Alexander Gallant is Halifax’s most mysterious musical figure.
Following in the grand tradition of “guy with a guitar,” Gallant has made this cold heart beat once more with his two albums: Waiting Table Blues in 2023 and his latest project, Rubber Monster Suit, from earlier this year.
His social media posts are the best in the game. His way of delivering introspective verse with a touch of humour in his songs is a talent highly sought after. It’s safe to say that Gallant is the reincarnation of Paul McCartney, who isn’t dead yet. Better yet, Alexander Gallant and the Wings don’t exist—yet—so I’m going to make the brave statement that Alexander Gallant’s catalogue is stronger than that of The Beatles guitarist and seal activist Paul McCartney.
Everyone at Nova Scotia Music Week had a chance to witness this phenom for themselves when Gallant played a set on Thursday, Oct. 23 at Th’YARC. Social media posts from onlookers described the performance as one of the most intimate they’d ever witnessed. Others chose not to post to social media at all, enraptured by Gallant’s magnificent combination of strumming and storytelling. One thing is certain: our readers at The Coast are cognizant of Gallant’s skill set. He’s been prominently featured previously as a Best of Halifax nominee and is once again nominated in several categories this year.
I had been messaging Gallant before the conference to set up an interview. We had spoken just before Rubber Monster Suit was released earlier this year—one of my favourite local projects of 2025—and it seemed like a ripe time to chat with Gallant once more, an attempt at grasping the man behind the guitar who, no matter his silly social media presence and heartstriking tunes, feels like a mystery to me.
Gallant and I, along with his friend and fellow musician Eric Stephen Martin, sat outside the Rodd Grand Hotel in Yarmouth on Saturday, Oct. 25, all so I could decipher this mystery of a man.
Spoiler warning: I did not succeed. Alexander Gallant remains the most mysterious figure in the Halifax music scene. I deeply apologize. However, the conversation was full of laughs, and I always appreciate talking to Gallant, whom I perceive, in all of my bias, to be a pretty cool guy.
CREAMER: How’s Nova Scotia Music Week, man? How’s it going?
GALLANT: It’s been going well. It’s been going great. It’s my first time at one of these, so I didn’t know what to expect. I wasn’t overly prepared, but I feel like I prepared just enough to have things to do and not feel too lost. But also, I’ve left a lot of things up to chance, as well. So it’s been nice to have more professional meetings and just running into people. It’s nice to see everybody I’ve ever seen on Instagram in one place. The showcase I played went well, and I’ve never been to Yarmouth before, either. It’s really been a beautiful weekend, weather-wise.
CREAMER: Absolutely. It’s also my first time here. I feel like a lost puppy, it’s weird.
GALLANT: Maybe it’s, I guess, you’re just chasing people down and being like, “press, press.”
CREAMER: I need the little hat and everything, yeah.
GALLANT: I used to play the Music Week in Toronto when I lived there, and we never really went to the conference stuff when I was in my band. Because we were too cool, I guess, I don’t know, but because I know some of the staff at Nova Scotia Music Week a little better, they helped me kind of plan stuff to do, and they encouraged me to take advantage of it. So, I don’t feel too lost. Like I mentioned, we just go, because it definitely can be overwhelming. I’m glad that Eric (Stephen Martin) and I came up together because when I first got here to get my lanyard, it sort of felt like the first day of school or something.
CREAMER: Little bit.
GALLANT: And I’m sort of an anti-school kind of guy.
CREAMER: Alexander doesn’t want to learn. That’s what it is. When it came to the showcase, I saw a bunch of… again, I’m always on Instagram. I can’t help myself. You know, a lot of people saying like, how intimate it was. Obviously, I think you’re a great performer, but like, how did it feel to be in that room with so many people who were just digging your stuff?
GALLANT: It was good. The venue was very nice. I don’t often play in theatres like that, so it was just the quality of the space, and the equipment, and the techs and stuff like that was just great. I felt pretty comfortable. I was glad to be performing between Moira & Claire and Terra Spencer because I feel like they’re both more seasoned in these kinds of environments than me. It was like, Terra was kind of in the wings while I was playing, which was nice. I found that more encouraging than nerve-wracking or anything. It was just kind of sweet. I’m definitely more comfortable in these things, the folk and jazz shows we’ve been to, than the busy, crazy rock ones. I had fun, and I feel like it can sometimes take people a minute to understand where I’m coming from, but I feel like they got it pretty quick, and then people are laughing and having a good time. It felt successful to me.
