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Rex Orange County
REX ORANGE COUNTY makes pop music of that distinctly modern variety that starts in bedrooms, gets discovered on the internet and eventually sells out massive venues filled with thousands of adoring fans.
REX, real name ALEX O'CONNOR, was born in 1998 and has been putting out music since 2015. At the time of writing, his five most popular songs on Spotify have together racked up a nice 981 million streams. These include his hits 'Sunflower', 'Happiness' and 'Loving is Easy', which says a lot about the positivity that he brings to his song-writing.
ALEX studied at the same pop school in Croydon, London where ADELE, FKA TWIGS and AMY WINEHOUSE all cut their teeth, and now collaborates with Americans FRANK OCEAN and TYLER, THE CREATOR. He also has one of the most recognisable hairstyles in pop music, despite not having any specific hairdo to speak of.
ALEX: It's a love-hate thing. I do like it when I like it and I really don't like it when I don't like it, if you know what I mean?
J: Yep! It's interesting that you do your own hair for a photoshoot - usually there's a hairstylist around to help with that. Is it important to you, part of keeping full artistic control, that no one messes with your hair?
A: When you first start doing this, you're learning everything. But for me, in the job that I do, when you come into making music and then you're offered opportunities to be shown to the world, that seems like a really positive thing. But you feel you have to say yes to people being, like, "I'm just going to put this in your hair, I'm going to put this on your face, we're just going to put you in this ALEXANDER McQUEEN shirt that's too big for you..." That's just a random example, by the way. It's taken a few not-so-comfortable moments in order to know what I want and what I don't want. With the first few shoots that I did, I didn't know how to say no. And it can often make or break a video or a shoot if my hair looks a certain way throughout. I can hate how I look for the whole thing even if the pictures are amazing and the outfits are amazing. I don't know; my hair controls a lot, including how I feel. It's very weird. I've done lots of things since then and I've enjoyed them and been able to look back at the pictures and not feel, like, "God, I hate how my hair looks, I should not have let them do that to my hair." So, I'm glad I can be at a point now where I can be honest, as before I didn't feel I could say how I felt.
J: A process of trial and error, then?
A: Exactly.
J: You seemed very comfortable in front of the camera today...
A: I did today. I felt comfortable. I think that's the aim any time I do something of this nature: to be comfortable. Even if that means, you know, I bring some clothes in my bag that I'd wear any day, so I always have a plan B.
J: What was your hair routine when you were a child? Did your parents super- vise your hair?
A: No one ever decided how my hair should be, at any point. No one actually really ever forced me in any particular direction. I was the boss of my hair. I don't know how I feel about this now, but I was quite inspired by DAVID BECKHAM when I was younger, in terms of his hair and how he would change it a lot. As a child I actually loved putting products in my hair and putting gel in my hair, when I was, like, six or seven. I just wanted to make it look a certain way that was somehow different. Maybe it was a call for attention from a child wanting to stand out. My parents would always let me do that. They never put a bowl on my head and gave me the bowl cut.
J: You mentioned DAVID BECKHAM's various hairstyles. Was there one in particular you remember being inspired by or trying to emulate?
J: So, you were quite aware of distinctive hairstyles from an early age, by the sound of it?
A: I guess so. I've always known what I liked and what I didn't like and was observant of outfits and hair, even though, you know, coming into the world making music, I never thought that would necessarily be a part of my job. But it is, in a positive way, and it's tied in nicely.
J: As you evolved through your teens, up until the point you first put some of your music out there, did you continue to experiment with different hairstyles?
A: I went through a very particular phase when I was in my early teens. JUSTIN BIEBER came around, and he did something with his hair that I think a lot of people at that age - whether they liked him or not - styled themselves after. It was the flicked bangs, with the fringe going one way. And to this day, I still kind of have it, but it's just a long version of it. That just felt like the right thing to do. I really was jealous of JUSTIN BIEBER as a child because he had all the girls! Maybe that's why I wanted to have my hair like that, so I too could get all the girls, like JUSTIN BIEBER?
J: It's totally normal to want to look good and attract people...
A: Yeah, I guess. I also remember wanting my hair to go up like this [gestures up-wards], but to the side, kind of like a quiff.
J: I've seen an old picture of you when it was like that. It was quite short, but pushed back a bit.
A: I used to push it to the side and back. I would wash it and gel it like that, and then I would let the gel dry, and comb my hair, to comb the gel out. That was probably the most intense I've ever been with my hair on a daily basis.
J: How old were you then?
