Background
He was born on 14 August 1961 to Professor Bill MacDonald, a professor of child health at University of Western Australia, and Doctor Judy Henzell (Department of Administration and Management), a well-known paediatrician.
He was born on 14 August 1961 to Professor Bill MacDonald, a professor of child health at University of Western Australia, and Doctor Judy Henzell (Department of Administration and Management), a well-known paediatrician.
As a child he couldn"t say "Alan" properly so called himself "Alsy". 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 (from the post-apocalyptic John Wyndham novel, The Day of the Triffids). McComb and MacDonald wrote and performed songs with Philosophy Kakulas (later in Blackeyed Susans), 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.
Subsequent releases included the Reverie European Parliament, "Spanish Blue", and the Bad Timing and Other Stories European Parliament. They moved to Sydney, in 1982. The band"s first 12-inch vinyl album, Treeless Plain, was released in 1983.
In August 1984 the band flew to London, where they recorded the critically acclaimed album, Born Sandy Devotional, they toured Europe and returned to Western Australia in 1986 to record In The Pines on the McComb"s family property in Ravensthorpe, south east of Perth. The Triffids line-up was finalised with the addition of "Evil" Graham Lee on pedal steel and guitar.
Lee having recorded the mini-album, Lawson Square Infirmary with the band members in 1984.
In 1987 the band signed a three record deal with Island Records, which saw the release of Calenture and The Black Swan. In 1989 tired from the constant travelling and touring, the band dissolved. MacDonald played with The Blackeyed Susans between 1989 and 1990 and upgraded his high school qualifications.
He enrolled in law at Murdoch University in 1992.
MacDonald married Jill Birt, the keyboardist for the band. They have three children.
Jill is a practising architect who graduated from the University of Western Australia. After graduating with his law degree in 1995, MacDonald applied for a short term contract at the Equal Opportunity Commission in Perth and is currently Commission"s senior legal advisor.
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.