We had the good fortune of connecting with Alexandra Duparc and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Alexandra, do you have any interesting experiences or advice related to making friends as an adult?
Bandwidth is what shifted my perspective on forming friendships in adulthood. Once I looked at my emotional energy as a pool of fuel available to me, I was able to allocate it. When I don’t, I find myself scattered and drained. When I meet someone new and that I like, I tend to look for something we can help each other with. What can we create together? What could we bond over? What will help bring about a better world for ourselves or others? I think this takes root in the discovery of what’s important. When I’m crippled, caned, and looking back on my life, what will matter? Accomplishments. Not necessarily those that made me money, gave me attention or what anyone thought of me. What will matter is what I feel proud of: How many people I helped, who is now inspired, who is now at their full potential, whose pain I’ve eased, and what kind of future I’ve helped build. When you know what will matter, you begin to focus on those things. I’ve noticed that as I’ve grown older, I tend to distance myself from those who do not know what they want from their life or focus on the futile only because it does not bring me happiness. Once you know what brings you happiness, it’s easier to navigate through these things. Some people say you can’t love anyone until you love yourself and I think that’s what this is. It’s not about self-admiration but about knowing what makes you happy and being confident in that. Not everything has to have meaning or be productive, but it has to bring about a better life for all those involved. Friendships should be honest. They should be safe. They should live on in spite of everything. They should not fuel competition. Friends should defend each other. They should be a warmly lit room in a home off the main road that you can’t wait to return to.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
Well, other than Treehouse, my life is split between two things: Music and writing. As a musician, I haven’t released anything under my own name in a few years. I’ve dedicated them to many other projects, instead. But this year, it’s finally going to happen. I’ve created a new project called SKANDRA and I’ll be releasing the first single in a few weeks. 6 songs will be released by the summer. This EP feels like something I’ve wanted to make since I was a teenager. It’s very inspired by an older indie scene that prompted me to make music in the first place. Lots of talky vocals and lyrics being the focal point. Simple chord progressions and angst exploding with Micokorg synths and Casiotone drum loops. Each song is like a diary entry. It was produced by a dear friend of mine, Travis Warner, mixed by Mike Schuppan and mastered by Dave Cooley. All incredibly talented people who I felt very fortunate to work with and who inspired me to keep going every step of the way.

As for writing, I co-wrote a film with my father and we sold it. We’ll see it begin to get made once this quarantine is over. My father raised me with art and love. I became a writer. He raised my brother to be a beast. He became a litigator. So, we decided to write about it all. The great journey of a man against Goliath; My brother up against Monsanto. How he won the bellwether case that led to his second win of 2 Billion dollars for a couple who developed Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma due to Monsanto’s bestselling weedkiller for 40 + years called Round-Up. My father has been an environmentalist and writer for over thirty years. He worked with Cesar Chavez to expose the effects of toxic chemicals on migrant farmworkers. He has helped countless people through detox and has appeared on over a hundred shows consulting on health and environmentalism. I worked on the case, itself. Monsanto poured over 400,000 emails into the pool of evidence and I was one of a few people who spent months sorting through them to find the smoking guns. We read scientific studies, piles of court transcripts and thousands of internal emails that will never see the light of day. We had two desks in an office that were purely surrounded by stacks of paper and a whiteboard to organize our scattered minds. The hardest part is finding core truths in a mound of lies. My brother did it as a lawyer and we did it as writers. One of the most miraculous stories of our time. What I found broke my heart. But I wrote that broken heart into this film. I tapped into the depths of despair that we face when up against the injustice and evil in this world. I can’t wait to see the film come to life.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
This is a great question because I’ve already created lists like this! I’m very much a list person and relate to Lesley Knope for this reason. Some of my favorite restaurants are Pine and Crane, Fig & Olive, Trails, Guisados, Mm Zh, Figaro Bistro, Forage, All Time, Taco Zone, Pace in Lauren Canyon, Terres Mexican Grill, Cliff’s Edge and Chinois in Venice. I’d take them to coffee and matcha at either Maru or La Colombe. For outdoor activities, I’d take them on a walk through Franklin Canyon Park, a hike through Topanga State Park & Griffith Park, paddle boats at Echo Park Lake or a day on the secret beach that I sneak under a bridge to get to in Malibu. I’d take them vintage shopping. I’d name 100 stores if I started so I won’t even begin a list. I’d take them to shows at The Bootleg, Hi-Hat, The Echo, It’s a School Night and would probably see if fellow event producers were putting anything on. There are so many great pop-up events in LA these days. I’d take them to MOCA, Norton Simon and The Getty. There are so many things I like to do like find secret staircases throughout East LA, karaoke at the Tattle Tale Room, visiting estates, Frank Lloyd Wright homes, the Camera Obscura in Santa Monica or even sneaking to the top of fancy hotels with a bottle of wine and soaking in the view

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I’d like to dedicate it to all of the people who have consistently helped in keeping my Treehouse LA community alive. Whether that’s Taylor Meskimen who’s my sidekick in all production or Ylane Duparc who’s always there to film and photograph the events or Josh Beck who’s always down to help set up and take beautiful photos. Tammie Valer for all of her amazing photos. Ariana Capriotti uses her design eye, Amelie Pimont, her producer mind, and the three musketeers: Whitney & Christine Moulton and Kaydence De Mere. Avedon Arcade brings his art and design skills to our fliers and pop-ups. Vendors like UFO Milk, Nu Vintage and non-profits like the Why We Give Project. Our DJ duo Club Soda. The performers who always come back like Frith, Wendy McColm, Alicia Blue, Lauren Ruth Ward, Albert Krass, Dead Sara, Lauren Rowe, Sean Flemming, The Rare Occasions, Franki Elliot, Jade Castrinos, vox and so, so many more. Lastly, we would be nowhere without the likes of venues like Think Tank, VOCAL Warehouse, Treehouse Co-Live, Stories in Echo Park, those who have hosted in their homes and promoters like Shane Carpenter, DoLA, Kevin of BuzzBands and the support and mentorship of those like Skrillex, Andrew Slater, and my family. I could endlessly shoutout. I’ve probably missed too many people. (Don’t be mad, I’m sleepy in quarantine)!

Website: http://alexandraduparc.com
Instagram: skand.ra
Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/treehouse-los-angeles-3?uid=q1mCdHvW4Xf92-BFObOpBA&utm_campaign=www_business_share_popup&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_source=(direct)
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtx9_Ago1BeiaCvcsny1x-g

Image Credits
photos by: @OJODELOBA @treehouse.la @tmex