Alex James spent many years as Blur’s bassist, notably through the Battle of Britpop in the 90s, as Blur and Oasis went head-to-head on the charts. Blur came out victorious in that battle, which was highly publicized and essentially orchestrated by the bands’ management. But Oasis has had a comeback, with the notoriously volatile Gallagher brothers seemingly reconciling after 16 years.
Besides his tenure in Blur, however, Alex James has a lot going on in his life. He’s now a festival promoter and performs Alex James’ Britpop Classical. James leads the music collective, which performs well-known Britpop standards with a full orchestra and special guests. The setlist includes Blur classics as well as hits from Oasis, Pulp, Supergrass, and more. This year, the project is touring the U.K. for the first time.
Festivals, ambitious music projects, and a 200-acre farm in the Oxfordshire Cotswolds make up James’ life now. He also has five teenage children, and, as he told Metro recently, some unexpected hobbies.
Alex James revealed that, in between parenting, hosting the annual Big Feastival on his farm, and performing the Britpop Classical, he’s also found time to learn cheesemaking.
“I’ve had so many people come to me and say, ‘cheese, music, isn’t that a bit weird?'” he said. “But monks sing in the morning and make cheese in the afternoon. I’ve started making booze now as well, another pastime of mine.”
James continued, “I’ve realized that festivals were all originally religious festivals. So basically, I’m a monk.” While it doesn’t look like Alex James will be applying to become a Franciscan friar any time soon, he seems happy with his pseudo-medieval hobbies.
Speaking about his youth in Blur, James noted that instruments were so affordable then that “even if you weren’t very musical, you could buy a bass for £200 and kind of hack it, which is what I did.” But he admitted, “Playing the bass is probably the one thing I’ve ever done with any real proficiency in my life,” adding, “everything else I’m blagging it a little bit.” But the chees and booze sound promising, anyway.
