Alex_Lifeson

{{Infobox musical artist 
| Name = Alex Lifeson
| Img = Alex Lifeson3.jpg‎
| Img_capt = Alex Lifeson in concert with Rush.<br /> Raleigh, NC (June 20, 2007)
| Img_size =
| Landscape =
| Background = non_vocal_instrumentalist
| Birth_name = Alexander Zivojinovich
| Alias =
| Born = {{birth date and age|1953|08|27}} <br />[[Fernie, British Columbia|Fernie]], [[British Columbia]], [[Canada]]
| Died =
| Instrument = [[Guitar]], [[Mandola]], [[Mandolin]], and [[Bouzouki]]
| Genre = [[Hard rock]], [[Progressive rock]], [[Heavy metal music|Heavy metal]]
| Occupation = [[Guitarist]], [[songwriter]], [[Producer (music)|Producer]]
| Years_active = 1968-present
| Label = [[Mercury Records|Mercury]], [[Anthem Records|Anthem]], [[Atlantic Records|Atlantic]]
| Associated_acts = [[Rush (band)|Rush]]
| URL =
| Notable_instruments = [[Gibson ES-355]]
}}

'''Alex Lifeson''', [[Order of Canada|OC]] (born [[August 27]], [[1953]]), is a [[Canada|Canadian]] [[musician]], known as the [[guitarist]] for the [[Rock (music)|rock]] group [[Rush (band)|Rush]]. Lifeson founded Rush in the summer of 1968, and has been an integral member of the three-piece band ever since.<ref>{{Citation | last = Banasiewicz | first = Bill | title = Rush Visions: The Official Biography | url=http://www.2112.net/powerwindows/transcripts/BanasiewiczVisions.htm | access-date = 2007-03-10 }}</ref> For Rush, Lifeson plays electric and acoustic [[guitars]] as well as other [[stringed instruments]] such as [[mandola]], [[mandolin]] and [[bouzouki]]. He also performs [[backing vocals]] in live performances, and occasionally plays keyboards and bass pedal synthesizers. During live performances, Lifeson, like the other members of Rush, performs real-time triggering of [[Sampler (musical instrument)|sampled]] instruments, concurrently with his guitar playing.<ref> [http://www.onstagemag.com/ar/performance_rush_rolls_again/index.htm "Rush Rolls Again", September 2002, OnStage Magazine]</ref>
The bulk of Lifeson's work in music has been with Rush, although Lifeson has contributed to a body of work outside of the band as well. Aside from music, Lifeson is part owner of the Toronto restaurant [[The Orbit Room]], and is a licensed aircraft [[Aviator|pilot]], [[motorcycle]] rider, and gourmet cook.<ref> Alex Lifeson Biography [http://www.2112.net/xanadu/ 2112.net] Accessed [[September 20]] [[2007]]</ref>

Along with his bandmates [[Geddy Lee]] and [[Neil Peart]], Lifeson was made an Officer of the [[Order of Canada]] on [[May 9]], [[1996]]. The trio was the first rock band to be so honored, as a group.<ref>[http://www.maplemusic.com/artists/rus/bio.asp "Rush highlights"], [[MapleMusic]] (accessed May 23, 2007).</ref>

On May 1, 2007, Rush released ''[[Snakes & Arrows]]'', their eighteenth full-length studio album. Lifeson and the band have followed up the album with a concert tour, which began on June 13, 2007.

==Biography==
===Early life===
Lifeson was born '''Alexander Zivojinovich''' in [[Fernie, British Columbia|Fernie]], [[British Columbia]] to [[Serb]]ian immigrants, Nenad and Melka Zivojinovich (from [[Serbian language|Serbian]]: Живојиновић, ''Živojinović''), and raised in [[Toronto, Ontario]].<ref> Alex Lifeson Biography [http://www.2112.net/xanadu/ 2112.net] Accessed [[September 20]] [[2007]]</ref> His assumed stage name of "Lifeson" is a semi-literal translation of the [[Serbian surnames|name]] "Zivojinovich", meaning "son of life".<ref> Horizon to Horizon [http://rush.robpagano.com/index.php?c=alex Rob Pagano's Rush Music Tribute] Accessed [[October, 7]] [[2007]]</ref> His first exposure to formal music training came in the form of the [[viola]] which he renounced for the guitar at the age of 12. His first guitar was a Christmas gift from his father, a six-string Kent classical acoustic which was later upgraded to an electric Japanese model. During adolescence, Lifeson was primarily influenced by [[Eric Clapton]], [[Jeff Beck]], [[Jimi Hendrix]], [[Jimmy Page]], and [[Pete Townshend]]. Lifeson was primarily a self-taught guitarist with the only formal instruction coming from a high school friend in 1971 who taught classical guitar lessons. This training lasted for roughly a year and a half. In 1963, Lifeson met future Rush drummer [[John Rutsey]] in school. Both interested in music, they decided to form a band.

