Alex Maxwell
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Biografía
- Boasting a zealous musical upbringing, Alex Maxwell’s early affection towards house music soon found him breaking-onto the Capital’s booming club scene by the tender age of 21. Responsible for the creation of the clubbing brand EIVISSA SOUL which has b..Boasting a zealous musical upbringing, Alex Maxwell’s early affection towards house music soon found him breaking-onto the Capital’s booming club scene by the tender age of 21... It wasn’t long before his youthful career gathered momentum, humbly gracing the turntables at some of London's most illustrious venues, such as The EGG, Ministry Of Sound and Pacha. During his infancy as an aspiring DJ talent Alex proudly appeared under brands such as: Amnesia, Cavo Paradiso, The Gallery and Toolroom Knights, and it soon became apparent that the UK’s House scene had just inherited another budding talent, intent on finding his way to the helm of the industry. Responsible for the creation of the clubbing brand EIVISSA SOUL which has been responsible for many ongoing residencies in London as well as international appearances in France and Ibiza. More recent successes include a collaboration with Saytek Live resulting in a signing to Cubism Records. Alex continues to produce his own signature energetic, organic tech house sound. While it has been a comparatively rapid ascent in his promising career as a DJ, Alex's musical roots span-deeper. Heralding from Guildford, Surrey, from an early age Alex's family were instrumentally influential in honing his hunger for all things music. With his musical prehistory deriving from his parents, his mother a singer and his father a session bass player and studio tech, the inevitability that music would soon become a fundamental part of Alex’s life became ever apparent. During his modest upbringing, much of his father’s musical paraphernalia replaced the customary toys for the young fellow, playing with mixing desks, amplifiers, tape and drum machines, Alex carved an early understanding for music technology. "As a kid I remember bunking off lessons to spend lunch money in the local record store. Back then it was drum & bass and funky house. I'd bring-home records and try to mix them. The only problem being, I only had one belt drive hi-fi turntable, a portable CD player and a tired out two channel mixer brought from a car boot sale hooked up to a tape recorder. I knew what I was trying to do, I just didn't have the equipment to do it!" With eclectic musical tastes in the family spanning classical, jazz, funk, pop and rock, Alex took after his father applying himself to play bass guitar. This fascination with musical instruments soon led to the formation of a professional originals band, which further developed into a short-lived career as a session bass player from his mid-teens to mid twenties. Alex’s DJ career coalesced in early 2006, having experimented with making electronic music using productions programs, all techniques which he had learnt to use during his college tenure. It was at this very time, after an already impressively dedicated application to all things music that his attention was refocused to becoming a DJ. With the pre-requisites for becoming a DJ now increasingly accessible through advancements in the World of the digital DJ, he began experimenting with digital mixing platforms which assisted his understanding and learning for the principle parts of mixing music as a DJ. Meanwhile, live music was still very much at the forefront of Alex's musical affection, thus ultimately inspiring his move to Brighton to study music at the Institute of Modern Music. Conversely however, it was during his time residing in arguably the most musically astute destination on the South-coast, that Alex found himself associating with friends from the electronic production side...This consequently further exposed him to the deep and endearing World of electronic club music. His distinctive tastes for such genres developed and Alex soon became attuned to the recognizable 4/4 thud, blips, blops and saw tooth bass lines of the then very popular electro house sound. Now attending parties, bars and club events on a weekly basis, many of which were run by friends and fellow musical aficionados, this new found zeal soon gave him the opportunity to take the first steps in playing-out to a live audience. Having successfully piloted his new-fangled musical collection and digital mixing methods in the comfort of a house party environment, it was time to unleash his sounds to the masses...And so with no further adieu, Alex Maxwell’s first DJ appearance in a club environment was complete. From this point forward the scene was set, live music would now take a back seat and so was born his preserved ambition to succeed as a DJ. "I went to Brighton a musician and came out a DJ, I'm not sure what happened?! I signed up as a musician, to learn and develop in live music, being part of a band, and to brush up on my music theory. Little did I know I'd be DJ'ing at parties, bars, club or even local pirate radio". Half-way through his music course Alex dropped out of his studies and returned back home. Soon after his homecoming the launch of a new monthly house music event in his home-town of Guilford had been announced online over all the usual social networks. The night, uncouthly branded 'Filthy Habit', had been gathering a lot of attention through cleverly marketed posters and online exposure. Alex became a regular to this event, and before long had associated himself as one of the team; promoting the events, bringing a crowd and more importantly appearing behind the decks. "It was both excitement and disbelief that what I had started getting involved with in Brighton had followed me home, purely by chance! The club culture, the atmosphere and more importantly the music! It was like it was meant to happen". Off the back of appearances there came the opportunity to be taken on board for bigger and better gigs when the brand had the opportunity to host a room at The EGG nightclub in Kings cross, London. Alex jumped aboard and from there, as they say - the rest is history... Alex continued to play clubs for the next couple of years but as with many of the larger clubs he was playing at the time, he learnt it was becoming less about the DJ that you were and more about the crowd that you brought with you. Alex soon collaborated with his close DJ friends to form the branded clubbing experience; EIVISSA SOUL as a means of cultivating a following that would ultimately attend their sets around the London clubbing circuit...Little did they know that what they created as an honest venture spawn from a love for House music, would soon grow to supersede their need to play the circuit. The EIVISSA SOUL brand was formed with inspiration drawn from experiences playing the London and European circuit and supported by a team of like-minded music aficionados, resident DJs, freelance management/PR agents, all fashioned by the love of the scene, and all sharing the same values and endeavour; to show people real house music, showcasing fresh DJ talent and growing a strong marketable brand. With a predominantly organic deep and tech house sound, similar to that of Cadenza, Monique Musique, Cecille and Moon Harbour to name just a few of the many inspirations, and a vibrant clubbing atmosphere, Eivissa Soul has captured the heart of hedonistic Ibiza style clubbing. This has since been demonstrated in over 50 notable events, spanning the past 3 years and recently culminating with a newly acquired residency under the infamous railway arches of Cargo, in the heart of East London’s musical metropolis that is Shoreditch. These monthly events consistently have attracted heaving terraces and main-room dance floors, assembling diverse yet like-minded clubbers to party for hours upon end, to the finest and most exclusive underground house sounds. There's no single description for Alex's playing style, but perhaps it is evident in the styles that his brand follows, of everything from supple terrace party grooves of deep melodic house to organic tech-house rollers. The hours spent surrounded by many influential heavy-weights of the house scene have clearly served him well; Alex's tracks immediately stand out for their fine sense of detail, as well as his versatility in any setting he plays. So keep those eyes assertively peeled for Alex Maxwell and his EIVISSA SOUL parties, as this powerful driving-force continues to advance both onwards and upwards into the exciting and unforeseen realms of the underground music scene.