Alexei Monaghan

Alexei Monaghan is an Italian-American singer-songwriter who is known as the lead guitarist for electronic-rock band Phoenix Rising, and was also the main songwriter and vocalist for Schizophonic with his brothers Sylar and Raphael. In his teens, Alexei had a brief career as a pop-punk singer, signed to a major US label. He was a one-hit wonder at the time, securing the top 5 US hit "Lightning Rod", but follow-up single "Be My Girl" failed to chart and solo album "The Alexhibition" was shelved, before finally leaking in 2013.

Personal History
Alexei Vincenzo Monaghan was born on October 31st, 1985, to an Italian mother and an American father. The middle child of three brothers, Alexei was born in Venice (as was older brother Sylar) before the family relocated to Odessa, Texas in the United States. Italian was Alexei's first language growing up, having picked up the language while living in Italy. He learnt Italian and English simultaneously, speaking Italian at home with his mother while learning English at school. Alexei learned guitar from an early age and proved exceedingly proficient at the instrument. Alexei became interested in punk and guitar-based music, and began writing some of his own songs in a pop-punk style. With Sylar's help on production, Alexei cut a demo CD which he sent in to a few record label A&R departments, and received a response from Geffen Records.

Alexei was signed to Geffen in 2000, and began work on his debut album with big-name producers and songwriters. The album was completed in 2001, and his debut single was released the same year. The single was a massive success, but the fame quickly went to his head and Alexei indulged in a lifestyle of excessive partying and drug use, which impacted negatively on his academic performance. His public bad-boy image did not ingratiate him to the media, and he became a regular target for tabloid scrutiny. The negative press led to the failure of his next single, the cancellation of his album release and his ejection from his record deal. During this time Alexei met his first serious girlfriend, who tried to help him through the difficulties he experienced with his music career not working out, but the relationship soured because Alexei continued to engage in his self-destructive behavior. Alexei's downward spiral continued to the point where he was forced into rehab at 18. After spending a year getting sober, Alexei went away to college where he'd meet future bandmates Victor Strong and Tobias Strait.

While in college Alexei had his second significant relationship, one that ended after a year but before Alexei could discover the pregnancy that led to the birth of his daughter Alice Craven. Alexei wouldn't learn of his daughter's existence until late 2009, when the mother of the two-year-old girl filed a paternity suit against him. Alexei denied responsibility for the child's parentage until a court-ordered DNA test proved him to be Alice's biological father.

"The Alexhibition" Era
In 2000, Alexei recorded a pop-punk demo EP with the help of older brother Sylar who aided in the production of the record. Alexei sent copies of the EP out to some record labels' A&R departments, and was turned down by all but one label. Geffen Records signed Alexei as a solo artist and put him to work on his full-length debut album. Alexei participated in label showcases and in-house performances, quietly building his reputation within the industry as he developed and recorded his album, which continued through to 2001. Alexei's debut single "Lightning Rod" was released in March of 2001, and it turned into a massive hit, with large sales and airplay culminating in a top 5 peak on the Billboard Hot 100.

Following the success of the single, Alexei's debut album "The Alexhibition" was completed and the groundwork for its release was laid down, but after fame went to Alexei's head and he destroyed his reputation, follow-up single "Be My Girl" went ignored by radio and sold extremely poorly. The failure of the single led to Geffen postponing the album's release, but attempts to repair the damage went unheeded by Alexei, and this led to Geffen shelving the album and dropping him. Copies of the album had already been pressed however, and stock had seemingly been disposed of, until an unopened crate of albums was discovered in a warehouse in early 2013. The album made its way onto eBay and into independent record shops, and then quietly released onto iTunes due to Alexei's career revival as part of Phoenix Rising. The album managed to chart in the upper 100's on the Billboard albums chart due to word-of-mouth exposure among fans once they discovered the album was available.

Phoenix Rising
Alexei formed the beginnings of Phoenix Rising with Victor Strong and Tobias Strait after meeting them in college; then named 'Troika', the group auditioned Benjamin McAllister and Spike Williams to be their drummer and bassist respectively. The band self-funded recording sessions for their debut album "Eye Of The Beholder", a costly and difficult venture due to Alexei's previous experiences within the industry that burned him with a lot of his old contacts and acquaintances. Despite this, the album achieved success both in the States and in the UK spawning a number of hits which helped earn back all the expenses incurred from the album's production, eventually helping them turn a profit.

