Inside “Humpty Dumpty,” the New Song by Alphie
Written and Recorded Live in One Week for The Acoustic Guitar Project
The New York City chapter of The Acoustic Guitar Project completes its tenth season with a new original song by Toronto-based singer-songwriter Nicole Davis, a.k.a. Alphie.
The Acoustic Guitar Project (TAGP) is a global music platform and concert series that inspires musicians to write an original song and record it live in one week. TAGP was created by Dave Adams in 2012. He launched the first season in New York City and Detroit, and the project has since expanded to more than 50 cities worldwide with songs from over 1,000 artists. Every year, in each city, curators select five local artists to participate, using the same recorder and guitar, which they then sign. The NYC guitar alone had 78 signatures at the end of last season, and Alphie’s makes 83.
I began curating the project in Denver in 2017 and in NYC in 2018. This year, I have teamed up with Soundshop founder Akpanoluo Etteh to curate our first season since the COVID-19 pandemic locked down the city.
The songs will be accompanied by introduction videos on The Acoustic Guitar Project website in which each artist discusses their week with the guitar and the inspiration behind their new original song. As we gear up for the coming releases and the salon and concert at The City Reliqaury on September 16, Akpanoluo and I wanted to delve deeper into the conversation with them to learn more about their songwriting process and the unique experience of writing for TAGP. This week, I sat down with Alphie to talk about her new song, “Humpty Dumpty.”
N: I was first introduced to your music under the moniker Nico Co., but I noticed that you released this song as Alphie, and I’m wondering if you could start by introducing your various musical projects.
A: I wish it was so interesting. I just have been trying to figure out any kind of musician name for years and years and years. “Nico Co.” is just a nickname that my friends have always called me, but I never really liked it for my musical project. I might end up going back to it someday because people are so confused now. But Alphie — I had a cat who passed away named Alphabet, and we called them Alphie and I always loved that name so much and then I was like, “Oh my God, I want to use it in honor of Alphie” — but also, I love the way it sounds. It’s kind of cute and playful. Also, it wasn’t taken on any of the platforms.
N: Is this your technically your first song released as Alphie?
A: Oh, yes! That’s special!
N: I’m so honored that The Acoustic Guitar Project got the first Alphie song!
So, what else did you do that week? What music did you listen to? Books read? Films or TV shows watched? And did any of it influence the creation of “Humpty Dumpty”?
A: Well, for books, I was reading a Carl Sagan book about the cosmos. And a book called “Love in the Time of Contagion.” I think maybe that kind of inspired me more than anything…. But when I’m trying to write, I’m so hyper focused on the song that I just sing it all the time, play it all the time…. I like to bike around and sing. That’s all when I write songs. So, when I’m trying to write something, I’m just always going over it again and again and again and trying different things…. I could probably use more outside influences….
N: “Love in the Time of Contagion” — I don’t know it, personally, but I could see how it may have had an effect. This is a very atypical love song, would you say?
A: Yeah, it’s different from any that I’ve ever written. I usually write songs at the beginning of a relationship and, obviously, at the end.
N: Exactly! This is such a “middle-of-the-relationship” love song.
A: Yeah, which is different from anything I’ve done. With my boyfriend — we’ve had a different kind of relationship than I’ve ever had; we met in the pandemic, and I’m also used to going headfirst into relationships and being like, “Okay, now we’re together!” — but he, from the beginning, was very much like, “We need to pace this.”… And, full disclosure: I started a program for love addiction and codependency. So, my pattern has been jumping into relationships, grabbing on fast and then a year or so in, being like, “Oh no, I really want to be alone and also date other people.” And so, with him, he knew that he really had to pump the brakes. We had a very different kind of falling in love and relationship. It was a lot slower than I’ve ever experienced. But it feels so much deeper. We’re two years in now, and it feels really good. But I’ve also always been like, “Oh, you’re so cagey.” [Laughs.] It makes me so annoyed, like “Just open up, open up.” And it’s been a slower process of unfurling who he is. It has been really interesting and also really special.
N: I also know that you’re Toronto-based now. (I’m so glad that we were able to snag you for the New York City project.) Did being back in your hometown and apart from your boyfriend influence the song in any way?
