Side Stage with Sy is shining a light on artists’ stories through her interviews. We’re revisiting her conversation with Canadian pop artist Alex Sampson ahead of his performance at The Mod Club in Toronto on February 22 2026, where he talked all things songwriting, touring, acting, and his recent virality.
Following the show, he released a Live From Toronto version of his hit single “Pretty Baby“. The song, originally released in 2024, has taken on a new life after a viral fan moment on tour. Listen here. His latest single “Misery” is out now.
Here’s a snippet from the interview:
SYHANN: You supported Jamie Miller last year. How does it feel to compare supporting on a tour to headlining?
ALEX: It’s completely different. It’s crazy. When you’re an opener, the whole reason you go on tours is so people can find out who you are. I was lucky enough that as an opener, a lot of people did know who I was, because I think Jamie and I have a lot of the same fan base. So, there were certain songs like “Pretty Baby” and and my bigger streaming ones where I could like hold the mic out and stuff. But, it’s cool knowing that no matter what song I’m singing, at any point I could just [hold out the mic] and everyone’s going to sing along. So, if I’m ever feeling tired and it’s at a part of a song that isn’t really well known, they’re going to know it. It’s so cool because I get to I get to have a longer set and we can just do so many different things that we couldn’t do as an opener.
SYHANN: So, I know you’ve been going viral lately. Since, who was that person who said you look like their brother?
ALEX: Yeah. I don’t know what’s going on. I posted that video (…) and it just kind of took it kind of took a life of its own. It’s kind of nuts – [the song] did its biggest streaming day ever since it came out and I was on America’s Go Talent (AGT) with that same song – this passed that – it just did 150,000 yesterday alone on Spotify alone. I don’t know what’s happening.
SYHANN: Did you ever find out who that girl was?
ALEX: Yes.
SYHANN: Oh my god shoutout to you!
ALEX: Shoutout to you, thanks queen! Wherever you are currently!
SYHANN: 2024 was a jam-packed year for you, you released two EP’s and did AGT.
ALEX: I released Blurry Vision, my debut EP in January and in May I did AGT, and it aired in July. And shortly after that I put out my sophomore EP, and now I’m working on my third.
SYHANN: Is it another EP or a full album?
ALEX: It’s the biggest project I’ve ever done but it’s not an album yet – it’s an 8 song EP which is hopefully coming out after tour.
Check out the rest of the interview here: