Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Alex Mabey. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Alex, appreciate you joining us today. What’s the best or worst investment you’ve made (either in terms of time or money)? (Note, these responses are only intended as entertainment and shouldn’t be construed as investment advice)
The time, money, energy, and heart I have invested— and my village has invested— into my independent music career has been the worst AND best investment decision ever made. I’ve been doing music professionally since I was sixteen— with seasons of lows and quiets and seasons of buzz and steady income. Pursuing any unconventional career is not for the faint of heart and after enough years of doing it, you’ll learn if you’re called to do it by something beyond yourself or if pursuing it as a job was just for a season.
For me, I felt I was “called” since I was little. Time went on and I wondered sometimes if I was just doing it for me. More time went on and I learned that I would have given up a long time ago for a more simple life if I was just doing it for me or even for validation from others. I do it because I’m called by God to sing out the truths He has planted in my heart— to Him, to me, to those who want to listen.
My “numbers” and follower count is not impressive. Companies don’t have the luxury of considering partnering with me comfortably and I don’t have the luxury of coming from a background of money to where I can do all I need to do on my own. This situation has created a current requirement for me and companies who consider teaming with me— one of faith and adventure-mindset. Faith, that if peace is given by God, can leap off “what’s on the paper” and believe that the true value isn’t ever tangible or one that can be calculated. It’s what makes art beautiful in the first place. I say this as an encouragement to all creatives and really all people who are pursuing “the calling” on their lives. On paper, it is the absolute worst investment you can make, but if God has called you off the paper and into the sky, your YES is the best thing adventure could ever be a part of. When His hand is on something, it will surely pay off in His perfect timing. It will always ask you to humble yourself in the process to prepare to steward the blessings well when they come. Don’t give up on what He has put in your heart. Also, where in the Bible did the biggest army ever win? When the least likely wins, God gets the glory and that’s what will actually make us come alive inside.
Alex, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I am a Christian Music Artist, Author, and Fashion Designer living in Nashville and in the mountains of Washington State where I grew up. From a generational line of women who were either writers, speakers, or musicians— it was written in my DNA and I knew it young. I graduated high school and went to Belmont University for a short bit studying Music Business, then I took off and traveled the country and internationally with a deep, abnormal “knowing” that I needed to develop my “sound” with God by having no pressures, by knowing the world I felt I would be singing to later on. For a decade, I did just that— released multiple independent albums, played shows with my band, opened for people, or just traveled solo with my backpack and guitar to the mission field in places like Guatemala and Africa. Having a big platform in music was off my mental radar.
My body fought me in this season of my life and I learned I had multiple autoimmune illnesses that kept me bed-ridden for days on end in my early twenties. Doctors told me that I would be living off steroids and antidepressants my whole life to manage it. I found help that eased my symptoms through alternative healthcare, which was a picture of the grace of God on my life getting me through this season. At this same time, I entered into an unhealthy marriage that I ended up having to leave in my late twenties. I wasn’t expecting this kind of development or that I would draw from this kind of pain and put it to melody. But this was the most important part of learning people so I could write honest music that saw them. I was learning to write music that saw us both. I learned God is real— He doesn’t just touch you with a wand and heal you from whatever it is. He sits with you, like a good friend would— and cries with you first. That’s a picture of my earlier music.
Now, on the other side of it all, my songs stem from that foundation of compassion and suffering, but they ring of the freedom that I learned on the other side. They ring of the rescuing God has done for me time and time again— of the nature of His heart that was not only deposited genetically by the women before me but also personally experienced in the thirty-three years I’ve lived so far. Hoping to release that music and book in the coming year— with a fashion line to match!
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
There is room for everyone in our crafts. The spirit of competition permeates every industry and definitely the music industry. It drained me early on, it hurt me, it hurt others. It’s so engrained in us that when we look at our peers on social media, we are subconsciously evaluated “where we stand” compared to them or “where they stand” compared to us. I like to picture a bar graph where everyone’s name is at the bottom. The top is everyone’s full potential. My success has absolutely nothing to do with someone else’s success and neither are a threat to one another. When everyone is operating at their full light, full potential, it only makes the world better and more filled with what it was meant to be filled with. There is no one that can tell your story like you can and no one ever will— we just have to remember to believe that.
Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?
The “content” we put out on social media is food for others. I’ve learned that the content/song can be purely motivated, but if the kitchen (heart posture when we’re preparing the posts) isn’t clean, it will contaminate the food. I try to remember to pray over my posts and get my heart right first— making sure I’m inspired to do it for the Lord and not because I have to to “stay in the game.”
Recently I asked the Lord to actually not increase my numbers until my heart was right when posting. Not even joking, ten minutes later a miracle happened to me when I was trying to sell my first guitar for needed-money. The man felt convicted by God and not only gave it back to me, but let me keep the money from the sale to “invest in what God was doing in my music”. Not only did I have good content to post from this that day, but it was inspired from somewhere deep within where I had to share the goodness of God. Christian radio station partnered with me on the post and I went mini-viral that day, for the first time in my life. When we lay down “ourselves”, it’s not hard for Him to provide incredible content.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.alexmabey.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_alexmabey/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/alexmabeymusic
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/alexmabeymusic/videos
- Other: Link Tree: https://linktr.ee/alexmabey
4/15 Showcase Tickets: https://tunehatch.com/shows/157083748
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/58jXtHqDQO6SGXutedjIhT
Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@_alexmabey
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/alexmabey
Image Credits
Matthew Berinato