Boy In Static

Alexander Chen’s introduction to music took root in New Jersey, where his parents placed him at the piano during childhood; he later added the viola and joined his school orchestra. After finishing high school he relocated to Boston, where he began self-recording under the name Boy in Static. For a three-song demo he performed as many as fifteen instruments himself before sending the recordings to Alien Transistor, the label of the German band Notwist. When Notwist performed in Massachusetts, Chen met the group in person and secured a recording contract. The resulting album, Newborn, was tracked at Abbey Road Studios in London and appeared in 2004, after which Chen toured in support of 13 & God. Mush Records signed Boy in Static two years later and issued the follow-up Violet in the middle of 2007.