Alexander Sowinski

Alexander William Sowinski (born October 11, 1991) is a Canadian musician and the drummer for instrumental group BADBADNOTGOOD. He is best known for incorporating jazz drumming into hip hop and electronic music.

Alex Sowinski
Sowinski at the NXNE Festival in 2012
Background information
Birth name	Alexander Sowinski
Born	(1991-10-11) October 11, 1991 Mississauga, Ontario, Canada
Origin	Toronto, Ontario
Occupation(s)	musician
Instruments	drums, percussion
Years active	2011–present
Associated acts	BadBadNotGood Frank Dukes KAYTRANADA

Life and career

Alexander William Sowinski[1] was born on October 11, 1991 and raised in Mississauga, Ontario.[2][3][4] There, he attended Lorne Park Secondary School, before moving to Toronto as a teenager and transferring to Humberside Collegiate Institute.[4][5] He went to high school with future collaborator Charlotte Day Wilson.[5]

Sowinski studied jazz performance at Humber College, where he met his future BBNG bandmates Chester Hansen and Matthew Tavares in class. Before forming BBNG, Sowinski played in a band with musician Tommy Paxton-Beesley, who performs as River Tiber.[6] BADBADNOTGOOD formed in 2010 and had viral success the following year after posting jazz covers of Odd Future online. They released their debut record in Fall 2011. Sowinski both drums and acts as the band's MC from behind his drum kit. Following the rising popularity of BBNG in 2011 and 2012, Sowinski eventually withdrew from Humber.

As of 2020, Sowinski has released five full-length albums with BBNG, including a collaborative record with Ghostface Killah, and has been short-listed for the Polaris Music Prize twice. Also with the group, Sowinski has produced numerous hip hop, R&B, and electronic music singles, including tracks by Kendrick Lamar, Daniel Caeser, and Kali Uchis. Sowinski has also worked as a session musician and songwriter for the past decade, working with producers and musicians like Kaytranada, Frank Dukes, Jerry Paper, and Charlotte Day Wilson, among others.

In 2018, he helped form the Toronto-based design collective Arrangement Studio.[7] With its Fall 2018 launch, Sowinski released a volume of original music titled Vol. 1. In 2019, Sowinski helped curate a series of experimental DJ mixes as part of Arrangement Studio.[8] In 2019, Sowinksi composed the soundtrack of the Canadian indie thriller Disappearance at Clifton Hill with BBNG bandmate Leland Whitty.[9]

Equipment

Sowinski plays a Ludwig Maple four-piece drumkit, generally with a 14" tom, 18" floor tom and a 26" kick, and utilizes a Roland SPDS sampler.[10][11][12] In the early-2010s, he would often play without a rack tom and have his SPDS mounted on top of the kick drum.[13][14] He has utilized both Istanbul and vintage Zildjian cymbals, and plays with Headhunter drumsticks.[15][12]

Discography

With BADBADNOTGOOD

Main article: BadBadNotGood discography

• BBNG (2011)
• BBNG2 (2012)
• III (2014)
• Sour Soul (with Ghostface Killah) (2015)
• IV (2016)

With Leland Whitty

• Arrangement Studio – Arrangement Vol. 01 (2018) (also with Duncan Hood)[16]
• Soundtrack of Disappearance at Clifton Hill (2019)[9]

Production and songwriting credits

Notable production credits as part of BADBADNOTGOOD

Main article: BadBadNotGood discography § production discography

• Kendrick Lamar: "Lust." from Damn. (2016)[17] (Certifications – US: gold)
• GoldLink: "Fall in Love" (featuring Cisero) (2016)[18]
• Daniel Caesar: "Get You" (2016)[19] (Certifications: US: 2x platinum; CAN: 2x Platinum; UK: silver)
• Kali Uchis: "After the Storm" (featuring Tyler, the Creator and Bootsy Collins) from Isolation (2018)[20] (Certifications – US: gold)
• Khalid and Swae Lee: "The Ways" from Black Panther (2018)[21]

Other credits

• River Tiber – "Motives" from Indigo (2015); drums, vocals[22]
• Mac Miller – "Perfect Circle / God Speed" from GO:OD AM (2015); drums[23]
• KAYTRANADA and Tuxedo (original artist): "The Right Time (Kaytranada Rmx)" (2015); drums[24]
• Matty – Déjàvu (2018); drums[25][26]
• Charlotte Day Wilson – Stone Woman EP (2018); keys, cymbals, writing[27][28]
• Mick Jenkins – "Understood" from Pieces of a Man (2018); drums, produced with KAYTRANADA[29]
• KAYTRANADA – "Puff Lah" and "Vex Oh" from Bubba (2019); writing, drums[30]
• Jaunt – All in One (2020); engineering[31]
• Jonah Yano – "anywhere" and "what i can do to help" from Souvenir (2020); drums/drum programming[32][33]

