Alex Day

Alex Day

Alex Day in 2009
Background information
Birth name Alex Richard George Day
Also known as Nerimon
Born 8 April 1989
Origin Hornchurch, Essex, UK
Genres Synthpop, folk, acoustic, electronic
Occupation(s) Musician, singer-songwriter, YouTube creator, writer
Instruments Vocals, guitar, ukulele, bass, keyboard, drums, appalachian dulcimer
Years active 2006–2014, 2014–present
Associated acts Chameleon Circuit, Sons of Admirals
Website alexday.ninja

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;[4][5][6] his song "Forever Yours" currently holds a Guinness World Record for the highest-charting single by an unsigned artist.[7] Day's unconventional style of releasing and distributing music helped contribute to his YouTube channel once having more than 1,000,000 subscribers and over 130 million views.[6][8] His first book, titled The Underground Storyteller, was due to be released in July 2014.[9] After being cancelled by the publishers,[10] on 13 October 2014, Day announced that the book was being released independently.[11]

Personal life

Alex Richard George Day was born in Essex, England. Day grew up in Essex, where he started his YouTube channel, nerimon, in 2006. He attended university but never received his degree, instead treating his independent music and video blogging as a full-time profession. He worked in the Regent Street Apple Store during 2009.[12] Until 2013, Day used to live with friend, collaborator and bandmate Charlie McDonnell.[13] He identifies as an atheist but began to follow Buddhist teachings after visiting Plum Village in mid 2014.[14][15][16]

Day announced on February 14, 2014 that he had been dating fellow YouTuber Carrie Hope Fletcher since October 2013. However, Fletcher announced their break-up via Twitter on March 14, 2014.[17]

Sexual manipulation allegations

In March 2014, Day admitted to having previously engaged in "manipulative relationships" with some women, saying "the model of consent that I followed... was that only, 'no' meant, 'no'. That is not what consent is". This led to a previous friend and coworker McDonnell stating "I just don't feel able to call Alex a friend of mine any more."[18] Following the release of the news, Day posted on his official blog, announcing that he has taken down his merchandise and artist pages from his label's website.[19][20]

On October 5, 2014, after a 7-month hiatus, Day released a statement defending himself from the allegations, announcing that he "didn't realise at the time that [the women] felt pressured", and apologised to them. His response was criticised by several YouTube contributors such as Laci Green, Jack Howard and Tomska.[21]

Music career

Musical debut: 2008–2010

Alex Day performing in New York City at Gizzi's Coffee in 2010, with Eddplant

Day first became interested in music in 2005 when he bought an electric guitar at the age of 15.[22] He started his YouTube account one year later on 4 August 2006.[22][23] In 2008, Day founded Chameleon Circuit, a Trock (short for "timelord rock") band that wrote music inspired by the British TV show Doctor Who.[24][25][26] 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.[27] 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."[28]

Day released his debut album Parrot Stories in April 2009 through DFTBA Records,[29] 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.[30] 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.[31][32]

Epigrams & Interludes: 2011–2013

For Christmas 2011, Day released his single "Forever Yours," which reached No. 4 in the UK Singles chart after selling over 50,000 copies in one week.[33] Day released the single without support from a record label or TV coverage, and outsold songs from multi-platinum artists such as Coldplay, Rihanna, and Katy Perry.[33][34] 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."[35] 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.[36]
"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 1 April 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 No. 15, making it Day's second UK Top 20 hit.[37] The song also charted in 15 other countries including Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the United States, Sweden, Norway, and Spain as well as reaching No. 1 in Slovenia.[38] 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.[39][40] This "disruptive" model largely ignored the conventional method of releasing one single every few months, and its success was profiled in MTV and Billboard.[41][42][43]

Day has received millions of plays 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.[44][45] The video has since been removed from the website by Charlie McDonnell.[18]

On 16 December 2012, he attempted to break a world record with his song "Stupid Stupid". The song later peaked on UK charts at No. 25. In order to promote the single, Day held a one-day tour entitled Stupidfest, which was free for entry.[46]

Epigrams and Interludes

Day released his third album, Epigrams and Interludes, on 17 March 2013. It contains all his previously released singles since "Forever Yours". He also released a music video for 'I've Got What It Takes' starring Tom Ridgewell, Carrie Hope Fletcher and Khyan Mansley. The album debuted at No. 2 on the UK iTunes charts.[47]

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.[48]

Hiatus: 2014

In March 2014, Day removed his artist pages, merchandise and information from his record label, DFTBA Records.[20][49] His official website alexdaymusic.com has also been taken down, the content being replaced with generic landscape photos.[50]

On October 5, 2014, Day uploaded a video on his YouTube channel, his first video since February 2014. It was titled "The Past".[51][52] In the video, Day talks about his side of the allegations accused of him, as well as his thoughts and opinion on the matter. Day also mentioned that he planned on creating and uploading more videos talking about the situation.

