Band, Alex

Alex Band was born in a family where everyone was somehow connected with the show business. His mom's name is Meda Band, and his dad, Charles Band, is well known as a director of horror films. Charles has a brother Richard , who was also involved in film production. His grandfather, Albert Band, was a famous director. Both parents grew up in Italy; they have their own castle in Jove, Umbria . ^{[3] The} band tries his hand at spiritual topics in several of his songs, although he says he does not adhere to any particular faith. In one of his songs, “Please,” he said: “... I grew up in the family of the father of a Jew who did not follow any customs, and the mother of a Christian who believed only in Jesus and celebrated Christmas. Needless to say, I need my own religion. In this song, I ask God what to believe in? In a world full of all kinds of religions, and where people are fighting for whose religion is right, it all disappoints me, and I begin to think that everyone is obsessed with the same thing. ” ^[four]

When Bend was young, his parents divorced and his father remarried. He grew up with two half-brothers Harlan and Zalman, and with his sister Taryn. After the divorce, his mother moved to Germany, where she remarried, and where she still lives. Bandu was about 8 years old at this time. She has 3 sons from her second marriage, whom Alex sometimes meets during tours of Germany. The single “Could It Be Any Harder” talks a bit about feelings about moving her mother.

While Alex was growing up, he occasionally appeared with small roles in his father's films. The band grew up on Camino Palmero Street, which later inspired him for the first album of the same name. He began writing songs and playing the guitar at the age of 8. ^[five]

His favorite bands and artists have been and remain Pearl Jam , Bon Jovi , Live , Train and U2 . ^[6]

Soon, with a friend and filmmaker Jethro Rothe-Kushel , he organized his first band, called Maybe Solitude. Rothe-Kushel also directed the first video for Alex's song “Dormant Prayer”. The band had a cameo in the movie Ugly Coyote . At age 14, Alex made a cocopelli tattoo on his wrist. Subsequently, it became a symbol of The Calling . ^[five]

The Calling

At age 15, Alex and The Calling, jointly created with Kamin, signed a contract with RCA Records . At this time, he was expelled from school, but later, with home schooling, he received a diploma of secondary education. ^[five]

With tremendous success, The Calling released their first single, "Wherever You Will Go." Soon, the song reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot AC and stayed there for 27 weeks. Then she got to No. 3 in the Hot 100 ranking. Camino Palmero's first album also took 36th place on the Billboard Sales ranking and subsequently came out as a platinum album. ^[7]

The band’s new singles, “Adrienne” and “Could It Be Any Harder”, also took their rightful place in the AC top 40. However, the next album “Two” of 2004 did not live up to expectations, taking 54th place in the Billboard Top 200 . The album suffered a lack of support from the record company, although the songs more or less held their positions. The first single, “Our Lives,” was used at the 2004 Olympics opening ceremony and was ranked 34th on the Billboard top 40 . ^[8] The latest single, “Anything,” turned out to be more popular, ranking 23rd in Adult top 40. ^[8]

After the failure of Two, the group announced the collapse. On June 4, 2005, they gave their last concert in Temecula , California. ^[7]

The Calling has sold over 6 million records worldwide.

Their song “Wherever You Will Go” was named No. 1 of 10 in Adult Pop Charts, according to Billboard magazine.

In 2016, The Calling reunited again.

Songwriting

During and after participating in The Calling, Band and Fireplace wrote all the band’s songs together. They also wrote songs not only for other artists, but also for several films, many of which Alex subsequently performed. One of these songs was the single “For You,” which was used in the film Daredevil . The song took 9th place in the Billboard Top 200 ranking. ^[9]

A cover of “Keep Your Hands to Yourself” was used in the movie Stylish Little . The band recorded the song “Take Hold of Me” for use in the movie of his previous wife Rybka without a bike, where Alex has a small role. ^[10] His songs also appeared on the soundtrack for the Bratz movie.

Solo career

Band's solo career began long before The Calling collapsed. Chad Krueger chose him to play “Why Don't You & I” with Carlos Santana. Initially, Kruger wrote and performed the song for Carlos Shaman's album. One way or another, when Arista Records decided to release this song as a single, Krueger's recording studio refused them, based on the fact that this could have caused some problems after the recent release of the album and a rather significant single. ^{[11] [12] [13]}

The cover created by Band turned out to be incredibly successful, taking 3rd place on the Billboard Top 40 and 8th on the Billboard Top 100. In addition, the song took 5th place in the Billboard version of Adult Pop charts. The single reached number 1 on AC charts and continued to play on radio stations throughout the day. The song appears on Ceremony: remixes & rarities and Ultimate Santana, specially released by Santana.

The band also recorded the song “The Truth” for use in the movie “Doll Graveyard,” directed by Alex's father.

In November 2005, it was announced that Band signed a solo artist with Ron Fair, who was part of the Geffen Records recording studio. The album was recorded, and it was assumed that it would be released at the end of 2007, but the release was postponed several times. Alex left Geffen Studios in 2008. ^[7]

There were several releases at this time. One of them, “It Doesn't Get Better Than This,” for the Bratz movie. The band performed and recorded the song “Coming Home,” which was used in the film The Last Season at the end of 2007.

