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Meet Alexis Gomez of Alex O’aiza in Irving

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Today we’d like to introduce you to Alexis Gomez.

Alexis, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
As cliche as it sounds, music has always revolved around my life since the early age of seven years. I was in the school choir, I joined the school orchestra, I built my first band, and learned how to song-write throughout my years in the public school system. Although I was at times heavily involved in music during this period of my life, music never seemed like a viable career for my future. I just never thought of taking it seriously.

This all changed towards the end of my senior year in high school. My mother ended up forcing me to audition for a reality television show from the Univision chain called, “La Banda.” A show where male performers audition and compete for a spot on Sony’s new Hispanic boyband project called “CNCO.” The last five remaining contestants would become members of such boyband. I was completely uninterested, but my mother signed me up behind my back. Forced by mother, I ended up auditing to the show, where I was extremely close to getting cast. During my audition, I brought up my songwriting skills and performed an original piece of mine. A producer from Sony Music loved the tune, and encouraged me to record it and copyright it because he considered it “a hit.” That was the first time I had a seal of approval from someone in the music industry. From then on, I vowed to take music seriously.

Shortly after graduating, I built my first serious musical project titled “Dare To Dance”. This was a pop-rock band where we professionally recorded and produced a six-track EP titled “Memoirs on a Memory Card.” Because of differences in vision, and lack of work ethic from members of this project, I decided to part ways and find my own path as a solo artist.

Now, I’m developing my solo project under the pseudonym “Alex O’aiza”, inspired by rock and roll, and indie sounds from artists like: The Arctic Monkeys, The Black Keys, The Killers, and Royal Blood. I just released my second single “Money”, and I am currently building plans for a possible EP. More details will unravel in the near future.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
This journey is proving to be a very difficult one for me. After graduating high school, I invested time, creativity, and a lot of money into developing my first official musical project Dare To Dance. This was my first time caring about every single detail, from the business side, to the songwriting side of things. Pouring my blood, sweat, and tears into a project where my vision wasn’t respected, and my ambitions were taken for granted, led to my decision of exiting the band. Such decision was devastating to me, for I had no clue as to what direction I should take in my music, and in my life.

Thankfully, I have friends, and family that have all played a part in helping me find my way in life. Now, present day, I have decided to embark on my journey as a solo artist. Under this new project, I’m attempting to push my limits in my artistry, and my abilities as a musician to the fullest. But now, with this new direction, more obstacles followed suit. Being an artist is extremely expensive, and doing it alone is a major burden in itself. Nonetheless, I have chosen to take the challenge along with its risks. I currently study full time at Cedar Valley Community College, work part-time at Ray-Ban, and work on my solo project, all at the same time.

This sounds all tedious and stressful, but in just the past seven months, life has made sure to let me know that things will only get harder from here on out. On August of last year (2018), my father was detained by ICE while working. I was immediately forced into filling his shoes in our household, by taking on family bills, loans, and many more expenses that since then have piled on. It is now February of 2019, and my father is no longer in the United States of America. I am no longer a normal twenty-one-year-old college student that has to worry about his own future. I am now a twenty-one-year-old full-time college student, part-time worker, and aspiring artist, with the responsibility of taking care of my family, and not just my own future. Every decision that I make from now on is calculated, for nowadays I have no room for error. For a short time, I wasn’t sure if it was responsible for me to follow this career path, after all, people now actually depend on me. But I soon realized that if I don’t try now, life will only add more obstacles, more responsibilities, and more excuses for me to justify giving up. So, here I am, giving this artist thing one more try.

Please tell us more about your work, what you are currently focused on and most proud of.
Well, I am a solo indie-rock artist. And as of now, I am in the very genesis of my career, so I don’t have any accolades to brag about at the moment, unfortunately. I am extremely proud of releasing my newest single “Money” though! It’s been having decent reception within online blogs, and it has also been taken notice on both local and international radio.

I guess what sets me apart from other acts, is that I am very vocal about my hunger for social and political change. I believe that unlike other acts, my career is not just my main end goal with all of this. In addition to building a successful career in the music industry, I am striving on building a platform for the voiceless. My goal is to build a platform that will ignite a fire within people. A fire of passion for positive change. Whether it be social, political, or economic, many people are desperate for change these days. I believe my job is to inspire people to stop waiting on the change to happen, and for them to focus on creating it.

Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
Every person that I have met, every person that has taught me, or interacted with me at one point, has led me into becoming the person I am today. Although this is true, there are a few people out there that have changed my life drastically at one point in time. Such people really deserve the most credit in terms of shaping my life.

To start off with this list, is Mrs. Reinheart, my elementary school choir director. She was the one who first took notice of my vocal talent, and became the person who will jumpstart my involvement with music.

Following up will be Mr.Salter my orchestra teacher from middle school. Mr.Salter was the first person who made music fun, cool, and interesting, all at the same time for me. He was a multi-instrumentalist, so he would often come to class playing all kinds of instruments, including the ones we weren’t supposed to be learning about. He would also often talk about how he was working on composing his own personal music albums, in which one time he actually got Grammy nominated for. He was the man responsible for keeping me musically active and curious.

Next up will be Elise Wattman. Elise was my vocal coach, music business teacher, and artist developer. To put it nice and short, she was my first and only mentor as of now. She is a very dear, and special person in my life. If it weren’t for her, I wouldn’t be where I currently am at the moment. She literally has taught me the majority of everything that I know. She has guided me and inspired me into becoming a person that reaches out for the unthinkable.

Another amazing person on this list is a man named Jonathan George. Jonathan is the man who humbled me faster than anyone has ever done in my life. He is a person who has worked in the entertainment industry for so many years, and one day I had the opportunity of having him pick me apart as an artist. He was the person that opened my eyes as to how truly important it is to be somewhat sharp on the business side of things in this industry. He also shared a lot of insight as to what it takes to become a successful person in the music industry.

Lastly and most importantly, my parents. Mom and Dad have been my anchor during the storm, and the lighthouse during the night. Without their support and encouragement, none of this would have ever happened. They were the ones that forced me to take Mrs. Reinheart’s offer of joining the school choir. They where the ones that forcibly took me to guitar lessons during summer breaks, so I wouldn’t waste my summer playing video games. And of course, they were the ones that forced me into that life-changing moment when I auditioned for “La Banda.” Although I was forced into those things, I ended up falling in love with music at the end of the day. Life could have easily given me unsupportive parents that would have not cared about anything in my life. Instead, I was born into a family that cares for me, and that no matter what will always have my back. As cliche as it sounds, I couldn’t have done any of it without them.

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Image Credit:
Roger Gallegos (Photographer), Alondra Flores (Fun Photo/Photographer)

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