dearALICE:BreakingtheBoybandMould,withHitsandHeart

Five big personalities, one gigantic mission

 

WRITER Patrick Grady

 

Interview taken from IMAGINE Magazine. Order the latest issue here.

 

The boy group (as they prefer to be known) to beat all boy groups. It’s unlikely you haven’t heard of the fivesome that took Korea by storm last August, but if you need a little refresh, let me make it clear; they’re one not to overlook.

 

dearALICE, made up of James Sharp, Dexter Greenwood, Reese Carter, Olly Quinn, and Blaise Noon were all living their own lives up until two years ago. Complete strangers. Then out of the blue one random afternoon, they received a dm about a new show they may be right for, Made in Korea: The K-Pop Experience, that changed their lives. A mere few weeks later, they met for the first time on a Zoom. Now, they’re not just bandmates, they’re each other’s family.

 

Thrown in at the deep end as something of a guinea pig experiment (what happens when you drop five boys from across the UK into the K-Pop machine?), the result? Utter brilliance. They know exactly where they want to sit in the new music landscape, and they’re ready to make some noise. Not your typical boyband (no cookie-cutter choreography or matching outfits here), they’re carving out something different. In February, the lads debuted their first hit, Ariana – and a hit it was. So much so, even the namesake herself, Ms. Grande took notice.

 

While they may not have grown up together, you really wouldn’t bat an eyelid at how comfortable they all are. They’ve got each others’ backs – and it shows. We chatted about how they came about, where they’re heading, and what makes dearALICE tick through my own curiosity and some questions from each other too. To put it simply; watch this space.

Patrick Grady:  James, tell me about the legacy you hope to leave behind, both as a group but also individually.

 

James Sharp:  I think as a group, we want to constantly challenge what it means to be a ‘boy band’, and kind of pave the way for a new type of group – a completely new thing.

 

Then as a person, I would say, I just want to inspire people to be themselves authentically. I want the people who listen to our music to be okay with living their truth and to be who they really are. I think that’s the biggest thing for me.

 

PG:  Obviously, being a British boy band, you’re going to be compared to the likes of One Direction and these other big boy bands that we’ve seen grow exponentially. How do you feel about being compared to other groups, do you see it as a compliment or do you find it adds more pressure?

 

Dexter Greenwood:  I think with the One Direction comparisons, it’s a massive compliment to even be in the conversation with them because they were so successful. So if we even get a percentage of that [success] that would be crazy for us. But we’re also doing our own thing. I guess the comparison kind of ends with us being British because we’re making different types of music, trying to do a whole different kind of fusion of what came before us.

 

PG:  Growing up, did you guys have any kind of sense or a feeling that you were meant to be doing something in the spotlight?

 

Blaise Noon:  I know my parents always tell me, I had way too much energy as a kid. That’s why I went to things like dance lessons and so if that sort of counts for being destined to be in the spotlight – I could never imagine myself sitting behind a desk doing the typical nine to five.  Especially in school as well, I think it’s quite easy to tell if it’s not really working, which can be a sign that you are destined for something more creative.  If it makes you stand out, then it’s something special, isn’t it?

 

“ I think with the One Direction comparisons, it’s a massive compliment to even be in the conversation with them because they were so successful. So if we even get a percentage of that [success] that would be crazy for us.”

 

PG: How do you guys handle the pressure of trying to make your own mark in an over-consumed industry?

 

Olly Quinn:  We just sort of stay clear to our mission and know that we want to be different and be a bit outside the box. In terms of keeping ourselves motivated and handling the pressure of what we want to try and live up to, I mean, we know what we want to do and we’re going to do it. We’re determined, and that’s the biggest thing we learned while in Korea.

 

BN: The music industry is so crowded, but I also think that means there’s a lot of new inspiration that you can take from – it’s sort of constantly evolving. It’s a really alive industry, so finding motivation and inspiration can be quite easy if you have the right lens on.

 

PG:  Would you say you’re as passionate now as you were in Korea? Or are you more passionate?

