Alex Chaiet, a rising senior at Santa Monica High School, is turning personal loss into something lasting — and now the rest of the world can hear it.
The aspiring singer-songwriter, 17, has just released a music video for her original song “Palisades.” It was filmed in the same place where she first wrote song which landed on Spotify and Apple Music last week.
Chaiet grew up in Pacific Palisades. In January 2025, she and her family were among the thousand who lost their homes in the devastating wildfire. In the days after the fire, she turned to music.
“It kind of poured out of me,” Chaiet said in an interview with Clique Magazine.
“Palisades” focuses less on what was lost physically and more on what can’t be replaced. “[It’s] more so about the community and memories that we lost,” she wrote on her Bandcamp page.
Music has always been part of Chaiet’s life. She started writing songs in elementary school after getting her first guitar, encouraged by her music teacher, Lonnie Martinez.
“The only way you’re going to be different is if you write music,” Martinez told her. Years later, they were able to collaborate on “Palisades,” bringing the relationship full circle.
At home, music and family life were closely tied. There were karaoke nights, make believe America’s Got Talent performances with her dad, and late-night movie marathons with her mom, a Santa Monica public school teacher, and younger sister, Payton.
“We had a huge couch — it was the most comfy thing ever — and my whole family would always have movie nights out there,” Chaiet said. “I miss staying up with my mom and sister till 2 or 3 a.m. watching horror movies with popcorn. We can still do that now, but it’s not the same.”
She also remembers writing songs in her bedroom, looking out at the yard through white shutters.
“I would sit there with my piano or guitar and look out the window and write,” she said. “We had a beautiful yard and I wish I had spent more time in it.”
Those memories are woven into “Palisades,” including the chorus: “I’ve got my body, but can’t get my mind out of the Palisades.”
Chaiet has written songs consistently since she was young, often using music to process her thoughts. One of her first songs, “Trash,” focused on the challenges of making friends.
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“I go over to my piano or my guitar, and whatever I’m thinking, I find a way to say it in a good way,” she said.
Now, her music is reaching a wider audience. With “Palisades” on major streaming platforms and a new music racking up views on YouTube, Chaiet is taking an early step into the spotlight.
“My mom said I always acted like a diva and like I wanted to be a star,” she said. “I’d be super dressed up, and when my parents filmed me I’d say, ‘No paparazzi.’”
Now, it seems, that moment may not be far off.
Photo: @katie.dalyphotography