Return and "Scared Like Me": 2015

On January 10, 2015, Day uploaded his new single, "Scared Like Me", to YouTube and thus announced his musical return.[53] It was his first new song in two years.[54] Day also announced that he would be releasing a new album on October 4, 2015. Throughout the year he plans to release three more singles from this album.[55]

Other work

YouTube

Alex Day at VidCon 2010

Day was called "one of Britain's most popular YouTubers."[56] He created his first YouTube channel, nerimon, as a teenager making videos in his bedroom, stating, "I was making a video podcast to entertain family and friends – just a little comedy series."[56]

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 YouTubers and Chameleon Circuit band members, Liam Dryden and Michael Aranda. CBS called the titular vloggers 'delightfully confused,'[57] while the Huffington Post described the video as possibly providing detail into American Pop Culture, placing a poll at the end of their article.[58]

Day produced a popular series of videos entitled "Alex Reads Twilight," in which he read and critically analysed the popular young-adult novel Twilight, by Stephenie Meyer. The videos have received a total of over 14 million views.[59]

Amongst these, Day's YouTube channel also contains travel vlogs, music videos and satirical rants. In June 2014, he had reached over a million subscribers and his videos had been watched over 100 million times.

After losing an average of over 10,000 subscribers a month after sexual abuse allegations were made towards him,[60] as of December 2014 Day now has less than one million subscribers.[61]

Television

Day was a featured artist on the BBC Two reality show Chartjackers in 2009.[62] Chartjackers challenged four YouTube video producers to write, record and release a pop song in ten weeks, using YouTube as a tool to get lyrics and singers,[63] with the proceeds going to the BBC Children in Need charity.[64]

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,[65] Yahoo! Music's James Masterton,[66] BBC Radio 1's Chart Blog[67] and Popjustice.[68] The song peaked at No. 36 on the UK Singles Chart[69] and raised almost £10,000 for Children in Need.[70]

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.[71][72] 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.[73][74]

Day is currently writing "Ollie Online"; a television series about a vlogger. The series was originally going to air on BBC three, however the channel was discontinued before the show could be aired.

Other media

In late 2013, Day announced that he had completed work on his first book; with the working title The Underground Storyteller,[75] the book was about his experiences with the London Underground. It was twelve chapters in length and was scheduled to be published in July 2014.[9] It was cancelled by the publishers.[10] On 13 October 2014, Day announced online that he was releasing his book independently, keeping the name of The Underground Storyteller, and that he will sign and number the first thousand copies.[76]

Reception

Day's "disruptive distribution" strategy has been lauded as "the future of music."[6][39] He has been noted as one of the most successful and popular YouTubers in Britain.[56] Day has been profiled on BBC and CNN and in world publications like Forbes, The Guardian and Holy Moly.

Day unlisted a video about cosplaying entitled "Big Girls in Costumes" after criticism that he was belittling obese women who took part in the activity. He stated that it was "satirical" and that, "I’m not going to take the video down because I don’t want to pretend this didn’t happen - running away from mistakes isn’t how you solve them - but I have made the video unlisted so you can only see it if you have the link. I think that’s a good compromise between not risking more people being hurt by the content but also not trying to hide the mistake. I’ve also taken the ads off it."[77][78]

Discography

For a more comprehensive list, see Alex Day discography.

