In 2009, Canadian artist Alex Runions released his self-titled debut album, introducing his country-pop sound to the world. From there, he went on to be deemed “The Next Big Thing” by Big Dog 92.7 and Astral Media in 2013, ahead of the release of Canadian country radio-charting singles like “Passenger Seat” and “Little Bit of Sunshine.” He also played some of the biggest venues in the country, from the Big Valley Jamboree and the Grey Cup to the stage at the CCMA Awards Week Songwriters’ Series. With continuous nominations at the Saskatchewan Country Music Association Awards, where he won for Fans’ Choice, Entertainer of the Year, and Male Vocalist of the Year in 2016, Alex proved that his artistry contains multitudes. So, after the release of more recent hits like “Take It Out On Me” and “Middle of a Country Song,” the latter of which hit the Top 50 of Canadian country radio, Alex decided to pursue a new artistic path. He underwent various life changes, resulting in a shift in sound. This folk-leaning sound can be heard on his third studio album, Above the Clouds and on the Ground, which was released in March. We recently connected with Alex to go over the album, where he touched on the title, the messages of the songs, and which ones he is looking forward to playing live.
Hey, Alex! Thank you for taking the time out to chat. I just had some questions about your new album, Above the Clouds and on the Ground. It’s been out for about a month now, so what has the reaction been like so far?
Overall, it’s been pretty positive. It’s a shift from my old music, which was more pop-country, pretty straight and narrow. Yeah, overall, it’s been a good, positive review. I think people are really connecting with the music, which before, it was just kind of easy to listen to; you know, nice beat, kind of checked off all the tailgate/riverside party songs and stuff like that… But the reviews have been good, and because they’re such heartfelt songs, I think people are connecting with them that way.
Yeah, like you said, they’re really heartfelt. And I think I previously read that you mentioned the themes of the songs center on humanity, hope, and healing. These are heavy topics, so looking back, are there any songs that you thought would have been too heavy to share or too personal?
For sure, absolutely. I think, well there’s a song about my dog. It meant so much to me when I was writing it initially, and I really wanted to preserve her memory and commemorate her. And I still think that is important, but I know for a lot of people, it’s just tough to hear a sad song about a dog. And some people just don’t get it, and I think that’s okay, but sometimes I listen to that song and I’m like, ‘Eh, it might not have been the right one.’ Yeah, it’s so tough to be vulnerable. I stopped drinking about five years ago, it’s tough to talk about that, but I also think it’s important. I think a good portion, about 25% of the album, is pretty heavy stuff and, you know, it was a bit heavy and a bit dark in some places, but I think that was also important. It was, in some ways, just a passion project, something different for me. But I am really proud of it at the same time. Even the vulnerable stuff, I still listen to it and I’m thinking, ‘Ah, it’s a lot to give away,’ but it’s also important for people to connect to that stuff, and I think being authentic and genuine is really important.
I was thinking about how authentic you come across on the album, and there’s a quote you gave, mentioning that the album encompasses what you’re passionate about “without concern for how I should sound or where I should fit in.” Creating in that way, I can imagine it was very cathartic, so is there anything in particular from that creative process that you would want to bring to future songs or future albums?
Oh yeah, absolutely. I will say, just in general, the experience of recording it, pretty much from the writing to the finished product, it was truly amazing. I think, gosh, I don’t want to take anything away from previous projects, but it was just so satisfying because we weren’t kind of locked in that box, trapped in that box, of writing for radio. We were really just trying to craft great songs, and I feel like that’s what music’s about, and I feel I was missing that. Even though it was good, I don’t regret anything I did in the past. Overall, it was truly a great experience, and I think moving forward, that’s how I want to write songs—you know, they’ve gotta mean something. I think, too, even if the audience may be smaller now, which I think it is a little bit with the change and the shift in music, I think it’s still important to write songs that mean something ‘cause I think those ones are the ones that’ll have some lasting power; they’ll have more impact, people will resonate with them. And I will say, if I look at the response from these songs to the old songs, the old songs were just like, ‘Hey that’s a really great song, I’ll crank it up,’ and now it’s, ‘I cried when I listened to that dog song’ or ‘Yeah, I had a friend who went through a divorce and he really connected with “On an Island.”’ And so, that’s what it’s about. That’s almost more special than anything, is when they resonate with people on such a deep level.
