Alex James

Alex James was born in Bournemouth, Dorset in 1968. He first picked up the bass in 1984 and after meeting Graham Coxon at Goldsmiths College, became the bassist in Blur alongside Graham, Dave Rowntree and Damon Albarn when the band formed in 1989. Blur went on to become one of the most successful and influential bands of the Britpop era. The band’s seven studio albums topped the charts in the UK, with 11 top 10 singles along the way, including Country House, Song 2 and Beetlebum. And 16 years since their last album as a four-piece, 2015 saw the release of The Magic Whip, the critically acclaimed new studio album from Blur. The band went on to headline at the Isle of Wight Festival and London’s Hyde Park.
A prolific writer, and broadcaster Alex James has a regular column in the Sunday Telegraph called ‘Mucking In’ which focuses on farm and family life . He also writes about food for The Sun, and has previously been employed as a columnist for Q Magazine, The Spectator and The Independent. He has a show every Saturday on Classic FM and has been a regular contributor to Radio 4’s On Your Farm. 2007 saw the publication of A Bit Of A Blur, the first instalment of his memoir, the second volume All Cheeses Great And Small was published in 2011.

He has also had great success as a cheese maker and co-creator of ‘Alex James Presents’ – a range of award winning British artisan cheeses including ‘Blue Monday’, ‘Good Queen Maude’, ‘Little Wallop’, ‘Farleigh Wallop’, and ‘Goddess’ which recently won the top accolade of Super Gold at the World Cheese Awards.

And in September, James will once again host the annual food and music festival The Big Festival on his farm.

Alex James is married and lives on a farm in the Cotswolds with his wife and five children.