A: God, I was probably 14, 15, 16. So not that long ago. I was still giving a fuck. And then I remember, one day when I was in college, at The BRIT School, I stopped doing anything to my hair and that's what I do to this day. I just let it do its thing. It's either this, or it's trimmed down.
J: What prompted you to suddenly free yourself from the prison of hair gel?
A: | think I did care a lot as a child, and I was very particular. I'm still very stubborn and particular in all my decisions, but I guess as I went into my teens I started to care less about my hair. I had been chub-bier, but then I lost weight and shaved my head. I let it grow back and then didn't do anything with it from that point on. I was less self-conscious. I think I just wanted to stop caring. I was wasting a part of my brain thinking about that. I realised how little it matters, and how much you look at other people without even looking at their hair, and that no one's looking at mine, most of the time. I can be on camera now and not feel so weird about it. I don't want to put so much thought into how I look. I can really appreciate fashion, and clothes, but in terms of my appearance I don't try so hard. And I try to carry that into my career, because I feel, like, I want to let everyone know I'm here for music first.
J: When we were initially discussing your hair at Fantastic Man, we were coming up with descriptions such as "very English," or "boy next door." How would you describe it?
A: That's a good question. I haven't thought of it much, but on instinct I'd say it's casual in the "boy next door" re-spect. I'd say it's...free. It's not held into position like it once was. It's free to do what it's going to do. It blows in the wind.
A lot of hair has a life of its own, and mine certainly does. I can only control it so much; it's like a dog or something.
J: Your hair has become a pet?
A: Yeah, like a pet that's on my head!
J: The writer JOE ORTON believed that the best hairstyle takes a lot of effort to achieve, but looks totally effortless. Do you agree?
A: I would probably agree that, overall, the goal for most people is to make it look effortless. I think I'm just lucky I don't actually have to put in much effort to be happy with how it looks. I literally just let it do its thing, and I just dry it with a towel. I don't use a hair dryer or comb or anything like that anymore.
J: Who usually cuts your hair?
A: I don't think I've ever had the same person cut it twice for the last couple of years, just because I'm bouncing around so much. Sometimes it's right before a tour, or while I'm on a tour. As for the last person that cut my hair: I went to my friend's house, and his two older sisters and their partners were there, and his parents, and they had a woman over to cut all their hair. She had a mask on. So since I was there, I just got a free haircut, and that was the last time. It's whenever I can.
J: What directions do you typically give to the person cutting your hair?
A: I always say, "I like it like this, so I just want you to trim it. I don't need you to get creative right now!"
J: Will you continue growing your hair? Might you go for the classic '70s rock-star look?
A: Like, a big mullet? No. I don't think so. During lockdown, of course, everyone I know let their hair grow, like a motherfucker, and I was one of them. It was over my entire face. I kind of just want to keep it how it is - I like it how it is at the moment.
J: You mentioned earlier that your priority is music, but have you felt any pressure, since you've become famous, to be more aware of your image?
A: I'm not too bothered. I wear what il wear, whether I'm going out or staying inside all day, just to feel nice. I like nice clothes. My hair looks how it looks, whether I'm inside or outside. I am somewhat conscious of my hair when I'm walking down the street, and I don't like that and !l don't want to think about that. Otherwise I don't feel pressured at all to dress up in any way. I definitely feel, like, if anything, I have more freedom to just express myself now that people take me a bit more seriously as an artist. I can wear things and not feel as though I'm making a weird effort; I'm just wearing what I want to wear. I don't have anything to prove, if that makes sense.
J: Have you seen any fans emulating your hairstyle?
A: Not really, not fans at shows or any-thing. I've seen people posting pictures of someone who looks like me, and it's, like, a brunette guy with a gap tooth, and that's as far as it goes.
J: I've noticed you seem to enjoy clothes and fashion. At different times during your career you have worn pieces by PRADA and MARNI, or VIVIENNE WESTWOOD and CARHARTT, to give a few examples. When did that interest in fashion and designer clothes first arise?
A: When I was a teenager, I liked skateboarding and I liked skateboarding companies and brands such as SUPREME. I think SUPREME probably started a lot of my interest in it. The collaborations they'd do put me onto a lot of other things culturally. That was a streetwear thing, when I was younger. I would have never gone into a PRADA store. I felt intimidated by that stuff, and you had to be able to afford it. Now, I'm lucky to have the financial freedom to go into PRADA and not feel intimidated, because I can actually buy something. But also, now I can go in there knowing that I might fucking not buy something, and not feel intimidated about that either! More than anything, I'm a really big fan of quality-made things. I always loved shoes, skate shoes, and now I'm kind of down with all types of shoes. I'm getting into wearing DICKIES instead of just wearing skinny jeans, like I did when I was younger. It's another interest, another out-let, something to be interested in, something to look into, or, you know, browse on my phone looking at Instagram, looking at feeds, looking at clothes.
