Alex Windsor plays guitar in Bad Cop/Bad Cop, but "Superego" is something different. It’s her first solo EP, six songs that let her step outside the band and finally find out what happens when the songs, lyrics and decisions are hers.
Alex joins The Hang! to talk about making "Superego", the self-doubt that almost kept her from doing it, and the long road that took her from a small Illinois town to international punk stages.
Her connection to music started young, but Green Day’s "American Idiot" changed the direction of her life. She remembers being 13, realizing she could actually play those songs and thinking, “If they can do this, I can do this.” She went on to study music and jazz, worked as a teacher and session player, moved to Los Angeles through Guitar Center and eventually joined a band she had already become a fan of: Bad Cop Bad Cop.
We get into how that background followed her into Bad Cop/Bad Cop and the making of the band’s 2025 album "Lighten Up". Alex talks about bringing jazz harmony, music theory and a different guitar vocabulary into punk without losing what makes punk work. Bad Cop Bad Cop currently features Stacey Dee, Linh Le, Myra Gallarza and Windsor, with "Lighten Up" released through Fat Wreck Chords.
Then we get into "Superego".
“Fix Me (Tear Me Apart)” grew out of Alex’s experience with people trying to make her fit their idea of who she was supposed to be. “Goddess Complex” takes on imposter syndrome and the uncomfortable gap between how other people see you and how you see yourself: “I wish I could love myself the way you love me.” And “Light” closes the EP with a different idea of love—standing beside someone and fighting for their rights, happiness and existence.
Alex also talks about Patrick Stump of Fall Out Boy helping her see that even accomplished songwriters wrestle with fear, why taking care of yourself on tour matters more than living out some outdated rock-and-roll fantasy, and what it means to look into a Bad Cop Bad Cop audience and see young girls watching women own the stage.
One of Alex’s favorite things to do after a solo is find a young girl near the front and hand her the guitar pick. For Alex, it means: your turn.
We also talk Green Day and Billie Joe Armstrong, Prince, Paul McCartney, The Baboon Show, Honey Revenge, Winona Fighter, touring Europe and the moment at Punk Rock Holiday in Slovenia when Alex realized the kid with the big dream had actually gotten there.
What part of Alex’s story connected with you most? Let us know below, and subscribe to The Hang! for more conversations with the people making the music.
https://www.instagram.com/alexnicolewindsor/
www.youtube.com/@alexnicolewindsor
https://www.facebook.com/alexnicolewindsor/
https://music.apple.com/us/album/superego-ep/6817935522
#AlexWindsor #BadCopBadCop #Superego #PunkRock #WomenInPunk #FemaleGuitarist #PunkInterview #TheHangPodcast
CHAPTERS
00:00 Welcome To The Hang!
00:25 Meet Alex Windsor of Bad Cop Bad Cop
02:04 How Green Day’s American Idiot Changed Her Life
11:13 Why a Punk Guitarist Studied Jazz
15:17 Moving to Los Angeles and Finding Bad Cop Bad Cop
24:38 Why Alex Windsor Finally Started Writing Solo Music
33:50 Inside Superego and “Fix Me (Tear Me Apart)”
40:53 “Goddess Complex,” Imposter Syndrome and Self-Love
43:20 Why “Light” Ends the EP With Hope
49:27 Women in Punk and Passing the Guitar Pick to Young Girls
1:06:22 The Moment Alex Windsor Realized She Made It
The Hang! Podcast – Presented by Almost Famous Magazine
https://www.almostfamousmagazine.com
