Press Pass: Pierce Alexander

Caitlin Billard
May 24, 2017
4 min read

Pierce Maheu is one of Charleston’s most eligible studs, but you might not even know because he’s spent the past year tucked away in artistic isolation creating stunning, profound yet unpretentious tracks. Maheu is one of those lone-wolf type guys; a one man electronic band who explores the genre of alternative rock under the name Pierce Alexander.

You know those songs you listen to on repeat when you come home from a long day and everyone sucked and all you have is yourself and you lay in bed, on top of the covers, and you look around your room until the hook of that song starts to play and you close your eyes because this artist just understands exactly what your angsty little heart is feeling? That’s every one of Pierce Alexander’s songs.

Alexander's music is often born from negative emotion. A cool breeze of isolation washes over us when he combines his unimposing vocals with contemplative lyrics, but his melodies make us feel comforted, rather than lonely. He wraps us up in melodic silk, which hardens throughout the duration of the song until we’re comfortably confined in an intangible cocoon-like environment, on the brink of metamorphosis. Pierce’s music appeals to the social anxiety within us all, but enables us to confront it in an upbeat and comfortable way.

But don’t think you can’t also get up and shake ur lil booty to these tracks, too. You know those nights where you’re in the Den and you just slammed some mini bottles in the bathroom and you’re starting to feel it and that song comes on that you just sway and head-bob to? That’s every one of Pierce Alexander’s songs, too.

Though only four songs exist on Alexander’s SoundCloud, quality > quantity and there is a traceable electronic progression from the soft rock track, Black Friday, to the danceable Keeps Me Away. On each track, though, there is a dynamic conversation between soft and loud parts, which Pierce uses “to create different emotions in different parts of songs.”

The soft, soothing vocals of Alexander’s first single, Black Friday, act as a vessel for his eerie, emotive lyrics and are backed by powerful guitar on the chorus. He skillfully evokes vivid images and feelings through his lyrics, with phrases such as “phantoms come to haunt, drawing and clawing my mind back too soon” and “beneath the hollow moonlit tree, the sadness fights you too much to hold still.”

The demo for Waiting for the Show, released about a year ago, is more synth-y than the previous track. Introspective lyrics depict Pierce’s disconnect, saying, "a species of which I am not a member, I greet them as if they're home” and “I’ve got a feeling this is only an interlude, I’ve got to let it go.”

Thoughts Like These starts out with crisp, clear vocals until the sixth word when heavy guitar and drums abruptly debut then surge and swell as the song continues. During the chorus, as Pierce sings, “kill the lights, and become a recluse, try so hard to cover up the bruise,” the instruments reach their peak intensity.

With his latest release, Keeps Me Away, Pierce goes in an electronic dance direction. In a hectic, upbeat frenzy, the listener shakes what their momma gave them while casually considering, “oh my God, has the music taken over my life?” The melody is especially upbeat compared to his previous releases, but continues to feature tempo shifts and the lyrics maintain Pierce’s signature uneasiness, “when you look into my eyes, I can sense that you’re on the fence, put on a superficial grin.”

Recording his demos, Pierce was “pretty much alone,” which is evident in the personal nature of his songs. In the initial writing stage, Pierce allowed himself to create naturally, freely jotting down his first encounter with the music. Then he returned to his recordings with an analytical eye, and asked himself “would I want people to hear this?”

Pierce says, “there have been a couple times where I stopped writing because I thought that I needed to wait for some sort of inspiration” but he quickly realized the importance of actively trying to create without forcing the content of his works. He bashfully admits, “nothing I ever do is really intentional,” but we love the result: non-contrived alternative gems.

Pierce has worked with Lee Barber (guitar) and Wolfgang Zimmerman (drums) to produce and record his tracks thus far, and plans on continuing to do so for his forthcoming EP, which has no set date but is expected to drop sometime this summer.

The experience of listening to these recordings differs from hearing Alexander’s music performed live. “The way I record songs, sometimes I put so many tracks in there that I can’t actually replicate it live, so we have to find [different] ways of making the sound bigger.” However, Pierce likes that the live versions are different. When putting on a live show, “you want it to be interesting, you don’t want it to sound exactly the same as the recording.”

Catch Pierce Alexander’s show with Mr. Rosewater and Shane Allen on June 2 at The Sparrow to hear the live versions for yourself.