A: Maybe it helped me to get more perspective. I hadn’t written a love song about him. I’ve written songs about him, like when I’m really annoyed at him… ha! Yeah, I think maybe it helped me to observe our relationship a little more objectively without all of the feelings that come up. And then also, obviously, with some feelings — they are so ingrained.
Also, in New York — every time I get back, it’s a very angsty place for me — I regress to my teenage self. So yeah, I think the song is a bit angsty too.
N: Is it usual for you to write a song in one week?
A: Songwriting is so strange for me because I have songs that have been six years in the process. A lot of the times, I’ll have a nugget for a song and start working with it, and then be like, “Oh, I don’t really know what to do with this” or “I can’t go for the further with it,” and then years and years later, I’ll be able to finish it for whatever reason. Sometimes — rarely — the melody will work out with the lyrics, and they’ll just come together right away. So, I think the timeline was really beneficial for me; I think I need to give myself more timelines like that. Because once I made the effort to start writing, I wrote it. I wrote the lyrics, at least, mostly in one day.
N: Something that you mentioned in your introduction video that really captivated me was this idea about translating nonlinear elements of a relationship into nonlinear elements of a song. I don’t know how exactly to ask this, but I’m hoping you could talk a little bit more about that.
A: I think most of my songs are pretty narrative. And they’re like, “This is like a thing that happened.”… And this is more scattered, like observations about different times in different moments…. The process of me working on myself… it’s not linear, you know, like, falling in love, then trying to be in a relationship… but me literally working through a 12-step program about love addiction and codependency where I’m supposed to go back and figure things out…. Some of the nonlinear things are autobiographical.
N: Something that I couldn’t help but wonder about is the violence of Humpty Dumpty’s fall and breaking open — maybe it’s just me and what I remember from when I was a kid — did that figure into your exploration of the nursery rhyme in any way?
A: Oh, that’s a really beautiful reading. I guess there’s reasons why people put those boundaries up. He was so afraid that I was going to hurt him and with good reason. If he hadn’t put those walls up and hadn’t protected himself, we would have been over by now if I had fallen into the same relationship patterns that I’m used to or he didn’t have his protective shell or move at a slower pace…. Opening up has been our saving grace in a way, but I think people protect themselves for good reasons.
N: I think it’s such a lovely sentiment how even the violence of breaking open can be, like you said, a “saving grace.”
You are also a teacher, correct? First, what do you teach? And second, does teaching ever inform your songwriting?
A: So, I’m actually just starting my first teaching job as a Montessori teacher in September for about one-and-a-half to two-and-a-half-year-olds…. Working with children has always been really inspiring for me because it forces you to look at the world with very fresh eyes. And, obviously, with a level of playfulness. But also, especially with Montessori, a lot of it is about orienting a child to their surroundings and to the world, being like, “This is the world, and the world is so special!”
N: It’s interesting to know the age group of the students you’re going to be teaching as we’re talking about this song, in which you take a more nuanced view on a classic nursery rhyme. There’s an interesting connection there.
A: I appreciate that! Yeah, there’s an element of playfulness. I think I’ve always thought of myself as childlike and having this wonder of the world but also being really vulnerable and wanting to play and be curious and hoping that other people will, too…. I think it’s really nice working with children, to be reminded of that. Even though everything can be really painful and it can hurt a lot to be vulnerable, there are so many rewards.
N: What’s up next for you creatively?
A: I just curated and performed at my first real show on Saturday night. That was really great. Hopefully, performing more and figuring out more songs that I’ve half-written. I need to record my music. I’ve been super guarded about my music for a really long time because it’s so close to me and so special, and it feels so personal. So, you know, opening myself up and sharing my music have been a really big — really, really big — deal for me. And I’ve had amazing reception, but it’s still a process for me. So, [The Acoustic Guitar Project] was big for me. I’m so grateful.
N: Since TAGP is centered around our songwriting community, is there a local artist — in NYC or Toronto — that you’d recommend we check out?
A: In Toronto, yes: Bad Waitress. Very great band. And Passport Radio. He’s one of my favorite songwriters here. Also, Techno Hall of Fame.
— Noah Evan Wilson
