Music
Alexander Stewart. Photo by Erik Melvin.
From TikTok to D.C., Alexander Stewart Takes His Online Success to the Stage
December 21, 2023 @ 9:00am
Alexander Stewart, who’s gone from viral TikTok covers to touring the world, brings his confessional original music and messages of caring for your mental health to D.C. this week.
TikTokers worldwide have flocked to the page of 24-year-old Canadian singer-songwriter Alexander Stewart. If you haven’t seen the singing videos he posts for his 5.5 million fans, it might be time to refresh your algorithm.
Stewart’s page is filled with endless angelic covers — songs like “Rewrite the Stars” by Zac Efron and Zendaya, “Bohemian Rhapsody” by Queen alongside emotional originals like “blame’s on me.” Since its release just weeks ago, Stewart’s music video for his newest heartbreak single “i wish you cheated” has hit almost 700,000 views on YouTube, and the song itself has gained over 20 million streams. But that’s not all he has under his belt for this year. Fans can now hear Stewart perform not from behind their phone screen, but rather live on tour with pop icon Eric Nam.
Before he makes a stop at D.C.’s own Echostage this Thursday, we sat down with Stewart to hear all about the “House on a Hill Tour,” his newest music video and future projects.
District Fray: When did you join Eric Nam’s tour?
Alexander Stewart: I joined right when it started. He did his first three days in Florida, which was maybe a week and a half ago now. It’s crazy because that feels like it was two days ago, and at the same time it feels like it was five years ago. But I started for the first show of the entire tour, and I’m on it for about a month until Toronto.
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How has it been? What’s your favorite part and your least favorite part so far?
So favorite part? I mean, it sounds like an obvious answer, but it’s just the shows. Touring itself can be quite grueling. My least favorite part is probably just the lack of normal life. You wake up in a different city every day, so it’s just about finding routines. My routine now consists of waking up, going to the gym, having my coffee, going to the venue — it makes things feel a little more normal. That’s probably the hardest part along with the lack of friends and family. Best part by far is the moment you step onto that stage.
Did you know Nam before joining his tour?
I did actually. It’s a funny story. I was at the first fashion show I ever went to…it was a Rhude fashion show in Los Angeles, and I ended up sitting beside him at the show. We started talking and then we just became friends, followed each other on Instagram — that’s kind of the extent of it. And then all of a sudden, almost a year later, his tour comes up in conversation and I was like, “No way, that’s the guy who I sat next to at the Rhude show.” It all kind of worked really nicely. I hopped on the first half of the tour, and we already knew each other. It’s just been super organic, which is lovely.
How has the audience response been so far to the tour?
Honestly, these have been some of the best crowds I’ve actually ever played to. They’ve been so receptive, and I was so curious because I wasn’t sure how Eric’s fans would like me. I think the most memorable moment was probably the first show; I was so nervous to go on stage because every crowd is so different, and you never know what they’re gonna think. Within the first two songs, I remember just being so grateful. Everything I said on stage, I could tell was really connecting. I have this whole moment in my show where I talk about mental health and the importance of it, and I play a song that I’ve written that’s very special to me about mental health, and they were just so receptive to it. I could tell that people really cared.
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2023 has been an amazing year for you. How does it feel to have grown so much so fast?
This year has been wild. It feels amazing and surreal, and I feel very grateful. I’ve been doing this for almost a decade now and no matter how successful or not successful the year has been since I started, I’ve just continued to do my thing and work as hard as I possibly can and just follow my dream because it’s really the only thing I was put on this planet to do. No matter what happens, I’m very grateful for everything that’s gone on this year, and the experiences I’ve had, and the things I’ve been doing that I wanted to try forever and do forever.
If you could go back and give yourself advice when you first started, what would you tell yourself?
I would say some of the things that I tell myself now. I would say, “Stop comparing yourself to other people because there’s no good that comes from it. And please prioritize your mental health, because if you’re not feeling good in the brain, nothing is gonna work.”
You’re releasing your debut album next year. That’s super exciting; tell me more about it.
I’m so excited about this album because I think there’s gonna be a lot of songs on it people aren’t gonna expect. It’s going to be a lot of music about helping people feel seen. It’ll be my own experiences — not so much about relationships, but about all kinds of different stuff. I don’t want to give it away. But I’ve started telling stories about other people and different life experiences that affected me. It covers a whole wide array of topics that my music currently doesn’t. I think it’s gonna really create a deeper connection between me and the people that listen to my music which I’m really quite excited for.
Alexander Stewart opens for Eric Nam at Echostage on Wednesday, October 3. Tickets start at $46. Follow Stewart on TikTok and Instagram @alexanderstewart for the latest.
Echostage: 2135 Queens Chapel Rd. NE, DC; echostage.com // @echostage
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