Alex Smoke

by Jason Birchmeier
Alex Smoke is an acclaimed Glasgow-based techno producer/DJ affiliated most notably with Soma Quality Recordings. Born Alex Menzies to a mother who was a music teacher, he studied classical music as a child after receiving a scholarship for the Durham Cathedral Choir School, where he played cello, piano, and drums. Billing himself as Alex Smoke, he made his recording debut in 2002 on the Savalas Underground Developments (S.U.D.) label with Random As. The 12" EP caught the ears of both the Berlin-based Vakant and the Glasgow-based Soma Quality Recordings labels, the latter renowned for its long-running catalog (founded in 1991) featuring such big names as Slam, Daft Punk, Percy X, and Funk d'Void. Beginning in 2004 both labels began releasing 12" EPs by Smoke: those on Vakant include Simple Things (2004), Ring.Click.Tink (2005), Shwingnut (2005), Shminimal (2005), Neds (2006), and Hanged Man (2007), while those on Soma include Chica Wappa (2004), Don't See the Point (2005), Brian's Lung (2005), OK (2005), Lost in Sound (2005), Meany (2006), Never Want to See You Again (2006), Snider/Make My Day (2006), and Prima Materia (2007). In addition, Soma released a couple full-length albums by Smoke, namely Incommunicado (2005) and Paradolia (2006).