Singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Alejandro Aranda is truly a one-of-a-kind musician.
Alejandro first flew onto our radars when he competed on American Idol, becoming the only contestant in series history to perform seven original tracks during the competition. He eventually took home second place. He’s also a member of metal band Seven Hours After Violet, also featuring members from System Of a Down, Left to Suffer and Winds of Plague, but we especially love his genre-blurring work as a soloist. The California native has an instantly recognizable sound with melodic and richly layered instrumentation—including his signature guitar-picking style—and powerful harmonies, blurring genres and fusing pop, classical, folk and jazz influences to create something entirely his own.
Later this week, Alejandro embarks on the Hondo World tour across North America, kicking off in Chicago on June 4. Ahead of the fun, we got the chance to chat with him to learn all about his sound and the things that inspire him most. Read the full interview as our Man Crush Monday below.
(Photo credit: Chace Wallace)
Name: Alejandro Aranda Jr
Hometown: Pomona, California
Birthday: August 11
Fun Facts:
1. In March, Alejandro released a gorgeous piano ballad called “Queen.”
Alejandro Aranda: Honestly, I love making romantic love songs, and I just wanted to create one that highlights someone’s partner and the desire to treat them like royalty. Sometimes that’s hard to come by when it comes to relationships, so I wanted to make a song that sounded very very classical to showcase that royalty and to reflect the feelings of someone being in love.
2. The name of his Hondo World Tour comes from a childhood nickname.
Alejandro: Hondo World means a lot because it’s a nickname my father used to call me when I was growing up. He would call me “Hondo.”
So I wanted to create a world of music of everything that I grew up listening to and reflecting those different styles of music.
Also read about: Everything You Wanted to Know About DJ and Coachella Performer Crankdat
3. Turnstile put on the best show he’s ever seen.
Alejandro: Best concert I’ve ever been to was probably watching Turnstile at an old venue in Pomona called Aladdin Jr.’s. They played an amazing show and everyone was just stage diving.
4. He says his eyebrows aren’t always the most obedient.
Alejandro: My eyebrows have a mind of their own.
5. He also had an unusual dream as a kid.
Alejandro: Also I wanted to be a gymnast growing up.
Also read about: Everything You Wanted to Know About ‘When I Forgive You’ Artist Sasha Allen
6. He says his weirdest habit is eating Hot Cheetos and watching Netflix in bed.
7. He has a number of important heroes.
Alejandro: I have a lot of heroes in my life, but to list them: my family, my nephew and George Lewis Jr. (Twin Shadow).
Twin Shadow gave me a laptop and an interface to start playing music, so I owe a lot to him.
8. What’s the No. 1 thing on Alejandro’s bucket list?
Alejandro: Honestly to be happy lol
JK—it’s to go on a world tour and hopefully play my music in Asia or Japan. It’s such a goal for me and I hope to check that off the bucket list one day.
9. If he could pick anyone from history to be his mentor, he’d probably choose David Bowie.
Alejandro: Because he’s the GOAT.
Also read about: Everything You Wanted to Know About Grammy-Winning Reverso Artist Tim Atlas
10. He’s seen The Terminal more times than any other film.
Alejandro: I used to watch it a lot growing up because of the scenes where he’s eating Burger King. I wasn’t allowed to eat fast food when I was a kid so those scenes captivated me haha.
11. He says his biggest guilty pleasure is probably a $20 smoothie from Erewhon.
12. Overall, Alejandro says that one thing that’s core to him is his relaxed vibes.
Alejandro: Honestly, I just like to hang out and watch movies and chill—that’s my vibe most of the time.
Nothing too crazy, just living life, ya know?
For more from our musical man crushes, click HERE to learn all about “Senses” artist MICO.
