Alex James (musician)

Infobox Musical artist
Name = Alex James

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Img_capt = Alex James in Bangkok,Thailand
Background = non_vocal_instrumentalist
Birth_name = Steven Alexander James
Born = birth date and age|1968|11|21
Died =
Origin = Bournemouth, England
Instrument = Bass, vocals
Genre = Indie rock, Britpop
Occupation = Bassist, songwriter, author
Years_active = 1989–present
Label =
Associated_acts = Blur
Fat Les
WigWam
Me Me Me
Sophie Ellis Bextor
Julian Perretta
URL = [http://www.blur.co.uk/ www.Blur.co.uk]
Notable_instruments = Fender Precision Bass Standard

Steven Alexander James (born 21 November 1968 in Boscombe, England) is a farmer [James classifies himself as a farmer and this is now his foremost occupation: http://lifeandhealth.guardian.co.uk/food/story/0,,1948510,00.html] and the bass player of the currently inactive English indie rock band Blur. He has also played with temporary bands, Fat Les, Me Me Me and WigWam.

Biography

He attended the state grammar school, Bournemouth School on "East Way" in Charminster. James met future band mate Graham Coxon at Goldsmiths College, where James studied French, and was introduced to Damon Albarn and Dave Rowntree, who at the time were part of a band called Circus. He eventually joined the three's new band, Seymour, in 1989, which would later be renamed Blur. While he has been in the band ever since, he now describes the experience as "a past-life". [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/panorama/7200749.stm "Cocaine - Alex James in Colombia"] on the BBC]

olo projects

Unlike his band mates Albarn and Coxon, James has not released any solo material, although he has been involved in other side projects. In 1998 James formed Fat Les with Keith Allen, Damien Hirst and others, and released (amongst others) the World Cup single "Vindaloo", which reached number 2 in the UK Singles Chart. He also worked on a side project called Me Me Me with Stephen Duffy, and has co-written songs for Marianne Faithfull and Sophie Ellis Bextor. James worked with Bextor on a couple of tracks on her solo debut album "Read My Lips". He co-wrote and co-produced "Move This Mountain", and co-produced "I Believe" along with Bextor and Ben Hillier. He also played the bass on both tracks. Ellis Bextor's 2003 album, "Shoot From The Hip" also features James on it. He co-wrote "Love Is It Love" and again plays bass guitar. He also joined his friend and singer-songwriter Betty Boo, in a band called WigWam. James also appeared in drag playing a double bass in the music video for Marianne Faithfull's single "Sex With Strangers" [ [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdYVtJhhLVo&feature=related "Sex With Strangers" music video] on YouTube]

James writes for the British newspapers "The Independent" and "The Observer", as well as "Q" magazines and "The Idler" (whom he represented in a team on BBC2's "University Challenge: the Professionals" in summer 2005 in a team also featuring John Moore of Black Box Recorder; they had a heavy win over "The Financial Times" in their heat, but did not score highly enough to return for the tournament's later stages). He also presented the Evening Sequence on BBC 6 Music as a stand-in for Tom Robinson between 8-26 August 2005 where he amusingly quipped that it was he who had invented Justin Timberlake's catchphrase "I am going to have you naked by the end of this song." James has subsequently mentioned this, most likely erroneous claim, in a number of later articles in the Idler.

In October 2006, he became one of the presenters of "The Tube" which ran until March 2007 and was broadcast on Channel 4 Radio. In 2007, Alex was featured on the BBC Radio 4 programme On Your Farm and became one of its regular presenters alongside Elinor Goodman and Adam Henson. In 2007 Alex was a judge on the Channel 4 show "Mobile Acts Unsigned". In November 2007, James was featured as a panellist on popular BBC One satirical news quiz "Have I Got News for You". An autobiography of James's experience with Blur, called "Bit of a Blur", was released in June 2007. [ [http://www.listal.com/book/bit-blur-alex-james "Bit of a Blur"] . www.listal.com.] In March 2008 Alex signed up to present a new 100-part series 'The A to Z of Classic FM Music' on Classic FM, after successfully hosting the short series When Classic Meets Pop in June 2007.

In August 2008 James appeared in the reality tv talent show-themed television series, "Maestro" on "BBC Two." cite press release
title = Eight passionate amateurs bid to become BBC Two's Maestro
publisher = BBC
date = 2008-05-23
url = http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2008/05_may/23/maestro.shtml
accessdate = 2008-05-24] He was voted out in the 4th episode of the series, after receiving the least points out of the remaining contestants for his performance, and being selected for elimination by the orchestra. In September 2008, a documentary television series called Cocaine Diaries: Alex James in Colombia premiered on BBC America, part of the BBC America Reveals program. In it, James, who admits to having used cocaine extensively in his hard-partying lifestyle in Britain, learns about Colombia's violent drug export trade.

Personal life

Family

James married Claire Neate, a video producer, in April 2003 in Cheltenham. They have three sons: Geronimo (born 16 February 2004), and premature twin boys (born 28 April 2006), Artemis and Galileo. He has just had a baby girl (born 28 August 2008). They live in Kingham in Oxfordshire on a convert|200|acre|km2|sing=on farm.

pace obsession

He has a serious interest in space and space travel, which led him to involve Blur in helping the ill-fated Beagle 2 project, producing the Mars probe's signature tune, he was also part of the campaign to get the Beagle 2 projectfunded. His interest with space is further documented by the track "Far Out" on the Blur album "Parklife", on which James sings a list of moons and stars. After studying at the University of Bath for two years he gained an honours degree in astrophysics. On 25 January 2007 James became the "Artist in Residence" in the Astrophysics department at the University of Oxford. ["Blur guitarist on a space mission" [http://www.admin.ox.ac.uk/po/news/2006-07/jan/25.shtml] ] . Alex also joined the British Astronomical Association while Blur were still touring.

Animal husbandry

James has long had a keen interest in animal husbandry, which first became publicly apparent in 1998. After his side project Fat Les scored bigger sales with Vindaloo than any single Blur had previously released, Alex spent his share of the song's profits on a pet chimpanzee, named Bubbles. At the time, some friends expressed concern that this signaled a downturn in his mental state while other acquaintances mistakenly assumed he had just finally mended relations with long-time rivals Noel and Liam Gallagher. Alex eventually gave up interest in chimpanzees, and champagne, trading Bubbles for more traditional animals such as sheep, pigs, and horses.

Footnotes

External links

* [http://info.spectator.co.uk Alex James] regularly contributes to "The Spectator" magazine
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/factual/onyourfarm.shtml Alex James is one of the regular presenters of BBC Radio 4's On Your Farm]
* [http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/food/2007/08/alex_james_the_cheese_diaries_2.html Alex James: the cheese diaries, episode 2]
* [http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/food/2007/08/alex_james_the_cheese_diaries_1.html Alex James: the cheese diaries, episode 1]
* [http://www.musicomh.com/interviews/wigwam_0406.htm Alex James interview]
* [http://comment.independent.co.uk/columnists_a_l/alex_james/article2105925.ece Alex James gives up vegetarianism after 17 years]
* [http://observer.guardian.co.uk/foodmonthly/story/0,,1948228,00.html Article on Alex James and cheese manufacture]
* [http://www.heyokamagazine.com/HEYOKA.6.MUSICSCIENCE.AlexJames.htm "Heyoka Magazine" interview] with John LeKay
* [http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/1999/dec/10/top10s.alex.james Alex James's top 10 reads] , "The Guardian", December 10, 1999