Alex Johnson is a 22-year-old musician songwriter from Wollongong and is one of the most passionate young musicians I’ve ever met.
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He has a dream of making a decent career in music and is beginning to make that a reality for himself through his acoustic hip-hop solo act Coast and Ocean.
In a recent interview with Alex he told me “This year I realised one thing, life’s too short to waste time. Chase your dreams, you’ll only live once, live life to the fullest”.
And that seems to be just what this young man is doing after quitting his day job to pursue his music career.
Here is a guy who is not leaving anything to chance and is going after his dream with everything he has.
This year Alex has released weekly original videos online to showcase his song-writing abilities and some of the amazing artists he performs with.
This year as part of his winter tour, Alex spent three months living out of his car and performing along the east coast of Australia with shows in Melbourne, Sydney, Picton, Wollongong, Toukley, Ballina, Byron Bay and Nimbin.
Shortly after the tour Alex met a booking agent who started booking shows in the Sydney pub scene every weekend.
Alex calls this his “practice ground” and has been couch surfing this whole year and practising in the lead-up to his first EP release.
Alex released his debut EP on October 24 with a performance at Wollongong’s Rad Bar supporting Dylan Joel.
The new EP was recorded with Zac Gervais from The Maze and is recorded live, which Alex believes helps to capture exactly what Coast and Ocean is all about.
I had the pleasure of judging Alex’s set at this year’s Urbanstar competition in Wollongong and was absolutely blown away by what this kid can do.
He not only can rap well while playing the acoustic guitar but he has an amazing soulful voice which he uses to carry the melody of the chorus.
I have no doubt that we will be hearing much more from Coast and Ocean as Alex furthers this career in music. This is only the beginning for this young man.
Alex has already shared the stage with the likes of Renee Geyer, Hein Cooper, Jed Appleton and Dylan Joel and is currently working on his next EP due for release in 2016 with another extensive tour to follow.
You can catch Coast and Ocean live as part of Alex’s current tour with tour dates and more info available at facebook.com/CoastAndOcean
Haworth’s Music Centre and Drum Room Shellharbour and Wollongong. www.haworthguitars.com.au