Alex Cherney doesn’t stay in one lane for long. Whether he’s writing disco grooves, directing films, or designing a tiny house to fund his creative freedom, his work is driven by curiosity, intuition, and a love for collaboration. His upcoming album Pool Party is a 21-track celebration of spontaneity and genre fluidity, a continuous mix of live-recorded disco featuring vocalists from across the soul, rap, and pop spectrum. But music is only part of the story. In this conversation, Cherney reflects on blending fiction and reality in his art, the quiet power of remote collaboration, upcoming movies, the quirks of recording without a click track, and how life in a hand-built home can shape a creative path. Follow Alex on all platforms here. NMR // Thank you for this interview, Alex. Let’s get stuck in. Your new album Pool Party is almost upon us, tell us a bit about the record. How does it differ from your previous releases? // Alex: It’s great speaking with you! Pool Party is a departure musically & conceptually from our other releases. It’s a 21-track continuous disco record featuring lots of different vocalists from pop to soul to rap. We created the instrumentals and then collaborated remotely with some really great vocalists to bring the tracks to completion. The album also loosely follows the flow of an actual Pool Party. The vision was to create something the maintained a high energy throughout and almost flowed like a DJ set, perfect for partying, working out or just raising the vibe. NMR // Your albums have moved from country to reggae to soul and now classic disco. What’s been the biggest internal shift that defines the sound for each new chapter? And what made you feel this was the right time to dive into disco? // Alex: Since I started creating music with The Brothers Nylon (Mike & Nick) our ethos has always been to remain genre agnostic. Collectively we love so many different kinds of music, and are less worried about maintaining a consistent sound and more interested in exploring all music has to offer. In terms of what we do next, it’s usually just whatever the 3 of us are feeling / agree upon in the moment. I’ll suggest some sounds, or we’ll send a demo of something, and just go with what feels right. We tend not to overthink. Disco was just feeling right to us. NMR // You wrote and recorded Pool Party’s 21 tracks in just a week. How do you capture that level of spontaneity without sacrificing quality? // Alex: We did! At least the main instrumentals of each song. We are fortunate to use their studio which is complete with high end analog gear, which is really the sauce behind our sound. I came with a few ideas for songs, they had a few, we would come up with a lick and build, or I would hum a song idea into my voice memos app throughout the day (how I typically write music) and we’d develop it. Once we’re rehearsed (we didn’t rehearse much.. Just settled on the forms to keep the recordings alive) we were already set up to record, so we would just record the tape and go. NMR // I read that most takes were recorded live in single sessions. Does that bring a sense of imperfection to the recordings, and do you feel that adds value and authenticity to your music? // Alex: We live track with the 3 of us, so Mike on drums, and then Nick and I will flop around depending on the song, and then we overdub from there (often dubbing multiple instruments at the same time, to play together). We didn’t use a click track on any of the tunes, which helps the songs groove naturally and we tend to lean into imperfections. I think it does bring a certain character to the music, it keeps it human and in turn relatable, which we push for. NMR // The Brothers Nylon seem integral to your sound. What’s unique about your chemistry with them in the studio? // Alex: Very integral. We’ve become great friends and collaborate really well together. We have different personalities and they balance each other out. Mike and Nick are highly talented musicians. The ultimate studio musicians. Mike owns the drums and all of the analog recording / mixing, and Nick can basically play every instrument at a highly proficient level and writes at that level too (it’s quite incredible, genius really). I tend to have lots of musical ideas which they are able to roll with and make even better. We don’t need to talk much when rehearsing, we listen through the music. NMR // You worked with artists like Jason Joshua, okaywill, Kendra Morris, and Eve Dumon. Did anyone completely reframe how you heard your own track? // Alex: We were lucky to work with really talented artists on Pool Party. Some friends, some through network, and some cold outreach (I spent months reaching out to artists I liked that I thought would fit certain songs…there is a massive spreadsheet lol). A lot of the featured vocalists wrote their toplines – so the melody and lyrics. For some of the songs I had existing melodies in mind and when I heard what they came up with instead I was always amazed. I gave Wesley Bright a melody idea, but he pushed the song in a different direction and really made me re-hear it. I loved it, and he also added a lot of the other production elements to that song (horns, synths, etc). I tend to like collaborating remotely. Often times in the studio or in the moment, while it’s a lot of fun and there is magic going on, I find myself a bit lost in the song. The process of sending tracks back and forth allows for a fresh perspective on a each listen and can even benefit the recording. NMR // What was your process for matching vocalists to each song? And do you write differently knowing the album will be interpreted through different voices? // Alex: I tend to hear a certain style of vocal or timbre voice over a given song. I’ll often hum it out to imitate that sound, and then would look for the right vocalist. This is the first time we’re doing an album like this, usually I’m the vocalist, so it was a fun and challenging process. We didn’t write the songs with certain vocalists in mind, we matched vocalist to music. NMR // The album artwork is filled with easter eggs tied to the songs. How involved were you in developing that with Adriana Gramly? // Alex: Good eye! Yes Adriana is great. I sent her a reference photo of Mike & Nick’s pool, and shared some of the easter eggs that might make sense. She sketched it out first, we made some tweaks and then she made her final version which we loved! NMR // You’re also a filmmaker, do you imagine visuals while writing music, even if they don’t make it to the screen? And do you instantly hear music when you’re imagining a scene? // Alex: My relationship to music & filmmaking feels very separate for some reason (although I know it’s not..). I don’t really have visuals when writing music, and I don’t often hear the music when I’m writing a screenplay. Although, one visual kept popping into my head for the song Categories on Pool Party. A group of 80+’s in 1950s swim suits and caps doing very slow and simple choreography poolside… I still want to make that a video we’ll see ha. NMR // Do you approach albums like you would a screenplay, with a beginning, an arc, and a conclusion? // Alex: Not exactly, because often the songs are created without an order in mind. But when it comes time to tracklisting I definitely put that cap on. For example, Pool Party wasn’t recorded to be a continuous sounding album, but I spent a while ‘figuring out the puzzle’ of which instrumentals would flow well into the next. Or for other albums I’ll consider the contents of the lyrics first and how that storytelling works with the album. NMR // You’ve talked about blending reality and fiction in your films. Does that concept bleed into your music too? // Alex: These are some really great questions! I think it bleeds into the music a bit less, though there is that natural balance in songwriting with honesty and fiction. For example, my old music persona / now alter ego Rey wrote a song (Dropping in) which is not something Alex would have written lol. NMR // I read that you built yourself a tiny house, with the idea that even if you ever outgrew it, it could still serve as a getaway or rental. Are you still living in it, or have you moved on? And what originally inspired that lifestyle choice? // Alex: Know someone looking to rent?! I’m still living in it (for now…). It’s a special place, and while I don’t see myself living here full time much longer, I always want to keep it in good shape and around. The original inspiration was to lift some of the financial burden to allow myself to pursue the artist lifestyle to the fullest. It has done that and more! Would recommend a tiny house to anyone, and even have a book in the works on exactly how I made this one. NMR // What’s next for you, are you working on any new films or, touring or any big festivals coming up? // Alex: I’ve been in the music headspace for a while, and I think after Pool Party releases July 4th I’m going to swing back into the film space to develop my next big film. Currently, I have a finished horror film ‘The Mid-Night Driver’ looking to secure it’s festival premiere, another film I produced ‘Sue Thunder, Johnny Lightning’ which is in post-production, and also would love to play some festivals with The Brothers in 2026!