CREAMER: That’s one thing I love about your music, as well as just your general presence on social media. Anytime I see something from you, I’m going to end up giggling.
GALLANT: Well, thank you. Which is funny, because I did take a meeting with somebody and I kind of was asking them, can I not be on social media, do you think? Or is it all dependent on that? And she said, yeah, it is. But I guess I’m not… my manic rambling that I do when I have to promote something, at least people find it amusing.
CREAMER: It is, because to me, you’re at least partially a comedian at this point—no offence.
GALLANT: No, it’s fine, which is good because I don’t know, I feel like if I was trying to be a comedian, I’d be even more of a sad sack. So, I’m happy that I could take breaks between the jokes.
CREAMER: Absolutely. I saw the other day, you know, obviously, I saw you were up for some The Coast Best of Halifax awards, and coming at Joel (Plaskett). Joel doesn’t need another award.
GALLANT: Yeah, I know. I only say that because Joel has told both Eric and I that he’s won that kind of thing enough times.
CREAMER: Yeah, of course.
GALLANT: I think, in his perspective, he should maybe get retired and they can put his name up on their wall. You know, he can win the Polaris Prize and other things, and I’m not in the mix for it yet.
CREAMER: Certainly.
GALLANT: Yeah, I don’t know. I find that funny, just because you can only make those videos so long, but one of the jokes that I cut was that, you know, I don’t really take that stuff too seriously, but people who are older than us seem to hear about it and they like it, so my dad will call me and he’s heard about it, so for that reason I want people to click on me.
CREAMER: One hundred percent, for sure. You had Rubber Monster Suit drop fairly recently. Great album. What are some of the reactions you’ve had to it so far?
GALLANT: The people who are in my orbit seem to like it. I don’t know, people who I don’t know occasionally will stop me, or a lot of people who are in bands or musicians will tell me they like it. That usually doesn’t equate to making lots of money or whatever, but I’m happy that people who are in the scene respect my songwriting, I guess. That’s meaningful to me. I toured it a bit in the summer, and that was great to get out there and do that kind of thing. I’m definitely used to the first record and some of those funnier songs, which I leaned on a little bit more in my showcase, but it was nice to get out and do more stuff, and I’m happy that I have, like, two records worth of material to bounce around while playing now. But, it’s also hard for me not to just play whatever song I recently wrote, because I write a lot and I’m already sick of Rubber Monster Suit songs because they’re like, five years old at this point.
CREAMER: Right, yeah.
GALLANT: But it’s been nice. It’s nice to come to something like this and have people who didn’t necessarily know who I was say nice things.
CREAMER: One thing I loved about the release of that album was, I think you mentioned it was due to some production issue, but the fact that you made your own bootlegs. That was genuinely one of the coolest things I’ve seen an artist do.
GALLANT: Now, unfortunately, I have hundreds of CDs, and I’m like just trying to give it to people, but that worked. It’s similar, I guess, to the manic desperation of the way that I make videos, but having to be like, they f**ked me, you got to buy these CDs that I drew, even though it was kind of just like, I waited longer than I should have. I sold most of them. I only had like five left, and we made 50-something.
CREAMER: Yeah, no, it’s just a cute little thing. I can only imagine how you felt in the moment, like not having the CDs that you thought you’d have.
GALLANT: Yeah, well, that record was done like ten minutes before that.
CREAMER: Right, yes.
GALLANT: The next one that I do, I’m going to take my time. Planning, which is unfortunately not what I’m good at. I’m not very patient.
CREAMER: I feel you. I’m with you on that boat. Otherwise, we’re in beautiful Yarmouth. Anything exciting about Yarmouth? You said it was your first time here. Anything in particular about the town that you’re stoked about?
GALLANT: The guy who runs the New Age Inn where we’re staying is awesome. He’s really nice to us. I liked chatting with him today. It’s kind of fun to just poke in every nook and cranny and see people from bands everywhere. It’s really nice here. There’s like, large flocks of birds and geese, and hawks, and eagles all flying around. I think we saw the dome bulb from the lighthouse at the museum yesterday. We might go to the actual shooting location lighthouse today, which is really nice. Things are pretty cheap here to buy. I feel like inflation hasn’t hit Yarmouth yet, maybe. That’s been nice because you know, we’re sort of eating out every day. We’ve kept all of our meals shrewdly cheap.
CREAMER: I think that’s everything I have for you, man. Anything you want to shout out?
GALLANT: My next set is November 15th at the Sanctuary Arts Centre for the Big Turnips.
This interview is part two of our Nova Scotia Music Week Interview Series. The conversation has been edited down for length.