You know it makes sense: Sam Craft and Alexis Marceaux of New Orleans pop group Alexis and the Sanity
Everybody's in LA: Alexis & the Sanity
Interview by Paul Oswell
Alexis Marceaux and Sam Craft make up the wonderfully talented and aesthetcially-coordinated New Orleans pop duo Alexis & the Sanity. They have a new album out - it's called Tongue Tied, but we hoped to loosen their lips with a quick interview to find out more...
Out All Day: Hi Alexis & Sam, thanks for taking time to talk to us! We’re big fans over here at OAD. Huge congratulations on the new album release - Tongue Tied is out now - I know you’re doing lots of gigs and TV spots to promote it - how’s the release going so far?
Alexis: Thanks so much! The release has been fun and educational. It’s our first time fully committing to only vinyl (and digital)– no CDs. Interestingly, no one has even asked about CDs, except for radio stations that still use them. We had to buy a CD burner and a spindle of CD-R’s expressly for radio. Really throws you back to Napster days!
Is there a theme/philosophy running through the songs on ‘Tongue Tied’? Tell us a bit about the story of its production, did it all come together relatively easily?
Sam: A theme developed pretty early on as we were culling the songs for the album. In the years during and since COVID lockdowns, the vibe went from cynical about the whole business of show to sentimental about our journey thus far as musicians and as people. We noticed that when you put our recent catalogue together in a certain order, it tells the story of our past as a couple (2010-ish to 2014-ish), the challenges of breaking up while continuing on as musicians trapped in vans together, and finally becoming the best friends and collaborators we are today.
You previously released music as ‘Alexis & the Samurai’, I think I read that the name change was prompted by a general shift in musical style from jaunty Americana to darker, electronic sounds. Was that musical change a conscious, active decision or was it more an organic evolution of your musical tastes?
Alexis: We had been wanting to change the band name for a while but didn’t want to disrupt the flow we were in. It felt insincere to change the music of Alexis & the Samurai. That music is joyful, jangly, and winks at the audience. It established a strong connection with our fans/friends (frans?) and the memories attached to it are special.
Sam: Going underground in 2020 gave us permission to reinvent ourselves into something more like the moody, synthy stuff we were getting into. Also it turns out that we have zero connection to the samurai tradition or Japanese culture in general, so it doubly felt right to hit the reset button.
I know you both have impressive and varied musical backgrounds - could you both perhaps quickly summarize how you came to be musicians? What were your formative experiences/earliest musical memories and some of the milestone events that brought you to where y’all are now?
Alexis: I’ve always sung– be it on my Grandpa’s lap singing Cajun music or with my mom singing Carole King while cleaning the house (she was cleaning; I was singing into a mop handle). I did choir and musical theater in high school (at NOCCA and around town), took opera lessons and studied voice briefly at SLU. Backing up a little– Right after Katrina destroyed my whole existence in high school, I started writing songs in earnest and playing around my temporary homes of Lafayette and Ponchatoula. Eventually I made it back to New Orleans and met Sam and we hit it off from there.
Sam: I grew up in a musical house, taking violin lessons since before I can remember. I got my first gigs playing with my dad’s various trad jazz combos (he’s a trombonist), went to NOCCA like Alexis, and got a violin degree from Loyola. Playing with my brother and dad got me used to playing challenging music in public. My brother (Jack) and I decided to make music together that was decidedly NOT early 20th century proto-jazz. That got us out there as teens making original music, which led down a convoluted path to Alexis; and now all three of us play music together all the time.
I’ve reviewed some of your music and used some (likely inaccurate) comparisons. Who do you see as some of your inspirations or influences, musically and vocally?
Alexis: This is a tough one only because the list is so long. Kate Bush, Karen Carpenter, Solange, Lucius, SAULT, Kimbra, Imogen Heap, Billie Eilish… Dynamic women who lean into getting their hands dirty with production.
I feel like electronic, pop-leaning music is enjoying a real moment in New Orleans right now - we recently interviewed Whisper Party! and we've reviewed younger pop acts like Aidan Carpenter. Given the huge dominance of largely acoustic music in the city, it feels like a fresh and dynamic scene. Maybe I just haven’t been getting out enough these last few years, but do you feel that’s true?
Sam: New Orleans I think has always been a little late to the game on rock and pop music, which totally makes sense. I remember in the 00s, there was very little rock music in New Orleans, but soon thereafter there was a lot of garage rock stuff that was probably a latent result of “The” bands taking hold. That was fun times.
