Alex Giannascolli could easily be described as a bright young thing. At just 26 years old, the man behind the moniker (Sandy) Alex G has already released nine albums and attracted a legion of uber fans who collect every morsel of information about him they can on the subreddit r/sandyalexg. The uninitiated may already be familiar with his work from Frank Ocean’s “Blonde” and “Endless,” on which Alex played guitar.

But to dismiss (Sandy) Alex G with a surface-level reading based on his youth and seemingly fast rise would be to miss the point of his work entirely. Alex’s story isn’t one of a child who dreams of becoming a rock star and all the glitter and glam that come with it. His ambitions have always been much more focused on being a story teller, conveying narratives in the best way he knows how. Music came to him via his older siblings’ interests. “I have an older brother who is really musically gifted. He has perfect pitch; he could play the piano before he could hold a fork. So when my parents got him a guitar when I was little, I was like, ‘Guitar is cool. I’m going to try that.’” Inspired also by his older sister Rachel’s taste in music—Elliot Smith is often quoted as one of his early influences—Alex started writing and recording his own songs in his room in the suburbs of Philadelphia.