When it comes to both music and life, Mount Maunganui musician Alexander ‘Alex' Wildwood is not afraid to dive head first into unfamiliar territory.

The 27-year-old multi-instrumentalist and producer is relatively unknown in his home town, but the world is certainly taking notice of Alex following the release of his debut EP South of No North.

Mount Maunganui musician and producer Alexander Wildwood. Photo: Supplied.

Released in November, South of No North features five tracks that show off Alex's ability to meld folk and indie-rock sounds with polished pop sensibilities.

Since its release, he's supported Australia's Boy & Bear on their sold out tour of New Zealand, and also opened for British band Elbow during their two sold-out shows at Powerstation in Auckland during October.

Alex says he'd been working on the album for roughly two years and written over 30 tracks for the EP, eventually culling the list down to the five strongest songs.

'My first thought when I had the finished EP in my hand was that I hoped people enjoyed it as much as I loved making it,” he reflects.

'I'm pretty confident in the music and proud of the songs. People who have listened to it so far have been really responsive to the album which has been awesome.”

The title ‘South of No North' is a homage to Charles Bukowski and was recorded at his home studio La Petite Masion in Mount Maunganui, with Alex playing all of the instruments except for drums.

It was later mixed by Auckland producer and engineer Nic Manders (Kimbra, Katchafire, Bic Runga) and then mastered by Andy VanDette (David Bowie, The Beastie Boys) in New York.

Alex says: 'It's pretty great to have someone like Andy listen to your music and work on it and kind of surreal at the same time. He did an awesome job and is a fantastic guy.”

South of No North's has been very well received by critics, with international music publications All Things Go, Rock Swell and Tone Deaf 'really digging the EP and gave great feedback”.

Alex says the EP accurately reflects him as both a musician and as a person, especially the lyrical content that appears on the songs.

'You can only write what you know,” he says, 'and that's what I try to do - be as honest as possible about who I am. It's probably the most honest thing that I have done lyrically.

'Before I don't think I wouldn't have written a lot of the things I talk about. I would have been a lot more afraid of what the people closest to me would have thought.”

Photographer Jessica Suo snapped this shot of Alexander Wildwood during his September tour with Australian band Boy & Bear. Photo: Alexander Wildwood /Facebook.

Alex is unfazed by the fact that he may be more well-known overseas than he is here at home, and is keeping it all in perspective.

New Zealand has a rich heritage of songwriters and he uses Neil Finn as an example.

When he opened for Elbow at the Powerstation he had a conversation with the British band who mentioned how much respect they had for Neil.

'I was taken aback a bit,” he says. 'I think most Kiwis think ‘Neil Finn, oh he lives just up the road from me' and we almost take it for granted how much he's done and matter to people overseas.

'And that's cool in a lot of ways because our culture is so grounded, but in other ways we should be appreciating those people for their work and appreciating the scale of what they have achieved.”

The future is not promising to slow down any time soon for Alex and along with writing more material he'll also be hitting the road and touring over the summer and early next year.

Alex will be looking to tour Australia and will also share the stage with Aussie band Tigertown in Auckland sometime in the next year.

He'll also be on the road with Auckland musician Ezra Vine for a tour between late January and early February.

'We'll be doing one show in Mount Maunganui which will be really great, it's been a very long time since I've played a show at home so I'm really looking forward to it.”

To learn more and for links to download South of No North visit Alexander Wildwood's website at: www.alexanderwildwood.com

Watch the video for Alex's song ‘Summer Skin' below: