One local musician and writer has spent his lockdown period finding out more about some of the talented, creative and driven people who live on the island.

Alex Cowley decided to use his time at home to create a series of in-depth and inquisitive interviews based on individuals who stand out in their chosen fields and, after asking people to volunteer to be grilled, found himself talking to a range of people from various backgrounds, including fellow musicians, charity workers, footballers and meditation practitioners.

Alex, a prolific songwriter, guitarist and writer, said that he took the opportunity to indulge an idea he had been harbouring for some time and speak to people who fascinated and interested him.

’I have always liked watching interview shows on television with Michael Parkinson, David Frost and people like that and I always thought that I’d like to give it a go sometime,’ said Alex.

’The aim of the interviews was to celebrate talent and I wanted to interview people on the Isle of Man who seem to stand out or excel at something.

’What they did, what skills do they think they have, or not, and what do they bring to their own community

’I mainly had musicians on, as I know a lot of them, being a songwriter myself.

’My first one was with a singer called Steve Nash. I would listen to the music from each person first and then I’d look to find out about their aims, background, influences, goals and that sort of thing.

’They were really good fun to do and it gave me a focus to spend my time on during the period. I made sure that, whoever I was speaking to, I would properly research them and make sure I knew what questions I wanted to put to them.

’It is important to find out about the person I am speaking to.’

Alex spoke to many local musicians about their influences and backgrounds, but also featured Peel footballer Lee Gale, Adam Hudgeon, the founder of the mental Health charity ’REACH IOM’ and the mindfulness teacher Mike Kewley.

’I talked to Lee Gale, who spoke in really good detail about what it is like playing for Peel, and why he thinks Peel football club haven’t really been as successful as he thinks they could have been. He also talked about his own aspirations, wanting to get the golden boot.

’It was interesting to get that insight into what drives a sportsman on the island to keep pushing, either for himself or for the team.

’It was also interesting to speak to a guy called Danny Foulis, who plays the guitar in a band called the Tides.

’He also once played golf for the Isle of Man at the Island Games, and he spoke about feeling really unfulfilled, no matter how much he seems to achieve.

’Some of the interviews did get quite personal, I think. Especially from talking to Adam. We both talked about our experiences from dealing with mental health issues, which made for quite a deep interview.’

Alex carried out 10 interviews for the series, which came to an end when the government allowed people to meet up with small numbers of others outside the household again. ’Now that we are out of lockdown I’ve finished the isolation interviews for the time being,’ he said.

’I’ll maybe start them up again in the future, when I have a different idea for the next set of interviews.

’The island is full of talented of people, and anything I can do to showcase this talent, I am happy to do.’

Alex’s isolation lockdown interviews are available to view on his Facebook page or on YouTube.

by Mike Wade

Twitter@iomnewspapers