Lifeson eventually married his girlfriend Charlene and currently has two sons, Justin and Adrian.

Lifeson's nickname among his associates is "Lerxst". The name appears in the sub-titles of ''La Villa Strangiato'', an instrumental based humorously on Lifeson's nightmares, from the Rush album ''[[Hemispheres (Rush album)|Hemispheres]]''. "[[Hope (Rush song)|Hope]]", an instrumental track from the album ''[[Snakes & Arrows]]'' which features Lifeson exclusively, is credited to ''"Lerxst Lifeson, all by his own self".''

===Body of work===
The bulk of Lifeson's work in music has been with Rush. (See [[Rush Discography]])

Lifeson's work outside of his involvement with the band includes the following:
* In 2006, Lifeson founded The [[Big Dirty Band]], which he created for the purpose of providing original soundtrack material for ''[[Trailer Park Boys: The Movie]]''.
* ''[[Victor (album)|Victor]]'', Lifeson's solo album released in 1996. ''Victor'' (the album) was attributed as a self-titled work (ie. ''"Victor"'' is attributed as the artist as well as the album title). This was done deliberately, as an alternative to issuing the album explicitly under Lifeson's name.
* Lifeson composed the theme for the first season of the science-fiction TV series ''[[Andromeda (TV series)|Andromeda]]''.
* Lifeson [[Jam session|jammed]] regularly with The Dexters ([[The Orbit Room]] house band from 1994-2004). The Dexters' lead guitarist [[Bernie LaBarge]] nicknamed Alex "Big Al Dexter".{{Fact|date=March 2007}}
*Lifeson made a guest appearance on the 2007 album ''[[Fear of a Blank Planet]]'' by UK progressive rock band, [[Porcupine Tree]].
* Lifeson was approached by [[Digitech]] for inclusion of his trademark sound in their '''2120 Artist Studio Guitar System'''. Lifeson created one of the presets, calling it "New Lerxst."

===Guitar equipment===
In Rush's early career, Lifeson used a [[Gibson ES-335]] for the first single and the first four albums: ''[[Rush (album)|Rush]]'', ''[[Fly By Night (album)|Fly By Night]]'', ''[[Caress Of Steel]]'', and ''[[2112 (album)|2112]]''. For the 2112 tour, he used a 1974 [[Gibson Guitar Corporation|Gibson]] Les Paul and [[Marshall Amplification|Marshall]] amplification. For the ''[[A Farewell to Kings]]'' sessions, Lifeson started using a [[Gibson EDS-1275]] (similar to [[Jimmy Page]]) for songs like [[Xanadu (song)|Xanadu]] and his main guitar became a cream-colored [[Gibson ES-355]], with most of the amplification coming from [[Hiwatt]] amplifiers. Pedal wise he used various [[phaser (electronics)|phaser]] and [[flanger]] pedals, a Cry Baby Wah Wah, along with Marshall 100 watt Super Lead amplifiers and 4x12 cabinets. Beginning in the late 1970s, he increasingly incorporated [[twelve-string guitar]] (acoustic and electric) and chorusing into his sound, using the Boss CE-1 Chorus Ensemble and later, the Boss Dimension C. By the time of the 1982 album ''[[Signals (album)|Signals]]'', Lifeson's primary guitar had become a hot-rodded Fender [[Stratocaster]] with a [[Bill Lawrence (guitar maker)|Bill Lawrence]] high-output [[humbucker]] L-500 in the bridge position and a [[Floyd Rose]] vibrato bridge. Lifeson increasingly relied on a selection of four identically modified Stratocasters from 1980 to 1986, all of them making use of the Floyd Rose bridge. For the Moving Pictures and Signals albums and on concurrent tours, Alex also used up to four rare brown [[Marshall]] 4140 Club & Country 100W combo amps, giving him his perhaps most characteristic guitar tone to date. As the '80s wore on he switched from passive to active pickups and from vacuum tube to solid-state amplification, all with an increasingly thick layer of [[digital signal processing]]. He would become an endorser of the [[Gallien-Krueger]] and Dean Markley solid-state guitar amplifier lines, as well as Dean Markley Blue Steel strings, gauges .009-.046. In the late 1980s he switched to [[Carvin A&I|Carvin]] amplifiers in the studio and his short-lived Signature brand guitars onstage and in the studio.

