? 

It’s actually so funny. I realized that the song is coming out on October 11th at 9:00pm and that I’m going to the Gracie Abrams show in LA that night. I’ll be there when it comes out. I’m really excited for that show. And then the next day I have school. That's the weirdest part about releasing music as a college student. You feel like it’s such a big day for you. Your heart is on your sleeve. And your teachers literally do not care. They’re like, “Do your homework.” I have school the 12th and then the 13th I have my midterm performance for USC. It’s a big school week.  

IF YOU WEREN’T A MUSICIAN, WHAT WOULD YOU DO?  

I’ve thought about this a lot. I feel like I would go back to school and be an English major and then be a cool older English professor at a good school on the east coast.  

HAVE YOU READ ANY GOOD BOOKS LATELY? 

The last book I read was “Too Much and Not the Mood.” I really like reading Essays. I’m really into Joan Didion.  

ARE THERE ANY OTHER CONCERTS YOU’RE PLANNING ON SEEING SOON? 

I'm seeing Holly Humberstone this coming Wednesday. I'm so excited. I think I'm going to try to see Adam Melchor the Saturday after that. And then Gracie the day before the release. I also really want to see Phoebe Bridgers when she’s in LA.  

IF YOU COULD PLAY ANY LA VENUE, WHAT WOULD YOU PLAY?  

The Troubadour. It has the best sound. 

IF YOU COULD PUT “25” IN A MOVIE, WHAT MOVIE WOULD YOU PUT IT IN? 

It could be cool in Donnie Darko. I feel like it would just look sick. That was a big inspiration for the music video—just the biking down the hill and the suburbs. Also, the time travel aspect. 

IF ANYONE COULD COVER “25,” WHO WOULD YOU WANT TO COVER IT? 

Del Water Gap. He’s so cool. I always love when guys cover songs that have female vocals. They have a totally different range, so they have a totally different take on the song.  

THIS IS A SILLY ONE, BUT JUST BECAUSE HALLOWEEN IS COMING UP, IF YOU HAD TO DRESS UP AS A POPSTAR FOR HALLOWEEN, WHO WOULD YOU DRESS UP AS? 

Lorde. People say I look like her all the time. And I could wear a yellow dress. I would also be Jack Antonoff. I would wear jeans and my Nike Cortez’s and a white tee shirt and glasses and carry around an electric guitar.  

WHAT POPSTAR WOULD YOU WANT TO DRESS UP AS YOU FOR HALLOWEEN? WHAT WOULD THEY WEAR? 

I can’t say Lorde because then Lorde would just dress like Jack Antonoff. I just wear tank tops and jeans all the time. I’m going to say Lorde or Diana Silvers. They would have to wear their normal clothes or maybe this brown leather jacket that I wear all the time.  

BACK TO THE SONG! ANYTHING ELSE YOU WANT LISTENERS TO KNOW ABOUT IT? WHAT DO YOU HOPE PEOPLE TAKE AWAY FROM “25?” 

I hope it’s a little surprising to people. This was an important song for me to make. Brett, my producer, always pushes my songs to be bigger than I think they can be. My songs so far have been a little softer and I’m just so excited for people to hear that I can be loud and make loud music. I’ve had it for so long and I’m just really excited for other people to be excited about it too. 

YOU CAN LISTEN TO “25” BY ALIX PAGE ON STREAMING SERVICES LIKE SPOTIFY AND APPLE MUSIC. GO LISTEN AND MAKE SURE TO FOLLOW @twentyminuteslater TO STAY UPDATED ON FUTURE POSTS.