ALEX LLOYD

Alex Lloyd (born 19 September 1974, Sydney) is an Australian singer-songwriter. Born Alexander Wasiliev to a father of Russian descent and a mother of Irish descent, Lloyd grew up in the inner Sydney suburb of Balmain, New South Wales, where he attended Balmain High School (now Sydney Secondary College Balmain Campus). In 1990, at the age of 15, he was a member of a school rock band that won the 1990 Balmain Battle of the Bands and the 1990 Canterbury High Schools Youth Rock competition. This mainly blue-rock band evolved into The Beefs, which began playing in local pubs and clubs and into indie rock band Mother Hubbard. Lloyd adopted his mother's maiden name Lloyd in tribute, following her unexpected death in 1991.

His solo career began in 1997 when he started writing songs for his debut solo album 'Black The Sun' and spent time at a songwriting clinic organised by Miles Copeland III, former manager of The Police. Lloyd started producing the album in 1998 and finished the album with producer Ed Buller, a former member of the Psychedelic Furs, who had produced albums by Pulp and Suede. 'Black The Sun' won a great deal of critical acclaim with Triple J listeners voting it their album of the year. Lloyd won an ARIA award for "Best New Artist" in 1999 and his first award for "Best Male Artist" in 2000.

Lloyd's second album 'Watching Angels Mend' went double platinum in Australia after its release in 2001. The second single, "Amazing", proved to be a breakthrough for him, becoming his first top 40 single in Australia, being the top song on the Triple J Hottest 100 for 2001. It went on to become a #1 hit in New Zealand and the most played track on Australian radio during 2002. Two further top 40 singles in Australia followed in 2002; "Green" and "Everybody's Laughing". Lloyd went on to win his second ARIA award for "Best Male Artist" and was nominated in several other categories.

Lloyd's third album 'Distant Light' was released in 2003. It featured Jim Moginie and Martin Rotsey of Midnight Oil on several tracks. It was produced by Stuart Miller, who had also produced 'Watching Angels Mend' and mixed by Tony Hoffer who has worked with Air, Beck and Turin Brakes. 'Distant Light' was also a success on the ARIA charts. Three singles charted from the album; "Coming Home" in August 2003, "1000 Miles" in November 2003, and "Beautiful" in April 2004. The album has been certified platinum in Australia.

In 2005, Lloyd released a new single, entitled "Never Meant to Fail", which reached the top 30 in Australia, and, on 25 October, an eponymously titled album. Singles which have been released from this album ("Never Meant to Fail", "The Wonder" and "Brand New Day") have had significant airplay on radio stations across Australia.

In 2006, Alex Lloyd performed in the grand finale of Dancing with the Stars, singing his breakthrough song, "Amazing". His performance in the show may have helped with sales of his album, as the album re-entered the albums chart a couple of weeks after the show. Alex Lloyd also released his greatest hits compilation, titled 'Amazing: The Best of Alex Lloyd', which covers all the singles from the four previous Alex Lloyd albums. The limited edition of the compilation features a second CD of B-sides and rarities.

Alex Lloyd released his fifth album 'Good In The Face Of A Stranger' in November 2008 independently through Inertia. August 2008, the album's first single "Slow Train" was released through his official website, and the video clip for the track was animated with 7,000 hand drawn pictures. In March 2009, he released his second single "What We Started" from the album, which was subsequently used as song on the television show 90210. The album did not chart as well as Lloyd's previous albums, selling close to 15,000 albums; however, it was well received by critics.

In 2011, Alex Lloyd began touring with Steve and Alan Pigram from The Pigram Brothers. The trio had worked on the soundtrack for the Australian film Mad Bastards, and the reviews of the music were largely positive. The trio became known as the Mad Bastards Trio and used the tour to promote the film, which was released on 5 May 2011. The tour ended later that month. The Mad Bastards Trio also performed on Adam Hills in Gordon Street Tonight and also had an interview with George Negus about the music and the film itself. One of Lloyd's songs from 'Good In The Face Of A Stranger', "Slow Train" made it onto the soundtrack, along with songs written by the Pigram Brothers, but the majority of the soundtrack was written as a collaboration between the trio.

The music from the Mad Bastards Trio received a very positive reception, with three nominations for the 2011 APRA Awards including Best Original Song Composed for the Screen ("Won't Look Back" by Alex Lloyd), Best Soundtrack Album and Feature Film Score of the Year. The soundtrack from the film was also nominated for Best Original Film Soundtrack at the 25th ARIA Awards.

In March 2013, Lloyd began road-testing new songs on a limited tour. Speaking to The Newcastle Herald, Lloyd announced the title of the album as 'Urban Wilderness'. In August 2013, Lloyd released the first single from the album, "Better The Less You Know," featuring footage of people listening to the song in London and on the Central Coast. The album was released on 18 October 2013, and was met with a mostly positive reception. Late in 2013, Lloyd performed his first Australian tour in over five years.

In 2014, Lloyd collaborated with the Richmond Football Club, releasing "Coming Home (To Richmond)"; a combination of his original 2003 single with references made to the AFL club. Lloyd subsequently adopted the Tigers as his club. The song became his first re-entry into the Australia Top 100 in over eight years, peaking at  #62 on the ARIA Charts. A third single from 'Urban Wilderness' was released in April 2014, titled "Good Thing".

On 11 February 2016, Liberation Music announced that Lloyd will be releasing an acoustic album as part of their acoustic series, featuring re-imaginings of many of his most successful tracks. The following day, an acoustic version of "Coming Home" was released on their YouTube channel. Lloyd also began touring with Australian rock band Icehouse for their tour dates in Newcastle, Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra throughout February and March 2016. 'Acoustica' was released on 5 August 2016 and peaked at #45 on ARIA charts.

Following an appearance at A Day on the Green in 2018 and supporting The Whitlams on their national tour of 2018, Lloyd announced a 20th-anniversary release of his debut album 'Black The Sun'. The subsequent national tour took place from October-November and was a success, with multiple sell out shows. Following the reopening of venues during the COVID-19 pandemic, Lloyd announced an eleven-date acoustic tour the celebrate the 20th anniversary release of "Amazing". In May 2022, Lloyd released his first single in eight years, "Trojan Horse", coinciding with the commencement of the tour.

SINGLES

Black the Sun

9 AUG '98

#86

Lucky Star

7 JUN '99

#91

Green

25 FEB '02

#2

Everybody's Laughing

8 JUL '02

#33

Coming Home

25 AUG '03

#24

1000 Miles

17 NOV '03

#32

Beautiful

12 APR '04

#30

Never Meant to Fail

22 AUG '05

#27

Brand New Day

17 APR '06

#53

Coming Home (To Richmond)

3 MAR '14

#62

References

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex_Lloyd

http://top100singles.blogspot.com.au/