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Alex Day

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Alex Day
Alex Day in 2009
Background information
Birth nameAlex Richard George Day
Also known asNerimon
Born (1989-04-08) 8 April 1989 (age 35)
OriginHornchurch, Essex
United Kingdom
GenresSynthpop, folk, acoustic, electronic
Occupation(s)Musician, singer-songwriter
Instrument(s)Vocals, guitar, ukulele, bass, keyboard, drums, appalachian dulcimer
Years active2006–present
Websitealexdaymusic.com

Alex Richard George Day[1] (born 8 April 1989) is a musician, vlogger and writer from Essex, England.[2][3] Day has released three studio albums, two EPs, and had three UK Top 40 hits—“Forever Yours” at #4, "Lady Godiva" at #15 and "Stupid Stupid" at #25.[4][5][6] Day is credited with pioneering a new style of releasing and distributing music and his YouTube channel, nerimon,[7] has received more than 800,000 subscribers and over 120 million views.[6][7] He is currently working on the release of his first book The Underground Storyteller which will be released January 2014. [8]

Life and career

Musical debut: 2008-2010

Day first became interested in music in 2005 when he bought an electric guitar at the age of 15.[9] He started his YouTube account one year later on 4th August 2006.[10][9] In 2008, Day founded Chameleon Circuit, a Trock (short for "timelord rock") band that wrote music inspired by the British TV show Doctor Who.[11][12][13] In June 2009, the band released its first self-titled album by YouTube musicians' record label DFTBA Records and a second album Still Got Legs in July 2011.[14] Wired noted that Chameleon Circuit "puts out titles that could pass for chart-toppers — if they weren’t excessively nerdy in the subject matter department."[15]

Day released his debut album Parrot Stories in April 2009 through DFTBA Records,[16] which was produced by fellow musician and friend Tom Milsom. This was then followed by an EP, 117% Complete, in March 2010 which contained songs referencing various video games such as Pokémon.[17] His second album, The World Is Mine (I Don't Know Anything), was released in June 2010 contained a more electronic-Dance sound than his previous folk album. To ensure he did not alienate his fans of his debut album, Day released an EP of acoustic songs, Soup Sessions: Acoustic, in November 2010 which contained newly recorded acoustic versions of half the songs on the album.[18][19]

Epigrams & Interludes: 2011-present

For Christmas 2011, Day released his single "Forever Yours," which reached #4 in the UK Singles chart after selling over 50,000 copies in one week.[20] Day released the single without support from a record label or TV coverage, and beat out songs from multi-platinum artists such as Coldplay, Rihanna, and Katy Perry.[20][21] The Official Charts Company lauded Day's success, stating " 'Forever Yours' is certainly one of the most successful self-released tracks we have ever seen, the Official Charts are based on sales, and sales alone, so Alex’s achievements this week are a genuine reflection of the passion of his army of fans, and of course, the power of social media."[22] Day also released 11 alternate versions of "Forever Yours", which he confirmed that all sales revenue made from the alternate versions would be going to charity, chiefly to World Vision.[23]

"Forever Yours" (2011)
Sample of the song "Forever Yours" by Alex Day, which made it to No. 4 in the UK Singles chart after selling over 50,000 copies.
Problems playing this file? See media help.

On April 1, 2012, Day released his second single, "Lady Godiva", a cover of the 1966 Peter and Gordon song. The single was Day's first to get a physical release in UK record stores following a one-single distribution arrangement with HMV and other stores.[4][5] Within its first week of release, the song charted at #15; Day's second UK Top 20 hit.[24] The song also charted in 15 other countries including Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the United States, Sweden, Norway, and Spain as well as reaching #1 in Slovenia.[25] In May 2012, Day released three singles—“Good Morning Sunshine”, “She Walks Right Through Me”, and “This Kiss”—on a single day, selling nearly 150,000 copies.[26][27] This "disruptive" model largely ignored the conventional method of releasing one single every few months, and its success was profiled in MTV and Billboard.[28][29][30]

Day has received millions of views for his music by releasing music videos on YouTube, with his most popular being the 2011 single "Forever Yours", whose music video reached 1.5 million views in its first week of release.[31][32] On December 16, 2012, he attempted to break a world record with his song "Stupid Stupid". The song later peaked on UK charts at #25. In order to promote the single, Day held a one day tour entitled Stupidfest, which was free for entry.[33]

Epigrams and Interludes

Day released his third album entitled Epigrams and Interludes on 17 March 2013. It contains all his previously released singles since "Forever Yours".[34][35] He also released a music video for 'I've Got What It Takes' starring Tom Ridgewell, Carrie Hope Fletcher and Khyan Mansley.[36] The album debuted at #2 on the UK iTunes charts, beating Justin Timberlake's release The 20/20 Experience.[37]

Day partnered with the file sharing service BitTorrent for an exclusive bundle with the release of Epigrams and Interludes. The package was downloaded over 1 million times in the first week of release.[38]