References

1. "Album Details Strength of a Women". www.umusicpub.com. Retrieved 2020-07-16.
2. "Review – BadBadNotGood Were Given a Run for Their Money by Other Black's Funk". 303 Magazine. 2017-10-13. Retrieved 2020-06-30. It was drummer Alexander Sowinski’s birthday and the obligatory audience-wide singing of Happy Birthday was joined by a half-dozen playful riffs of the song peppered throughout the remainder of the set...
3. Mistry, Anupa (2012-03-22). "BADBADNOTGOOD". NOW Magazine. Retrieved 2020-06-30. ...Sowinski, [age] 20...
4. Spencer, Jason (2014-08-08). "BadBadNotGood: The shape of hip-hop to come hits LAC". Mississauga.com. Retrieved 2020-06-28. The Toronto-based trio, made up of Alex Sowinski, Matt Tavares – both originally from Mississauga – and Ottawa's Chester Hansen... said Sowinski, who attended Lorne Park Secondary School before moving to Toronto to finish high school
5. Ritchie, Kevin (2017-04-11). "Charlotte Day Wilson just wants to belong". NOW Magazine. Retrieved 2020-06-30.
6. "How BadBadNotGood's low-key vibe turned them into musical crown princes - Macleans.ca". www.macleans.ca. Retrieved 2020-06-28.
7. "About – Arrangement Studio". Retrieved 2020-07-13.
8. "Mixes – Arrangement Studio". Retrieved 2020-07-13.
9. "Members of Badbadnotgood make their film debut with a creepy aggressive score". CBC. 2020. Retrieved June 28, 2020.
10. "Alexander Sowinski of Badbadnotgood performs on stage at the Sonar..." Getty Images. Retrieved 2020-06-29.
11. "Gear Rundown: BADBADNOTGOOD". Mixdown. Retrieved 2020-06-29.
12. "Music Essentials: Badbadnotgood". Hype Beast. Retrieved June 28, 2020.
13. "Alexander Sowinskil of BadBadNotGood performs on stage at Brudenell..." Getty Images. Retrieved 2020-06-29.
14. "Alexander Sowinskil of BadBadNotGood performs on stage at Brudenell..." Getty Images. Retrieved 2020-06-29.
15. "Alex Sowinski". Retrieved June 28, 2020.
16. "VOL. 01 CASSETTE". Arrangement Studio. Retrieved 2020-07-14.
17. "The Production on Kendrick Lamar's "LUST." Explores the Dread of Mundanity". www.vice.com. Retrieved 2020-07-14.
18. "Listen To Goldlink's "Fall In Love," Produced By Kaytranada And BADBADNOTGOOD". The FADER. Retrieved 2020-07-14.
19. "Photo of album credits for "Get You" single" (JPEG). Daniel Caesar. 2017. Retrieved July 14, 2020 – via Discogs.
20. "Kali Uchis, Tyler, the Creator, Bootsy Collins, and BadBadNotGood link up for "After the Storm": Stream". Consequence of Sound. 2018-01-12. Retrieved 2020-07-14.
21. Wilson, Carl (2018-02-17). "Kendrick Lamar's Black Panther Album Is Rich With Meaning You Can Only Appreciate After the Movie". Slate Magazine. Retrieved 2020-07-14. On “The Ways,” Khalid sings an ode to a “power girl” over a sweet groove by Badbadnotgood
22. Paxton-Beesley, Tommy (2016). "Image of Indigo album credits" (JPG). Retrieved July 14, 2020 – via Twitter.
23. "Perfect Circle". Twitter. Retrieved 2020-07-03.
24. "Tuxedo Remixed By Kaytranada | Stones Throw Records". www.stonesthrow.com. Retrieved 2020-07-14.
25. "Matty* - Déjàvu". Discogs. Retrieved 2020-06-28.
26. "We tap into the insatiable creative hunger of Matty". Purple Sneakers. 2018-06-12. Retrieved 2020-07-14.
27. "Charlotte Day Wilson - Stone Woman". Discogs. Retrieved 2020-06-28.
28. "Charlotte Day Wilson - Stone Woman". Killbeat Music. Retrieved 2020-07-14.
29. "Mick Jenkins - "Padded Locks & Barcelona": Video". Spin. 2018-10-22. Retrieved 2020-07-14.
30. KAYTRANADA (Ft. Ari PenSmith, Eight9FLY & GoldLink) – Vex Oh, retrieved 2020-06-28
31. "JAUNT - TIGER BOMB PROMO". www.tigerbombpromo.com. Retrieved 2020-06-28.
32. Jonah Yano "anywhere", retrieved 2020-06-28
33. Orlandino, Nicola (2020-07-13). "[Album Streaming]: Jonah Yano - "Souvenir"". SonOfMarketing. Retrieved 2020-07-14.