Alexander Cardinale

Artist Information

Biography

HIS SINGLE "One Shot" IS PLAYING NOW
ON RADIO STATIONS NATIONWIDE!

Alexander is currently on a SOLD OUT national tour.

- 500,000 Fans on Facebook & Twitter
- 2nd on Music Connection's "HOT 100 Unsigned Artists"
- "Verified" by Twitter & Ranked 47 most popular celeb #FollowFriday
(out of 300 million Twitter users)
- WINNER of the HMMA for 'Best Song in a TV Series' for "Traffic Lights" in 90210. (Hollywood Music In Media Awards)
- Selling thousands of downloads consistently on iTunes
(via Interscope digital distribution)
- Currently #2 on the Singer/Songwriter Charts
- Played 5 invited showcases at SxSW
- 10 music placements in TV shows on:
ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, CW & Lifetime

Alexander Cardinale is a California native, and was raised on the central coast in Monterey. He now lives in L.A. (and NY) where he works as a professional singer/songwriter, recording artist & actor. He had small roles as both a musician on the soundtrack, and actor in David Fincher's 2011 biopic "The Social Network."

Alexander has his own recording studio located in North Hollywood. There, he and his long time producer/co-writer Morgan Taylor Reid, write and record Alexander's music (available via iTunes) as well as music that they have licensed for Commercials and Film/Television projects around the globe. Alexander has also co-written songs for other artists. His music partner Morgan Taylor Reid, has found success producing other artists as well, including the new breakout rock/hip-hop hybrid 7LIONS, which Morgan produced for multi-platinum executive producer RedOne (Lady Gaga, J-Lo) for 2101 Records.

Recently, Alexander's song "Sick Of Dreaming" was used as a featured music montage on the hit show, One Tree Hill (CW). The same song was equally featured on the Season Premiere of ABC's Rookie Blue. Other highlights of Alexander's songs include episodes of The Ghost Whisperer (CBS), CASTLE (ABC), Friends With Benefits (NBC) and 90210 (CW).

He has built a dedicated and active following online. Alexander has over 200,000 fans on his Facebook & Twitter fan pages, alone! The word seems to be spreading via electronic grass roots about his music.

"Traffic Lights" is his current radio single, now in rotation national-wide and on Triple A format radio stations. He is also getting a lot of love from NPR stations. (For all radio inquiries, call Barry Lyons 310-399-4440). Alexander also just WON the USA Songwriting competition for the same song.

The HMMA (Hollywood Music in Media Awards) is honoring Alexander again this year with THREE nominations for Best Pop and AAA Artist of 2012, and Best Song in a TV Show, for his song "Traffic Lights" in 90210.

TODAY, he continues to perform around the country. He just returned from a radio tour thru CA, OR, WA, MT, & ID. promoting his single "Traffic Lights" and playing LIVE at the radio stations giving him spins! He continues to establish his position as an emotionally revealing and talented new artist.

NOW ON TOUR: From September 10th thru December 15, 2012, Alexander will be out on the road as the opening act for a SOLD OUT national tour, going to 20 major US citites. He'll be the only opening act for The Pentatonix, who found fame from WINNING "The Sing Off" on NBC and subsequently debuted on Billboard at #13. For a full list of tour dates see: www.XanderMusic.com/live

Alexander Cardinale has been called the sonic love-child of John Mayer and Ryan Tedder (One Republic). In the current singer/songwriter renaissance, he hopes to stand out with his dense, contagious melodies and honest, poetic lyricism.

Radio: Barry Lyons
Licensing: Riptide Music
MUSIC ATTORNEY: Stephen Sessa (Reed Smith LLP)

Instrumentation

Morgan Taylor Reid - Bass, Drums, guitars, keyboards, producer & co-writer
Alexander Cardinale - Singer, Harmonica, Violin, Acoustic Guitar, Songwriter, Engineer, Ukelele, Recording Artist

Discography

Official Website

http://www.XanderMusic.com

Links

• Facebook
• Twitter
• YouTube
• Reverb Nation
• iTunes
• IMDb
• XANDERMUSIC.COM

Audio

• One Shot by Alexander Cardinale
  Listen   Download
• Traffic Lights
  Listen   Download
• A Way To Get There
  Listen   Download
• Lost It
  Listen   Download
• Never Too Late
  Listen   Download
• Without You
  Listen   Download
• Back To Love (Radio Edit)
  Listen   Download
• Not Fighting It
  Listen   Download
• Don't Know Why (Radio Edit)
  Listen   Download
• Sick Of Dreaming
  Listen   Download

