From Infinite to Kamikaze: A Novel

INTERVIEW - 2018 - LEX

Just my little disclaimer: The views, information, and opinions expressed in this story are solely those of the author and do not in any way reflect those of the true artists, producers, writers, etc. of the mentioned songs. The author does not claim any ownership whatsoever to the songs or lyrics mentioned in the story. 

Anderson Cooper: "And that's what sparked your songwriting, correct? The journaling?"

Lex: "Yea, the thoughts...kinda turned into poetry which then turned into rhyme schemes. And since I was really into the keyboard and already played the guitar, I just started singing some of it to music, which made it so much more emotional for me and it all just kind of welded together. I never had any intention of letting anyone listen to anything I wrote though. It really was more like therapy during a really confusing time."

Anderson Cooper: "And by confusing, you mean this time during which Marshall was busy recording his first album and you weren't really sure what the status was between the two of you?"

I hestitated a little.

Lex: "Yes, but also just being 19 and not really sure where my life was headed at that point. There were just a lot of uncertainties floating around."

Anderson Cooper: "So what happened when Marshall came back from L.A.? Did you guys make things official?"

Lex: "No, um....basically as soon as he came back, he and Dre hit the studio."

Anderson Cooper: "In Ferndale?"

Lex: "Yea, Studio 8. Em had gotten Dre to agree to doing most of the recording in Detroit so that he could be close to Hailie."

Anderson Cooper: "So did all his time in the studio drive a wedge between you two?"

I shifted a little in my seat. I didn't want to put the blame on Em. It hadn't entirely been his fault.

Lex: "No, I mean, that was some of it. He really felt like Dre had saved his life though, y'know? So he wanted to give him everything he had and then some. That meant long hours in the studio, traveling back and forth to L.A., lots of writing. And then on my end, I went back to school after the winter break was over. And I was working and stuff. I mean, my feelings for him didn't go away, they just...kind of had to take a backseat for awhile because things got really busy for both of us around that time."

Anderson nodded understandingly.

Anderson Cooper: "And that's when your life had a major turning point as well, am I right?"

Lex: "Yea, I guess you could say that," I chuckled.

Anderson Cooper: "Tell me about how you met Jennifer Blakeman."

Lex: "Well, I had gotten a choreographer position at Windsor Dance Studio that December. I was really excited because it paid pretty well and kept me busy doing what I loved to do. So then one day in February of '98, I went to teach a class and was really early. I'd had my guitar with me cuz I had just come from my dorm and I regularly carried it with me to and from campus. There were a lot of parties on my floor, our door was kept open a lot, and I didn't want to risk it getting stolen. So anyway, I killed time waiting for the class to start by playing a song I was currently working on, y'know which was based on a couple of journal entries I had recently written. A girl in my class showed up a little early too because her aunt was the one bringing her to class that day and she was worried about her being late when she didn't really know the area that well. The aunt turned out to be Jennifer Blakeman, who was a few years into music publishing at that point and was currently scouting for some new talent. She walked in on me playing the song, loved it, introduced herself, and we talked for a little while. We vibed really well, so we ended up exchanging our e-mail addresses and she told me she was gonna send me some stuff to write some lyrics to and see where it went from there."