Alexis: Dreamy, shoegazey stuff (featuring electric guitar and synth) is popping up a lot right now in New Orleans. It’s fun to think we might be part of a burgeoning bubble. We’ll have to get out and do more research!
I follow you almost as much for the photo shoots as I do the music! I don’t think I’ve seen such a chromatically synchronized duo in sartorial terms since, like, The White Stripes. How much/what kind of planning goes into your (amazing) aesthetic?
Alexis: Wow, thank you so much for saying that! I take a lot of care to brainstorm, moodboard, and collect wardrobe for our photo shoots, but our secret weapon (and basically member of the band) is Dominique Richard, music photographer to the stars. Check out her insta: @DMNQphoto / @DMNQrichard
You had a weekly residency at Chickie Wah Wah. How did that come about and what is about that venue that you like so much?
Sam: We used to have an ongoing residency there, but took some time off to work on the album and its release. We still pop in from time to time and that place is really our home venue, if there is such a thing. Dale Triguero, the late owner of the place, saw us at Bayou Boogaloo in maybe 2016 or so and soon thereafter offered us a residency. We alternated between stretches there and stretches at DBA, another absolute gem. Chickie is so nice because of the ambience, the emphasis on listening (you might get shushed), the sound, the IMMACULATE bathrooms, the parking, and the list goes on.
You’ve done some objectively cool stuff recently - performing with the LPO recently must have been incredibly exciting. Tell us what that was like, and are there any other interesting collaborations in the works?
Alexis: The LPO performance with our other band Sweet Crude was insanely dreamy. We are so fortunate to have been able to do it, and at the Orpheum to a packed house, no less. We are working on doing a similar thing with Alexis & the Sanity! The Sanity is big into incorporating chamber music into our sets and Sam is a really great arranger. We want to do a more intimate version of that in an unusual space. Stay tuned!
Sincere thanks for taking time to talk to us! Best of luck with the new album, and I hope to see you on stage really soon! Before we go for real, where can our readers find your music and live schedule?
Thanks for inviting us to chat and thanks for what you do in spreading the word about music and the arts in New Orleans! Go check out http://alexisandthesanity.com where you can find links to all our social media and listen to/buy our new album Tongue Tied!
Tongue Tied is out now
Interview by Paul Oswell
Alexis Marceaux and Sam Craft make up the wonderfully talented and aesthetcially-coordinated New Orleans pop duo Alexis & the Sanity. They have a new album out - it's called Tongue Tied, but we hoped to loosen their lips with a quick interview to find out more...
Out All Day: Hi Alexis & Sam, thanks for taking time to talk to us! We’re big fans over here at OAD. Huge congratulations on the new album release - Tongue Tied is out now - I know you’re doing lots of gigs and TV spots to promote it - how’s the release going so far?
Alexis: Thanks so much! The release has been fun and educational. It’s our first time fully committing to only vinyl (and digital)– no CDs. Interestingly, no one has even asked about CDs, except for radio stations that still use them. We had to buy a CD burner and a spindle of CD-R’s expressly for radio. Really throws you back to Napster days!
Is there a theme/philosophy running through the songs on ‘Tongue Tied’? Tell us a bit about the story of its production, did it all come together relatively easily?
Sam: A theme developed pretty early on as we were culling the songs for the album. In the years during and since COVID lockdowns, the vibe went from cynical about the whole business of show to sentimental about our journey thus far as musicians and as people. We noticed that when you put our recent catalogue together in a certain order, it tells the story of our past as a couple (2010-ish to 2014-ish), the challenges of breaking up while continuing on as musicians trapped in vans together, and finally becoming the best friends and collaborators we are today.
You previously released music as ‘Alexis & the Samurai’, I think I read that the name change was prompted by a general shift in musical style from jaunty Americana to darker, electronic sounds. Was that musical change a conscious, active decision or was it more an organic evolution of your musical tastes?
Alexis: We had been wanting to change the band name for a while but didn’t want to disrupt the flow we were in. It felt insincere to change the music of Alexis & the Samurai. That music is joyful, jangly, and winks at the audience. It established a strong connection with our fans/friends (frans?) and the memories attached to it are special.
Sam: Going underground in 2020 gave us permission to reinvent ourselves into something more like the moody, synthy stuff we were getting into. Also it turns out that we have zero connection to the samurai tradition or Japanese culture in general, so it doubly felt right to hit the reset button.
