- Alexander Mayor
Not from above! is the debut collection of stories from musician Alexander Mayor (Alexander’s Festival Hall). It’s a series of what ifs, how-abouts and darkly comic thought experiments. You’ll meet dictators with misplaced literary ambitions. Young spies pursued on bicycles. Passive aggressive board games. And fitful efforts at damage limitation in the surviving parts of Switzerland.
These are tales of decisive moments for indecisive people. Where dating has become more dangerous and ‘promenade theatre’ a little too immersive. Adventures are undertaken somewhat unwittingly, in stories that catalogue the increasingly esoteric ways Londoners try to keep themselves amused...
‘Not from above!’ is also an album of twelve upbeat, lush and romantic pop songs. Literate, hummable tunes that capture painters on the brink, women on the verge, and men lost somewhere on a hillside. Trumpets make a timely appearance. Double bass, likewise. Oh and there’s that moment when a breakdown on a country road might just be the start of something promising. Buy a book and gain an album. It’s new territory for all of us, but that’s half the fun.
And thanks for supporting this project! Alexander x
P.S. Here's a little preview mega-mix of 'Not from above' - the album
Alexander Mayor is a writer and musician based in London. He started his musical adventure as one third of early noughties synthpop band Baxendale, peddling unashamedly upbeat pop to European dancefloors. In 2013 he reinvented himself as the sole proprietor of a literary-minded pop group called Alexander’s Festival Hall, with the album “Not a dry eye in London”. He also writes for German culture magazine ‘Chart - Notes to consider’, pens sleeve-notes for the popular Too Slow to Disco vinyl AOR re-issue series, and turns out finely tooled paragraphs about brainy subjects for cold hard cash.
Managing expectations
The day we turned it on? God that’ll remain long in the memory. Of the survivors at least. Countless changes, great and small.
It’s ushered in something of a new era of discovery too – in fact, our aim had always been focused on solving one big question... and now? Now all the little things we took for granted seem to contain this new, previously unseen physical property: “quantum peril”. The location of towns, the weight of water, the possibility of heights, each a little bit broken. It’s heartbreaking really.
In retrospect the research was both amazingly detailed, rigorous and compelling, and yet also breathtakingly narrow. We probably need a new word for that. It might help to place the whole episode in context for future generations. Assuming there are future generations.
Problem is, you stop seeing some of these theoretical nuances when the equipment gets beyond a certain physical size. People get invested in it, the wiring, the colourful ducts, the sheer amount of lasers. I vaguely recall we gave some of them names early on, Henry, Cressida, Alonzo and so on, you know, to gin up some public enthusiasm during the build phase. It was a different time.
Your copy of 'Not From Above!' - arriving this week!
Monday, 1 April 2019
Hi all,
Hope Spring finds you well. Exciting news: your copy of 'Not From Above!' will be mailed out this week. Thanks so much again for your support - you made the project possible.
The book you can listen to...
Don't forget you also get a 12-song album. There's a sticker inside the cover of the book, with a link and code so you can download the album from Bandcamp.com. If for any reason…
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Not From Above! - live performance 23rd March 2019 - Union Chapel
Saturday, 2 March 2019
Hi there, dear supporters... (pledgers? pledginators?)
Not From Above! – the book you kindly supported – is in full production now, typos fixed, cover illustrated, and so on. So, as we gear up for the launch at the end of April, I thought I'd invite you to a little performance we're doing.
Saturday 23rd March: 12-2pm at the Union Chapel, N1
My band, Alexander's Festival Hall, will be playing…
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Huzzah! Publishing level = UNLOCKED!
Friday, 12 October 2018
They said it couldn't be done. They said no-one reads any more. They laughed when you said "but jazzy tunes!" They threw sand on your chips when you tried whistling the book's theme tune in a crowded mall.
Well who's laughing now? ;-)
THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR YOUR SUPPORT.
Here is a short video, made with much love and little dexterity.
I will be in touch soon with timings for release…
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Authentic-looking promotional shot
Tuesday, 25 September 2018
Hi all,
We're (almost) nearly there!
Captured recently on CCTV at Waterstone's on Kensington High Street, this photo captures the horrifying reality you've helped create, and for which, my undying thanks.
If you know anyone else who might like to support the project, in these, its nail-biting-final-days, do ping it round!
Once publication is achieved, I…
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What is the deal with ... islands?
Wednesday, 22 August 2018
Maybe it's because I'm a Brit., the classic proud-of-our-castles, island nation. Maybe there's just something strangely enticing about a holiday in a place of limited scope and scale. Maybe it's just the idea of walking into a remote pub on the Isle of Skye and ordering an espresso martini...
Well, here's a short excerpt from 'Not from above'... a dark, listicle-esque whimsy entitled 'Things that…
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The half way feeling
Friday, 17 August 2018
Hi all,
"Whoa..oh we're half way there...
Something something something... livin' on a prayer".
Ahem.
Thanks again for your support on the 'Not from above' pledge-drive (love that phrase, you immediately picture American comics earnestly imploring faces... begging you to support "your local PBS station..." - everything in America seems to involve driving ;-)
In a caffeinated fit of…
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The book that's a record ... is now also a gig (round your gaff!)
Monday, 6 August 2018
Well hello again...
Perhaps it was sun stroke, or just the weapons-grade espresso, but I had another idea for this Unbound pledge campaign: a little bonus gig round the house of what we might call "mega-donors" ;-)
There's a new option in town: Home Performance. Go 'large' today and in addition to the book and album you'll get a performance of a selection of songs from the record and readings…
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Excerpt: that mid-late afternoon feeling
Thursday, 5 July 2018
Hi all,
Thanks to all the latest supporters, your pledges are most gratefully received!
To give you a little teaser of the book, here's comedian Alison Dennison reading a very short excerpt from 'Not from above', a story called: Hometime.
If you like it, do forward my book/campaign to friends you think might also support it. It helps me hit that funding target!
Thanks,
Alex x
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These people are helping to fund Not From Above!.
