Alexis Strum is an English songwriter, singer, actress, and writer.

Biography

Early life

Strum was born and brought up in an Orthodox Jewish family in

Chingford Chingford is a suburban town in east London, England, within the London Borough of Waltham Forest. The centre of Chingford is north-east of Charing Cross, with Waltham Abbey to the north, Woodford Green and Buckhurst Hill to the east, Walt ...

, Essex. Aged 6, she began writing songs. Strum formed local bands, performing

Elastica Elastica were an English rock band formed in London in 1992 by guitarist/singer Justine Frischmann and drummer Justin Welch after their departure from Suede. The band was stylistically influenced by punk rock, post-punk and new wave musi ...

and L7 covers, before experimenting with computer-aided production to emulate the sound of a full live band on her own. She studied English at

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV ...

, gaining a degree in English Literature. Whilst there she was Music Editor of the university newspaper, ''Roar'', interviewed bands and wrote a fashion and beauty column for the now defunct ''Insync'' magazine. After graduating and working odd jobs around London for a few years, she signed a publishing deal with Mike Sault at Warner Chappell. She sang on tracks by Thrillseekers, Lange, York (where she was credited as 'Alaska' on the German single, "Yesterday (Silence)") and

Ed Case Edward Espenett Case (born September 27, 1952) is an American lawyer and politician. A member of the Democratic Party, he has served as the U.S. representative for Hawaii's 1st congressional district since 2019, which covers the urban core o ...

until in 2002; she then signed her first solo record contract.

Warner and Universal

In 2002, Strum recorded an album for Warner Records, with producers such as Xenomania. The album was not released and the lead single, entitled "Addicted," from the album was cancelled due to Lorraine Kelly cancelling Alexis's TV performance after mistaking one of her lyrics to be a drugs reference (the lyric in question related to a flavour of ice cream). Strum's publishers shopped the songs around; "Still Standing" was recorded by

Kylie Minogue Kylie Ann Minogue (; born 28 May 1968) is an Australian singer, songwriter, and actress. Frequently referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Princess of Pop", she has achieved recognition in both the music industry and fas ...

for her 2003 album, ''

Body Language Body language is a type of nonverbal communication in which physical behaviors, as opposed to words, are used to express or convey information. Such behavior includes facial expressions, body posture, gestures, eye movement, touch and the use o ...

'' and "Nothing Good about This Goodbye" was recorded by Rachel Stevens for her 2005 album, '' Come and Get It''. In 2023, Warner released 10 of the songs from the recording sessions as an album titled ''Addicted'' digitally. Strum signed a deal with

Universal Music Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as Universal Music Group or Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum ...

in 2005, following a spot at the V Festival, and was due to release a debut single, "Bad Haircut". Originally, a song entitled "Why Me, Why Now?" was due to be released, along with remixes but it was scrapped. The video for "Bad Haircut" video features actor Tom Ellis. The album, ''Cocoon'', originally scheduled for release on 10 October 2005, was postponed when the single failed commercially, and a second single was announced, "It Could Be You," co-written by

Billy Steinberg William Endfield Steinberg (born February 26, 1950) is an American songwriter. He achieved his greatest success in the 1980s with songwriting partner Tom Kelly (musician), Tom Kelly; together they wrote or co-wrote the No. 1 hits "Like a Virgin ...

, to be released on 13 March 2006 with the album following later. It received only a digital release but did receive a music video. The third single, "Go My Own Way," was digitally released as the theme song to the short-lived ITV drama series ''

Vital Signs Vital signs (also known as vitals) are a group of the four to six most crucial medical signs that indicate the status of the body's vital (life-sustaining) functions. These measurements are taken to help assess the general physical health of ...

'', starring Tamsin Outhwaite. This was released digitally on 22 April 2006. After the failure of all three singles for the album, the release of ''Cocoon'' was cancelled, and Strum was later dropped by

. The album was eventually released by Double J Music in 2023 on digital, CD and vinyl.

Bo Pepper, songwriting & 2025 Eurovision Attempt

Strum was the songwriter, and one of the voices, in the UK indie group Bo Pepper. Their first single, "Blinkandyou'llmissit!", was self-released in 2008 on Peppered Records, and they were named "New Band of the Week" by ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' in April 2008. Strum continued to write songs including " Why Not Us" for the German pop group Monrose (2008). In 2010, her song, "Got a Grip On Me", was featured in the UK

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

comedy, ''

The Inbetweeners ''The Inbetweeners'' is a British coming-of-age television sitcom, which originally aired on E4 from 2008 to 2010 and was created and written by Damon Beesley and Iain Morris. The series follows the misadventures of suburban teenager Willi ...