Lyrics

• One Shot
• Traffic Lights
• Never Too Late
• Lost It
• Not Fighting It
• Without You
• Sick Of Dreaming

Video

Ad-Card for Alexander Cardinale on One Tree Hill

One Tree Hill Features Alexander Cardinale (w/ Ad Card)

Photo Gallery

Press

• HMMA Nominee [+ Show ]
  

  For the 2nd year in a row, Alexander Cardinale has been nominated by the HMMA for Best Song in a TV ...For the 2nd year in a row, Alexander Cardinale has been nominated by the HMMA for Best Song in a TV Show, "Traffic Lights" on 90210.

• Hot 100 Unsigned Artist of 2011 [+ Show ]
  

  Alexander Cardinale has been named one of Music Connection Magazine's Hot 100 Unsigned Artists of 20...Alexander Cardinale has been named one of Music Connection Magazine's Hot 100 Unsigned Artists of 2011.

• 100,000 Facebook & Twitter fans can't be wrong
  

  100,000 Facebook & Twitter fans can't be wrong...

• A somewhat shaggy, bespectacled singer/songwriter [+ Show ]
  

  "Refreshingly talented... a somewhat shaggy, bespectacled actor & singer/songwriter he splits his ti..."Refreshingly talented... a somewhat shaggy, bespectacled actor & singer/songwriter he splits his time between both careers..." Daisy Carrington - New York Observer

• Runaway Stars interview - Alexander Cardinale
  

  Alexander co-stars in Runaway Stars, ironically playing a music MANAGER, and not a musician.

• Alexander Cardinale stars in Chad Peter's "Apocalypse, CA."
  

  "wry, cynical and full of off-beat humor in Chad Perter's "APOCALYPSE, CA."

• A SONIC CONVERSATION WITH XANDER [+ Show ]
  

  TFE spoke to Xander via telephone from his California studio. TF: After reading your bio, ...TFE spoke
  to Xander via telephone from his California studio.
  
  
  TF: After reading your bio, you started out in music really young, what inspired you to start playing?
  
  Xander: I don’t remember as far back as my mother saying I wanted to play the violin at 2 or 3. I do remember the moment when I decided I wanted to write songs, it was right
  before I made the transition to play guitar. I was 11 years old and I was starting to listen to a lot of modern music at the time, like around 1990 or something like that. I
  really wanted to sing, and there was all kinds of Pop music and R&B and stuff like that. I started writing lyrics and singing melodies to myself and silly things like that.
  Then, when I was about 14 I just picked up a guitar, my Dad got me my first guitar and I started writing chords to go with the melodies, playing around with song struc-
  ture, just trying to figure it out on my own. I’ve kind of been doing that ever since, I haven’t had any formal training, I just started figuring out how to write songs.
  
  TF: Were you considered to be a musical prodigy?
  
  Xander: I’m hesitant to use that word because I never took it that far. I did have the propensity to go in that direction. My mom ran a radio station and I grew up in it, I basically
  lived there. I was there as much as I was at my house, I was there when I wasn’t at school, I did my homework there, practiced my violin there. From the age of 4 to 12 I
  played in all of these extra-curricular programs, like music within the schools, orchestras that were put together by all the local schools throughout Monterey and Carmel
  County. I was the first chair violin which is the concert master at 11 and 12 years old which to certain people would be considered like a prodigy but I never went further
  than that, I put it away when I picked up the guitar.
  
  TF: What inspired you to write?
  
  Xander: This may sound really cheesy. I’m inspired by the idea that music can really help and teach people. I know that’s like the cheesiest answer you can give but let me explain a little be more on that. My Dad was really into Classic Rock and my Mom was really into Classical Music. So, I started analyzing music and how it moved me. I
  could learn (about) and understand people from (their) actual music. And then I started to listen to Classic Rock and Modern Rock and the lyrics could do that too. I
  started realizing that if the music is good it can teach people help and inspire people. Then, if the lyrics have something important to say the lyrics can do the same. So,
  I’ve been striving in my life to use my life experience and not to shallow and not to write unless I have something important to say. Lately, I’ve been pulling from my
  collegiate background and playing to that crowd. I’ve been inspired by the war in Iraq and by politics, economic issues in the world right now so that’s where I’m focus-
  ing my energy that’s what really inspires me to write right now. (I want) to do lyrically from that point of view through Pop/Rock music so that people can tolerate the
  politics.
  
