Alex Wright (musician)

Alex Wright (born 28 August 1980) is a Canadian musician, composer, and producer. Since 2014, Wright has released solo recordings under the name The Wax Girl.[1] Wright is also a former touring member for Raised by Swans,[2][3] and is credited for performing guitar parts on seven songs from the critically acclaimed album, No Ghostless Place.[4][5] In 2010, Wright appeared as himself in Atom Egoyan's film Chloe, for Raised by Swans' live performance at The Rivoli in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.[6][7]

Alex Wright
Alex Wright in 2010
Background information
Born (1980-08-28) 28 August 1980
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
GenresPost-rock, Ambient, Shoegaze
Occupation(s)Musician, composer, producer
InstrumentsGuitar, keyboards, bass guitar
Years active2007–present
Associated actsThe Wax Girl, Raised by Swans
Websitewww.landofthewaxgirl.com

Career

Raised by Swans (2007 - 2012)

In 2007, Wright joined Raised by Swans as a live guitarist.[8] During the recording of Raised By Swans' second album, No Ghostless Place, between 2007 and 2009, Wright performed additional guitar parts on seven of its thirteen songs,[9] but did not contribute creatively to the parts he performed, nor to the composition or arrangements of the songs themselves.[10]

In 2010, Raised By Swans appeared with Wright as the live version of itself in Atom Egoyan's film Chloe, in a scene with Amanda Seyfried and Julianne Moore at The Rivoli in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.[6] Later in 2010, Wright travelled with Raised by Swans on a cross-Canada tour, and performed twenty-three shows in support of the release of 'No Ghostless Place'.[3]

In addition to the cross-Canada tour, Wright performed with Raised by Swans at numerous shows and festivals between 2007 and 2012 including LOLA fest (2007), CMW (2011),[11] Jack Richardson Awards (2011)[12] two album release parties and a special show that was hosted by CHRW-FM where Raised by Swans was presented with an award for winning 'Best Local Album of the Year' in 2011, for No Ghostless Place.[5]

Wright's last documented performance with Raised by Swans was on 18 August 2012 at Aeolian Hall, in London, Ontario.[13]

The Wax Girl (2012 - present)

Wright began writing and recording songs in January 2012 as a creative outlet.[14] During this time, the moniker "The Wax Girl" entered his mind by rearranging the letters of his own name. On the conception of "The Wax Girl", Wright said: "It really just started out with demos that I was making on my own. I was writing shoegaze, ambient, post-rock type demos for my own personal enjoyment and as a creative outlet. The more music I was creating, I started realizing that it was something that I wanted to pursue. I came up with the name The Wax Girl just as a name for these songs that I was writing. It was a way of categorizing these songs on my computer. That's how it got started. The name itself (The Wax Girl), is an anagram for my name."[15]

After taking a year to study Audio Engineering and Music Production in college between September 2012 and August 2013, Wright started recording new material in September 2013 and a record began to take shape.[14][15]

In August 2014, he released a debut 5-song EP, entitled Anosmic. With regards to the title, Wright said "I lost my sense of smell when I was 17. I decided to go with that name because it's something personal to me."[15] Anosmic appeared on several Canadian campus charts, and reached as high as #1 on the CJAM 99.1 MHz chart for the week ending September 9, 2014.[16] Echoes and Dust declared "this magnificent Canadian band has crafted something extraordinary"[17] while Ride the Tempo said "Anosmic is a 5-track EP of gorgeous post-rock ambiance."[18]

In February 2015, Wright released a full length follow-up entitled Between Screens. Ride the Tempo compared Between Screens to Anosmic, calling it "an even stronger set of music, and also more purposeful"[19] while Weird Canada proclaimed that Between Screens is "perfect for laying back and letting the current take you where it will."[20] Echoes and Dust premiered an animated video by Wright, for the single Nuclear Winter calling it a "glorious piece of work"[21] while giving praise to Between Screens by saying "everything about this album makes the hair on my arms rise and creates goosebumps all over."[22]