[[Image:Alex Lifeson4.jpg|250px|thumb|right|Alex Lifeson and his [[Gibson ES-355]]]]

Lifeson primarily used [[PRS Guitars|PRS]] guitars during the recording of ''[[Roll The Bones]]'' in 1990/1991. When recording 1993's ''[[Counterparts (album)|Counterparts]]'', Lifeson continued to use [[PRS Guitars]] and Marshall amplifiers to record the album, and for the subsequent tour. On one ''Counterparts'' song, Stick It Out, Lifeson used a [[Gibson Les Paul]] to create a deeper, more resonant tone for the song's signature riff, using a PRS on the guitar solo. Lifeson currently uses PRS, [[Fender Musical Instruments Corporation|Fender]], and Gibson guitars, [[Hughes & Kettner]] Triamp MK II and zenTera amplifiers, and cabinets. In 2005, Hughes & Kettner introduced an Alex Lifeson signature series amplifier; $50 from every amplifier sold will be donated to [[UNICEF]].

[[Image:Alex Lifeson5.jpg|left|thumb|250px|Alex Lifeson playing his Garrison GD25-12 guitar]]

For the 2007 [[Snakes & Arrows]] tour, Lifeson has replaced his [[PRS Guitars|PRS]] guitars with Gibson Les Pauls because, in an 2007 interview for Guitarist magazine, he says that "I hear PRS on everything these days and I wanted a little bit of a change ... I love them [PRS] but they have a smaller sound than the bigger heavier Gibsons ... I just wanted to be more traditional." He has also had Fishman Aura [[Pickup (music)#Piezoelectric pickups|piezoelectric pickup systems]] installed into the Les Pauls to simulate acoustic guitar sounds without changing guitars. He has also replaced his Hughes & Kettner zenTera amp heads with Switchblade heads (which, like the zenTeras, include built-in programmable digital effects, such as [[chorus effect|chorus]] and [[Delay (audio effect)|delay]], but are [[guitar amplifier#Vacuum tube amplifiers|valve-powered]] instead of [[guitar amplifier#Solid-state amplifiers|transistor-powered]]), while retaining his signature series H&K Triamp heads. His effects for the 2007 tour include a [[TC Electronics]] G-Force rack multi-FX, a TC Electronics 2112 spatial expander and a Loft 440 Delay Line/Flanger, as well as the effects built into his Switchblade heads.

===Other instruments played===
In addition to traditional stringed instruments such as acoustic and electric guitars, Lifeson has also played [[mandola]], [[mandolin]] and [[bouzouki]] on recent Rush studio albums, including ''Test For Echo'', ''Vapor Trails'' and ''Snakes & Arrows''. During live Rush performances, Lifeson uses a [[MIDI controller]] that enables him to use his feet to trigger sounds from [[sampler (musical instrument)|digital samplers]], without taking his hands off of his guitar. (Prior to this, Lifeson used [[Moog Taurus]] Bass Pedals before they were obsolesced and replaced by MIDI pedals in the 1980s.) Lifeson and his bandmates share a desire to accurately depict songs from their albums when playing live performances. Toward this goal, beginning in the late 1980s the band equipped their live performances with a capacious rack of samplers. The band members use these samplers in real-time to recreate the sounds of non-traditional instruments, [[accompaniment]]s, vocal [[harmonies]], and other sound "events" that are familiarly heard on the studio versions of the songs. In live performances, the band members share duties throughout most songs, with each member triggering certain sounds with his available limbs, while playing his primary instrument(s).<ref>[http://www.onstagemag.com/ar/performance_rush_rolls_again/index.htm "Rush Rolls Again", September 2002, OnStage Magazine]</ref> It is with this technology that Lifeson and his bandmates are able to present their arrangements in a live setting with the level of complexity and fidelity that fans have come to expect, and without the need to resort to the use of [[backing tracks]] or employing an additional band member.<ref>Peart, Neil [http://www.2112.net/powerwindows/transcripts/peartbscpresto.htm Rush Backstage Club Newsletter, March 1990, via "Power Windows" Rush Fan Site]</ref>

Lifeson's (and his bandmates') use of foot-pedal keyboards to trigger sampled instruments and audio events is visible on [[R30: 30th Anniversary World Tour]] concert [[DVD]] (2005).