The band's popularity has continued to grow with subsequent album releases, with sophomore album "Vermillion & Ash" and its lead single "Never Gonna Come Back Down" providing them with their first #1 record anywhere, when both releases topped the UK charts. Several more big hits followed, and the album is currently their biggest UK seller with over 2 million copies sold since its 2010 release. The 2013 album "Brittlestar Requiem" is the band's most successful record, and includes the band's biggest career hit, "Sanguine", written and given to them by Aurora Reed. Phoenix Rising embarked on their debut headlining world tour in 2013 to support their album, and in 2015 they will begin recording for their 4th album as a band, following James Moss' second solo album era.

Schizophonic
In late 2008, just as Phoenix Rising were breaking through commercially, Alexei took a step back from the band to join his brothers in an electronic music project called Schizophonic. The project was led by Sylar, who by then was a well-known DJ and producer on the Pittsburgh club circuit. Sylar handled production work, and Alexei was the vocalist and lead songwriter, while youngest sibling Raphael provided live instrumentation. The trio began recording debut album "The Monaghan Dynasty" in late 2008 and was released in the UK only, in March 2009. The album was supported by two singles, "Amnesiatic" and "Wreck Of The Day". The album and its second single achieved top 10 peaks, but the project was overall unsuccessful with the band proving to be unpopular with critics and was met with an indifferent public.

Schizophonic participated in the SAVE URAPS charity single "Play The Game", by producing alternate remixes of the single for inclusion on the release. Alexei personally had no involvement in the single, providing neither lyrics nor vocals to the track, and was not a co-producer on the track or any of its remixes. Upon the dissolution of Schizophonic and the cancellation of a third planned single, Alexei returned full-time to Phoenix Rising.

Personal Life
Alexei's track record with relationships has not been particularly pleasant, with two ex-girlfriends and an on-again-off-again relationship with current partner China before their relationship finally stabilized. Alexei met China as Phoenix Rising's career began, and they hit it off right away, spending a few months together before their first split in February 2009 amid personal drama between Alexei and Yannik McQueen of Indigo Peak, and more damage dealt to Alexei's professional reputation. Alexei and China remained friends though, as evidenced when China invited him to co-star in the music video for her single "Cutting You (Out Of My Life)". It is believed that this is what pushed the couple back together. The next snare in their relationship came when Alexei discovered he had a daughter with his former college girlfriend, but the couple remained together, and China contributed vocals to a song for Phoenix Rising's sophomore album.

Alexei proposed to China on Valentines' Day 2010, and she accepted, as it was later confirmed in May of that same year. An incident while preparing for the band's "Dementia" music video, which resulted in Alexei developing temporary trust and jealousy issues that forced him and China into couples counseling after Alexei became paranoid and convinced China was pregnant with another man's baby. The couple managed to work past this hurdle, but continued to tease the public with the lack of concrete proof a wedding was forthcoming. The wedding was being continuously put on hold due to Alexei's and China's respective careers.

China suffered a miscarriage in 2011 which impacted negatively on her career as she went on indefinite hiatus. This proved devastating for the couple, as it would have been their first child together after Alexei gained full-time custody of Alice. The couple were each affected by the miscarriage to the point where they each wrote songs about it. In September of 2011, the couple announced that they were expecting once again, and they'd already placed a moratorium on press photography of the baby, as well as of Alice. Juliana Monaghan-DeRosa was born in mid-2012. Alexei and China still aren't married, but are in no rush to do so, as they are happy with their family just the way it is, and Alexei feels that marriage isn't strictly necessary but he has not ruled out that it would ever happen.

Beginning in 2013, Alexei took a job as the host of UT40, the weekly countdown show of the Uraps Top 40 airplay chart. His popularity as a radio personality has steadily grown as he continued to host the countdown.

Discography
Main Article: Alexei Monaghan Discography See Also: Phoenix Rising Discography & Schizophonic Discography

Albums
As Solo Artist: 2001: "The Alexhibition" (Cancelled) With Schizophonic: 2009: "The Monaghan Dynasty" With Phoenix Rising: 2009: "Eye Of The Beholder" 2009: "Eye Drops: The Beholder Remixes" 2010: "Vermillion & Ash" 2013: "Brittlestar Requiem"

Singles
As Solo Artist: 2001: "Lightning Rod" 2001: "Be My Girl" With Schizophonic: 2009: "Amnesiatic" 2009: "Wreck Of The Day" 2009: "You Can't Hide" (Cancelled) With Phoenix Rising: 2008: "Rewritten" 2008: "Stupid" 2009: "She / Never You" 2009: "Eyes On The Prize" 2009: "Fallen / Home" 2009: "Until I Find Myself" 2010: "Never Gonna Come Back Down" 2010: "Dementia" 2010: "Sins Of The Fathers" 2010: "Objective" 2011: "What Have You Done?" 2011: "Ambrosia" 2011: "Vermillion & Ash" 2013: "Space Cowboy" 2013: "Sanguine" 2013: "Fast Lane" 2013: "Down To Earth"