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Alex Westaway | |
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 Acoustic performance in 2009 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Alexander Derek Westaway |
| Origin | Northamptonshire, England |
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| Years active | 2003–present |
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Alex Westaway is an English musician. He is the lead vocalist of Gunship and co-vocalist and guitarist of the rock band Fightstar alongside Charlie Simpson, Omar Abidi and Dan Haigh. [1]
Westaway was born and raised in Northamptonshire and attended Rugby School where he met future bandmates and co founders of Horsie In The Hedge LLP, Dan Haigh and Alex Gingell. He has two younger sisters: Hannah, who is married to Dan Haigh, and Fleur, who runs the YouTube channel FleurDeForce.
While he was at university Alex attended a party in 2003 with mutual friend Omar Abidi and the two met Charlie Simpson which led to the formation of Fightstar.
During the early years of Fightstar, Charlie was still an active member of the successful pop-punk band Busted whose sound differed greatly from Fightstar's. However, when Charlie left Busted in January 2005, Fightstar had their first official UK tour and released their first EP They Liked You Better When You Were Dead in February 2005.
Fightstar went on to release three albums; Grand Unification , One Day Son, This Will All Be Yours and Be Human . They announced a hiatus in 2010, but reformed in 2015 announcing a UK tour and the release of a new studio album, Behind The Devil's Back which was released on 16 October 2015 and was their highest-charting record to date.
Alex co-founded the synthwave band Gunship alongside Dan Haigh and Alex Gingell. The debut album was released in 2015. [2] Alex and Dan Haigh have scored a number of short films including Grzegorz Jonkajty's The 3rd Letter along with Audrey Riley. The film picked up several awards from various film festivals across the world. [3]
Westaway's most commonly used guitars are:
Amps:
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Busted are an English pop-punk band from Southend-on-Sea, Essex, consisting of James Bourne, Matt Willis and Charlie Simpson. Formed in 2000, the band has had four UK number-one singles, won two Brit Awards, released four studio albums and sold over 5 million records worldwide. The band released the albums Busted in 2002 and A Present for Everyone in 2003 before disbanding in January 2005.
Charles Robert Simpson is an English singer, songwriter, and musician from Suffolk. He is a member of the BRIT Award winning pop-punk band Busted and he is also lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist in the post-hardcore band Fightstar. AllMusic has noted that Simpson is "perhaps the only pop star to make the convincing transition from fresh-faced boy bander to authentic hard rock frontman". Simpson is a multi-instrumentalist, playing guitar, bass, keyboard, piano and drums.
Fightstar is a British rock band from London that formed in 2003. The band is composed of lead vocalist, guitarist and keyboardist Charlie Simpson, guitarist and co-vocalist Alex Westaway, bassist Dan Haigh and drummer Omar Abidi. Generally considered a post-hardcore band as a whole, Fightstar are known to incorporate metal, alternative rock and other genres into their sound. Their 2005 debut EP, They Liked You Better When You Were Dead, was released in 2005 and was a critical success.
They Liked You Better When You Were Dead is the debut EP by English rock band Fightstar, released on 28 February 2005 through Sandwich Leg Records. The release proved a critical success, in spite of the cynics' initial expectations of the band. It has been said that the EP helped "present Fightstar as a British rival to the East Coast alternative rock scene". Alex Westaway, the band's lead guitarist and co-lyricist drew the artwork based on Edward Norton for the inlay of the booklet, as the record was inspired by author Chuck Palahniuk and the film adaptation Fight Club.
Travis Stever is an American musician who is best known as the lead guitarist and co-founder of progressive rock band Coheed and Cambria.
James David Ward is an American musician. A self-taught guitarist and pianist, he is the lead singer and rhythm guitarist for the band Sparta; he is also a co-founder of the post-hardcore band At the Drive-In, which he formed in 1994.
Christopher Aubrey Shiflett is an American musician. He is the lead guitarist for the rock band Foo Fighters, which he joined in 1999 following the release of the band's third album There Is Nothing Left to Lose (1999). Shiflett was also previously a member of the punk rock bands No Use for a Name (1995–1999) and Me First and the Gimme Gimmes (1995–2019).