References

  1. ↑ "Bungee Jumping for Beginners". YouTube. Archived from the original on 23 January 2011.
  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. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Day, Alex. "The new single – 'Lady Godiva'". Alex Day.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Catherine. "Alex Day's Upcoming Single, "Lady Godiva"". Leaky News. Retrieved 26 July 2012.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Holiday, Ryan. YouTube and Chart Sensation Alex Day the Future of Music?. Forbes. 12 June 2012.
  7. ↑ "How Alex Day Became The Biggest Unsigned Singer in the World, Without Touring". 20 February 2013. Retrieved 13 October 2013.
  8. ↑ Day, Alex. "Alex Day's YouTube Channel". YouTube. Retrieved 1 July 2013.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Day, Alex (24 January 2014). "Let's Make A Deal". YouTube. Retrieved 24 January 2014.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Foxx, Chris (10 June 2014). "Alex Day’s book The Underground Storyteller has been scrapped by publisher Ebury.". TenEighty. Retrieved 15 June 2014.
  11. ↑ Day, Alex (13 October 2014). "alexday.ninja". Twitter. Retrieved 5 November 2014.
  12. ↑ Apple Store Stories. nerimon (YouTube). 18 January 2010. Retrieved 5 November 2014.
  13. ↑ Wroblewski, Eleanor. "Alex Day". Freedom From Religion Foundation. Retrieved 5 November 2014.
  14. ↑ Day, Alex (6 November 2010). Hi, I'm An Atheist. nerimon (YouTube). Retrieved 5 November 2014.
  15. ↑ Day, Alex (7 October 2014). "Buddhism and arrogance". Reddit. Retrieved 5 November 2014.
  16. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35A7uTQGOag&google_comment_id=z12gjb1g4uzgu3cbh04cgds5itamudajqx40k
  17. ↑ Day, Alex (14 February 2014). Sweets For Two. YouTube. Retrieved 14 February 2014.
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 Butterly, Amelia (20 March 2014). "Vlogger admits 'manipulative relationships with women'". Newsbeat. BBC. Retrieved 5 November 2014.
  19. ↑ Day, Alex. "ON CONSENT". Alex Day. Tumblr. Retrieved 26 April 2014.
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 Klima, Jeff. "Alex Day Now Involved In ‘Sexual Misconduct’ Allegations, Asked To Be Pulled From DFTBA Records As Well". NewMediaRockstars. NewMediaRockstars. Retrieved 30 April 2014.
  21. ↑ "YouTuber 'sorry' for 'manipulative' relationships". BBC News. BBC Newsbeat. Retrieved 6 October 2014.
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 Alex Day: 'People Are Friendly in America' (Tubefilter Interview). YouTube. 8 September 2011.
  23. ↑ YouTube join date ('about' page), 23 September 2013
  24. ↑ Wilkes, Neil (8 June 2009). "Introducing Trock: Songs about 'Doctor Who'". Digital Spy.
  25. ↑ "Meet: Alex Day". Yow Yow! blog. 16 January 2010.
  26. ↑ Newitz, Annalee (14 November 2008). "It's Not Filk – It's Trock!". io9.
  27. ↑ "Chameleon Circuit (CD)". DFTBA Records web site.
  28. ↑ Lewinski, John Scott (8 June 2009). "'Trock' Gaining Traction With Time Lord Fans". Underwire.
  29. ↑ "Parrot Stories [CD]". DFTBA.
  30. ↑ "117% Complete [CD + Buttons]". DFTBA.
  31. ↑ "The World Is Mine (I Don't Know Anything) [CD]". DFTBA.
  32. ↑ "Soup Sessions: Acoustic [CD]". DFTBA.
  33. ↑ 33.0 33.1 "Unsigned Alex Day single sells over 50k in a week – more than Coldplay". Retrieved 25 December 2011.
  34. ↑ "Chart Archive". The Big Top 40. 18 December 2011.
  35. ↑ "Unsigned Alex Day single sells over 50k in a week – more than Coldplay". Retrieved 25 December 2011.
  36. ↑ "YouTube artist aims to top the Christmas charts". BBC. Retrieved 20 December 2011.
  37. ↑ "Official Radio 1 Chart". Retrieved 8 April 2012.
  38. ↑ Day, Alex. "Press". Alex Day.
  39. ↑ 39.0 39.1 Holiday, Ryan.Indie Musician Alex Day’s Next Big Move. Forbes. 13 June 2012.
  40. ↑ "Three new songs!". Alex Day.
  41. ↑ Keith, Culfield (30 December 2011). "Alex Day's 'Forever Yours' Sends Him Flying on Billboard's Social 50 Chart (Video)". Billboard.
