A MODERN DAY HERMIONE… ON GUITAR
INDONESIA| INSTRUMENTAL/CLASSICAL/POP
Indonesia is the 4th most populated country in the world, and the 14th largest in regards to land size [1] and just like every other country in the world, they have some amazing musicians and artists, whether you’ve heard of them or not. Chances are, if you’re not one of her 137,000+ followers on YouTube, you may have never heard of this insanely talented guitar player before.
Josephine Alexandra (also known as JP Alexandra) is the youngest artist we have featured on Sferikul thus far, being only 16 years old. She hails from the capital of Indonesia, Jakarta, and was classically trained on piano at the tender age of 3 years old. When she was only 8 years old, her parents decided to start a YouTube channel showcasing her piano skills, but that was not where her life’s path would fully unfold. By age 10 she realized that she loved music in it’s entirety and began picking up instruments left and right.
Before long, she had taken courses, whether in person or by teaching herself via YouTube how to play the saxophone, drums, violin, bass and ultimately guitar. And really, she excels at the guitar, drums and piano most, having won many competitions by playing them. Some people are musical prodigies and I think Josephine really is one. I’ve watched a few of her videos from when she was younger and she can truly rip up a piano – IN A GOOD WAY. HOLY SMOKIES. Ok, so… fast forward to when she was 11 – that’s when she first decided to pick up fingerstyle guitar and now this is what brings us to modern day JP.
My old college roommate and colleague sent me a video of her playing Charlie Puth’s Attention on the guitar and I immediately stopped what I was doing to try and take in this young woman’s talent. Sure, we’ve all come across people who excel at instruments or singing yes, but to me, there was something and IS something special about Josephine. First of all, you can tell that she really enjoys what she’s doing and that her passion will take her places. Second, her fingerstyling involves playing the bass lines along with the melody of a song and is super legit and fun to watch. And third, her humble spirit is something that the world needs more of in the music industry. I could name plenty more reasons why she stands out to me, but let’s get to the music.
Pop is a major driving force for her as can be seen by most of the covers she performs on her YouTube channel. Everything ranging from The Chainsmokers to Hailee Steinfeld to DNCE and BTS, this chick can play pretty much anything. Oh, and there’s other cool stuff she’s played like a Linkin Park piano cover and even a theme song from a video game, The Last of Us, too. It boggles my mind how she makes playing look so easy and flowy and all around lovely. Watching her play makes me want to be a better guitar player, because her artistry is just that inspiring. And if I wanted to attempt to stretch my skills, she makes it easy for me because she’s uploaded YouTube tutorials with tabs for those interested in learning her playing style. How sweet of her!
I got in contact with her and asked her a few questions including the future of her music making and there’s plenty of good news to be heard. She wants to be a full-time musician someday, after she is done with schooling and also plans on recording. She hopes to someday play at the largest EDM music festival in Asia – the Djakarta Warehouse Project. Super famous acts like Bassjackers, Steve Aoki and Zedd have played there in the past, just to name a short list. I mean, if you’re going to dream, why not at least dream BIG? She does.
So, it appears that YouTube is only a temporary avenue for her for the time being. She’s poured heart and soul into her channel though and you can tell just by the amount of followers (35K on Instagram alone – WOW!) and interaction from fans that all of her hard work and diligence has paid off immensely. As her career continues to forge a path forward, it seems that it can only go up from here for someone with the amount of talent and drive that she has.
References
For More Josephine Alexandra
Twitter
Soundcloud
Instagram
Listen To
Attention
Last of Us
If You Like
All things modern day pop
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