Alex Day
Day speaking at VidCon in 2010
Background information
Birth name	Alex Richard George Day
Also known as	nerimon
Born	(1989-04-08) 8 April 1989 (age 23)
Origin	Hornchurch, Essex United Kingdom
Genres	Trock, synthpop, rock, pop
Occupations	Musician, singer-songwriter, YouTube producer
Instruments	Vocals, Guitar, ukulele, bass, keyboard, drums
Years active	2006–present
Associated acts	Chameleon Circuit, Sons of Admirals
Website	alexdaymusic.com

Alex Richard George Day^[1] (born 8 April 1989) is a musician and YouTuber^[2] from Essex, England.^[3] He has performed and recorded solo and as a member of the bands Chameleon Circuit and the now dissolved Sons of Admirals. As an independent solo musician, Day has released two full-length albums and two EPs with distributor DFTBA Records, as well as releasing several singles independently, which have cumulatively sold over fifty thousand copies both physically and digitally. He currently lives with long-time friend and fellow YouTuber Charlie McDonnell in London.^{[citation needed]} He posts videos regularly on his YouTube channel nerimon.^[4]

In 2011, his debut solo single "Forever Yours" charted at #4 on the UK Singles Chart, subsequently making Day the first unsigned artist to achieve a place in the top ten of the latter chart. In April 2012, Day released his second single, "Lady Godiva", a cover of the 1966 Peter and Gordon song. The single was Day's first to get a physical release in UK record stores following a distribution deal with Universal Music. Within its first week of release, the song charted at #15; Day's second UK Top 20 hit.

Musical career[link]

Chameleon Circuit[link]

Chameleon Circuit performing at VidCon 2011

Day is a performer of the music genre "Trock" (or "Timelord rock" – the name inspired by "Wrock" or "Wizard Rock", songs relating to the Harry Potter books^{[citation needed]}). Trock is music written about or inspired by the popular BBC sci-fi television series Doctor Who.^[5]

Day is a founder member of the Trock band Chameleon Circuit^[5] from England.^[6] At the time of the release of their first self-titled album in June 2009 by YouTube musicians' record label DFTBA Records,^[7] Chameleon Circuit was composed of Day, Charlie McDonnell, Liam Dryden, and Chris "Ginger Chris" Beattie.^{[note 1][note 2]} However, between the releases of their first and second albums, Beattie left the band for personal reasons^[8] and was replaced by Ed "Eddplant" Blann and Michael Aranda.^{[note 3][note 4]}

Both the genre and the band have received mixed reviews in the mainstream press. After attributing the invention of Trock to Day's YouTube alias "nerimon", a reviewer in Wired News described its rapidly growing popularity: "The project seems to be off to a good start, with some 28 video responses and nearly a thousand comments attached to the initial Trock announcement video in just under a week. [...] nerimon's own project, the aptly named Chameleon Circuit, whose tracks include "Blink" and "An Awful Lot of Running", are at the vanguard of the movement."^[2]

Another Wired reviewer also discussed the project, stating "Chameleon Circuit, a band led by Who fan Alex Day, puts out titles that could pass for chart-toppers – if they weren't excessively nerdy in the subject matter department."^[9] Discussing the Trock music scene, one reviewer said: "This phenomenon is so huge, so world-changing, that it has its own internet forum".^[10] A compilation of Trock music including performances by Chameleon Circuit and seventeen other groups, entitled Trock On!, was released in August 2009.^[11]

On 12 July 2011, Chameleon Circuit released their second album Still Got Legs, after months of production delays and logistical issues when Michael Aranda, the album's producer, was denied entry back into the UK after a short trip to Paris.^[12]

Solo career[link]

Day released his debut album Parrot Stories on 1 October 2009 through DFTBA Records. This was followed by an EP, 117% Complete, on 1 March 2010. His second studio album, The World Is Mine (I Don't Know Anything), was released on 28 June 2010. An EP of acoustic songs, Soup Sessions: Acoustic, was released on 1 November 2010.