With the title of the album, I think it encompasses the main points of the project and highlights its messages—where you’re not too planted in reality but not too lost in a daydream. How long did it take for you to land on the title?
Gosh, I know I had another working title about love and pain and everything in between, which I think is actually very close to another Saskatchewan artist Tenille Arts. I think she had an album with a title close to that. So, I was like, ‘Well, I can’t use that one.’ [Laughs] And then, yeah honestly, I don’t remember where I came up with that. A lot of times, something will just pop into my head. I go for a walk every single day, and that’s a good way to get out of the daily grind and just get away and be in my own head for a while. That’s where song ideas come, that’s where the album title would have come from, and I just thought it really captures the essence of the album. And just like you said, still being grounded but allowing yourself to dream a little bit and not take things too seriously all the time, ‘cause yeah, everybody has their own battles. We’re all just trying to get through life on this big spinning rock and do our best and enjoy it, and I think that’s the most important thing is just trying to be better every single day and looking at life in a serious but not too serious way. Kind of that balance in between.
How long were you working on the album overall?
I would say the writing of the album… Some of the songs like “Our Backyard” was originally called “My Backyard” and was my very first co-write in Nashville ever. All the content of the album is pretty heavy in one way or another, so I wanted to throw that on because it had a special meaning to it, because it was the first song I wrote in Nashville—big point in my career, getting out there and having a co-write. And we rewrote the lyrics of the song to make it less about partying and more about family. And so, there’s a lyric in the song that says we’re in our backyard picking berries, and one plus one and Maren—that’s my daughter’s name—“One plus one and Maren make three / Keeping it simple not making it hard / Right at home in our backyard.” And that’s my favorite place, our backyard. We garden, we’ve got a raspberry bush, we spend all our time out there… So, it’s all of a sudden this party song turned into this pretty wholesome song, but it’s still pulled from that song from 10 years ago. So, that’s the furthest the writing went back, but the project itself is really three years in the making. A lot of the songs came from a pretty dark place—“Day by Day,” “On an Island,” “Tell ‘em All”—they were all songs that came from not a great place in my life. I was feeling alone, and obviously, I’m not doing much self-reflection at the time, but the songs were finished after some self-reflection. It did take probably a good three years of drawing up the concepts, finishing the writing, the production side of it… That’s also been just really fulfilling, when I look back and see where everything kind of fell into place. I was even going to work with a different producer. When I spoke with Chris [Burke-Gaffney], he just understood the mission and focus and dialed it in, and it was just so great.
Do you have any personal favorites on there?
Yeah, I think “Missing Piece” is probably one of my favorite songs I’ve ever written. It’s not like it hasn’t been done before, but we wanted to take some risks, do some different things melodically, vocally… So, the chorus, we put it together, it came together, I kind of got shivers with it… To me, it’s really pretty on the ears, and that’s kind of what helped. If nothing else, if you don’t connect with the lyrics, at least it sounds nice to you. That’s kind of the goal. The other song, honestly, is a song called “My Reason,” which is basically a Backstreet Boys song if you listen to it. Growing up, as a teenager, I was a Backstreet Boys fan, so I didn’t write it with that intention by any means. But the production, when I brought it back, I was like…all the ad-libbing and some of the instrumentation…I’m like, ‘That sounds like an early 2000s Backstreet Boys song, let’s run with it!’ Those are the two that really stand out to me. I love them all for one reason or another, but I would say those two are my favorite.
Are there any that you’re excited to play live?
Gosh, I think all of them, to be honest. But yeah, “Missing Piece” for sure. “Day by Day” could be really haunting, if in the right setting. I have played “A Song for My Dog,” and the audience was crying. I was surprised because I even thought, ‘Oh boy, am I actually gonna play this one?’ I did, and that’s the one that people connected with. And so, that one can be a special song, given the right crowd. So, I think those are the ones I’m most excited for people to hear live.
What else do you have going on for the rest of the year?
Just looking at booking more shows to promote the album and continue playing, continue writing. I’ve already started writing songs. To be honest, I thought I was never going to write another song for some reason. It just felt like maybe this was my last project, and then all of a sudden about two weeks ago, three ideas popped into my head. I sent them to my producer and said, ‘We should start working on these,’ and he’s excited. So yeah, I think that’s part of it. Continuing to write, continuing to write in this style, and hopefully building a bit of a fan base, getting out there and playing some more.
You can listen to Above the Clouds and on the Ground here.
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