Alsy MacDonald

Who is Alsy MacDonald?

Alan MacDonald is an Australian rock musician and lawyer, best known as the drummer of the 1980s band The Triffids, where he performed under his nickname 'Alsy'.

He was born on 14 August 1961 to Prof. Bill MacDonald, a professor of child health at University of Western Australia, and Dr Judy Henzell, a well-known paediatrician. He was the youngest of the four children, with two older brothers and a sister. As a child he couldn't say 'Alan' properly so called himself 'Alsy'. He went to Hollywood Senior High School in Perth, Western Australia and was close friends with David McComb.

In 1976, partly in response to the emergence of punk rock, MacDonald and McComb formed Dalsy, later known as Blök Music and then The Triffids. McComb and MacDonald wrote and performed songs with Phil Kakulas, Andrew McGowan, Julian Douglas-Smith, and later Byron Sinclair, Will Akers and Margaret Gillard. By Christmas 1978, they had released several home-recorded cassette tapes and been through many line-up changes.

In 1981, The Triffids released their first, 7-inch vinyl single, "Stand Up", as a result of winning a song competition run by the Western Australian Institute of Technology.