Day has received millions of views for his music by releasing music videos on his YouTube channel, with his most popular being the 2011 single "Forever Yours", whose music video reached 1.5 million views in its first week of release on Charlie McDonnell's YouTube channel.^[13][14] It became a popular choice with bookmakers in the UK as a main runner to become Christmas Number One in the UK Singles chart, having been given around the fifth-lowest odds with bookmakers such as William Hill.^[15]

	"Forever Yours" (2011) noicon Sample of the song "Forever Yours" by Alex Day, which made it to No. 4 in the UK Singles chart after selling over 50,000 copies.
Problems listening to this file? See media help.

Day promoted the song with the event "Forever Day" on 18 December, the first day of his attempt to top the UK Singles Charts for the week of Christmas. On 21 December, it was revealed that "Forever Yours" was ranked at No. 4 in the official mid-week chart, selling 35,000 copies of the song overall.^[16] Day also released 11 alternate versions of "Forever Yours". He confirmed that all sales revenue made from the alternate versions would be going to the charity, chiefly to World Vision.^[17] On Christmas Day, 2011, "Forever Yours" made it to No. 4 in the UK Singles chart after selling over 50,000 copies.^[18]

On 1 April 2012, Day released his second single, "Lady Godiva", a cover of the 1966 Peter and Gordon song. The single was Day's first to get a physical release in UK record stores following a distribution deal with Universal Music. Within its' first week of release, the song charted at #15; Day's second UK Top 20 hit.^[19]

Television[link]

[edit] BBC Chartjackers

Live performance with Chartjackers

Day was a featured artist on the BBC Two reality show Chartjackers in the autumn of 2009.^[20] Chartjackers challenged four YouTube video producers to write, record and release a pop song in ten weeks, using YouTube as a crutch to get lyrics and singers,^[21] with the proceeds going to the BBC Children in Need charity.^[22] Day was cast in the series for his familiarity to young British YouTube viewers and to "act as a Pied Piper to the teen audience".^[23] The completed single, entitled "I've Got Nothing", was sung by vocalists Adam Nichols and Miranda Chartrand, and was released worldwide through the iTunes Store on 9 November 2009. It was reviewed, with varying degrees of approval, by various media outlets, including The Times,^[24] Yahoo! Music's James Masterton,^[25] BBC Radio 1's Chart Blog^[26] and Popjustice.^[27] The song peaked at No. 36 in the UK Singles Chart^[28] and raised almost £10,000 for Children in Need.^[29] Day also appeared with the Chartjackers at the Hammersmith Apollo for the BBC Switch Live 2009 show, along with artists such as Black Eyed Peas, N-Dubz, and Pixie Lott.^[30][31]

[edit] BBC Upstaged

Day was a member of Youstage,^[32] an ad-hoc group of YouTube vloggers^[33] who competed successfully on the BBC Three talent show Upstaged during March 2008.^[34]

Media[link]

[edit] Nerimon

Day created his first YouTube channel, nerimon, in August 2006. Originally, nerimon was a character Day created when he was younger and writing Digimon fan fiction.^[35]

In what would become one of the more popular projects on his channel, Day produced a series of humorous videos entitled Alex Reads Twilight, in which he would read and critically analyse the popular young-adult novel Twilight, by Stephenie Meyer. Beginning the series on 17 October 2009, and finishing 2 November 2010, the series has cumulatively gained around 14 million views.^[36] In August 2011, Day created a spin-off of this series entitles "Alex Reads Creation", in which he critically analysed the Bible in a humorous way. As of December 2011, the video has gained around 360,000 views.^[37]

In October 2007, Day attended the YouTube Australia launch party in Sydney.^[38] In December 2007, Day invented the "Vlog Tag game"^[39] which, according to a BBC News article, "swept YouTube" and by January 2008, nerimon had "a 10,000 strong gang of followers."^[40] In October 2008, The Guardian described Day as "one of Britain's most popular YouTubers."^[41] The Daily Telegraph described Day as "one of the more successful [YouTube] partners in the UK."^[42]

Vaguely Live Radio podcast[link]

Day also regularly presents a comedy podcast with friend and fellow YouTuber Jimmy Hill, at vaguelyliveradio's website. Their first Vaguely Live Radio podcast was released on 17 October 2007. The podcasts became a regular occurrence, until a decision in 2009 to shelve the project indefinitely. However, on 3 October 2011, the pair rebooted the podcast and, as of November 2011, are on their third series.

