The protagonists of ALEX STANILLA’s songs live at the intersection of fact and fiction, the push and pull between introspective honesty and rich character study. “I’m really inspired by film,” the Lebanon, PA-based singer-songwriter says. “My lyrical style tends to take an impressionistic view of films, with the subtext of watching it through a different lens and using it to interpret my life.”
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tanilla’s life has seen its fair share of musical milestones (for starters, he performed at Carnegie Hall as a 10-year-old violinist) but now his latest act puts his cinematic songwriting style – and film degree – on full display. His self-released single “Favorite Song” is awash in vibrant indie-rock groove and meditative poise, ruminating on the 1979 musical drama All That Jazz and its semi-autobiographical look at the life of Bob Fosse. It’s rough-around-the-edges passion seeded with grand ambitions, richly intimate soul-searching storytelling that still manages to resonate on a universal level.
“Bob Fosse had some pretty notoriously unhealthy habits,” Stanilla explains. “The song is about consciously knowing all your flaws but not doing much to address them.”
There’s a refreshing level of self-awareness in Stanilla’s songs, from his 2017 LP/mixtape Qualia (later reissued in 2019) to a prolific 2020-2021 singles series. And whileT some minor details have at times been changed to protect the guilty – namely himself – an air of authenticity still permeates every note of his music. He plays all of those notes himself, on every instrument, equally inspired by the tenderness and inward turmoil of Elliott Smith, the eccentricity of synthy electro-pop, and the energy of underground bands like Chiodos, Circa Survive, and Dance Gavin Dance that influenced his early years.
“During COVID, I turned off my devices for a week and found an iPod I had when I was in high school. It all came flooding back,” he says of his rock- and punk-focused pandemic-era singles project, including “Eloisa,” loosely adapted on the cult classic Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind. “It turns out I’d subconsciously been writing songs that were spiritually linked to music that moved me when I was younger.”
Following those purest impulses – regardless of where they lead him – is where Stanilla really excels as a songwriter. Whether he’s channeling his youth or charting his future with “Favorite Song” or the recently released, tongue-in-cheek “Room” (“the most beautiful love song in the world,” he says wryly), he’s writing his story as it unfolds before him. Part of that includes giving back in the form of his Some Bite Records, where proceeds from releases go to local animal clinics, shelters, and rescues. And while he’s nowhere near the ending of his journey, he’s got the musicianship and drive to handle wherever his arc takes him. “I’ve definitely been guilty of overthinking things in the past, but I think I’ve finally learned to follow my gut to step outside that self-doubt and become the most honest, authentic version of myself,” he says. “At its best, making music is like making an experimental film: Very little thought goes into how things should transpire, but instead focusing on going to the strangest places possible.”
