Lex Bauman: Back On The Sunset Strip

Lex Bauman: Back On The Sunset Strip

Lex Bauman is a 15-year-old singer / guitarist who is ready to launch into the big world of music.  He’s worked with the likes of Tuk Smith and has played at the notorious Viper Room as part of Rock and Roll Fantasy Camp.  His debut single While We’re Still Young has been gaining a good deal of traction, and at press time, another tune entitled The Last Song has been released.  With timeless influences such as Bon Jovi, Queen, and Cheap Trick, Lex Bauman is ready to rock a brand-new generation of music fans all over the globe.  Highwire Daze recently caught up with Lex Bauman on a visit to the Sunset Strip to find out more about this absolutely amazing artist on the rise.  Read on…

We’re here with Lex Bauman at the Coffee Bean on the Sunset Strip.  So, first of all, where are you based out of, and what is your local music scene like there?
So, I’m based out of Columbus. You can find a music scene there, but it’s not exactly like LA or Nashville. We can travel around wherever, but the Columbus scene is pretty nice, just talking about music. So, it’s more of like a sports-type town, but you can figure out the music stuff.

How old are you?
I’m 15 right now.  We started the full record, the stuff that you heard, the While We Were Still Young stuff. That started when I was 14, but now I’m 15. We’re planning to go further with this, so, I should be a little bit older.

What was the first song you wrote? How old were you at the time and what was that song about?
Okay, so the first song that I wrote, was before we even started like any of this record stuff. So, I was around 10 years old. It was right around the pandemic and it was all about going to online school because that was a major thing at that time. So, like school was going to be totally different. It was about like just doing an online school. I mean, it was like the first song so, it’s not like the best song, but it was the start of everything.

Pprior to the pandemic, what projects were you involved in before this all came down, the pandemic?
Okay, so music-related, I knew I was always going to never really do a nine-to-five job but I never knew what that was going to be. So, it took a while to figure that out. But I think right when the pandemic hit, it was like, “Okay, I’m going to start succeeding at guitar.” Because, before that, it was just like a hobby that I could do after school. But then when the pandemic hit, it was like, “Okay, I want to start making this a profession instead of a hobby.”

What is your guitar of choice and why?
My guitar of choice, I would say the Ernie Ball St. Vincent. It was one of the first guitars that I got so, it was always a sentimental thing. And it was just an awesome guitar in general because I was always looking at just like these Brian May guitars or Les Pauls. And then when I picked up the St. Vincent, it just… the neck felt like butter, it was like six pounds. And I was tiny so, that was amazing. So, that’s my guitar of choice.

What was it like working with Tuk Smith on your upcoming EP?
Oh, it was awesome to work with Tuk.  So, he was supposed to play on the Motley and Def Leppard tour, but he got kicked off of that, during the pandemic stuff. We got to see him after the pandemic. It was awesome to see him play because he still put on a great show. It was like stadium stuff and it was just like a smaller bar. But we really got to know Tuk further than that so then we started working with him. So I think the first real business meeting we had was with The Lonely Ones. He was working on their record, formerly from Bobaflex. Bobaflex is The Lonely Ones. So we got to know Tuk from that because he was working with them. So like the connection really just… further than that then we figured out we had a lot in common. So that really just built off that.

Let’s talk about a few of your songs. While We Were Still Young. What was the inspiration behind that one?
You know, when we were in the writing room, we would just have a bunch of ideas. So, it wouldn’t be like one specific idea so like, okay, this is going to be the exact thing. But we would have an idea in mind and then we would just piece together these little, tiny pieces to make even better lyrics. Even if it wasn’t the storyline that we thought of, and if it sounded good, we would just use it.

But I think the real While We Were Still Young inspiration was just about being young and just feeling like you can do anything. So I think it really came from, “Okay, you can do anything with your life right now. So let’s make something happen.” So I think that’s like the real inspiration.

Let’s talk about your song Taylor Swift and what she means to you and what that song means to you.
So, Taylor Swift, it’s a lot about… Just about being different than what you want. So the storyline was like, I’m a little bit Cheap Trick, you’re a little bit Taylor Swift and that’s totally true, like, I love Cheap Trick. And the girls that I’m interested in are way into Taylor Swift.

How close are you to writing and releasing brand-new music? Or how close is the EP to coming out?
The EP, like five songs, is already done. We’re just trying to shop it to labels right now. We’re not just throwing it out into the dark. So, we’re trying to figure out something great then we can push it out. But, you know, While We’re Still Young is out so we’re just kind of building off that and trying to get further.

What was your experience like at Rock and Roll Fantasy Camp? I saw you did Jailbreak at The Viper Room.
It was an awesome experience just to get to know a lot of people. A lot of great people were just influences. It was like not being in the playground anymore. It was going into real life. So that was the real test like, “Okay, I really want to do this.” But it was a lot of fun to do Rock and Roll Fantasy Camp.

If you could open for any band either now or from the past, who would it be and why?
I would probably say ’70s Cheap Trick. That would be my top pick. But I think that would always be my top pick, I don’t think I would ever change that.

What’s up next for you after you leave L.A.?
After I leave L.A., so it’s more of like the business side. But we’re going to be working on a second EP, just to get more music with Tuk. We’re going to be doing that soon so just more writing after the L.A. trip.

And if people want to get a hold of you, what are your social medias?
It’s @lexbaumanguitar on Instagram and all of the other platforms, except TikTok, that’s Lex Bauman Official.

(Interview by Ken Morton – Photos by Vivian Ortega of So Finch Photography)

Lex Bauman Official Home Page