Alexander John Joseph Doyle (born 28 August 1980) is a British musician. He is best known as the guitarist and

synthesiser A synthesizer (also synthesiser or synth) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and ...

player for British

indie electronic Electronic music broadly is a group of music genres that employ electronic musical instruments, circuitry-based music technology and software, or general-purpose electronics (such as personal computers) in its creation. It includes both music ...

band

Hot Chip Hot Chip is an English synth-pop band formed in London in 2000. The group consists of multi-instrumentalists Alexis Taylor, Joe Goddard (musician), Joe Goddard, Al Doyle, Owen Clarke, and Felix Martin. They are occasionally joined by former memb ...

and American

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

band

LCD Soundsystem LCD Soundsystem is an American Dance-punk#Contemporary dance-punk, dance-punk revival band from Brooklyn, Brooklyn, New York, formed in 2002 by James Murphy (electronic musician), James Murphy, of DFA Records. The band comprises Murphy (vocals ...

. He is also a founding member of British electronic band

New Build New Build is a British electronic music band based in London. The band consists of Hot Chip members Al Doyle, Felix Martin plus composer Tom Hopkins. Their first album ''Yesterday Was Lived and Lost'' was released in the UK on 5 March 2012 (and ...

Early life

Doyle took

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

and

cello The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...

lessons from as young as 5 or 6 years old. He lost interest in these instruments as he began studying at university, when he began teaching himself other instruments, such as the guitar, drums, and bass guitar, and learned how to create music with computers. Doyle later won a place at

Sidney Sussex College Sidney Sussex College (historically known as "Sussex College" and today referred to informally as "Sidney") is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge in England. The College was founded in 1 ...

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

to read English alongside future Hot Chip bandmate Felix Martin. He was, for a time, university flatmates with comedian

Alex Horne Alexander James Jeffery Horne (born 10 September 1978) is an English comedian. Horne is the creator of BAFTA award-winning TV series '' Taskmaster'', in which he takes the role of assistant to the Taskmaster Greg Davies. He is the host and ba ...

Career

Hot Chip

Doyle joined British

band

in 2003 before the recording session for their debut studio album, '' Coming on Strong'' (2004). Band co-founder

Alexis Taylor Alexis Taylor (born 20 April 1980) is an English singer, songwriter, and musician. He is best known as the lead vocalist, keyboardist, and guitarist of the band Hot Chip. He is also the keyboardist of the band About Group and has released solo ...

called him to invite him to join the band while Doyle was unemployed and living in London, and he accepted. He remains a member of Hot Chip as of the release of '' Freakout/Release'' (2022), their eighth studio album.

LCD Soundsystem

Soon after the release of their self-titled debut studio album, Doyle joined American

band

as a live member, as noted in the liner notes of their second studio album, ''

Sound of Silver ''Sound of Silver'' is the second studio album by American rock band LCD Soundsystem. The album was released jointly by DFA and Capitol Records in the United States, and by EMI internationally, first appearing on March 12, 2007, in the United ...

'' (2007). He would go on to play the Yamaha CS-60 and guitar on their 2010 song "You Wanted a Hit", the sixth track from their third studio album, ''

This Is Happening ''This Is Happening'' is the third studio album by American rock band LCD Soundsystem. It was released first on May 17, 2010, jointly through DFA and Virgin Records in the United States and Parlophone elsewhere. It was recorded over the cours ...

'' (2010). In 2011, band frontman James Murphy announced that they were disbanding and would perform a farewell show at

Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as the Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh and Eighth Avenue (Manhattan), Eig ...

, where Doyle also played. The band would reunite, however, in 2015, to release a new album. Doyle became a much more prominent studio member of the band during the recording sessions, receiving writing credits on seven tracks out of the album's ten, and performing several instruments, including piano, cello, bowed mandolin, and electronic drums. The album, titled ''

American Dream The "American Dream" is a phrase referring to a purported national ethos of the United States: that every person has the freedom and opportunity to succeed and attain a better life. The phrase was popularized by James Truslow Adams during the ...

'', was released on 1 September 2017.

New Build

Following LCD Soundsystem's disbandment in 2011, Doyle created the band

along with Hot Chip member Felix Martin and audio engineer Tom Hopkins. On 5 March 2012, they released their debut studio album, ''Yesterday Was Lived and Lost''. They released a second studio album, ''Pour It On'', on 20 October 2014.

Discography

With Hot Chip *'' Coming on Strong'' (2004) *'' The Warning'' (2006) *'' Made in the Dark'' (2008) *'' One Life Stand'' (2010) *'' In Our Heads'' (2012) *'' Why Make Sense?'' (2015) *''

A Bath Full of Ecstasy ''A Bath Full of Ecstasy'' is the seventh studio album by English synth-pop group Hot Chip. It was released on 21 June 2019 and was co-produced by Hot Chip, Philippe Zdar, and Rodaidh McDonald, marking the first time the group worked with out ...

'' (2019) *'' Freakout/Release'' (2022) With LCD Soundsystem *''

'' (2010) *''

'' (2017) *'' Electric Lady Sessions'' (2019) With New Build *''Yesterday Was Lived and Lost'' (2012) *''Pour It On'' (2014)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Doyle, Al Living people Place of birth missing (living people) English male guitarists English rock keyboardists English male songwriters English people of Irish descent LCD Soundsystem members Alumni of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge 1980 births Hot Chip members