Hello everyone, my name is Miss Alex White. I am the frontwoman and guitar player of White Mystery, a rock and roll duo with my brother. On top of that, I also write for a bunch of publications and look to continue to grow my empire.

We are just a few months away from White Mystery’s 10 year anniversary. What has been the one thing that has kept you guys pushing over these past 10 years?

The one thing that has kept us pushing is the actual handshake commitment my brother and I made. Back in 2008 when we started the band, we said we are going to do this band White Mystery, for 10 years no matter what. No matter how difficult or challenging or discouraged we get, we will stick with this. That bond has helped us through some difficult times, where things weren’t always going how we wanted them to…but we made the commitment and have been able to stick with it and release a new project hell or high water, every 4/20 since 2008.

With just a few months away from your guys’ ninth album, what can we expect on this project?

We are announcing that soon. The answer we always give is that “it’s a mystery.” As a band, each year we look to innovate the way we release music. One year, the album was released as a feature-length film called That Was Awesome. Even though people are expecting new music, the mystery is what form it’s going to take on. That’s always the exciting part about having a commitment and a cycle is that it gives you an opportunity to look at it through a different lens. The music making part is down for this next project, we are good on that, but the delivery of it is always the exciting part to develop.

While it seems like over the past couple of years, the DIY and independent route has been seen at an all-time high and even glorified throughout the music industry. For someone who has been involved with DIY for years, tell us a few things that aren’t so nice about being DIY/independent.

That’s a really great point. It’s been interesting to see how DIY has become a buzzword in the music industry, where, 10-13 years ago people wouldn’t book you. If you didn’t have an agent and you’re ringing up a venue to play, they were not going to deal with you, they only wanted to speak to the agent. My brother and I really had to fight to book our tours and festivals. While we played Riot Fest many times because they have a respect for the DIY scene, other larger festivals have still yet to respond back to us. As a single entity act, you have a little less to barter with these larger festivals. That has definitely been a challenge, but what you find is that when you’re able to really develop an audience that becomes a really important strength and leveraging point. While we may not be on an agent’s long artist page, we have a strong rabid fanbase. That relates to the earlier question of how have we continued to stick with this for so long. There were some discouraging points where we couldn’t get booked at certain fests, but what we found is that if you stick with it long enough, people take notice. For anyone who is out there struggling, definitely sticking with it is a really important part of the formula.

In the fall, you started doing interviews for Riot Fests blog. Will we see more of those this year?

Definitely. I’ve been doing artist interviews for Riot Fest and I’ve also been doing an ongoing series called Why DIY?. The next article is coming out very soon and will be about how to set up your accounting and finances as a DIY artist. With it being the beginning of the year, it’s like a nice fresh start for people to read.

I also review electronics on She Shreds Magazine, which is a lady’s guitar magazine. Companies send me guitar pedals or new recording equipment and I do technical reviews of them.

AND… this year I’m really excited because I’m going to be writing for High Times Magazine. My first cover story will be revealed sometime this year. So keep your eyes peeled!

It’s been fun, while I’m a musician and DJ a lot too, there are so many different ways I’m able to use my strengths and interests within the creative world.

Favorite performance

The coolest and craziest performance we had was when we played on a float with Sir Richard Branson in front of 10,000 people at Virgin Hotels.

Favorite project you released

The White Mystery double album, Dubble Dragon. That project was a big achievement for us. We were able to incorporate a lot of different visual artists into the packaging of it. It looked super fly and sounded great.

Favorite thing about touring

The initial feeling when you’re just starting off headed to the first date of the tour. The road just opens up in front of you in this majestic, freeing, all American kind of way. There are a lot of other perks when it comes to touring, but that’s what you’re striving towards, that open feeling of independence.

Favorite venue

The Metro. As a Chicago artist, the Metro is like the King venue. We have played Japan, Europe many many times, the UK, and it’s all super super cool, but as someone who grew up in Chicago, when you play the Metro, you’re like yeah, this is cool!

Favorite project you worked on in 2017

I definitely feel like the WHY DIY? article series. I ended up putting out six or seven articles and it was a really fun project for me. This article series added a new dimension to my thinking about music and I think it inspired a lot of people. That’s why it was my favorite project.

When it’s all said and done how would you like to be remembered?

As A Badass Bitch.