Alex Wright (born 28 August 1980) is a Canadian musician, composer, and the creator of DIALED211, a well-regarded guitar tutorial channel with a strong following. He has released solo work under various monikers since 2014 and was a touring member for Raised by Swans.[1][2] Wright is credited for performing guitar parts on seven songs from the critically acclaimed album, No Ghostless Place.[3][4] 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.[5][6]
Career
Raised by Swans (2007 - 2012)
In 2007, Wright joined Raised by Swans as a live guitarist.[7] 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,[8] but did not contribute creatively to the parts he performed, nor to the composition or arrangements of the songs themselves.[9]
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.[5] 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'.[2]
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),[10] Jack Richardson Awards (2011)[11] 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.[4]
Wright began writing and recording songs in January 2012 as a creative outlet.[13] 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."[14]
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.[13][14]
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."[14]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.[15] Echoes and Dust declared "this magnificent Canadian band has crafted something extraordinary"[16] while Ride the Tempo said "Anosmic is a 5-track EP of gorgeous post-rock ambiance."[17]
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"[18] while Weird Canada proclaimed that Between Screens is "perfect for laying back and letting the current take you where it will."[19] Echoes and Dust premiered an animated video by Wright, for the single Nuclear Winter calling it a "glorious piece of work"[20] while giving praise to Between Screens by saying "everything about this album makes the hair on my arms rise and creates goosebumps all over."[21]
