AleXa wants to roam the world
At the time of our
Zoom interview, AleXa hadn’t heard that she had advanced to the finals of NBC’s “American Song Contest.” “I’m just grateful for this experience,” she said from Los Angeles, where the singing competition is filmed. “I performed for a huge American network in front of a live audience. Hopefully, I can take this positive energy and move forward with it.” Born and raised in Oklahoma — the state she’s representing on the show — the singer will later return to Seoul, where she moved six years ago to pursue her music career. Fans can follow AleXa on Instagram @ alexa_zbofficial and Twitter @alexa_zb. You also can find her on YouTube and Facebook.
Q: Before you moved to South Korea, were people in the industry pressuring you to move to Los Angeles or New York?
A:
I don’t think I felt pressured. Other Americans would ask, “Where in California are you from?” Everyone’s so shocked when I say Oklahoma, but I guess they don’t typically associate Asians with Oklahoma. But my dad is from New York so I went there a lot when I was a kid. And I wanted to move to LA eventually because I know that LA is a place of creativity and performance. But Oklahoma’s still my home till the day I die.
Q: Do you remember any
childhood trips? A:
Yes. It was to New York City. I have a little kid’s memory of it, so it might be a little foggy. I’m pretty sure when I was there I saw a Broadway musical. I don’t remember if it was “The Lion King” or not. And then I remember this giant (now closed) Toys R Us that was (four) stories high in Times Square. There was a big dinosaur inside. It would move and then stop suddenly and reset and restart. So I was on the floor by the head and it stopped. I had my back turned and was talking to my mom and my dad. When I turned around, his mouth was right open behind me! I am terrified of animatronics specifically because of this!
Q: Tell us about some of the other places you’ve visited.
A:
Growing up I was a really big fan of anime and manga. I’d always seen really cool pictures of Japan. Thanks to my career, I’ve been able to go to Japan and I’ve been able to look around. Also, I had the opportunity to go to Singapore right after my debut and I want to go back. But even before my
debut, I went to India for about a month. India is one of my favorite places to ever go to. I’ve had the opportunity to go to so many wonderful places thanks to the career that I’m pursuing.
Q: Some people love traveling for work in the beginning and then grow tired of it. How about you? A:
No, I’m enthusiastic about it. I’m a Sagittarius and we want to roam and travel the world. So any opportunity I get to go, even if it’s to a different part of Korea, I want to go. I went to Pohang one time and saw different facets of the country. I like to travel.
Q: Where have you not been to that’s on your bucket list?
A:
I really want to do a tour of South America, if at all possible, because the K-pop scene is so huge down there. And I feel like it’s almost largely ignored. I feel like (countries like) Brazil and Argentina have big K-pop fans there. Why not give them some performances? It just sounds really fun.