Alex Caliman is one of the very cool guys that I know. Let me define “cool” for you: he has a genuine attitude, he inspires confidence, he has a natural trashy look and that’s what I like. He is a guitar player, a music producer and composer, he expresses a lot of feelings and if he doesn`t do that, it’s not him. He has a funny side and a brutally honest one. P.S. He is licensed as a Merchant Marine Deck Officer, only that he took a different route…
How did you start making music?
I don’t really remember…I think that when I was a kid…I found at my grandparents house an old guitar with only 2 or 3 rusty strings and a semi damaged violin. I think that that was my first physical contact with music. Later, I asked my parents to buy me an acoustic guitar so on my birthday, guess what I got. Shortly after I was singing in the Protestant church where I grew up. Towards the end of highschool I was already teaching guitar lessons at a private school (I don’t remember how I got to do that). But honestly…teaching is not my thing…even if I taught myself how to play.
Did you ever have a hard time where you wanted to quit?
Music…never.
But several musical contexts (bands, artists, studios, projects)…yeeees!
What do you want to do now?
Make music for myself, less for the others.
What music means to you?
Music…I honestly have no idea what it means to me. Even if that’s what I do now, I think that my purpose in life doesn’t stop here, but music will always be that special something that have saved me from many miseries and gave me a purpose (but not the only one). What I can tell you is that I like it, I like listening to it, I like to study it, I like creating it. This is what I love to do and that is exactly what I’m doing…I don’t ask myself that many ‘esoteric’ questions.
It’s overwhelming the feeling that you get when you see that from nothing you’ve created SOMETHING. Maybe for other people that something doesn’t mean a thing or is wrong in the critics’ eyes, but is YOURS, it came from YOU and you should be proud of yourself.
What inspires you musically?
Anything, anyone, anywhere, in every moment you can find inspiration to create. I don’t think about it…I just do it. It comes from the inside not the outside.
What do you like to listen to when you’re alone or at home? (we leave social-parties out of the question)
There are times when I like to remember indie and nu metal bands from my childhood, but most of the time I like to look for fresh new music, regrdless the genre.
What all the artists should ideally have?
Nothing than what they already have. And…who’s to say “you’re an artist! You’re not!”? Some of them do as they like, others what they think it’s right and others what they’re told to do. The ideal way is to be YOU!
What do you want others to see in you?
A man, nothing more, nothing less.
What qualities do you appreciate the most? In other words, what impresses you more at people?
I don’t believe in qualities, I believe in people. You have to embrace the person as it is, right? With the good and the bad because at the end of the day, they define you as a person.
No money, no dreams. Do you believe in this?
Honestly, that wasn’t the case for me. I started down this road with no money. Since I was a teenager I’ve been working on construction sites abroad to be able to make a living from what I love to do, music.
What place makes you happy?
If my happiness were to depend on a certain place…then…I would quit this world. Do you know what I mean?
How do you feel when you dance? (I’m asking this because I saw you dancing and I’m intrigued)
I don’t consider what I’m doing dancing, I just move my body on a BPM on harmonies and musical notes and when this happens, it’s one of the few times when I don’t feel and I don’t think about anything. I think it’s a form of relaxation…I don’t feel bad anyway.
When did you last feel stylish, fashionable?
Never. I just throw on what I think works for me and I dress in a way that makes me feel like myself. My mistake (according to some people) is that I don’t pay attention to the contexts when I choose my ‘outfits’. I’ve never felt ‘stylish’ or ‘fashionable’ but I feel good everytime.
Do you have any regrets? Did you wish you’d done something and didn’t get a chance yet?
No regrets! I’m in the right place at the right moment. I have a lot of things planned that I haven’t done yet like skydiving or eat a handful of well done bugs, but I plan on doing this…
What could you never forgive?
We all make mistakes, right?
Tell me one place you’d like to go now
Home… wherever that is.
Do you hate anything on women?
Yes, but I won’t say what.
Not even if I ask nicely?
To be too much like me.
What do you think you can love about a woman for a very long time?
This ‘very long time’ is debatable. When you love a woman, you love her first of all as a person, as an entity and when you chose to do it you do it because you’re aware of some of her qualities and flaws, the rest you discover as you go…So…I could love ‘for a long time’ the woman in which I find myself the most, even if it totally contradicts my previous answer.
What’s your love status?
I am at that point in my life where I’m still trying to understand what this ‘love’ means, how others see it in different contexts…how I feel it (based on my previous experiences)…how other influent people during history have perceived it, even how God perceives it.
I don’t know how to answer this question other than that I’ve experienced different manifestations (levels) of love and I think that now I’m claiming the one that’s the most suitable for me.
And yes…I do love. It’s pretty cool!
Photo credits: Dan Ene
Simona Preda 