Other Work

YouTube

Day has been described as "one of Britain's most popular YouTubers."[39][40] He created his first YouTube channel, nerimon, as a teenager, stating, “I was making a video podcast to entertain family and friends - just a little comedy series."[39] Day produced a popular series of humorous videos entitled "Alex Reads Twilight", in which he would read and critically analyse the popular young-adult novel Twilight, by Stephenie Meyer. The videos have received 14 million views.[41] Day has denied ever continuing the series on with an Alex Reads New Moon' but released a somewhat spiritual sequel in 2013 entitled The Dolphin Diaries where he reads the non-fictional diary of a woman called Margret as she attempts to teach a Dolphin English. [42]

Day also received international attention for his video entitled 'Alex and Liam Do Walmart' in which he visited his first ever Walmart megastore alongside fellow You Tubers and Chameleon Circuit band members, Liam Dryden and Michael Aranda. CBS called the titular v-loggers and 'delightfully confused' [43] while the Huffington Post described it as possibly providing detail into American Pop Culture placing a poll at the end of their article. [44]

Amongst these, Days YouTube channel contains Travel V-logs, Music Videos and satirical rants.

As of September 2013 he has over 800,000 subscribers and his videos have been watched over 100,000,000 times.[7]

Television

Day was a featured artist on the BBC Two reality show Chartjackers in 2009.[45] Chartjackers challenged four YouTube video producers to write, record and release a pop song in ten weeks, using YouTube as a crutch to get lyrics and singers,[46] with the proceeds going to the BBC Children in Need charity.[47] The completed single, entitled "I've Got Nothing", was sung by vocalists Miranda Chartrand and Adam Nichols, and was released worldwide through the iTunes Store on 9 November 2009. It was reviewed with varying degrees of approval, by various media outlets, including The Times,[48] Yahoo! Music's James Masterton,[49] BBC Radio 1's Chart Blog[50] and Popjustice.[51] The song peaked at No. 36 on the UK Singles Chart[52] and raised almost £10,000 for Children in Need.[53]

Day also appeared with the Chartjackers at the Hammersmith Apollo for the BBC Switch Live 2009 show, along with artists such as Black Eyed Peas, N-Dubz, and Pixie Lott.[54][55] Day was also a member of Youstage, an ad-hoc group of YouTube vloggers who competed successfully on the BBC Three talent show Upstaged during March 2008.[56][57]

Other Media

Day has presented a weekly comedy podcast with fellow vlogger James Hill (known as jimmy0010 on YouTube) called VaguelyLiveRadio. This podcast featured strange news stories, magazine articles, stories from their day-to-day lives and general conversations between the two hosts. The show has also spawned a range of segments such as Jimmy's Random Wikipedia Page of the Week, Boredom Busters, and Alex's Life Tips.

The show has spanned three seasons. Day or Hill have not announced the show's cancellation, however a fourth season has not been announced either.

Day has also announced he is just finishing up on his first book, The Underground Storyteller which will be released for digital download, chapter by chapter in January 2014. [58]

Reception

Day's "disruptive distribution" strategy has been lauded as "the future of music."[6][26] He is noted as one of the most successful and popular YouTubers in Britain.[39] Day has been profiled on BBC and CNN and in world publications like Forbes, The Guardian and Holy Moly.

Discography

For a more comprehensive list, see Alex Day discography.
  • Parrot Stories (2009)
  • 117% Complete (2010)
  • The World Is Mine (I Don't Know Anything) (2010)
  • Soup Sessions: Acoustic (2010)
  • Epigrams and Interludes (2013)[34]

