Hype House alum Alex Warren on new generation of artists
We caught up with “Ordinary” singer Alex Warren at Vanity Fair’s Young Hollywood event on how new artists are shaping and changing the music industry.
Video Team – USA TODAY Entertainment
It’s just past midnight in Singapore. Alex Warren finished a performance for 5,000 people at the Star Theatre about 90 minutes prior, but now here he is, casually sitting on a couch in a nondescript room as cheerful as a kid on a playground.
“We’ve got an album coming out, so it’s just been go, go, go,” he says, adding with a smile, “It’s what we do.”
Warren, the Grammy-nominated breakout baritone behind the 2025 ballad “Ordinary,” is releasing his second full-length album, “Wildchild,” Aug. 28. The new release has been teed up with the singles “Fever Dream,” “Rescuer,” “Fine Place to Die” and “Passenger,” which spotlight his songwriting growth as well as his knack for being both introspective and ready with a call to the dance floor.
Though Warren, who turns 26 Sept. 18, hails from Carlsbad, California, just outside of San Diego, “Wildchild” was crafted in Nashville, where the internet-sensation-turned-full-fledged-pop-star resides with his wife and muse, Kouvr Annon.
The low-key Warren is an affable conversationalist, whether revisiting his traumatic upbringing after losing both parents and long stretches of homelessness, or explaining his excitement about his new music. Here’s what he had to say about getting advice from Ed Sheeran, making a video with Kevin James and how he’s handled this burst of success.
Question: You finish this tour Sept. 12 (in Australia). What’s the first thing you’re going to do when you get home?
Alex Warren: I’m really boring. Whenever a tour ends, I throw my phone at a wall and don’t look at it and just go eat burritos and surf.
Do you have a favorite burrito spot?
Before all of this (success), I was a busser at a place called Fish 101 in Encinitas (California), so I just go there. It’s my wife and I’s favorite spot.
You named this tour Finding Family on the Road. Did you look to your fans as the family you might find?
I think my entire career I’ve hated the term “fans” because these shows are so special. It’s not like any other concert you go to. It really feels like everyone knows each other. It’s kind of like when you meet someone and you feel you’ve known each other forever, yet you just met.
You’re winding down a major tour right as you are releasing a new album. Are you thinking of going back out again soon?
I’d love to. I don’t see a world where I stop touring. So maybe I take a few months off to reset or figure out what a normal life looks like.
And go surfing more.
Yeah, go surfing more. I try to surf on tour if there’s a wave pool. But honestly, I will be touring every single year for the rest of my life as long as they let me.
You’ve got the music and the energy, so why not?
I’m excited to see what that looks like when I start a family, too.
That will probably change the dynamic a little bit.
Maybe we’ll make it fun somehow. I can’t imagine not bringing my kid on tour.
There are lots of artists out there who do it. I’m sure you could always find advice from somebody when the time comes.
Whenever I talk to Ed Sheeran, I always ask him about it. And he always gives me the best advice.
What is is the best advice that you’ve gotten from another artist?
I always get caught up in everything in the industry. I don’t think I’m a cool artist. And I think the sooner I learned that the better. I think I’m a musician who makes music for people like me, which is broken people or people falling in love or people who’ve lost someone. And I sing about stuff that’s not cool.
But it depends on your definition of cool.
True. But the one piece of advice I’ve gotten was, remember, you’re not a cool artist. And the sooner you realize that, the better.
Who told you that?
Ed Sheeran.
But Ed is cool just because he’s Ed!
(Laughs) Ed does not think he’s cool.
I think a lot of people would say that is what is most endearing, that you don’t see yourselves as the hippest guys in the room.
Growing up, I felt like this job was so impossible. I was not the best singer. I was not the most talented writer. I was not set up in life where I could just do music full-time and not worry about anything. So there were a lot of struggles and a lot of hurdles to get here.
You’ve always been open about talking about your experiences with anxiety and depression. Why is that so important for you to share with your fans?
I battled very hard with losing my parents at a young age. I was heavily bullied growing up. There are so many things that kind of set me up to where I am today and I appreciate it.
Did you have a specific moment when you realized that “Ordinary” was becoming something much bigger than just a hit song?
I put out “Ordinary” and went on tour. I was playing 1,000 capacity rooms and I struggled to sell them out. “Ordinary” happened and everything sold out. And then it went from 1,000 to 5,000 like that (snaps fingers). I blinked and I went from no one really knowing my music to everyone kind of knowing almost all the songs.
Does it feel like you’re becoming a businessman as well as a musician?
I don’t want anything to do with the business side of things. As long as people know that no matter what, my ticket prices are affordable. You can come and hang out and get something out of the show. That’s all that matters to me. The one thing I will die on a hill for is that I don’t want my tickets to cost more than the other person that I’m compared to.
I think people really love the fact that you put a lot of yourself out there, like that behind-the-scenes video shoot for the “Wildchild” cover and the Kevin James promo video. What was it like getting to spend some time with him?
They say don’t meet your heroes. And it’s always funny enough that my heroes are the coolest people ever. Kevin is one of those people who I now text frequently and he also lost his parents. It’s nice to have a person that you relate to in the industry.
For the 35,000 people who have watched the video, has your score on WikiFeet (a site where users rate celebrity feet) improved?
(Laughs) It has! I think honestly I’m getting the pity scores. I haven’t checked on the recent uploads, but I believe we’re at a 4.7 now.
Of the songs on the new album, you wrote “Rescuer” and “Find a Place to Die” for your wife. How has marriage changed the way you write songs?
It’s funny because most people who are, “my wife this, my wife that” and very online, you almost feel like they’re compensating for something. It sounds so stupid and cheesy, but I’m so in love with my wife. I don’t know how to say it other than that. All the songs I write, every lyric I write, it’s fun to find different ways to say it. I met my wife when we were 18 and homeless and every single day as this crazy life has been flipped upside down on us, we look at each other and go, “What is happening here?”
Did you feel any sophomore album pressure?
There wasn’t. It was just, I’m going to make music I enjoy. There’s a lot of Coldplay inspiration. There’s a lot of John Mayer inspiration. But also there’s sonic whiplash that you’re kind of like, why am I listening to “Fever Dream” and then all of a sudden a ballad? I’m excited for people to hear it and go, “What the (expletive)?”