AlienBlaze: “I’ve always wanted to inspire girls to be able to pick up the guitar”

This wasn’t meant to happen. Well, at least not to this degree. A teenage AlienBlaze had dreams of being a lead guitarist, but now at 20 years old she’s one of the most sought-after singer-songwriters in alternative music.

Growing up, she was immersed in sound – from her mum’s grunge obsession to her dad’s passion for ’70s rock. But at the age of 13, AlienBlaze was forced to miss almost three years of school due to illness. Music became not only a lifeline but an outlet, as her mum suggested she pick up her old Gibson U2 and learn guitar.

Countless hours of practicing led to the budding shredder writing her own songs, recording demos and even teaching herself to sing. Uploading her first tracks to Spotify in 2019, her music made its way onto some of the platform’s biggest playlists, finding a global audience almost instantly. Before long, even Oli Sykes was posting about her track Hate Me.

Something of a music scholar, AlienBlaze says that she would go to “millions of gigs” to see everyone from Highly Suspect to her all-time faves The Cure. So too has she pored over the autobiographies of Chrissie Hynde and Debbie Harry, as well as books on The Haçienda and acid house. “I’ve read so many books to really learn my craft, everything from every genre, which is why I consider my music genre-fluid because I take inspiration from everywhere,” she says. “I consider it a rock hybrid.”

Many artists these days consider themselves to be genreless, of course. What makes AlienBlaze stand out?

“Because I can play the guitar and I write my songs by myself on guitar at home, and then I do some of the production on my own,” she explains. Pointing to BMTH and The Prodigy, she reveals that she wants to take rock forward, and says that even her writing style is unconventional, comparing recent track Not Yours Never Was to “as if Tchaikovsky wanted to write a rock or alt.pop song”.

Recently becoming the first UK-based artist to sign to Sumerian, AlienBlaze confirms that more singles are coming, as well as a potential collab, and she has plans for an album. Keeping herself grounded, however, she believes that ultimately being an artist is all about “the experience and creating experiences for the listener”, and influencing the next generation.

“I’ve always wanted to inspire girls to be able to pick up the guitar,” she concludes. “There are so many incredible examples that I’ve been inspired by, from Suzi Quatro to Nita Strauss. I hope that more girls pick up the guitar, because there’s not enough of us yet!”

AlienBlaze plays The Great Escape Festival 2023. This article originally appeared in the December 2022 issue of the magazine.

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