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New York..Ask NYC-based musician, Scott Alexander, to classify his music and he'll tell you it's like nothing you've ever heard. So what's the difference between him and all the other performers who claim the same thing? Alexander's right.

"Classifying my music has been a real problem for me. If I get into too much detail about how I structure my songs or push a slightly obscure aesthetic agenda, I give the impression that it's very experimental and intellectual, which it is on a level, but it's not really how it sounds," Alexander explains, "I really just try to make music I can believe in."

And what he believes in is human imperfection. Unlike many artists, Alexander refuses to strive for flawlessness and stability. Rather, in both his life and music, Alexander embraces his shortcomings and mistakes.

"I feel like in my life I've had a tendency to learn from the negative example. I've also always been somewhat of a masochist to my own dignity and tend to get a rush out of embarrassing myself. But I think when people have work that they are embarrassed of, or do something they're unsure of, there's a real beauty in the humanness they show. Aside from the aesthetic quality of mistakes, I also think it's the only way to really grow as a person, a musician, and a society," says Alexander, "Some mistakes you don't want to repeat, but others you really do, if only with a slight bit of tweaking. When I was studying classical music, what really got to me was the constant struggle for consistency and perfection. That's not who I am or who I want to be."

Alexander further differentiates his songs by leaving out typical verse-refrain patterns. "There's a lot of room for expression in the way a song is structured that goes untapped in a lot of music. Verse-refrain structure goes way back to ancient times; in my opinion it comes largely from the mnemonic devices used to help people remember epics, poems, and bible verses," he explains. "We have recordings now, so I don't really think that repetition is necessary, just a habit we're stuck in. I'll repeat something if I think it's really important enough to repeat, or I'll play something with a variation if I'm writing about the same thing with a different perspective. I'll also make a harmonic reference from one song to another if there is a similarity. But really I just write what comes to me, I like to let thought and emotions evolve in a song rather than settle into a groove, even if it's just three minutes."

When it comes to promoting his music, Alexander's approach is just as unconventional as his distinctive style. He gains publicity by utilizing various types of performance art, as well as getting out into the New York community and actually meeting the people.

"Maybe it's just because I'm not a visual person, but I don't believe that anyone is going to become interested in my music, much less have any idea what its about, from a sexy or hip looking photo of myself. That's where performance art comes in. I get people's attention by heading out to the New York parks and doing things like miming my shows or sitting in a refrigerator box that looks like a MySpace profile," says Alexander. "Sometimes the vibe is overwhelmingly 'We're too cool for you' but my patience usually pays off. I've met all sorts of people and it's a pleasure even when they don't go to my shows."

But when they do come to his shows, Alexander rewards them. "I'll bake cookies and bring them to my performances just to show my fans how much I appreciate them."

And if sitting in refrigerator boxes and baking cookies for his fans aren't enough to help him make a name for himself, Alexander recently started an internet hotline (scottalexanderhotline.blogspot.com) where people can dial in and post anonymous messages about anything and everything on their mind. "I had wanted to do this for a long time..create a number people can call when they're in the mood for amusement, or to share something about themselves. Now I know I'm not the first person who ever thought of this, but neither is Madonna (who recently put up a confessional hotline to promote her new album). But that's why I had to get on the ball and make my own hotline happen. It's a lot less popular and also a lot less structured than Madonna's," Alexander jokes, "But I suppose there's room for both of us."

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