  TF: What types of reactions are you getting from your audience?
  
  Xander: I‟ve been playing for a few years, it starts out rough. LA is a tough place to build a following. I don‟t want to be the typical person that lives in LA and
  bashes LA, I love LA and I love the people here. When you‟re building a following it‟s hard. People have their own things going on, everyone here has
  their own art thing going on, acting, music, producing or writing. It‟s hard to get people that are really receptive to being in to other people‟s music.or other
  people‟s art when everyone else is an artist and judging. Overall, after I broke that first barrier I feel like I‟m really starting to find myself and my crowd and
  my audience. It seems to be younger people in their twenties who have a similar mind set, like similar music are influenced by a similar Pop/Rock, Mod-
  ern Rock thing that‟s happening now. I feel like if I‟m myself and I sing from the heart, with real shit, music I‟m inspired by...love, losing love, being alone,
  being scared of being alone then people relate to that but they also relate to the politics.
  
  TF: With the assembly line type music that’s on the radio today, do you find it hard to stay true to your musical vision?
  
  Xander: I did for a long time but I found a partner that had the same struggles and working together we got through it. So, we write together we produce together
  now. His name is Morgan Taylor and he and I found a way to...we love modern music, we found that if we can take the music we love which is technically
  Pop and put our heart into that then we‟re not selling ourselves short at all. We‟re staying true to ourselves but at the same time opening ourselves up to
  a broader audience.
  
  TF: You’ve also done some acting, are you planning to continue that?
  
  Xander: It‟s funny (laughs) I had planned on not continuing it. I had planned on it being something I would do once in a while like a hobby. As soon as I kind of let
  it go, it‟s the law of detachment. As soon as I let go and stopped focusing energy on it, I think it because I had focused so much energy on it by going to
  college for it and getting an agent, getting with SAG (Screen Actors Guild) and doing all the thing you need to get started, I set myself up in a way. Once I
  backed out and focused on music things just started happening, I started getting calls for parts. I really didn‟t focus on the auditions, I was focused on the
  music I was writing and producing, the shows I had coming up or the meeting I was taking for music, I wasn‟t focused on the auditions I just started
  (scheduling) booking. I got a movie that I‟m starring in with three other actors, it‟s a two male, two female lead kind of dark comedy. It‟s an Indie film
  directed by Chad Peters and it should be coming out next summer. I have a TV show that I just did, like webisodes, TV on the internet and it‟s called Run-
  away Stars. I‟m in four episodes. I plan on just keeping chill, keeping it relaxed, doing what I want to do. I‟m not in a position to have to take work, I‟ll
  continue to act when it‟s stuff that I‟m interested in.
  
  TF: Being a member of SAG, do you have any feelings about the writers strike?
  
  Xander: Yes, I have really strong feelings about it. I thought about picketing with my fellow SAG actors, I get the emails everyday (letting me know) where they‟re
  going to be. Honestly, I‟ve been so busy producing an artist right now that I haven‟t had the time. I do believe that the writers of the Writers Guild do de-
  serve what they are asking for. They do deserve to paid for distribution and for the DVD‟s and the internet is still a big issue. The internet is still some-
  thing that needs to be discovered more. Especially for the Screen Actors Guild, we deserve to have that looked in to more too. Like I said, I‟m doing
  these webisodes only a few of those are SAG and many of them are not. It‟s affected a lot of work for a lot of people but since I so wasn‟t focused on it, it
  didn‟t affect me as much.
  
  TF: Your MySpace page states that the music you are working on now is entirely different, how so?
  
  Xander: I was only doing acoustic solo music for years and that‟s how people knew me. Now I have an entire band I put together with my partner Morgan, he
  plays and sings backup. Morgan plays piano, keyboard, Korg and synthesizers. We‟re playing to track, which is like, he runs everything through a com-
  puter, he‟s like a little mad scientist. The drummer (Drew Langan) is playing to click so we‟re all synched up and we have a guitar player. The music is just full, it‟s 32-48
  tracks, it‟s Rock n Roll, it‟s modern, straightforward, so different from anything I‟ve ever done. What I was doing before was completely raw, completely
  organic, just me and the guitar. It was just about the melody and the lyrics and the guitar part, that was it, it was just old school.
  
