Alex Lewis is one of the most endearing writers I know. He publishes Feels like Home on Substack, an email notification I always look forward to getting. In his words, “the secret of Feels Like Home has always been that I write about things I love, such as music, sports, movies, and TV. But what I’m really trying to do is raise our collective consciousness and deepen our capacity for communal care . . . The value of this newsletter isn’t a matter of charts and graphs; it’s that we continue reflecting goodness back to each other.”
Despite our highly differing use of charts, Alex and I have connected on here over our shared love of music and being remote fans of the Denver Nuggets. He’s a popular guest for these sorts of Q&As, so I feel lucky that he took the time to answer some of my questions. Here’s my conversation with Alex.
CHRIS: To kick off, what album would you recommend our readers queue up right now, to listen to as they read on?
Blonde just celebrated 10 years, so let’s go with that. It’s one of my all-time favorite albums and a project I’ve come to associate with New Year’s; however, the beauty of Blonde is that it transcends seasons and time. Frank Ocean made an album that lives with you and reveals new parts of itself with every listen. Keep a tissue nearby just in case you need to wipe the tears while listening along.
You started The Album Club earlier this year, as “like a book club, but for music”. You’ve written about why you started it, but I want to know about the how. Once you had the idea, how did you make it a reality? How did you build the community?
The Album Club wouldn’t be possible without my homies at The Scatter Joy Project - and more specifically, my homie Zach Thompson, who founded Scatter Joy and invited me to consider what I might want to host at their physical storefront.
Zach gave me the space (literally the space) to bring my curiosities to life, and I’m grateful that different homies have come alongside and helped make these gatherings possible. I’ve been able to tap this group to lead our first set of discussions, and they’ve also assisted with serving coffee and setting up and breaking down chairs.
“A cornerstone of my creative practice since graduating college has been making spaces for people to create and be encouraged in their creativity”
We have a few QR codes around the room at every event that invite people to share the one album they want everyone to listen to. We have more than 100 submissions. When picking the featured album for each month, I just try to curate a range of different styles and perspectives. Recent selections have included Rosalía, Pharoah Sanders, and Dijon.
What’s your favorite Chance the Rapper song, and would you get mad at me if you knew mine were “Hot Shower”?
I need to know why “Hot Shower” because…….. Hey man, you know what? Love what you love. Love wins.
As for me and my house, there is only one answer to this question. Okay, maybe two. I’m between “Cocoa Butter Kisses” and “Sunday Candy”.
“Cocoa Butter Kisses” is the first Chance song I fell in love with. I had it on when I picked up Elizabeth for our first date. Months later, she’d make me a mixtape with this song on it, chronicling that moment.
On the other hand, “Sunday Candy” reminds me of my late grandmother, Gwendolyn Watts. I spent a lot of time with her growing up and got to see her love in so many ways. I feel it every time when Chance declares, “Your grandma ain’t my grandma.”
What made you first want to first start writing on Medium and then Substack in 2022? Who inspired you to hit publish that first time?
I’ve had blogs since I was in college, maybe high school. I started on Tumblr. I’d write mini sermons about my faith at the time. Then, in 2016, I started Car Window Poetry and began blogging the beginnings of that journey.
Somewhere along the line, I migrated to Medium. I went through a mini GaryVee phase where I was trying to be a motivational speaker. But it was about 5 years later when my work started to resemble more of the essays I’m writing now.
During the pandemic, me and my homie Nicolas-Tyrell Scott would often text back and forth about different cultural observations we had. He’s a fantastic journalist & cultural critic and encouraged me to channel my ideas into essays. That meant a lot coming from him.
Around the same time, my guys JT & Koku were writing about their favorite moments in music. I wanted to join in on the fun, so I started writing my own essays and have kept it going since.
I made the move from Medium to Substack to make it easier for the people who wanted to read my work to keep up with me. The thing I’m most proud of is that I still love writing all these years later.
How does your day job in social media marketing impact how you show up online?
