Alex G

Giannascoli was born in 1993 in Havertown, Pennsylvania.[2] At age 11, he began recording music when his parents bought an Apple computer, and learned to play the guitar with one his brother owned.[3][4] While attending Haverford High School, Giannascoli made two albums he shared with friends.[5] He experimented with different musical styles making collaborative music, such as the "goth techno" he made with his sister, and his high school band The Skin Cells, described as "pop rock that accidentally ended up being punk".[3] In 2011, Giannascoli enrolled at Temple University, where he studied English, but eventually dropped out to pursue a musical career.[2][5]

After self-releasing various albums, EPs and singles on Bandcamp in 2010–2012, Giannascoli's popularity spread through word of mouth, blogs, and reverence by musicians.[6] The Fader called Giannascoli "the internet's secret best songwriter."[3] This led to Orchid Tapes signing Giannascoli to their roster, and the release of his label debut, DSU (2014),[3] which garnered acclaim from music critics.[7] Following the release of the album, Giannascoli went on a tour throughout North America and Europe.[5] On November, DSU was released by Lucky Number in Europe on all formats with two new bonus tracks. The label later also reissued his two preceding releases, 2012's Rules and Trick.[8]

In 2015, Giannascoli signed with Domino Recording Company and released his debut with the label and sixth overall studio album, Beach Music, on October 9.[9] The following year, Giannascoli worked with Frank Ocean on his albums Endless and Blonde, providing guitars and arrangements for several songs.[10]

On March 2, 2017, Giannascoli announced that his second album with Domino, Rocket, would be released on May 19, and shared the first two singles, "Bobby" and "Witch".[11][12] On April 4, Giannascoli announced the change of his stage name from Alex G to (Sandy) Alex G with no further explanation, and shared another single from the album, "Proud".[13][14] Music publication Spin (magazine) attributed the name change to a legal conflict with singer and YouTuber Alex Blue, who was operating at the time under the trademarked name "Alex G".[15] On choosing the name 'Sandy', Giannascoli said it "was the first thing [he] put on Bandcamp" and that he had "just used that ‘Sandy’ as a sort of [social media] tag" since then.[16] On May 4, he released two more singles, "Brick" and "Sportstar", before the release of the album. Rocket received further acclaim from music critics, and appeared on multiple publications' year-end lists of the best albums of 2017.[17]

Giannascoli's eighth studio album, House of Sugar, was released on September 13, 2019. The album received positive reviews and placed 17th on Pitchfork (website)'s year-end best albums list.[18] In June 2020, he dropped "(Sandy)" from his stage name, returning to going by Alex G.[19]

Giannascoli's music is often characterized as indie rock with a lo-fi or "bedroom pop" aesthetic, due to him recording all of his music by himself in his home. He is frequently compared to singer-songwriter Elliott Smith, who is an influence of his. Other comparisons include Built to Spill and The Martinis.[3] The Philadelphia Inquirer praised him as "a particularly gifted melody writer" whose "fuzzy, sometimes distorted songs, which hark back to slightly askew 1990s bands such as Pavement, can't hide his skill as a pop craftsman and a constructor of elliptical narratives that call for repeated listening."[5] He stated that his creative process consists of him usually working alone in his room with his guitar and adding other instruments later. When asked about working in a professional recording studio, he replied, "I feel like I'm eventually going to have to do that, but I just don't want to. Because I don't know how to work all that stuff, and I don't want anyone else to have control. I just want to follow my own ideas, and I'm uncomfortable doing it any other way."[5]

• Official website
• (Sandy) Alex G on Bandcamp