Meet Kevin Alexander | Kevin Alexander is an independent music journalist in Wisconsin. He writes the On Repeat Records newsletter and is the editor-in-chief of The Riff magazine.

We had the good fortune of connecting with Kevin Alexander and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Kevin, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
The short version: I was looking for somewhere I could share the music I loved with people I hoped would love it too. I couldn’t find one, so I built it.

The (slightly) longer version: Music has been a throughline in my life. One of my earliest pictures is of me in front of our stereo, oversized headphones on, lost in sound. Later, I was that kid who always made mixtapes for people. And to check every stereotypical box, I was in a band during high school. That ended early due to a lack of talent and too much stage fright, but I’d also started writing in the meantime.

Lyrics here…A band promo there… Nothing too serious, but just enough to know I could be good at it if I put my mind to it. Real life got in the way, and that dream sat on a shelf until 2020.

During the pandemic, my kids shifted to virtual learning. I had previously left a degree track with 13 credits left to pursue a different one. Taking a class seemed like a good way to lead by example and finish what I’d started. I didn’t tell them that it was “Writing For Social Media.” I thought it’d be an easy A. It wasn’t. What it did do was reignite that long-dormant love for writing. That first led to stops on platforms like Medium, and now to On Repeat Records, my newsletter & community.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
In real life, I work for a major U.S. airline as an Operations Agent. That’s a long way from writing a newsletter about music/running a publishing company, but it aviation is incredibly process driven and time sensitive. Those disciplines have served me well in building my business. Meeting deadlines, sticking to a consistent publishing cadence, and sifting through data to see what’s working/what isn’t are all skills I learned at the airport.

For On repeat, the climb has been steep but steady. I’d love to say there haven’t been pitfalls along the way, but everyone would know I was lying. What I’ve learned is that the only way out is through. That quote is the stuff Successories posters are made of, but in my case it’s true.

A few of the best lessons I’ve learned along the way:

-Write in your own voice/style. In the online world, authenticity is the new currency.

– That said, people are online for two reasons: to be educated or be entertained. If you can hit both of those at once, you’re usually 90% of the way there.

-Know your audience– not just as customers and/or readers, but as people. In the early days, when my audience was small, I would literally write a few names on a Post-it note and stick it to the side of my laptop to remind me of who I was writing for.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
When it comes to restaurants, Madison is a town that punches above it’s weight, so we’d definitely be hitting a few of those. There are also four lakes (the city itself is built on an isthmus), so we’d spend some time on each. And weather permitting, we’d ride bikes there. There’s also a trail that loops Lake Monona, so we’d do that at one point as well. There are also endless amounts of fascinating neighborhoods and blocks in this town, and I’d love to show someone as many as we could.

A tour of the University of Wisconsin Madison’s campus would also be on the itinerary, and a stop at the memorial union required. Depending on time of year, we’d catch either a football, basketball or hockey game. If they’re visiting during the spring/summer, we’d catch a Forward Madison soccer game at the historic Breese-Stevens stadium, and a Mallards baseball game at Warner park.

If they’re my friends, odds are good that they’re vinyl fans, so stop at Strictly Discs for some crate digging would be a given.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My wife and kids deserve a huge shoutout for constantly supporting my work, and encouraging me. Same with every fan, every reader, and every critic. And of course musicians everywhere, who are making the world a better place through their art.

I also want to shout out Portland Oregon, the city that raised me and gave me everything.

Website: https://thekevinalexander.substack.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_onrepeatrecords_/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevinaalexander/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/KevinAlexander

Image Credits
All photos by author.