Alexander Lewis is no ordinary artist and no ordinary producer.

Despite the fact that he has somehow made the trombone (the brown bread of the brass world) undergo a trendy revival, he’s also wowed crowds at Coachella, admitted to suffering from severe stage fright, and spoken out against the lack of funding in state school music programmes.

His already escalating fame was given a nice boost after videos emerged on Facebook and Twitter of the amazing responses to his Coachella set with track ‘Brownies and Lemonade’, yet despite this rise in status it is extremely difficult to find information on the elusive artist. Other than his SoundCloud and Twitter (on which someone recently referred to him as “the most buff n handsome trombone player” in a birthday post), it’s hard to gage his background or his persona. He claims to being a previous ‘band geek’, but his responses in interviews are those of a trendy, easy-going individual, and his shock of bleached white hair suggest he is no longer associated with such a nerdy stereotype. His work with the acclaimed group Brasstracks catapulted him to fame in the music scene, and his production skills back up his talent.

I have no doubt that following the success of his European tour, his name will become increasingly commonplace

Lewis came on at around 1.30 am, after doors opened at 10pm. This meant I’d already tried quite a few of KoKo’s potent “skittle-bombs” before he opened with his first track. His performance at KoKo was a clear demonstration of his talents both as a producer and a trombonist – his renditions of ‘All of the Lights’ and ‘March’ went down particularly well with the crowd. It was pretty remarkable watching him jump between his flawless transitions, and pulling out this giant brass instrument making the sound of a one-man big band.

The majority of the audience members weren’t sure who Lewis was when I asked who they came to see, and were largely members of the London Business School. However, I have no doubt that following the success of his European tour, his name will become increasingly commonplace.

You can catch Alexander Lewis in the next leg of his European tour at Razzmatazz in Barcelona. But be warned – Barcelona clubs close much later than here, so prepare to pace your drinking unlike I did!

Image: Maggie Koo