Alex Maiolo

Maiolo writes about music and recording as a senior contributor to Tape Op magazine, and has contributed to Premier Guitar magazine. In 2015 he became a regular writer for Reverb.com's interviews and tutorial pages. He currently contributes to the UK-based music and culture outlets Louder Than War and The Quietus. Alex is considered an authority on effect pedals, and has contributed to the 2019 book Pedal Crush by Danish author Kim Bjørn.^[1] Additionally, he authored two chapters to the 2020 book Patch & Tweak With Moog, by the same author.^[2] He writes about music and culture, focusing on Scandinavia, for Fashion Music Style, aka FMS-Mag, and has done press for Danish artists, including Kasper Bjørke, Chorus Grant, TOM and his Computer, GLAS, and Trentemøller.

Maiolo composes for modular synthesizer, solo, and with collaborators, under the monikers Action Group, and TRIPLE X SNAXXX. Both projects are equally influenced by Motorik, aka Krautrock music, Suzanne Ciani, Psychedelia, Detroit techno, ambient music, and Giorgio Moroder. Notable performances include Moogfest 2019,^[3] and paired with Jonas Bjerre of Mew.^[4]

Action Group, which usually involves musical partner Nick Williams, has played in ten countries, with notable performances at Tallinn Music Week, WORM (Rotterdam), 59 Rivoli's 25th anniversary, and two live sets on Kiosk Radio in 2024.

In October 2021, in cooperation with the Telia Company he collaborated with Bjerre, Erki Pärnoja, and Jonas Kaarnamets for Themes For Great Cities: Tallinn, the first in a series of concept pieces celebrating cities that receive less attention than the usual suspects. It premiered at Tallinn Music Week. President Kersti Kaljulaid was in attendance. Past collaboration and curatorial work includes The Suburban Summit, near Copenhagen Denmark, a one-week writing project with Toko Yasuda, John Schmersal, Bo Madsen, Dave Allen of Gang of Four, and Nils Gröndahl, among others.

He has played electric guitar in the garage rock / psychedelic rock band Lacy Jags, the pop band Fan Modine, bass guitar for the Chapel Hill neo-psychedelic band Violet Vector and the Lovely Lovelies, and guitar with Tim Sommer's ambient pop band Hi Fi Sky.

In 2010 he was asked by Chris Stamey to aid in organizing a live performance of Big Star's Third/Sister Lovers record with guest musicians including Jody Stephens, the only surviving member of the band, Mitch Easter, Will Rigby, and Mike Mills of R.E.M.^{[citation needed]} The performance was repeated at Webster Hall, in New York City, on March 26, 2011, again with Stephens, Easter, Rigby, and Mills, and also included Michael Stipe, Matthew Sweet, Norman Blake of Teenage Fanclub, Ira Kaplan, Tift Merritt, and many other guest musicians.^{[citation needed]}

Maiolo is also a recordist whose work has been featured on the John Peel show. ^{[citation needed]} In 2010 he opened Seriously Adequate Studio, a small, two room facility, where notables such as Brian Paulson, Lost in the Trees, The Kingsbury Manx, Schooner, Demon Eye, and Merge Records recording artists Polvo and The Love Language have worked.

In 2015 he became a voting member of National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (aka The Grammys), Producers & Engineers Wing. He also serves South by Southwest Music Festival in an advisory capacity.