Today we’d like to introduce you to Alex Dethero
Hi Alex, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I’m a lofi hip hop producer originally from Pittsburgh, PA. I started making music during the “wonderful” year of 2020 as a means to start a new hobby in the new normal. I got really into GarageBand and Logic Pro just noodling around with the different preloaded Apple loops and sounds and starting making songs. Ever since then, I haven’t really stopped. From inspirations like The Avalanches, DJ Shadow, J Dilla and much more I became infatuated with the art of sampling. I got my 16 pad controller in the start of 2022 and have been making music with it ever since. I view that controller as my instrument of choice. One day in the summer of 2022, I just decided to film myself making a track and edited it together. I liked the vibe and I showed it to my roomate at the time and he really liked it. Which lead me to start posting on Instagram and TikTok. It was (and still is) an amazing creative outlet for me. Making content and putting myself out there was something that was always in the back of my mind growing up. As someone with Treacher Collins, it was always tough for me to take the step and put myself out there. Not only was making that decision to start make content helpful for my creative side of myself, it was also good for my self esteem. I feel like this whole journey has really helped me come into myself as a person. Which if you ask me is the whole purpose of creating any kind of art in the first place. By the end of 2023, I started to see some success on Instagram. A lot of people saw a video of me making a song called “Hazy IPA”. Haha, I am still confused on why this certain video blew up the way that it did but I am very grateful it did. I have a lot of amazing people who follow me and support me and they keep me motivated every single day to keep going. I am working on my 5th album right now and I have no plans to slow down.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Of course not! No road is smooth. There are always going to be bumps, maybe even roadblocks. I always try to tell others and myself to never quit. I think the biggest struggle that I see in artists is questioning the work that they are creating. It’s so easy to get in your own head about whether or not something is worth putting out or not. Or it’s the struggle to reveal a piece of you that’s in the art. I have totally had that and I still have that to this very day. To me, that’s the beauty and the struggle of putting your self out there. There’s always going to be struggles but the positives always out weigh the negatives. Personally, the struggle that I’ve had to deal with on the internet is people making fun of the way I look. When I first starting getting attention on the internet, it was really hard for me to deal with. But what got me through it was for every negative or nasty comment I got 5 incredibly nice and moving DMs and/or comments from incredible people. A DM I still think about to this day, is a father reached out to me about his 11 year old daughter who has Treacher Collins. He expressed to me she has been having a rough go growing up and she uses music as an escape. He was telling me that seeing me out here doing my own thing gave him a lot of hope for his own daughter. I’ll never forget reading that for the first time. I definitely teared up reading it. For as much bullshit and negativity the internet has caused, there are silver linings to it. Getting to connect with others who have Treacher Collins like that is something special that I can’t honestly articulate.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I make sample based lofi hip hop music. I like to sample tracks from the internet and vinyl records I find in the various amazing record stores throughout Columbus. I don’t know if I have the authority to say what I am “known” for but I think people are gravitated to the music because of it’s laid back vibes and sticky elements. I really like creating loops from the samples, and for me personally, I find it hypnotizing and very relaxing. According to DMs I’ve gotten I think that’s what people like about the music. I’m definitely most proud of the output of music I have been able to generate. In a couple years I have been able to put out 3 albums and multiple EPs. I love putting out music and creating albums is definitely my favorite thing. I am proud of the work that I and my buddy Sean Cole have been able to do together. He is the main collaborator I work with on all my album art and we also do a YouTube vlog series together called Crate Diggin’ which we are very proud of. What sets me apart from others is possibly how I present the music. I view my music is more than just “beats” that people can buy or use for their own songs. I love instrumental hip hop albums like Endtroducing, Since I Left You, Madlib’s Beat Konducta series, and my goal is to make something on that level one day.
We love surprises, fun facts and unexpected stories. Is there something you can share that might surprise us?
I think something that people might not know about me honestly is that I am deaf. Being born with Treacher Collins came with being born with no ear canals. I have ears but they just look like cute little earlobes. So I have a Cochlear Baha 6 hearing aid that I use to hear. I have never really talked about that on any of my socials which is kind of funny. I should probably do that haha.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alexdethero/?hl=en
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@alexdethero/featured
- Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/alex-dethero
- Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/1No4Jvg7hVsSYbrz1nLijO?si=dbiu6xG0QZCSNHmKsuZEVQ
