In the end no matter how many words of praise you could read about this young man they could not do him justice with out seeing him play live. A firecracker of a musician and an engaging charismatic performer, Xanders we salute you!  

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Interview with Kristen Atkinson from ‘Ozmusic Central’

http://www.ozmusic-central.com.au/ezine/features/Supersonic_June2002.htm

"Alexander McIntyre strolled into our interview half an hour late, casually ruffling his hair as he gathered himself and realised who I was. When I told him he had me a bit worried he just smiled and vowed 'It's all part of the character!'

McIntyre seems to embody a quiet sincerity; an extremely complex persona his answers darted from fond nostalgic journeys, to animated Alice Cooper imitations, to serious philosophical ponderings of the music industry at large. McIntyre is the type of guy who can't restrict himself to one type of music. Most locally famed for his role as bass player in successful Novocastrian pop-rock quartet Supersonic, he also performs solo, participates in a lot of session work, writes extensively and completes the seasoned make-up of 'loose Stonesy' type group 'Texas Radio and the Big Beat'.

Attending his first concert at age two it was obvious that through the influence of his father, musician Phil McIntyre, music was always going to feature in Alexander's life. Surprisingly however this new age kind of guy draws his influence from old school artists. He chats extensively about The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Sting, The Police, Frank Sinatra and even Bing Crosby, professing 'I don't think in genres. There's either good music, music that you like and music that you don't like and its all personal preference'. Dressed in jeans, duffle goat and a tartan scarf McIntyre looks a picture perfect downtown mod rocker but in discussion he exudes a certain wisdom  found in veterans of the music industry not rookies. He seems beyond the web of superficial hype so many young performers get stuck in as he tells of his great disappointment at not being born a decade or two earlier in order to fully appreciate releases such as U2'S The Joshua Tree.

When asked whom he would most love to play a gig with, if time and space were no constraint, Alexander McIntyre instantly replies 'The Beatles!'. But he just as quickly admits 'I'd rather just sit in the living room with one of my favourite songwriters and just talk to them… I'd get much more of a kick out of that than I would playing on the same stage as them'.

And it is song writing which is McIntyre's chosen career path, a craft he has perfected over five years of creativity studies. 'Often the most stressful times will bring out a really good song' he proclaims deepening my interest as he discusses the overtaking of the conscious by the subconscious, spouts French theorists and their work like they’re as common as ordering a cup of coffee and begins to unravel the emotional intricacy behind such songs as 'Grey Skies End'. The song is a trademark track of his which 'reached number one on internet chart radio, as well as domestic counts in Portugal, California, London, Scotland (and) Japan', and featured on Supersonic's 1999 self-titled debut album. While somewhat guarded in discussing Supersonic, McIntyre is intensely open and forthcoming about himself. 'Missing You', the evocative ballad is a song he discusses with a recollective vibe that makes me feel like an old friend with whom he is sharing his deepest and darkest secrets, discussing the relationship behind the song as one he was very confused about. 'I was in a relationship…for about a year, which is the longest I've ever been in a relationship and she ended up sleeping with someone else and it sorta ripped me in two because I still really, really, really liked her and I won't deny when someone cheats on you, its not the best of feelings but your still in love with that person'.

McIntyre has no trouble describing himself as a moody person. 'I have huge mood shifts, like I can be on top of the world one time dancing in the kitchen using a brush as a microphone…and then three seconds later it will just hit me and I will be in my room lying on my bed and I can't help it but I will be extremely depressed'. As an extremely shy child McIntyre devised 'Jacob', an ulterior persona that he used to 'get out there, meet people and do things that Alexander would never actually do'. The merger of both these personalities, the invented and the reality, is the person I now sit across the table from. McIntyre proudly admits that he loves attention; 'there's no denying that!' But what is not widely known is that he has also sought to teach himself humility. A task that resulted in him one day grabbing his guitar, a few pairs of clothes and all the money he had and jumping on a train that landed him in Broken Hill…with a 'Norwegian guy who didn't like Broken Hill at all'. What followed was weeks of train hopping and solo café performances which took him all around the country including stops in Adelaide, Melbourne, Canberra and Sydney. This hap hazard trip McIntyre thanks for his current reputation, which has seen him offered numerous session roles because as he explains 'in the span of three weeks I worked my way through the southern part of Australia and came back with four hundred dollars after only leaving with two'. An engaging and captivating solo artist and an energetic and vibrant band member, the greatest lesson McIntyre has learnt since becoming a performer is the give and take between artist and the audience. 'The word performer is exactly what it means' he explains. 'People think that you get up there and you play for yourself…that couldn't be further from the truth'. His logic rests in the proposal that if you’re getting paid then you should be playing what you’re worth. But this is not to say that its all about the money for this guy. He professes his love of entertaining people, of focusing on that one person in the audience and channeling his energy towards that one person to change the way they feel. So what should the audience feel when leaving an Alexander McIntyre performance…'however they want to feel!'.”