Piotr Paweł Wiwczarek, also known as Peter, is a Polish musician who is the vocalist and lead guitarist for the death metal band Vader, as the only constant member of the band since its inception. He has also collaborated with Kazimierz "Para" Paraszczuk on his tribute album, Bandid Rockin', and is the producer of several of Vader's releases. He is also the founder and guitarist of a side-project, named Panzer X.
Grand Unification is the debut studio album by British post-hardcore band Fightstar, released on 13 March 2006 through Island Records. Based upon the Neon Genesis Evangelion franchise, Grand Unification was produced by Colin Richardson and is considered a concept album. The artwork, drawn digitally by Daniel Conway, portrays scenes similar to that of the ruined cities in Evangelion. It is also thought to believe the cover has taken influence from the song "Grand Unification Part 2" as the lyric "hold my hand until the waves come" and the cover features two persons holding hands waiting for what appears to be a flood. The lyrics are themed around social commentary at the end of the world, while the album's title refers to the Human Instrumentality Project.
Dan Haigh is an English musician, film director, video game designer, writer and visual effects artist. He is best known as co-founder of synthwave band Gunship and as the bass player in the English rock band Fightstar.
"Hazy Eyes" is the fourth single from the debut Fightstar album Grand Unification. Written by Charlie Simpson and Alex Westaway, "Hazy Eyes" was released a year after the first single "Paint Your Target".
One Day Son, This Will All Be Yours is the second studio album by British post-hardcore band Fightstar, released on 24 September 2007 through Institute Recordings, itself a subsidiary of independent label Gut Records. Recorded in Los Angeles and produced by Matt Wallace, the album debuted at number twenty seven on the UK Albums Chart and was preceded by the free downloadable single, "99" and first official single, "We Apologise for Nothing". As with the bands debut album, Daniel Conway digitally painted the albums artwork.
"Floods" is the fourth single from Fightstar's second studio album, One Day Son, This Will All Be Yours. It was originally intended to be released as the second single, however this was changed to "We Apologise For Nothing" due to the recent floods in the UK at that time.
"The English Way" was the first single to be taken from Fightstar's third studio album, Be Human. It was released on 3 November 2008.
Be Human is the third studio album by English alternative rock band Fightstar, released on 20 April 2009 through independent label Search and Destroy Records, itself distributed by PIAS Recordings. The album was recorded between August and December 2008 in Chesterfield and London, with the band co-producing alongside Laruso guitarist Carl Bown. Additional recording took place Air Studios with string composer Audrey Riley. Unlike their first two studio releases, Daniel Conway did not contribute to the album's artwork, instead the band approached Ryohei Hase who digitally painted the cover art.
"Never Change" is the third single to be taken from Fightstar's third studio album, Be Human, and was released on 20 July 2009.
"A City on Fire" is a song by English post-hardcore band Fightstar, released 20 December 2009, on Search and Destroy Records as a digital download only.
The Fender Jim Root Telecaster is a signature model of the Fender Telecaster electric guitar customized for American musician Jim Root. In January 2010, Jim Root's Signature Fender Telecaster was unveiled on the Fender website, similar to the one he has been seen using on stage. As of March 2009, the difference being the headstock. The prototype originally made for Jim came with the 1970s style Stratocaster headstock, which Root had shaved down to a standard Telecaster shape. This made the 1970s Fender Telecaster logo go to the very edge of the headstock. The guitar build includes a mahogany body and EMG 81/60 Humbucker Pickups.
Behind the Devil's Back is the fourth studio album by British post-hardcore band Fightstar. The album was released on 16 October 2015 via the band's own record label - distributed by Warner Music. The album was funded via a Pledge Music campaign, which launched in July 2015.
Gunship is a British synthwave band formed in 2014 by Dan Haigh and Alex Westaway; they were later joined by drummer Alex Gingell.
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