In addition to his role as founding member and bassist of indie band Real Estate, Alex Bleeker has brought a more cosmic, jam-band influence to his projects outside of his main group. His revolving-door collective Alex Bleeker and the Freaks became active around the same time as Real Estate 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, Martin Courtney and Matt Mondanile. The friends stayed in touch after going off to different colleges, and in 2009 they reconvened to start Real Estate, solidifying the jamming and loose projects they'd begun as school friends. Real Estate 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 Alex Bleeker and the Freaks banner. His first, self-titled album under this moniker appeared in 2009, with Bleeker on guitar and vocals and friends from Real Estate 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 Real Estate, Bleeker embarked on some tours in support of Alex Bleeker and the Freaks albums. His love of the Grateful Dead was one of the guiding influences in his songwriting, and at a show during a 2015 Freaks tour, Dead drummer Bill Kreutzmann 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 Night Bloom label. ~ Fred Thomas