''. In 2011 and 2012, Strum toured the UK playing

Eva Cassidy Eva Marie Cassidy (February 2, 1963 – November 2, 1996) was an American singer and musician known for her interpretations of jazz, Folk music, folk, and blues music, sung with a powerful, emotive soprano voice. In 1992, she released her f ...

's sister, Margaret, in the musical ''Over the Rainbow – The Eva Cassidy Story''. She next starred in an online drama series created for smartphones titled ''Persona''. In 2015, Strum wrote, produced and staged a play titled "Always the Bride" at the New Wimbledon Studio Theatre, about a group of suburban women who all suffer from "post wedding-day comedown and meet in private to wear their wedding dresses to re-live their big day". In 2018, Strum wrote an autobiography, ''The Time I Almost...''. A documentary based on it was in development. In 2023, Strum began uploading songs from her unreleased album "Cocoon" to digital platforms and discovered that she owned the masters to her second album, ''Cocoon''. After a viral twitter thread, Double J Music offered a record deal to release the album on all formats. Separately, Warner Music agreed to upload ten tracks that were recorded for ''Addicted'' to form a version of her debut album, and released it digitally on 1 September 2023. In 2025, Strum attempted to enter the Eurovision Song Contest 2025. In a video posted on her social media, she revealed that she initially approached the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

delegation, expressing interest in representing them in the competition. However, she did not receive a response. Following this, Strum decided to submit an entry to

San Marino San Marino, officially the Republic of San Marino, is a landlocked country in Southern Europe, completely surrounded by Italy. Located on the northeastern slopes of the Apennine Mountains, it is the larger of two European microstates, microsta ...

's national selection process, Una Voce per San Marino 2025, with her song "If You Think I'm Too Much (You Should Go Find Less)". Strum competed in the second semi-final of Una Voce per San Marino 2025, where she performed the song live. However, she failed to qualify for the final.

Discography

Albums

*Recorded 2002–2003: ''Addicted'' (Released on 1 September 2023) *Recorded 2005–2006: ''Cocoon'' (Released on 6 October 2023)

Singles

* "Bad Haircut" (Released on 26 September 2005) * "It Could Be You" (Released on 13 March 2006) * "Go My Own Way" (Released on 10 April 2006) * "Cocoon" (Released on 8 March 2023) * "Stay Until Summer" (Released on 31 March 2023) * "Maybe Someday" (Released on 8 April 2023) * " Padam Padam (Acoustic)" (Released on 9 February 2024) * "Karma" (Released on 25 October 2024) * "If You Think I'm Too Much (You Should Go Find Less)" (Released on 7 February 2025)

Songwriting credits

* "Memory" - DuMonde vs. Lange (2001) - with Dominik De Leon, Jürgen Mutschall and Lange * "Everything" - Sita (2002) - with Ian Bouman and Paul Westcott * "Still Standing" -

(2003) - with Ash Thomas * "Circles" -

Cherie Cherie is an English female given name. It comes from the French ''chérie'', meaning ''darling'' (from the past participle of the verb ''chérir'', ''to cherish''). It has also been used as a diminutive of names starting with or containing the s ...

(2004) - with Jen Godfrey and Bill Padley * "Nothing Good About This Goodbye" - Rachel Stevens (2005) - with Brian Higgins and Nick Coler * " Why Not Us" - Monrose (2008) - with

Guy Chambers Guy Antony Chambers (born 12 January 1963) is an English songwriter, musician and record producer, best known for his work with Robbie Williams. Education Chambers attended Quarry Bank Comprehensive School sixth form in Liverpool. From 18, ...

References

External links

Official website

Spotlight CV
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Strum, Alexis Alumni of King's College London English women singers English women songwriters English women comedians English stand-up comedians Living people Actors from the London Borough of Waltham Forest Actresses from London Jewish English comedians Comedians from the London Borough of Waltham Forest Singers from the London Borough of Waltham Forest Jewish English actresses People from Chingford Year of birth missing (living people)