Allie X is sitting in her Lollapalooza green room getting her face primed in bright yellow before her Thursday show. She's playing her first Lolla show in two hours and she's chosen her alter ego for the day: Sci-Fi girl.
The yellow eyeshadow starts on her eyelids, extends over her eyebrows and nearly to her hairline. The rest of her face pales in comparison.
"She kind of represents Allie X, I think. Everything that I chose to show of myself to the world," Allie X, real name Alexandra Hughes says of Sci-Fi Girl. "I like her. She's the one I relate to the most."
Allie X is a Canadian pop-singer best known for her first album, Collxtion I released in 2015. She caters to a niche group of listeners, and though her music is considered classic pop, her personas and artistry tag her as an individualistic force in a cookie-cutter industry.
Allie X, as a performer, can be seen as an intimidating presence. Her work is undeniably artsy and a bit bizarre, though, in this setting, she's calm and casual. She speaks softly and thinks about her words in stoic reflection.
Last night she was the Hollywood Starlet. Allie X opened Lollapalooza weekend with an early set at Chicago's Schubas Tavern dressed in a classic polka dot dress, fit for a Marilyn Monroe-type character, and a netted blonde wig. She began her set with her passionate track "Bitch," screaming the lyrics with spitting enthusiasm.
"I'm your bitch. You're my bitch. Boom Boom!" The crowd sang along.
What each of Allie X's three alter egos share is a stage presence that demands attention. There is the nun, a spiritual reflection on the purity of music; the Starlet, a personification of LA's celebrity culture and Sci-Fi girl, the utterly weird and ethereal figure. Each character screams for attention, meaning a performance of Allie X's would rarely go unnoticed or unquestioned.
The Starlet demands the crowd at Schubas to sing, her voice vindictive, nearly a howl. And they do at an alarmingly loud volume. Allie X struts the stage with wild confidence and dramatic gestures, commanding the room like a cult leader. It's as if she's preaching to the crowd, a crowd that will do anything she says.
At the next break in the song, Allie X takes a moment to thank the crowd and seems to choke up a bit, asking if the audience would be at her Lolla set the next day.
"At my size as an artist, you're never completely sure," she says of her genuine shock. "Especially when you're playing a festival. To see that the whole room was screaming out my songs just made me feel really good."
When asked if the moment made her emotional, she responds, "Probably. I'm an emotional wreck all the time."
A day after her Schubas show, Sci-Fi girl takes the Lollapalooza stage in the early afternoon. The crowd is dense and participatory in Allie X's performance. Sci-Fi girl is different from the Starlet. Where the Starlet commanded the stage with something close to narcissism, Sci-Fi girl floats robotically, a bit more internalized.
Allie X finds herself somewhere between modern pop music and something more sinister. She claims she's no Top 40s artist, though her intense fans prove she has the potential to be.
"It's definitely a pressure to write for radio, and I haven't completely forgotten about it. I'd like to be on the radio, but on my own terms," Allie X says. "My music isn't super strange. It's just not...Top 40s pop. The thing that's strange is me, I think."
Allie X lacks conformity, but her music is typical: It's bubblegum with a few more swears.
Her upcoming album release, Super Sunset, was just announced, though she's debuted more than a handful of the songs in live settings and promises to follow in the footsteps of her prior albums, Collxtion I and CollXtion II.
Super Sunset will focus on Allie X's life over the past four years, showing her falling in love and learning to live in Los Angeles. And with the changes in her life come little change in message. She's still firm on developing her X world and the characters she's built in it.
Allie X explains each persona allows her to behave a bit differently, referencing an extravagant Halloween costume that allows the wearer to be someone else for a while.
Each alter ego makes up the total persona of Allie X and defines exactly that: the X world. Hughes wants her fans to use her own exploration of persona and self to inspire their own.
"The idea behind X is that, if you become X, then you're taking on the possibility of anything into your identity, and therefore, you create your own X world," she says. "And that, to me, doesn't have to be mine. But mine is there if you don't want to do that, too."
As her Lolla set continues, Allie X discards a voluminous green cape for a short, gold dress. She sings a new song, "Girl of the Year," her favorite on the album. The song is catchy and retro in a way she describes as "fresh." It's a momentary reminder of why the fans surrounding the stage are so dedicated to both Allie and X. It proves she can be retro and classic, while avant-garde and grotesque.
For those fans, Allie X hopes to be empowering.
"I mean, you can go as deep as you want with it," she says. "I go really deep into everything cause I'm that kind of person, but if you want to just dance and bop around to my songs that's fine with me, as well."
Super Sunset, an 8-track album, will be released this fall.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Kelly started a career in journalism after completing her education at The New School in New York City. She currently ... Read more
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