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Xanders and Supersonic

Up until he moved to the United Kingdom Alexander McIntyre worked in one of Australia’s most exciting new bands, Supersonic. Xanders, as he had become known, was one of the principal songwriters in the band along with Mark Wells and Matt Plummer. Along with drummer Tim Russell they had started their career together while still in high school. Supersonic’s concentration on songwriting saw their diverse and accessible material elbow the edges of pop while drawing on a deep knowledge and love of the rock tradition. They were a band with the true believer’s spirit. They combined this with the youthful swagger of any worthwhile act that stumbles out of the garage with some great tunes and a need to have them heard. And they set about letting the rest of Australia discover what Newcastle already knew: Supersonic could kick it live and on record.

The band worked hard and constantly. In their six years together they played live to large audiences at innumerable gigs including many all-ages venues, as well as appearing on bills at the Newcastle and Sydney Entertainment Centres with bands like Motor Ace, Pacifier (formerly Shihad), Lo-Tel, the Screaming Jets, Machine Gun Fellatio, Gerling, Waikiki, Frenzal Rhomb and the Whitlams. Supersonic eventually  headlined their own sell-out shows being supported at these gigs by bands like Ezmerelda and Lotus. The live work began to pay off when they received airplay and made personal appearances on Austereo network station NXFM as well as 2NURFM and 2NC. Their debut EP sold out two pressings and from there they released another two EPS. These all had had highly favourable press reviews and the band was seen on television news stories and features and appeared on shows like Channel 9's Cool Room. Grey Skies End, a popular tune penned by Xanders and Mark Wells and one they used to end their live shows with, went to number one on KaosFM/ILR Radio’s Aussie Chart. By this time they were flying to places like Melbourne for interviews with people such as Francis Leach and a live performance on Triple J, the national youth network. Their first videos were aired on ABCTV’s Rage program in December of 2002.

When the band launched its third EP at Merewether’s Beach Hotel, the response was so emphatic that hopeful punters spilled out the door and into the street creating chaos in the area. And those in charge had to shut down the power, the mark of any great rock & roll show. As local street press mag U Turn reported, "While police and security were busy curtailing the number of patrons and [there were] doubts about whether the show really would go on, I heard one punter remark ‘These guys are too big for this town’.” It was strong praise for a great act. Jeff Apter from Rolling Stone magazine also sang their praises. He stated that Supersonic produced, “clever lyrics, smart, very catchy songs...quite possibly the right band at the right time.” Michael Gadd from The Newcastle Herald simply said, “catchy and clever pop packages don't come better than this...anywhere!”

Supersonic were the critic’s pick during Newcastle’s Music Week in 2004. They had received healthy Triple J radio airplay for their stand-out track When You Fall and in that year supported everyone from the Butterfly Effect (who became big fans of the band) to the Whitlams and Pacifier. And their track Out Of Sight (Out of Mind), written by Xanders, won best song in its category at the 1233ABC Music Awards in the same year. Alexander was awarded ‘Best Male Vocal’ as well. The previous year they had been awarded ‘Band of the Year’. These awards were added to their five competitions wins. These included the prestigious National youthweek.com "RockIT" 2000 song competition and the Hard Rock Café Future Rock national band comp. This last win gained them recording time at Sony Studios in Darlinghurst where award-winning producer Paul Begaud, who had sung the praises of Supersonic, worked closely with them in the studio. The results of these sessions formed the basis of the fourth studio release.

When they set out on their last east coast tour, working from Melbourne to Sydney to Brisbane and back, they had placed a number of videos on ABCTV’s Rage show and most importantly were being played on the Triple J national radio network Australia wide. They had the respect of many critics across the country and the admiration of many many fans. After completing work on their next video clip with Fung, the cameraman who had shot Silverchair’s Across the Night clip, they set about promoting their fourth CD release and their first full length album. The tour and the video clip coincided with the release of their single Rock N Roll and the new album Waking Hour was distributed by MGM. It is still available through Waterfront Records.

Before heading to Britain Xanders put his hard earned studio skills to good use  playing a number of recording sessions for various friends and in the process he began to get his engineering chops together. He produced and engineered a substantial number of his own songs at Big Bad Wolfe Studios in Newcastle.

 

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