Alex Bleeker

In addition to his role as founding member and bassist of indie band <a href="spotify:artist:41SQP16hv1TioVYqdckmxT">Real Estate</a>, Alex Bleeker has brought a more cosmic, jam-band influence to his projects outside of his main group. His revolving-door collective <a href="spotify:artist:2YpXA8wolWBe3jEuktmX5d">Alex Bleeker and the Freaks</a> became active around the same time as <a href="spotify:artist:41SQP16hv1TioVYqdckmxT">Real Estate</a> in 2009, and he released the fully solo album Heaven on the Faultline in 2021.

Bleeker was born in New Jersey in 1986 and grew up attending school with his future bandmates, <a href="spotify:artist:4JuWruv1jBeWne0sJTUH3k">Martin Courtney</a> and Matt Mondanile. The friends stayed in touch after going off to different colleges, and in 2009 they reconvened to start <a href="spotify:artist:41SQP16hv1TioVYqdckmxT">Real Estate</a>, solidifying the jamming and loose projects they'd begun as school friends. <a href="spotify:artist:41SQP16hv1TioVYqdckmxT">Real Estate</a> would go on to critical acclaim and a worldwide fan base, but at the same time the band was getting off the ground, Bleeker was recording songs he'd penned under the <a href="spotify:artist:2YpXA8wolWBe3jEuktmX5d">Alex Bleeker and the Freaks</a> banner. His first, self-titled album under this moniker appeared in 2009, with Bleeker on guitar and vocals and friends from <a href="spotify:artist:41SQP16hv1TioVYqdckmxT">Real Estate</a> and their orbit backing him up. Second album How Far Away arrived in 2013, and third set Country Agenda appeared in 2015, with a handful of various 7" singles and cassette-only releases cropping up in between.

In addition to a regular touring schedule with <a href="spotify:artist:41SQP16hv1TioVYqdckmxT">Real Estate</a>, Bleeker embarked on some tours in support of <a href="spotify:artist:2YpXA8wolWBe3jEuktmX5d">Alex Bleeker and the Freaks</a> albums. His love of <a href="spotify:artist:4TMHGUX5WI7OOm53PqSDAT">the Grateful Dead</a> was one of the guiding influences in his songwriting, and at a show during a 2015 <a href="spotify:artist:2YpXA8wolWBe3jEuktmX5d">Freaks</a> tour, <a href="spotify:artist:4TMHGUX5WI7OOm53PqSDAT">Dead</a> drummer <a href="spotify:artist:1wk6pg0mhB8jTm9Y6I4bNV">Bill Kreutzmann</a> performed alongside the band. In 2021, Bleeker returned with the album Heaven on the Faultline, released this time under his own name. The set was recorded over a period of several years and released in March 2021 on the <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Night+Bloom%22">Night Bloom</a> label. ~ Fred Thomas, Rovi