I began considering social media as a career in the first place because I experienced how online interactions can lead to deeper, offline relationships. I saw how getting to know someone online could break down the barrier of us being strangers and turn us into friends. That’s still how I show up online. If I like what you posted, I’ll tell you. If you’re into the same things I am, I’m letting you know.1 If I just think you’re cool, we’re friends now.
What does your content consumption look like? Which books are you reading? Which sites are you bookmarking? Which newsletters get access to your inbox? Which podcasts are pinned?
I’m always online because of my job, so I’ve been trying to curb my chronic online-ness as much as I can. But I do my best to read before I go to bed and try to protect time every morning to read something - even if it’s one interview or artist profile.
I’m currently reading Liz Pelly’s book, Mood Machine: The Rise of Spotify and the Costs of the Perfect Playlist. I’m a slow reader, so I’ll probably be reading this for the next couple months. But coming up in the age of Limewire and Pirate Bay, it’s fascinating to learn how Spotify got started and became the empire it is now.
On days I work from home, I’ll usually catch up on podcasts. Normally, I look for episodes from Commotion with Elamin Abdelmahmoud and NPR’s Code Switch. I try to tap in with Dissect I can, but I’ve fallen behind pretty far. I have been loving the clips I’ve seen of this Last Song Standing series on Tyler, The Creator, though. I definitely want to go back and run through that.
Newsletter-wise, I’m Rachel Moss’ biggest fan. She’s so cool and a fellow friend and Ohioan. Dia Lupo is one of the first Substack writers I met who was really doing the damn thing. Also, no one is writing with the razor-sharp clarity about our culture and celebrity that Harmony Holiday is. I learn so much from her.
Last year you wrote an article for BSKT Magazine called “How NBA Live 2003 & NBA Street Vol. 2 Shaped My Music Taste”. First of all, great games, great soundtracks.2 Who did you play as in NBA Street Vol. 2?
I would camp out by the hoop with Stretch and block every shot.3
Also, I loved Magic Johnson’s signature move. Shoutout to Bonafide and Biggie Littles, too.
You’re originally from outside Charlotte, North Carolina and you now live in Columbus, Ohio. How and why are you a Denver Nuggets fan?
I’m a Denver Nuggets fan for two coinciding reasons: Carmelo Anthony and the powder blue jerseys.
How do you like to watch a Nuggets playoff game?
Half asleep in my bed. The games are too damn late.4
I have to ask you: Start, Bench, Cut Cam Johnson, Christian Braun, Peyton Watson?
Start Cam Johnson. Bench Christian Braun. Cut Peyton Watson. He’s a Cav now anyway.5 Looking forward to seeing him destroy us in January, hopefully in person.
A few years ago you wrote a piece for Andscape about Russell Westbrook “leading the Denver Nuggets to joy”. Now that he has announced his retirement, do you have anything else you’d like to say about the last two years of the Westbrook experience in Denver and Sacramento?
I’m grateful we had Russell Westbrook in the league for as long as we did. His game was volatile in all the best and sometimes worst ways, but that was the Russ experience. You were going to be entertained, and I’m fairly confident there will never be another him. Russ didn’t slow down at the finish line; he ran right through it. And I’m happy to see the outpouring of love that met him there.
Who would be in your starting five “joy bringers” in the NBA or WNBA?
If we’re going with active players, I’ve got: Marine Johannès, Gabby Williams, Nikola Jokić, John Collins when he dressed up as a Tuskegee Airman in the dunk contest, and Kevin Huerter in the MLK jersey.
What’s something that’s true about basketball that others don’t agree with you about?
Every season should begin with an automatic bid to the playoffs specifically only for the Nuggets, so Jokić can spend more time with his horses and not have to worry about basketball until the playoffs.6
If you liked this glimpse into Alex,
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Note from me: This is true! Our shared love of the Nuggets led to a Substack connection and ultimately this Q&A.
This video from the Ringer is worth the time.
I would do this with Shaq.
I love living on the West Coast for this reason. Australia is even better - the games are on at like noon!
100% agree.