  42. ↑ "Military Wives Take Christmas No. 1 SpotForces' charity single tops chart on Christmas Day...". MTV UK. 26 December 2011.
  43. ↑ Lauren J. Milner (27 February 2012). "Alex Day releases new single 'Lady Godiva'". Alt Sounds.
  44. ↑ "Alex Day". last.fm. Retrieved 8 December 2011.
  45. ↑ 'Forever Yours' Music Video. YouTube. Retrieved 8 December 2011.
  46. ↑ http://alexdaymusic.com/post/37789723604/why-music-should-be-an-event| Announcement of Stupidfest
  47. ↑ Altucher, James. "How A YouTube Sensation Beat Justin Timberlake and the Music Industry". TechCrunch.
  48. ↑ "7 Days, 1 Million Downloads, and Alex Day Outcharts Justin Timberlake". BitTorrent.
  49. ↑ Day, Alex. "ON CONSENT". Alex Day. Tumblr. Retrieved 26 April 2014.
  50. ↑ Day, Alex. "Alex Day Music". Alex Day Music. Alex Day. Retrieved 3 May 2014.
  51. ↑ Day, Alex (5 October 2014). The Past. nerimon (YouTube). Retrieved 5 October 2014.
  52. ↑ Jaworski, Michelle (6 October 2014). "Alex Day breaks his silence on abuse allegations". The Daily Dot. Retrieved 5 November 2014.
  53. ↑ Day, Alex. "Alex Day - Scared Like Me (lyrics/chords)". YouTube. Alex Day. Retrieved 11 January 2015.
  54. ↑ Day, Alex. "Alex Day's Status". Alex Day. Retrieved 11 January 2015.
  55. ↑ Day, Alex. "Alex Day's Comment on Alex Day - Scared Like Me (lyrics/chords) video". YouTube. Alex Day. Retrieved 11 January 2015. It'll be out October 4th but I'll be releasing three more singles from it, one every couple months :)
  56. ↑ 56.0 56.1 56.2 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.
  57. ↑ "Alex and Liam visit their first Wal-Mart". CBS News. Archived from the original on 13 November 2012.
  58. ↑ "Brits Visit Walmart, Find American Culture In A Box Store (VIDEO)". Huffington Post. 25 September 2011.
  59. ↑ "'Alex Reads Twilight' video series". YouTube. Archived from the original on 2 November 2010. Retrieved 19 December 2011.
  60. ↑ "Nerimon Monthly Stats".
  61. ↑
  62. ↑ "Chartjackers". BBC Switch. Archived from the original on 4 December 2011.
  63. ↑ "ChartJackersProject". YouTube. Archived from the original on 28 October 2010. Retrieved 11 May 2010.
  64. ↑ "Chartjackers go for number one". Children in Need web site. 9 September 2009. Archived from the original on 19 February 2011.
  65. ↑ Bowers, Mary (13 November 2009). "YouTube if you want to be a star". The Times (London). Archived from the original on 19 February 2011.
  66. ↑ Masterton, James (16 November 2009). "Week Ending 21 November 2009". Chart Watch UK. Yahoo! Music. Archived from the original on 19 February 2011.
  67. ↑ McAlpine, Fraser (14 December 2009). "Thoughts About Rage Against The Machine vs X Factor". London: BBC Radio 1. Retrieved 3 August 2010.
  68. ↑ "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.
  69. ↑ "Chart For Week Up To 21/11/2009". Chart Stats web site. Archived from the original on 19 February 2011.
  70. ↑ Lavelle, Fiona (20 November 2009). "York student attempt to storm charts". The Yorker.
  71. ↑ "Fact Sheet". Alex Day web site.
  72. ↑ "Switch Live – Best of backstage". BBC Switch. 2009.
  73. ↑ "BBC Upstaged Interview with YouTube Star Ysabella Brave". CNN iReport. 24 March 2008.
  74. ↑ McGarry, Gerard (7 March 2008). "Upstaged: The YouStage Vloggers". Unreality TV blog. Retrieved 23 June 2010. – Includes group photo
  75. ↑ "I'm so excited for you, Alex!". 4 February 2014. Retrieved 9 February 2014.
  76. ↑ Day, Alex. "Alex Day - The News". Alex Day. Alex Day. Retrieved 2014-10-13.
  77. ↑ Day, Alex. "billie-pipers-eyebrows: Let’s talk about Alex Day’s new video "Big Girls in Costumes".". Alex Day. Tumblr. Retrieved 26 April 2014.
  78. ↑ Saphire-Bernstein, Evie. "Why Alex Day’s "Big Girls In Costumes" Video Upset Everyone". Buzzfeed. Buzzfeed. Retrieved 26 April 2014.
  79. ↑ Alex Day Music

External links

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