Alessandro van den Brink
About: Alessandro van den Brink was born in Boston, Mass. but moved to New York when he was just 3 years old and has lived there ever since. According to his dad, his favorite song when he was two years old was “To Sheila” by The Smashing Pumpkins, which he called “The Sheila Song”. This early exposure to rock and alternative music heavily influenced his later tastes in music, but there was a point in where Alessandro listened to completely different music than he does now. Between the ages of 9 and 12, he listened mostly to modern Hip Hop and even certain Pop songs, but by the age of 13, he realized that the substance found in these genres of music didn’t satisfy his interest compared to those of rock and indie alternative music and quickly started listening to more and more diverse styles of music. He now has over 15,000 songs on his iTunes library and has been playing musical instruments such as piano and guitar since he was 9. He currently is in a band and plays keyboards, although he makes music as a solo artist from time to time, occasionally collaborating with his girlfriend, Giulia.
Favorite Artists: MGMT, The Beatles, Passion Pit, The Strokes and Radiohead
Favorite Songs: “Imagine” by John Lennon, “Hallelujah” by Jeff Buckley, “Heroin” by The Velvet Underground, “Siberian Breaks” by MGMT and “God Only Knows” by The Beach Boys
Favorite Albums: “For Emma, Forever Ago” by Bon Iver, “Congratulations” by MGMT, “Grace” by Jeff Buckley, “OK Computer” by Radiohead and “Manners” by Passion Pit
Artists I Hate: All Time Low, Nickelback, The Black Eyed Peas, Plain White T’s and Metallica
Favorite Lyric: “Maybe there’s a God above, but all I’ve ever learned from love was how to shoot somebody who outdrew you” - “Hallelujah” by Jeff Buckley
