Alexander Gregor Pennie (born 14 December 1985) was previously in Welsh band

The Automatic The Automatic (also known as The Automatic Automatic in the U.S.) was a Welsh rock band. The band's last-known lineup was composed of Robin Hawkins on vocals, bass and synthesisers, James Frost on guitar, synthesisers, backing vocals and occas ...

from the Vale of Glamorgan, South Wales, where he provided backing vocals as well as playing

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

s and

keyboard Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

s for the act. Pennie left The Automatic in late 2007. Since then he has been in other bands, the latest of which was the Goodtime Boys, which disbanded in 2015.

Musical career

The Automatic (2004–2007)

Alex Pennie joined The Automatic in 2004 as backing vocalist and keyboard player after the band rebranded themselves The Automatic, after previously being known as White Rabbit. Pennie's unique vocal style and energetic live performances became trademark signatures of The Automatic. During his time in The Automatic Pennie was featured on

Never Mind the Buzzcocks ''Never Mind the Buzzcocks'' is a British comedy panel game show with a pop music theme. It has aired on Sky Max since September 2021, having originally aired between November 1996 and January 2015 on BBC Two. The original series was first hoste ...

, and with bandmate

Robin Hawkins Robin Hawkins (born 11 February 1986) is a vocalist and bassist. He was a member of Welsh band The Automatic. Personal life Rob studied at Cowbridge Comprehensive School, completing his A-levels and going on to take a chance with The Automatic ...

stood in for

Zane Lowe Alexander Zane Reid Lowe (born 7 August 1973) is a New Zealand radio DJ, live DJ, record producer, and television presenter. After an early career in music creation, production and DJing, he moved to the UK in 1997. He came to prominence thro ...

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...

. He also took on lead vocal responsibilities on the band's cover of "Gold Digger" by

Kanye West Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and fashion designer. Born in Atlanta and raised in Chicago, West gained recognition as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records in the ea ...

and "Epic" by Faith No More. With writing commencing on the band's second album, Pennie was finding being in the band ''"increasingly unenjoyable"'', and after completing the

Not Accepted Anywhere album tour The Not Accepted Anywhere album tour was the touring period from 2005 through to 2007 when Welsh rock-band The Automatic promoted their debut album '' Not Accepted Anywhere''. Over the three-year period, the band covered the United Kingdom seve ...

, he left the band, playing his final date at Get Loaded in the Park on 25 August 2007.

Decimals (2008–2009)

After leaving the band Pennie moved for a short time to the US where he was supposedly working with a new punk band. However, months later his new project was announced: an indie-electro band Decimals, for which Pennie provides lead vocals. Decimals lasted till late 2009.

Goodtime Boys (2009–2015)

The were founded in 2009, a British punk–emo band, consisting of Alexander (vocals), Casey (drums), Samuel (electric guitar), Lewin Johns (guitar) and Leigh McAndrew (E-Bass). The group released their debut album ''What's Left to Let Me Go'' in 2012 on

Bridge Nine Records Bridge 9 Records is an American hardcore punk record label located outside Boston, Massachusetts. Bridge Nine is owned by Chris Wrenn of Salem, Massachusetts, who began the label in 1995 and produced its first release in 1996. The label is name ...

. They previously published two EPs: "Are We Now, Or Have We Ever Been" (2011, Tangled Talk Records) and "Every Landscape" (2012, Bridge Nine Records). In 2013 they made a joint EP with the American emo band Self Defense Family on Palm Reader Records. The second album ''Rain'' was released in May 2014. The group toured Europe with

Landscapes A landscape is the visible features of an area of Terrestrial ecoregion, land, its landforms, and how they integrate with Nature, natural or man-made features, often considered in terms of their aesthetic appeal.''New Oxford American Dictionar ...

More Than Life ''More Than Life'' is the fifth live praise and worship album by Hillsong United. The CD comes with a free DVD which includes documentary footage, interviews and 'behind the scenes'. The album appeared on the ARIA Albums Chart Top 100. Tra ...

Caspian Caspian can refer to: *The Caspian Sea *The Caspian Depression, surrounding the northern part of the Caspian Sea *The Caspians, the ancient people living near the Caspian Sea *Caspian languages, collection of languages and dialects of Caspian peopl ...

and

Defeater A defeater of a belief is evidence that this belief is false. Defeaters are of particular interest to epistemology since they affect whether a belief is justified. An important distinction is between undercutting and rebutting defeaters. Undercu ...

. On 6 January 2015, the group announced its dissolution.

Equipment

Roland Juno-106 The Roland Juno-106 is a synthesizer released by Roland Corporation in February 1984. Features The Juno-106 is a polyphonic synthesizer with six voices. It is an analog synthesizer but with digitally controlled oscillators and chorus effects ...

Alesis Micron The Alesis Ion is an analog modeling synthesizer. It was presented to the public on the Summer NAMM of 2002. Unlike the Alesis Andromeda, Alesis's analog synthesizer, its sounds are synthesized using DSP chips to mimic the sound of analog audio ...

Alesis Andromeda The Alesis Andromeda A6 ''(A6 is an acronym: A - A, 6 - SIX, and their consonance corresponds to "ASICs" which is an abbreviation for "Application Specific integrated Circuits")'' is a 16-voice, 16-channel multitimbral analog synthesizer by Alesi ...

Discography

With

*''

Not Accepted Anywhere ''Not Accepted Anywhere'' is the debut album from Welsh rock band The Automatic, originally released on 19 June 2006. Working with producers Stephen Harris, Richard Jackson and Ian Broudie on different tracks at a variety of studios around the ...

'' - 19 June 2006 - vocals/keys *''Gold Digger'', ''Easy Target'', ''Epic'', ''Time=Money'', ''Jack Daniels'', ''Song6'', ''Trophy Wives'', ''High Tide on Caroline Street'', ''Night Drive'' *''Steve McQueen'' and ''Revolution'' original recordings With Yourcodenameis:milo *''

Print Is Dead Vol 1 ''Print Is Dead Vol 1'' is the first side project album by Yourcodenameis:Milo. The album was released on 6 November 2006 via V2 Records. Each song on the album features Yourcodenameis:Milo collaborating with guests from current British bands. ...

'' - Trapeze Artist - (2006) - vocals With Decimals *''Something'', ''Dead End Kids'', ''Shout and Sing'', ''Retreat'', ''Want Want Need'', "Fireflies" - Lead vocals

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pennie, Alex 1985 births Living people The Automatic members British rock keyboardists People from Cowbridge