Ali started off in London and was part of many bands, 'The Burst', then very briefly 'The Short Straws' and then 'The
Lost Soul Sound System'. Then there was a band called 'The Parkas' followed by 'The Post Romantics' and one called 'Albert and the Morons' before he played bass for 'Sugarmen' followed by 'Strange Collective'. He had come to Liverpool to study popular music at Uni, without a plan, apart from being a rock and roller. After a productive five years with 'Strange Collective', he and Alex Wynne being the mainstays had had a strange couple of months where they weren’t being very productive, with nothing much getting done and it was tough for everyone. Alex asked him if I thought they should just knock 'Strange Collective' on the head and do something else, have a fresh start, a clean slate. It was a shame if the band was to split but he felt perhaps it had run its course and thought the 'pressure off ' situation would be ideal. Ali had been doing some jamming with Alex who said he thought Ali should just go and do his own thing and told him. "You have a career, a label and a manager." At the end of 2016 Ali did go off on his own and released his first solo single, 'Days Like Today' with The Label Recordings on 7th April, 2017 but still remained as a band member of 'Strange Collective'.
He played his first live gig in 2017, a little nervous being used to being part of a band and found that branching out to perform under your own name can be a brave step to take. The protection that being part of a gang gives you is instantly stripped away and it can be daunting. However he was comforted by being surrounded by a band of four close mates, the present and former 'Strange Collective' band mates, Alex Wynne on bass guitar and Andrew Parry on drums plus long time friend Dave Tate and 'Ohms' guitarist, Kendall. He appeared that year at Liverpool's Sound City Festival having previously played there in 2014 with 'Sugarmen', the following year with both bands, then in 2016 year with 'Strange Collective', now this year on his own.
He went self employed as a musician in July 2018 having worked at the O2 Academy as bar manager, which started killing music for him because of the amount of shows and the numbers of hours he was working. However his progression from busking to headlining saw him fortunate enough to be part of a cultural exchange, together with 'Eyesore and the Jinx' and 'Stores', between Liverpool, 'world city of music', and Ulyanovsk, Russia, 'world city of literature'. Here in July 2019 he performed at the the open air Intersection of Music Festival in Ulyanovsk.
The highlights of this whirlwind trip to the far east of Russia were captured by Ali and his wingman Chay, the bassist in his band for this journey into the unknown, and made into a video for 'Dreamers' which was proclaimed 'track of the year' by 6 Music's Liz Kershaw. 'Dreamers' is the sound of dreamy, psyche summer seen through a Kaleidoscope and has some spacey vocals with 'trippy' guitars, making the song an easy and enjoyable listen. It still took him though until about December 2019 to establish enough regular residencies and have enough work booked in advance before feeling comfortable for the first time. Playing every Thursday at Kazimier Garden, doing requests, he was also playing at Kelly’s Dispensary on Smithdown Road, and twice a month at The Wellington Hotel pub in Hale.
Appearing at the Arts Club in December 2019 (above), with his three band mates, was testament to someone who had gone from playing on the streets of Liverpool only months earlier to being a headliner in one of the best venues of the city, with a gigantic banner with his name on the back of the stage. Getintothis reported, "There is no doubt that this is where he should be. His voice is confident, his guitar playing is outstanding, and his jacket is super cool. He sounds and looks like an indie celebrity."
His Facebook page in November 2020 announced, " Hello world! I’m ecstatic to announce the release of my next single 'End Credits'. A nihilistic yet optimistic track about slipping into the unknown of the afterlife. Recorded between my home studio and @itswhatstudio during the first lockdown. 'End Credits' will be available on all platforms on Friday 11th December via @dittomusic. Huge thanks to @mcconkeydesign for the beautiful cover design 
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