A: Yeah, I love shopping. I like department stores - Harrods and Selfridges and whatnot - and online. I've been to Dover Street Market; I like it there. I like Liberty, and Goodhood, in Shoreditch, is great. They have a lot of Japanese things; it's nice.
J: Do you usually work with a stylist, or do you generally pick everything you're wearing yourself?
A: I've actually always picked everything myself, but I've recently met a stylist who helped me out on a video. That's a very new thing for me. I've always picked and known what I like and gone for that, like certain colours and materials and whatnot.
J: Do you think there are any parallels between the way you approach music and songwriting and the way you approach your hair and what you wear?
A: I’m heavily influenced by what other people do and wear. If I hear music that I like, I don't forget it, and if I see stuff
that I like, I don't forget it. I know what I want and I go to those things. But if I wore something and someone said they weren't into it, I wouldn't mind. I'd be, like, "Alright, good thing you're not wearing it, then!" And if someone came to me and said, "I'm not really into that song," I'd be, like, "Good thing you're not putting it out!" These are my songs, my outfits. I guess if there was a parallel it would just be that I like what I like, and I get inspired, but I'm not influenced by someone not being into it.
J: I think what you're describing is, basically, trusting your instincts and having an inner confidence...
A: I guess so, and I feel lucky to have that, but that's also from being on stage and loving the stage and feeling comfortable up there. I need to feel comfortable wearing something on stage, because I'm singing songs that I feel comfortable singing because I love them. So feeling comfortable is how it's going to come off best. If I love the song and feel comfortable singing it, then someone somewhere is going to love it too.
J: Do you care at all about the idea of being "cool"? I know that as a child you were keen on ABBA and QUEEN, and you've collaborated with RANDY NEW-MAN and expressed enthusiasm for BILLY JOEL's songs. These are not necessarily obvious references for someone of your age. They are all hugely successful and popular performers, but - certainly in the case of ABBA and QUEEN - they are often seen as quite camp and kitsch, rather than slotting into some admittedly clichéd definition of "cool."
A: I've always loved the more camp side of things. Their music's very theatrical and very camp, and it wasn't trying to be cool; it was always trying to be a show, and I'm down with that. That's just good energy. And if you want to wear something that you love - it might be a regular white shirt with jeans, or a crazy outfit - whether it's cool or not, if you believe in it, I think that's cool.
J: Obviously, most of the people you've collaborated with have got a strong visual identity, whether it's TYLER, THE CREATOR, or FRANK OCEAN...or even RANDY NEWMAN, in a way, when he was younger, right?
A: Oh, yeah, definitely.
J: Have you discussed hair or clothes with any of them, or picked up any style tips or inspiration from them?
A: Uh, I can't say I have from RANDY...
J: His big, curly hair was great, though, back in the '70s...
A: It was great. If I'd been around then, maybe we would have spoken about it, but we only ever met once, and I think neither of us was too concerned about what the other was wearing. I remember I was wearing some jeans, some Air Max 97s and a blue T-shirt that had the support act's name; that was my friend VEGYN. This was in LA, and I think RANDY was wearing a polo shirt and some trousers, and some NEW BALANCE or some ASICS or some-thing. There's a video somewhere. But you know, TYLER and FRANK, I love their style- both of them. I think FRANK is the reason why everyone's now dying their hair green, and I think TYLER's the reason why people are wearing patterned clothes and crazy colours and pinks and yellow. I think he's inspired people and he's a massive style icon. FRANK has been wearing a jacket that he's made himself, or he's just gone and worked with somebody and made a one-off sweatshirt or whatever. They know what the fuck they like. I don't think I'm anywhere near as prolific as they are, style-wise, but they are again a good example of people who you can't tell what to wear. I like their stage outfits, too. FRANK only did a little tour and everything he wore was really cool, and TYLER on stage is always wearing some new GOLF things, some new shoes, that haven't been released yet. I love that he can tease and promote his own stuff like that. He's the only guy I can think of that does it that much.
J: What did you think of TYLER's blonde "IGOR" wig?
A: I loved it. My favourite hairstyle of his was actually the cheetah print that he got all over his head, when he went to the Grammys. That looked amazing.