Alex Rapp

“In the absence of those we love, we listen
if ever we cannot learn from loss what it must teach

we will lose more even,
the gift of greater allegiances between us

in other words, the water is rising

have you known longing to belong?“

Beautiful words of from the poem “the water is rising”

Since moving to Berlin I’ve been on a quest to gain Italian citizenship through my grandfather. In this process, little miracles occurred that brought my family in contact with relatives we may have never known! Who welcomed us into their homes with the widest open arms and pounds of pasta and wine.
We toured the village where my great grandfather lived-left- returned and saw the bench where he died peacefully in the square, even meeting a man who was there to witness.
We visited the grave which they told us they made sure to keep up in case one day “the Americans” would come to see. Never even knowing who of us existed :)

Browsing through photos they kept in boxes and finding photos of my late grandmother brought me to tears, a little piece of her has been here in this small mountain village all this time?

In my endless quest of belonging I’m eternally grateful for the people who appear unexpectedly that make you feel home. The generosity of strangers linked by line, remind me how much kindness and love there is in the world, and to stay open to beautiful surprises along the path.

I’ve been slacking a bit keeping up with social media. I feel I’m constantly at odds with how to use this platform: 1. not wanting to add to the collective swamp of brainrot doomscroll, while also recognizing that I want to be seen as an artist and that this is, unfortunately, still the platform to do that, and 2. learning and gathering so much very important information being shared from all regions fighting back against oppressive regimes. For a while, I think I also used this tension as an excuse to stay a bit more hidden. Something else always feels more important than my art, and I’m working to find this balance internally and, I suppose, now externally too.

I have been working a lot behind the scenes on a new album. Along the way, I’ve played some very sweet shows, perfecting a new performance setup with on MIDI guitar.
For this cozy performance w Osmosis, we also played with four speakers, with most of the audience inside this little cube. It felt so magical and validating, a reminder that good things take time.
Stay tuned, new music is finally actually being mixed!! And I am finally feeling ready to let go :)

Thanks so much to .payette and .berlin for having me,ilova & for holding it down on the harmonies 🙏
and for these beautiful photos!!

With love and solidarity to Palestine, Congo, Iran, Kurdistan, Minneapolis and all people resisting displacement and state violence.

Of course, f**k ICE. Watching this escalation from abroad is a special kind of frustration. The bravery and collective resistance I am seeing is inspiring, and I hope that if I were there, I would have the same decency and courage to protect my neighbors in the face of these brutally unjust masked agents.