  TF: Do you like this sound better?
  
  Xander: I do, I like the acoustic stuff and that‟s probably something I will go back to but right now I‟m loving this. I‟m really looking forward to seeing how people
  react to it when my first album comes out.
  
  TF: Since getting into the business do you have a favorite celebrity moment?
  
  Xander: I have a few. I met George Clooney once and he was really cool. I‟ve met a few celebrities that I have been star-struck by, people I really admire like
  Edward Norton. George Clooney was the most dapper, his energy was like...I don‟t know, I want to be like that when I grow up.
  
  TF: Any bad celebrity moments?
  
  Xander: (Laughs) I have quite a few but I don‟t want to get in trouble. Without naming names, she is famous for being famous but she is also an actress and a
  singer, wants to be a Pop star! I have some bad experiences going out with some friends and I‟m just baffled by this girl. I‟m baffled by a lot of celebrities
  because they think it‟s real, they have no perspective on real life. Forget about the aspect of what real people do and do for a living raising a family an
  that type of stuff. Plus, where we are in terms of how small and insignificant we are. They think that Hollywood is everything and celebrity is everything. I
  had one say to me “Don‟t they know that I‟m a superstar”, and I was like...What! People really take themselves seriously out here. It baffles me, I thought
  it was the media blowing it out of proportion until I started meeting some of these people and realizing that they believe it and people encourage them to
  believe it.
  
  TF: Any outrageous groupie moments?
  
  Xander: No, and I hope I don‟t have that. I‟m married and I‟m happy and I just don‟t need that. I want to achieve...don‟t get me wrong I‟m shooting for the stars. I want to achieve as much success I can but I‟m not doing it for the same reasons that
  most people do it. It‟s not disingenuous, I mean it. I don‟t give a shit about the fortune and fame or any of that. I enjoy having money, money would be
  nice but it‟s not it‟s not my ultimate goal. I‟m really truly content in my life right now. I don‟t need anything else.
  
  TF: When can people expect your new CD?
  
  Xander: We‟re mastering about eight of the tracks that we finished, we have another four that we‟re tracking and then we have to master those. I would say that I
  will put those songs (on the internet) and iTunes in about six months. Three months it will be on my website (www.xandermusic.com) in six months it will
  probably be up on iTunes because it takes a while to upload. I have some industry showcases coming up, there is one label in particular that I would
  really love to sign with that I think is interested in me. If that works out then we will talk to them about taking it to a national, global level.
  
  TF: What advice would you give to any of the new musicians that are trying to make it?
  
  Xander: The most important thing...I used to believe that that was nothing wrong with starting at the top. Someone once told me, who I really respected, that there
  was nothing wrong with starting at the top. I took that to heart, I felt like if I‟m really playing for the heart and I‟m true to myself and my music is great then
  if I start at the top then that‟s okay, I won‟t feel bad about it. So I came out here (LA) and just plugged away. But I really truly believe the most important
  thing is paying your dues and getting your street credit. Having said that, it sounds like a pain in the ass to some people but you have to spend years cul-
  tivating your craft, I really believe that. I‟m at a point now, where I‟m just starting to do that. I still have years and years ahead of me of honing in my act,
  I‟m just getting started. It‟s taken me all this time, six years I‟ve been plugging away at this live, playing these shows around LA, California and in New
  York trying to get my act together literally. (I‟m starting) to figure out who I am as an artist and what I really want to say and that comes from experience
  and playing in front of people, getting a vibe and you can‟t really do that starting at the top. You can‟t just really walk into a record label, expect them to
  sign you, make an album and expect anything to come out of that really real. The most important thing I can say to people is be patient and I know that it
  sucks to most people to think years instead of days or months, think in term of sustaining a substantial act and work really hard for that.
  
  TFE really enjoyed our interview with Xander, he is very cool, laid back and focused on what he is trying to accomplish. We wish him the best and plan to
  touch base with him again in the future.
  To sample some of Xander‟s great tunes, log on to www.xandermusic.com or visit his MySpace page at www.myspace.com/xandermusic. Tell him TFE
  sent ya‟
  
  

• For Publicity Information
  

  Sarah Allen Publicity: 310-210-0841

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