The Story Of A Journey

When elaborating the idea of “The Story Of A Journey: From A Spark To A Song” blog, which invites singer songwriter Alex Foster to revisit the stories behind every single song of the amazing album Vague Souvenir, in order to offer us a very unique insight on the emotional stream defining the uniqueness of this musical journey, we were truly hoping that Alex, who’s usually reluctant to explain the meaning of his songs, would allow us to see, if only a little, what might have been the invisible colors he used to paint the songs of the album.

We wrote to him about two weeks ago, when he was in Japan, and his answer already gave us a hint of what the album “Vague Souvenir” is about for him:

“Hey Stephanie, thanks for your message… “From A Spark To A Song” sounds like a very interesting idea… especially for a heartfelt album such as “Vague Souvenir”. I agree that being an intimate project, my input on the songs might offer glimpses of different perspectives to anyone who wants to go deeper into the soul of the album. My only reluctance is not about the idea of revealing some personal emotions or unfolding intimate pieces of moments… it’s mainly about the fact that “Vague Souvenir” is an invitation for everyone to define the nature of their own personal journey and to redefine the colors of their own letting go. It would be such a shame if any of the words involved in the “From A Spark To A Song” blog was to take that redeeming freedom away from anyone. I know what it took me to let go… I don’t want to compromise the uplifting essence of freedom for the sake of any songwriting blog.

You know me, Steph. I never shy away from exposing the true nature of my bright and dark sides, but I don’t want to compromise the true nature of the album by turning it into some “Alex tells all” type of strange entity. The soulful empowering nature of the album, its honesty, its imperfection and fragility, its invitation to dream it all over again, to be free from the past and to live it as such… That’s all that matters to me. The rest of it could be so easily turned into an ambitious casualty. That’s why I refused to turn the album into a mass media corporate operation. I vetoed any marketing plans and any conglomerate big ideas for that same reason. It’s too genuine of a project and too honest of an emotional journey. It’s raw… and I don’t want to polish it, or rewrite it… This album, it’s about dying to ourselves without expecting to rise up again. It’s only by letting go of everything that we’ve been able to live that album. You know that… and you know me… I won’t whore myself for the sake of feeling special for a minute. It’s about letting go and living, not about my songwriting perspective… you know what I mean…

I don’t want you to think that I don’t believe in the honest legitimacy of “From A Spark To A Song” or that I think it wouldn’t be real enough of a project. I don’t consider myself to be that precious of a rock star to be looking to be begged into projects. I truly died for “Vague Souvenir”, so I need time to get some emotional rest. I just don’t want to be part of anything that’s emotionally engaging if I’m not ready to die for it. I’ve witnessed enough of the whoring fame bullshit that comes with the soulless plastic and generic pieces of commercialized make-believes that art has been raped into, to act like this. Gotta be real. Otherwise, I’m just adding to the meaningless noise that feeds the entertainment business. I’ll get back to you about it, but it sounds like a very good idea. Nice job, I love the blog’s name… nice change from my 25 word long project titles… lol…

Hey by the way, can you believe it’s been 5 years since we first came to Japan? It looks like it was yesterday. It feels so good to be here again, to be home, after letting go of everything I had in order to write “Vague Souvenir”, Japan is truly the place I wanted to be. It might sound overly spiritualized, but to be here after such a journey really means something important to me. It’s truly the first day of my life…

Take care, miss you

Alex

p.s.: tell Sef that I love him before he goes to bed… he cannot sleep otherwise lolol”

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Thanks to the fulfilling time he had in Japan, Alex told us he would gladly take part in “The Story Of A Journey: From A Spark To A Song” special Vague Souvenir blog project, thus offering us a personal perspective on every song of the album, the ideas that led to the videos of the album and so much more… Don’t miss that, blogs will be published every Thursday!

– Stephanie