www.tcpmusic.com

'The Cynic Project '(TCP) is a guise used by American electronical producer Alex Smith. The project was started in 1999 and is known for uplifting trance melodies, as well as standard club beats.

The Cynic Project rose in popularity with the upbringing of mp3.com in 2000, where Alex's music was hosted, downloadable for free. Much of his earlier works were relatively short, considering the trance standards.

Alex Smith studied piano from grade school through high school with private teachers and also played the double bass. Creating electronic music using MIDI and MOD tracking software has been a hobby of his for years, but his music was never recorded or distributed until the summer of 1999.

Smith began to earn significant profits from mp3.com's "payback for playback program." His dance track Matrix (now known as 'grid') hit #1 on the mp3.com music charts in November 1999, and in December he was the top earner on the site.
Smith went on to build a home studio and started producing a CD. The first CD release, 'Soundscapes Sampler', was completed early in spring 2000. The single 'Sidewinder' was released in the summer and the Lp 'Soundscapes 2000 (Second Edition)' was released in the fall of the same year.

Smith's inspiration for writing electronic music started when he heard Robert Miles' 'Children' on vacation in Paris. He soon discovered the trance genre and cites several favorite artists including ATB, Ayla, BT, Ferry Corsten, Chicane, Tiësto, Lange, Rank 1, and Solarstone.

Alex Smith is currently living in Eden Prairie, Minnesota. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.