Credits
Discography
Year Album Artist Name Credit
2015 Between Screens The Wax Girl Written, recorded and produced by Wright
B-side Screens
2014 Anosmic EP
2010 No Ghostless Place Raised by Swans Additional electric guitar performed by Wright
Filmography
Year Title Credit
2015 Nuclear Winter Animated and directed by Wright
2010 Chloe Wright appeared as himself, with Raised by Swans
gollark: A `return True` machine does absolutely no computation and returns yes/true/1/whatever.
gollark: Well, my `return True` machine can determine whether a `return True` machine can halt.
gollark: ++delete a second
gollark: ++delete tungsten dioxide
gollark: ++delete uwu/owo in all forms

References
  1. "The Wax Girl // Music" Archived 2015-01-18 at the Wayback Machine, www.landofthewaxgirl.com. Retrieved on 14 April 2015.
  2. M., Jessica "Raised by Swans @ The Garrison" Archived 2014-03-01 at the Wayback Machine, Much (blog.muchmusic.com), 9 March 2010. Retrieved on 12 April 2015.
  3. Gordon, Holly "Raised by Swans with First Aid Kit, Pink Moth and The Sorrys", The Coast, 6 May 2010. Retrieved on 12 April 2015.
  4. Reaney, James "London hit parade", The London Free Press, 20 December 2010. Retrieved on 12 April 2015.
  5. Reaney, James "Raised by Swans win CHRW local album of the year prize", The London Free Press, 28 January 2011. Retrieved on 13 April 2015.
  6. Reaney, James "Swans' way: Raised by Swans (look closely) in Chloe", The London Free Press, 28 April 2010. Retrieved on 12 April 2015.
  7. Ernst, Thom "Atom Egoyan | TALKING TOO…" Archived 2015-04-04 at the Wayback Machine, Toro, 29 March 2010. Retrieved on 12 April 2015.
  8. Reaney, James "No Ghostless Place a Hopeful Place", The London Free Press, 14 January 2010. Retrieved on 12 April 2015.
  9. Raised By Swans (2013-02-15). "albums". raisedbyswans.com. Retrieved 2015-05-07.
  10. Raised By Swans (2015-03-15). "about". raisedbyswans.com. Retrieved 2015-05-04.
  11. Gorman, Dan "CMW Night #3: Raised By Swans, CATL, Paper Lions and more. |", Twowaymonologues, 12 March 2011. Retrieved on 13 April 2015.
  12. Reaney, James "And the Jack goes to . . . | The London Free Press", The London Free Press, 11 April 2011. Retrieved on 13 April 2015.
  13. "Raised by Swans | Aeolian Hall", Aeolian Hall. Retrieved on 12 April 2015.
  14. "The Wax Girl // Bio", www.landofthewaxgirl.com. Retrieved on 13 April 2015.
  15. "#MusicHangout with The Wax Girl", Way Too Indie, 8 August 2014. Retrieved on 13 April 2015.
  16. "CJAM 99.1 MHz - Windsor ON : Top 30 : Sep 9, 2014 : !earshot : charts", !Earshot, 9 September 2014. Retrieved on 13 April 2015.
  17. Foofer "The Wax Girl - Anosmic | Echoes and Dust", Echoes and Dust, 13 August 2014. Retrieved on 13 April 2015.
  18. Brennan, Mark Anthony "[(LISTEN) THE WAX GIRL - ANOSMIC (EP)", Ride the Tempo, 1 September 2014. Retrieved on 13 April 2015.
  19. Brennan, Mark Anthony "(Album Review) The Wax Girl - Between Screens", Ride the Tempo, 12 March 2015. Retrieved on 13 April 2015.
  20. Brennan, Mark Anthony "New Canadiana :: The Wax Girl - Between Screens", Weird Canada, 2 April 2015. Retrieved on 13 April 2015.
  21. Salter, Dan "Exclusive: The Wax Girl - Nuclear Winter Video | Echoes And Dust", Echoes and Dust, 10 February 2015. Retrieved on 13 April 2015.
  22. Foofer "The Wax Girl - Between Screens | Echoes And Dust", Echoes and Dust, 12 February 2015. Retrieved on 13 April 2015.
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