Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Looks like we’ll be getting a debut EP from Alex Preston in 2015, perhaps as early as this spring.

The third-place finisher on American Idol Season 13 launched a Kickstarter campaign to help fund the EP on Dec. 30.

And, presto, within 12 hours, Alex had reached his goal of raising $6,000. As of Sunday morning, his Kickstarter total for his “Songs from Within” campaign had already reached nearly $8,000.

What’s more, Alex is promising a different sort of EP. He plans to head off into the wilderness to write the material, lest he be lured into the conformity that’s so common in music these days.

“I think the music industry is far too filled with mimicry, and songwriting has become this sort of ‘formula of success.’ People try out a song idea, it becomes popular, so they recreate it,” he writes in his Kickstarter intro.

That’s not what he’s looking for in a post-Idol debut.

“I have about 250,000 collective social media fans waiting for some sort of CD,” he says, “so why not give them something that is truly ME. Not inspired by other artists, not inspired by anything else other than my interpretations of each of my senses being used in the new setting.”

Showing his light-hearted side, the 21-year-old from Mont Vernon, New Hampshire, admits there are risks inherent in heading off to a secluded locale to produce a debut EP. Hazards like interaction with wildlife, getting sick and getting lost while hiking.

“But I will be careful, and use the money to stay safe, stay healthy, and record an awesome EP,” he vows.

If you just can’t wait for the EP, two Alex originals are already available on iTunes, a pre-Idol single called “The Light was Already Here” and “Fairytales,” the original he performed on the show.

If you’d like to learn more about the Kickstarter campaign and the rewards available for contributing, head here. The goal might have been reached, but the campaign continues through mid-January.

Meanwhile, Alex acknowledged what the Idol experience meant to him in a New Year’s Eve post to his Facebook page.

“In the past few years I have gone from playing to a few people in local bars to headlining in front of up to 7,000 people,” he wrote. “Thank you all so much for supporting me. I almost gave up, then I got on American Idol, and everything changed.”