Other video projects[link]

In addition to his main channel, Day was briefly part of the YouTube channel fiveawesomeguys, a video-blog collaboration with four other YouTube personalities, currently on hiatus. As of 22 December 2011 (2011 -12-22)^[update], it had logged around 1,702,000 channel views, 10,105,800 total upload views, and 50,420 subscribers.^[43].

On 30 September 2008, in order to mark the 18th birthday of his bandmate and friend Charlie McDonnell, Day and McDonnell dyed their hair and then shaved it off, while live on BlogTV for a period of seven-and-a-half hours.^[44] The effort raised nearly £5,000 for Cancer Research UK.^[45]

Discography[link]

• Parrot Stories (2009)
• The World Is Mine (I Don't Know Anything) (2010)

Notes[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Alex Day

• Official website
• Alex Day's channel on YouTube
• Alex Day on Twitter

Alexander Day (also known as Marmaduke Davenport, Esq.) was a British sharper known for cons committed in London in September 1722. Originally from St Andrew, Holborn, Day went under the name Marmaduke Davenport, Esq. and hired a carriage and footman to create the impression to shopkeepers in London that he was a respected member of the gentry. Once the shop proprietors had supplied their goods, Day would flee without paying.

In 1723, Day was arrested in connection with a robbery of a mail coach in Clapham. Although he was ruled out as a suspect of this crime, he was indicted on four counts of defrauding and two counts of grand larceny for crimes committed in the September of the previous year. After his trial, Day was found guilty on all counts of defrauding and was sentenced to two years' imprisonment at Newgate Prison, which included standing twice in the pillory and paying a fine of £200.

Criminal career[link]

Alexander Day originated from the parish of St Andrew, Holborn.^[1] He worked as a sharper in London,^[2] where he went under the pseudonym Marmaduke Davenport Esq. to suggest that he was a member of the gentry. To further this claim, Day would say that he had a large estate in Durham and was engaged to a wealthy heiress.^[3] Day also claimed to have left his own coachman and horses at his country seat and needed to hire a carriage and footman in London.^[4] Once he had hired the carriage and footman, he took this entourage around numerous premises in the city, where he would convince shopkeepers that he was about to spend large amounts of money on their expensive goods.^[3]

This perceived wealth and social status led him to be able to gain credit on purchases. Day would take delivery of upper-class items at his rented Queen Square property, but would fail to pay.^[1] Historian Hannah Grieg hypothesises that Day may have previously spent time in Bath, Newcastle upon Tyne and Edinburgh, where he practised his craft and stole goods to furnish his London home and further convince his victims of his wealth.^[3]

Arrest and trial[link]

In 1723, Day was arrested on suspicion of robbing the Bristol mail coach at Clapham,^[1] though subsequent investigations ruled him out as a suspect. During this time, he was indicted on four counts of defrauding and two counts of grand larceny.^[2] These charges referred to crimes committed in September 1722,^[1] which included:

1. the theft of gold and silver lace to the value of £55,^[5]
2. the defrauding of Thomas Gravestock, the proprietor of the gold and silver lace,^[6]
3. the defrauding of Samuel Scrimpshaw for cambric valued at £48,^[7]
4. the defrauding of George Kendrick for tea valued at £51,^[8]
5. the "felonious" theft of 3.5 yards (3.2 m) of rich brocade, 15 yards (14 m) of cherry-powdered podesay and 15 yards (14 m) of white podesay at a combined value of £34,^[9]
6. the defrauding of a Mr. Hinchliff, the proprietor of the brocade and podesay.^[1][10]

During the trial, Day stated that he had stolen to keep up with annual £200 payments on his Durham estate, which was mortgaged for £1,200, but he was unable to provide evidence of the Durham estate and could not provide a witness willing to testify to his reputation.^[1] The court did not believe his defence and he was found guilty of defrauding all persons in the case.^[1]

On 24 April 1723, Day was sentenced to two years' imprisonment at Newgate Prison.^[1][3] This would include standing twice in the pillory, as well as a fine of £200. He would then be under probation for the two years following his release.^[2] Peter King of the Open University identifies that Day's first pillory was in Covent Garden, where he was surrounded by a large crowd and was severely pelted with rotten vegetables and faeces for an hour.^[3] A newspaper report published after Day's sentence stated that he was "a great master of his profession [who] would not be at liberty to follow his former profession any longer".^[3] The second pillory took place at Ludgate Hill.^[1]

Notes[link]

References[link]

Karen Gillan
Karen Gillan at the San Diego Comic-Con International in July 2011
Born	Karen Sheila Gillan (1987-11-28) 28 November 1987 (age 24) Inverness, Scotland
Occupation	Actress, former model
Years active	2006–present

Karen Sheila Gillan (born 28 November 1987) is a Scottish actress and former model who is mostly known for her portrayal of Amy Pond in the British science fiction series Doctor Who.