In October 2007, Band gave his first charity concert for Donate Life America in Los Angeles, California. The concert was recorded and shown on DISH Network . Band's gig for The Real World: Hollywood was also recorded. Another concert for Donate Life was held in Richmond, August 21, 2008.

The first video for the song in his solo career was again directed by his friend, director and producer Jethro Rothe-Kushel, the song was called “Only One”. ^[14]

New music from Alex's debut album is used in Melrose Place and The Vampire Diaries .

Alex began the Radio Promo Tour in Florida on February 11 and continued until June, timed to coincide with the release of the album in June. He also participated in concerts by Sister Hazel, Carbon Leaf and Jonny Lang.

The first America tour began on the West Coast on July 14, 2010 and ended on the East Coast on August 8, 2010.

Alex's debut album in the United States was released on June 29, 2010, in Germany on September 26, 2010. In many countries, including Canada, the CD was released on August 24, 2010.

In 2012, on May 22, a new Band EP was released entitled "After The Storm". ^[15]

Independent Label

Alex Band expressed dissatisfaction with the continued delayed release of his debut album. ^[16] On April 16, 2008, on the official Fan site, Band announced that he had left Geffen Studios and created his own record company called AMB Records, through which the album would be released in the United States. For an international release, he will work with EMI Records. ^[17] “I worked to leave my label for a short while and move somewhere to release this record and give it a well-deserved impetus ... and now I am happy to announce that I WILL ALWAYS release my album! With the help of my good friends in business and an amazing team, I am creating my own record company. This will give me the freedom to make my own decisions, invest in my own development, do what I want and when I want. This is an opportunity to spend time immersed in the music business, and I am very happy about it. There is no information about the specific release dates for the album, but I am doing everything in my power to make this process as fast as possible. Of course, I will let you know about everything when I learn more. ” ^[17]

On April 25, 2008, Band released an album consisting of 5 songs (EP) titled “Alex Band EP”. The EP contained 4 new songs in addition to the single “Coming Home”. The album is for sale on the official fan site. A new version of the album was created for a tour in Brazil. On May 13, it was announced that the track “Only One” would be the official single exclusively for Brazil, and the song with the video was available on Alex's official Fan site. ^[18]

For a long-delayed full album, you still need to give a certain release date, although several songs have already appeared on various official sites. 2 short clips “Tonight” and “Please” appeared on Alex's official MySpace page . The song “Only One” has also been added. Other clips have also been added to his official fan site. Clips from the full album can be heard at www.blackstarbracelet.com.

In addition to releasing the album, Band went on tour. He began giving concerts in April 2008 and performed several times in the USA during that year. In June and July 2008, he completed a very successful Brazil tour consisting of 13 shows and several appearances on Brazilian radio and TV.

Alex decided to give solo concerts and created his own record company AMB Records, and noticed that the music industry was exhausted, and together with Robin Sydney created a new way to release music - through the Black Star Bracelet. Each bracelet purchased comes with a free song download.

On June 29, 2010, his debut solo album We've All Been There was released. The first single "Tonight" was released on February 15, 2010.

Acting career

The band appeared in the movie The Ugly Coyote Bar as a musician on the club stage.

He also appeared on the CSI series : Crime Scene New York in the episode " Help, " aired on January 14, 2009. The band played the role of a drug addict who is suspected of murder. The song that he performed in the episode along with guest star Bonnie Mackey , his own composition. Alex said that he was going to act in films more in the future ^[19] .

Band married his girlfriend, American actress Jennifer Skye , on July 25, 2004. The couple broke up in 2009. In February 2010, Alex became engaged to Christine Blanford , and on May 1, 2011, they got married. Kristin appeared in music videos for his songs "Tonight" and "Euphoria." The couple broke up in April 2012. ^{[20] [21]} Around the same time, Alex was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, but he continued to study music. Now Alex is married to Shayna Weber , who September 3, 2016 gave birth to his son. The baby was named after his grandfather - Max.

Charity

The band works with several charitable foundations. After the illness of his previous wife, Alex began to support organ donation, working closely with Donate Life America. Every year, he organizes a charity concert at Alex Band's Donate Life Rocks Concert to raise money.

Each year, Debbie Hagerman, who organizes his official fan site, organizes a band’s birthday charity project, inviting fans to donate something to charity as a gift. In addition, a calendar is released every year, which contains photographs of Alex at concerts. All this money goes to the Alex charity foundation in Donate Life America. The project raised more than $ 30,000 in honor of Alex. ^[22]

Albums

EP

• 2008: Alex Band EP

US Edition Date on May 2008
Brazil Edition Date on June 2008

• 2012: After The Storm

This album has so far been released only in the electronic version, the purchase of which is available on iTunes and Amazon.

Singles

As a guest musician

Notes

• alexband.net - the official website of Alex Band
• Band, Alex on the Internet Movie Database
• Official Band, Alex Myspace Page
• YouTube video
• Band, Alex on Twitter
• Official Band, Alex Facebook Page

Fan Sites

• U.S. fan site
• Fan site in France
• Germany fan site
• Italy fan site
• Fan site in Russia