 

OQ:  It’s sort of changed, when we were in Korea, we didn’t fully know who we were as band yet or what sounds we wanted to give the world musically. We’re still not a hundred percent but I don’t think we ever will be. We’re definitely more clear on what our vision is. It feels a lot more personal, and it’s something that we want to get heavily involved in ourselves because it’s what we’ve created and it’s what we are forming.

PG: Reese, what part of this whole crazy experience do you find the most fulfilling?

 

Reese Carter:  My friendships with the other four lads sat next to me.

 

RC: Olly, you grew up heavily involved in a choir – how do you think that set you up for where you’re at now?

 

OQ:  Being on stage at a really young age and in front of large crowds gained me the confidence to be in front of a good crowd and perform. Obviously, that’s taken me on throughout my career to now being in a boy band. So, it’s shaped me massively and it’s a huge part of my life. In my day to day life as well, without those experiences, I wouldn’t have ended up the way I am for the better or the worse.

 

OQ: Dexter man, where would you say you draw your biggest inspiration from when thinking of lyrics and stuff?

 

DG: I guess it’s hard to pick a specific environment where you draw creativity from because it kind of comes at really random moments. I think I’ve seen from all of us, we’ll be talking about what we want to do, choreographically, and someone will be like, “Oh, an idea came to me on the tube yesterday.” For me personally, it comes at random times. But I think that’s the cool thing about working as a group, all together –  we can bounce off each other with different creative ideas, which I think is what makes our music, our choreography and the whole dearALICE vibe.

 

DG: Reese I’d love to know about a typical day on this crazy cruise you worked on before we came together, how do you think it’s impacted who you are today?

 

RC:  It was weird. It was kind of like I was gaining loads of experience but also having a holiday at the same time. We’d wake up in the morning and do a tech run and whatnot on the stage. Then I’d kind of have the day off up until the two shows in the evening. I think the one thing it probably did teach me more than anything is just to be prepared for everything to go wrong because on a ship you can’t control much. If you jump on stage, you aren’t going to land on the same spot because you’re in the middle of the ocean, going this way and that way.  It taught me to be very adaptable for sure. I still feel very bad for the girls’ ankles until this very day because I struggled with it. Their ankles were brutalised by the rock of the ship because they had to do it in heels.

 

“I think it’s all about not looking backward, but looking forwards and being something innovative. The way we present ourselves is different from what is stereotypical of a boy band, I guess. We like to call ourselves a boy group.”

 

OQ: James, obviously the idea of a boy group comes with certain stereotypes that we’re trying to combat. How do you feel is the best way to  break those outdated exceptions?

 

JS: Great question Olly,  I think it’s all about not looking backward, but looking forwards and being something innovative. The way we present ourselves is different from what is stereotypical of a boy band, I guess. We like to call ourselves a boy group.  Sometimes we can be a boy band, but we’re more than that. We’re different.  It’s all about breaking what is traditional and what is expected. When you see some K-Pop and all the old boy bands that we’ve seen, there’s this idea that each member is an individual and has their own kind of role or whatever. I think as a collective, we’re all kinds of creatives in our own right. We don’t define ourselves on the labels. We are just dearALICE – this is who we are.

 

JS: Blaise, you were a bit of a pro at dance before all of this. Did you find combining that with the singing side of this a challenge when we first started?

 

BN:  I was very focused on dance before this. I think it is my biggest passion. I feel like at the beginning of this process, because I was already quite solidified and confident in that area, I was able to devote a lot more time and effort to the music side of things. Then I gradually started to even out the two. I don’t think I could ever say I’ve mastered the combination because I think it’s an ever growing thing. It’s ever evolving. But I’ve definitely come a long way – I think we all have. It’s a constant path we’re walking on, but one definitely worth taking.

 

PG: Amazing stuff guys. What can we expect from dearALICE going forward?

 

OQ:  Lots of new things, like James said earlier on – we want to be constantly growing and want to keep our fanbase, and the audience we’ve gathered online on their toes. I don’t think anyone really expected us to debut with a song like Ariana. And there’s going to be a lot more of those surprises to come. I think that’s what the music industry really needs – something fresh and something that is going to consistently be a bit different and a bit weird. And that’s going to be us. That is us.