Early life[link]

Gillan was born and brought up in Inverness, Scotland.^[1] Her father, Raymond John Gillan, a Day Centre Manager, and mother, Marie Gillan née Paterson, live in Kinmylies. She learned to play the piano when she was seven.^[2] She has no brothers or sisters.^[3] At a young age, she developed a love for acting, joining several local youth theatre groups and taking part in a wide range of productions at her school, Charleston Academy.^[2] When she was sixteen, Gillan decided to use her interest in acting, studying at Edinburgh's Telford College. Later, she got a place at the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts drama school in London on the BA (Hons) Acting degree course.^[4] Gillan moved to London when she was 18 to study at drama school.^[5]

Career[link]

Modelling[link]

Before Gillan became an actress, she was scouted by a modelling agency.^[6]

Gillan worked as a model in 2007's London Fashion Week for designer Allegra Hicks' autumn/winter catwalk show^[6] and the launch party of Nicola Roberts' Dainty Doll Make-Up Range. This was shown in Roberts' episode of the documentary, The Passions of Girls Aloud^{[citation needed]} which premiered on 4 April 2008. Gillan has said she wouldn't give up her acting career to return back to modelling. She stated that she enjoyed modelling but acting was always her main interest and goal.^[7]

Acting[link]

Karen Gillan with Matt Smith, promoting Series 5 of Doctor Who

Gillan's early television acting career included guest appearances on several drama series, with her first ongoing role being a two-year stint as a member of the ensemble cast of the sketch comedy series The Kevin Bishop Show in which she played multiple characters, as well as celebrities such as Katy Perry and Angelina Jolie. She appeared in Channel 4's 'Stacked'; she had the part of Ginny.^[2] Gillan also appeared on TV in a leading role in a horror project entitled The Well, which was broadcast as a series of episodic short films on BBC Two, and then later also as a web series on BBC.co.uk. Part of the BBC's multimedia "switch" programming, the short episodes interconnect with online games that further explore the environments presented in the series.^[8]

She was cast for the role of the Eleventh Doctor's first companion, Amy Pond, on the British sci-fi series Doctor Who in May 2009. She made her first on-screen appearance as Amy Pond in "The Eleventh Hour" with her cousin Caitlin Blackwood portraying a young Amy Pond.^[9][10][11] She was confirmed in Issue 420 of the Doctor Who Magazine to be appearing in the 2011 series. Gillan had appeared in Doctor Who once before in the 2008 episode "The Fires of Pompeii" in the role of a Soothsayer.^[6]

Gillan made her first theatre appearance playing the role of Shirley in John Osborne's play Inadmissible Evidence along with Douglas Hodge.^[12] The play debuted at the Donmar Warehouse on 16 October 2011.^[12]

During August 2011, it was announced Gillan will star in an indie comedy called Not Another Happy Ending along with Emun Elliott.^[13] Filming will take place some time in 2012.^[13]

During an interview at the 2011 San Diego Comic-Con, Gillan revealed she will be returning to Doctor Who for its seventh series.^[14] On 15 December 2011, it was announced Gillan and Arthur Darvill (Rory Williams) would be leaving Doctor Who during the seventh series in 2012.^[15] On 26 January 2012 Karen Gillan played the part of supermodel Jean Shrimpton in the BBC Four film, We'll Take Manhattan which told the story of Shrimpton's relationship with the photographer David Bailey.^[16][17]

She has also been cast as Brittney in a re-working of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet called Romeo & Brittney by David Baddiel.^[18][19]

Charity work[link]

In 2011 Gillan helped to promote Fashion Targets Breast Cancer (FTBC)^[20] and also helped celebrate the opening of Squirrel Ward in Great Ormond Street Hospital.^[21]

Filmography[link]

Television

Feature films

Theatre

Self

Video games

Awards[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Karen Gillan

• Karen Gillan at the Internet Movie Database