===Television and film appearances===
[[Image:AlexLifesonTrailerParkBoys.jpg|200px|thumb|right|Lifeson and [[Mike Smith (actor)|Bubbles]]]]
In a 2003 episode of the [[Canada|Canadian]] smash hit [[mockumentary]] ''[[Trailer Park Boys]]'', titled "[[Closer to the Heart]]", Lifeson plays a fictional version of himself. In the story, he is kidnapped by [[Robb Wells|Ricky]] and held as punishment for his inability (or refusal) to provide the main characters with free tickets to a Rush concert. In the end of the episode, Alex reconciles with the characters, and performs a duet with [[Mike Smith (actor)|Bubbles]] at the trailer park.

Lifeson appears in [[Trailer Park Boys: The Movie]], as a traffic cop in the opening scene. He made his film debut as himself under his birth name in the 1973 Canadian movie ''[[Come on Children]]''.

===The Naples incident===
On [[New Year]]'s Eve 2003, Lifeson, his son, and his daughter-in-law were arrested at the Ritz Carlton hotel in [[Naples, Florida]]. Lifeson, after intervening in an altercation between his son and police, was accused of assaulting a sheriff's deputy in what was described as a drunken brawl. In addition to suffering a broken nose at the hands of the officers, Lifeson was tasered six times. His son was also tasered repeatedly.

On April 21, 2005 a plea deal was made between Lifeson and the prosecution by which he would be spared a custodial sentence if he agreed to plead no contest to a single charge of resisting arrest without violence. The plea was offered by the prosecution after the judge in his son Justin's trial reduced the charge against Justin from resisting arrest with violence to resisting arrest without violence. The reduction was in response to a pre-trial defense motion to dismiss the charges entirely, and was made after the prosecution had presented their case, but before the defense had called any witnesses. According to Justin's file in the Felony section of the Public Records database of Collier County, Florida,<ref> Collier Clerk's Homepage [http://www.clerk.collier.fl.us/homepage.htm] Accessed [[October]] 7, [[2007]]</ref> the judge determined that, based on the testimony of the prosecution's witnesses, including one of the police officers involved in the incident, that while the potential for violence existed, none was offered by Justin. As part of the plea agreement Lifeson and his son were each sentenced to 12 months of probation with the adjudication of that probation suspended. Upon successful completion of the probation, the matter is to be expunged from their records. In addition, they had to pay all court costs. In the fall of 2005, the court granted early dismissal from probation to both Lifeson and his son.

According to the band's official website,<ref> Rush Official Website [http://www.rush.com] Accessed [[October]] 7, [[2007]]</ref> Lifeson is currently pursuing legal action against the Ritz Carlton and the Collier County Sheriff's Department for what he calls "their incredibly discourteous, arrogant and aggressive behavior of which I had never experienced in thirty years of travel."

On August 10, 2006, a federal judge in Fort Myers, Florida dismissed that portion of the civil legal action wherein fellow band mates Neil Peart and Geddy Lee joined Lifeson in claiming that the Ritz incident caused subsequent financial loss for the band.<ref> Naples News [http://www.naplesnews.com] Accessed [[October]] 7, [[2007]]</ref> However, Lifeson was able to continue his legal claims against the Ritz Carlton and the individual deputies.

In his journal-based book ''Roadshow'', Peart relates the band's perspective on the events of that New Years Eve. He also says the incident was and still is a traumatic event for Lifeson and his family.

In early April, 2007, Judge Paul Magnuson of the Federal District Court for the Middle District of Florida dismissed Lifeson's lawsuit against The Ritz Carlton and Collier County deputies. The Judge ruled that the deputies used force that was "objectively reasonable" and thus did not rise to the level of a violation of Lifeson's civil rights. Lifeson indicated that he would appeal the ruling.<ref> Billboard News [http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003571111] Accessed [[October]] 7, [[2007]]</ref>

== Awards ==
* Named "Best Rock Talent" by Guitar for the Practicing Musician in 1983
* Named "Best Rock Guitarist" by Guitar Player in 1984
* Runner-up for "Best Rock Guitarist" in Guitar Player in 1982, 1983, 1985, and 1986
* Inducted into the Guitar for the Practicing Musician Hall of Fame, 1991
* 1996 - Officer of the [[Order of Canada]], along with fellow bandmates [[Geddy Lee]] and [[Neil Peart]]

==References==
{{reflist}}
==External links==
*[http://www.audio-technica.com/cms/happenings/ae60b79aa073a3be/index.html Audio-Technica interview with Alex]
*[http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Alex_Lifeson_CNN_Interview_2002 Read 2002 CNN interview with Alex]
*[http://www.musictoyz.com/articles/chopalex.php Alex Lifeson gear, by songs]

{{Rush}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lifeson, Alex}}
[[Category:1953 births]]
[[Category:Canadian rock guitarists]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Officers of the Order of Canada]]
[[Category:Rush members]]
[[Category:Serbian Canadians]]

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