Alex Soria
Alex Soria (1965–2004) was a Montreal rock musician and songwriter. He started The Nils when he was 12 and later formed Chino in 1999. He grew up loving punk bands like The Clash, Sex Pistols, and Stiff Little Fingers, bought an $80 guitar, and taught himself three chords.
The Nils formed by 1978 and began playing live. In 1982 they contributed Scratches and Needles to the BYO compilation Something to Believe In and "Call of the Wild" to Primitive Air Raid. They released the Paisley EP in 1984 and, with support from Ivan Doroschuk of Men Without Hats, recorded Sell Out Young. The EP’s success drew major label interest, and in 1986 they released The Nils, produced by Chris Spedding with engineer Phil Burnett. The album included updated versions of "Daylight" and "Inbetweens" plus eight other songs.
The band toured North America and gained attention, but the label went bankrupt and they were stuck under a five-year contract. They broke up soon after. In 1994 Mag Wheel Records released Green Fields in Daylight, a compilation of their recordings. Soria then formed Chino and released the six-song EP Mala Leche in 1999.
In 2002 The Nils reformed with Carlos on bass and Mark Donato on guitar. They started writing new material, and Soria hoped for a comeback. On December 13, 2004, at age 39, he died by suicide on a train track near Montreal. A tribute concert with Chris Spedding and John Kastner followed.
In 2006, Next Of Kin was released, featuring unreleased acoustic four-track recordings. Guitarist John Campbell said The Nils helped punk mature in Canada. In 2015 Shadows & Ghosts was released, mixed by Phil Burnett and featuring Evan Dando and Kastner. On June 1, 2024, Kastner announced a June 6 performance with a re-formed The Nils at the Bovine Sex Club in Toronto.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 05:26 (CET).