References

  1. ^ "Bungee Jumping for Beginners". YouTube. Archived from the original on 23 January 2011. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  2. ^ Z. (13 August 2008). "Time Lord Rock: Music from the Ashes of Gallifrey". GeekDad.
  3. ^ "Article from Asylum.co.uk". Retrieved 31 August 2011.
  4. ^ a b Day, Alex. "The new single – 'Lady Godiva'". Alex Day.
  5. ^ a b "Alex Day's Upcoming Single, "Lady Godiva"". Leaky News. Retrieved 26 July 2012. {{cite web}}: |first= missing |last= (help)
  6. ^ a b c Holiday, Ryan. YouTube and Chart Sensation Alex Day the Future of Music?. Forbes. June 12, 2012.
  7. ^ a b c Day, Alex. "Alex Day's YouTube Channel". YouTube. Retrieved 1 July 2013. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  8. ^ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRaX11wuDjU
  9. ^ a b Alex Day: 'People Are Friendly in America' (Tubefilter Interview). YouTube. 8 September 2011.
  10. ^ YouTube join date ('about' page), 23 September 2013
  11. ^ Wilkes, Neil (8 June 2009). "Introducing Trock: Songs about 'Doctor Who'". Digital Spy.
  12. ^ "Meet: Alex Day". Yow Yow! blog. 16 January 2010.
  13. ^ Newitz, Annalee (14 November 2008). "It's Not Filk – It's Trock!". io9.
  14. ^ "Chameleon Circuit (CD)". DFTBA Records web site.
  15. ^ Lewinski, John Scott (8 June 2009). "'Trock' Gaining Traction With Time Lord Fans". Underwire.
  16. ^ "Parrot Stories [CD]". DFTBA.
  17. ^ "117% Complete [CD + Buttons]". DFTBA.
  18. ^ "The World Is Mine (I Don't Know Anything) [CD]". DFTBA.
  19. ^ "Soup Sessions: Acoustic [CD]". DFTBA.
  20. ^ a b "Unsigned Alex Day single sells over 50k in a week - more than Coldplay". Retrieved 25 December 2011.
  21. ^ "Chart Archive". The Big Top 40. 18 December 2011.
  22. ^ "Unsigned Alex Day single sells over 50k in a week - more than Coldplay". Retrieved 25 December 2011.
  23. ^ "YouTube artist aims to top the Christmas charts". BBC. Retrieved 20 December 2011.
  24. ^ "Official Radio 1 Chart". Retrieved 8 April 2012.
  25. ^ Day, Alex. "Press". Alex Day.
  26. ^ a b Holiday, Ryan.Indie Musician Alex Day’s Next Big Move. Forbes. June 13, 2012.
  27. ^ "Three new songs!". Alex Day.
  28. ^ Keith, Culfield (30 December 2011). "Alex Day's 'Forever Yours' Sends Him Flying on Billboard's Social 50 Chart (Video)". Billboard.
  29. ^ "Military Wives Take Christmas No. 1 SpotForces' charity single tops chart on Christmas Day..." MTV UK. 26 December 2011.
  30. ^ Lauren J. Milner (27 February 2012). "Alex Day releases new single 'Lady Godiva'". Alt Sounds.
  31. ^ "Alex Day". last.fm. Retrieved 8 December 2011.
  32. ^ "'Forever Yours' Music Video". YouTube. Retrieved 8 December 2011.
  33. ^ http://alexdaymusic.com/post/37789723604/why-music-should-be-an-event%7C Announcement of Stupidfest
  34. ^ a b Alex Day Music
  35. ^ https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/epigrams-and-interludes/id601152521
  36. ^ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQsMkNlLMUw
  37. ^ Altucher, James. "How A YouTube Sensation Beat Justin Timberlake And The Music Industry". TechCrunch.
  38. ^ "7 Days, 1 Million Downloads, and Alex Day Outcharts Justin Timberlake". BitTorrent.
  39. ^ a b c Bobbie Johnson, technology correspondent (6 October 2008). "The rise and rise of the YouTube generation, and how adults can help | Technology". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 29 April 2010.
  40. ^ Tom O'Meara Published: 12:01 am BST 15 Aug 2008 (15 August 2008). "Can your camcorder make you rich?". London: Telegraph. Retrieved 29 April 2010.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  41. ^ "'Alex Reads Twilight' video series". YouTube. Retrieved 19 December 2011. {{cite web}}: Check |archiveurl= value (help); Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  42. ^ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9I6KAx2ulpw%7Ctitle=The Dolphin Diaries: Week One|publisher= You Tube
  43. ^ http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504784_162-20083498-10391705.html%7CAlex and Liam Do Walmart - CBS Article
  44. ^ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/26/brits-visit-walmart-find-_n_909671.html%7CAlex and Liam Do Walmart - Huffington Post Article
  45. ^ "Chartjackers". BBC Switch. Archived from the original on 4 December 2011. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  46. ^ "ChartJackersProject". YouTube. Archived from the original on 28 October 2010. Retrieved 11 May 2010. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  47. ^ "Chartjackers go for number one". Children in Need web site. 9 September 2009. Archived from the original on 19 February 2011. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  48. ^ Bowers, Mary (13 November 2009). "YouTube if you want to be a star". The Times. London. Archived from the original on 19 February 2011. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  49. ^ Masterton, James (16 November 2009). "Week Ending 21 November 2009". Chart Watch UK. Yahoo! Music. Archived from the original on 19 February 2011. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  50. ^ McAlpine, Fraser (14 December 2009). "Thoughts About Rage Against The Machine vs X Factor". London: BBC Radio 1. Retrieved 3 August 2010.
  51. ^ "Subtle hints that Simon Cowell might not always be musically motivated". Popjustice. 16 November 2009. Archived from the original on 19 February 2011. Retrieved 4 June 2010. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  52. ^ "Chart For Week Up To 21/11/2009". Chart Stats web site. Archived from the original on 19 February 2011. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  53. ^ Lavelle, Fiona (20 November 2009). "York student attempt to storm charts". The Yorker.
  54. ^ "Fact Sheet". Alex Day web site.
  55. ^ "Switch Live – Best of backstage". BBC Switch. 2009.
  56. ^ "BBC Upstaged Interview with YouTube Star Ysabella Brave". CNN iReport. 24 March 2008.
  57. ^ McGarry, Gerard (7 March 2008). "Upstaged: The YouStage Vloggers". Unreality TV blog. Retrieved 23 June 2010 – Includes group photo. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  58. ^ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRaX11wuDjU

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Alex Day.

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