I know you both have impressive and varied musical backgrounds - could you both perhaps quickly summarize how you came to be musicians? What were your formative experiences/earliest musical memories and some of the milestone events that brought you to where y’all are now?
Alexis: I’ve always sung– be it on my Grandpa’s lap singing Cajun music or with my mom singing Carole King while cleaning the house (she was cleaning; I was singing into a mop handle). I did choir and musical theater in high school (at NOCCA and around town), took opera lessons and studied voice briefly at SLU. Backing up a little– Right after Katrina destroyed my whole existence in high school, I started writing songs in earnest and playing around my temporary homes of Lafayette and Ponchatoula. Eventually I made it back to New Orleans and met Sam and we hit it off from there.
Sam: I grew up in a musical house, taking violin lessons since before I can remember. I got my first gigs playing with my dad’s various trad jazz combos (he’s a trombonist), went to NOCCA like Alexis, and got a violin degree from Loyola. Playing with my brother and dad got me used to playing challenging music in public. My brother (Jack) and I decided to make music together that was decidedly NOT early 20th century proto-jazz. That got us out there as teens making original music, which led down a convoluted path to Alexis; and now all three of us play music together all the time.
I’ve reviewed some of your music and used some (likely inaccurate) comparisons. Who do you see as some of your inspirations or influences, musically and vocally?
Alexis: This is a tough one only because the list is so long. Kate Bush, Karen Carpenter, Solange, Lucius, SAULT, Kimbra, Imogen Heap, Billie Eilish… Dynamic women who lean into getting their hands dirty with production.
I feel like electronic, pop-leaning music is enjoying a real moment in New Orleans right now - we recently interviewed Whisper Party! and we've reviewed younger pop acts like Aidan Carpenter. Given the huge dominance of largely acoustic music in the city, it feels like a fresh and dynamic scene. Maybe I just haven’t been getting out enough these last few years, but do you feel that’s true?
Sam: New Orleans I think has always been a little late to the game on rock and pop music, which totally makes sense. I remember in the 00s, there was very little rock music in New Orleans, but soon thereafter there was a lot of garage rock stuff that was probably a latent result of “The” bands taking hold. That was fun times.
Alexis: Dreamy, shoegazey stuff (featuring electric guitar and synth) is popping up a lot right now in New Orleans. It’s fun to think we might be part of a burgeoning bubble. We’ll have to get out and do more research!
I follow you almost as much for the photo shoots as I do the music! I don’t think I’ve seen such a chromatically synchronized duo in sartorial terms since, like, The White Stripes. How much/what kind of planning goes into your (amazing) aesthetic?
Alexis: Wow, thank you so much for saying that! I take a lot of care to brainstorm, moodboard, and collect wardrobe for our photo shoots, but our secret weapon (and basically member of the band) is Dominique Richard, music photographer to the stars. Check out her insta: @DMNQphoto / @DMNQrichard
You had a weekly residency at Chickie Wah Wah. How did that come about and what is about that venue that you like so much?
Sam: We used to have an ongoing residency there, but took some time off to work on the album and its release. We still pop in from time to time and that place is really our home venue, if there is such a thing. Dale Triguero, the late owner of the place, saw us at Bayou Boogaloo in maybe 2016 or so and soon thereafter offered us a residency. We alternated between stretches there and stretches at DBA, another absolute gem. Chickie is so nice because of the ambience, the emphasis on listening (you might get shushed), the sound, the IMMACULATE bathrooms, the parking, and the list goes on.
You’ve done some objectively cool stuff recently - performing with the LPO recently must have been incredibly exciting. Tell us what that was like, and are there any other interesting collaborations in the works?
Alexis: The LPO performance with our other band Sweet Crude was insanely dreamy. We are so fortunate to have been able to do it, and at the Orpheum to a packed house, no less. We are working on doing a similar thing with Alexis & the Sanity! The Sanity is big into incorporating chamber music into our sets and Sam is a really great arranger. We want to do a more intimate version of that in an unusual space. Stay tuned!
Sincere thanks for taking time to talk to us! Best of luck with the new album, and I hope to see you on stage really soon! Before we go for real, where can our readers find your music and live schedule?
Thanks for inviting us to chat and thanks for what you do in spreading the word about music and the arts in New Orleans! Go check out http://alexisandthesanity.com where you can find links to all our social media and listen to/buy our new album Tongue Tied!
Tongue Tied is out now
