IN
CASE YOU`RE NOT INTO READING, CHECK THIS DOCUMENTARY MOVIE...
BIOGRAPHY
AN
AFFECTION TO VINYL AT AN
EARLY STAGE IS MOST PROBABLY THE BEST PRECONDITION TO BECOME
SOMEBODY FINALLY ENDING UP PLAYING THOSE VINYLS FOR PEOPLE.
SOMEBODY WITH A MUSICAL BACKGROUND. SOMEBODY SERVING AND
EDUCATING PEOPLE AT THE SAME TIME. SOMEBODY BEING CALLED DJ.
THIS
IS EXACTLY WHAT HAPPENED TO ALEX BACK THEN IN THE VERY EARLY
90`S. HE ACQUIRED A MUSICAL BACKGROUND. HE WAS ASKED TO PLAY
RECORDS IN FRONT OF PEOPLE. HE BECAME A DJ.
EVEN
AT THAT EARLY STAGE, WHEN STILL BUYING LOADS OF RECORDS OUT OF SEVERAL
GENRES, FROM 70´S DISCO VIA LOTS OF 80`S POP,
SYNTHIEPOP, WAVE, EBM, GOTHIC ROCK TO 90`S INDEPENDENT, GRUNGE,
EVEN HIP HOP AND AGAIN THE MORE DARKER SIDE OF SYNTHIE-BASED
POPMUSIC, ALEX ALREADY WAS VERY MUCH INTO THIS NEW UPCOMING
STYLE CALLED TECHNO. LIKE A
LOT OF FELLOWS AT THIS EARLY RAVEDAYS, THE FIRST CONTACTS WERE
SLIGHTLY COMMERCIAL. THOSE TECHNO TRAX CD COMPILATIONS WERE NOT
REALLY DIGGING INTO THE UNDERGROUND DEEPLY BACK IN THESE DAYS,
BUT THEY HAVE BEEN GOOD ENOUGH TO BECOME CURIOUS ON WHAT COULD
BE HIDDEN BELOW THIS SUPERFICIAL SURFACE. QUITE SOON ALEX
DISCOVERED A UNIVERSE OF NEW SOUNDS, NEW MUSIC AND STYLES,
RANGING FROM BASICCHANNEL,
WHICH IS THE "SOUL OF TECHNO"
FOR ALEX, TO THE FRANKFURT SCHOOL OF TECHNO WITH ITS VERY OWN
SOUND, DEFINED BY LABELS LIKE EYE Q
AND HARTHOUSE, BUT AT THE
SAME TIME ALSO EARLY STUFF FROM THE BERLIN-BASED TRESOR
LABEL OR U.S. BASED ARTISTS LIKE JEFF MILLS AND HIS AXIS
LABEL HAVE BEEN PART OF THE FIRST OPEN TO CLOSE SETS DURING HIS
FIRST RESIDENCY AT LIBELLA, ALTENMARKT BETWEEN 1994 AND 1998. A
SMALL, DREAMY SPOT CLOSE TO THE ALPS, BUT VERY INNOVATIVE,
ALTERNATIVE AND STEP AHEAD BY PURE OPEN MINDNESS. BY THE WAY,
ALSO ONE OF THE FIRST SPOTS THE MIGHTY DJ HELL GOT TO DJ IN THE
LATE 80IES. VERSATILITY WAS THE KEY BACK THEN TO KEEP PEOPLE IN
THE CLUB UNTIL THE END, SOMETHING HE PRESERVED UNTIL TODAY. ALEX
BECAME ADDICTED.
THOUGH
THE MEDIUM TO PLAY MUSIC HAS CHANGED TO A PRETTY COMPLEX
DIGITAL DJ-SETUP, THE APPROACH IS STILL THE SAME. TOURING
THE WORLD FROM BUENOS AIRES TO TOKYO OR SYDNEY TO NEW
YORK, HAVING PLAYED (AND STILL PLAYING) CLUBS LIKE U60311,
LEHMANN, TRESOR, BERGHAIN AND FESTIVALS LIKE LOVEPARADE,
RAVE ON SNOW, NATURE ONE, ALMOST COUNTLESS RELEASES
ON NUMEROUS LABELS, INCLUDING SOME OF THE BIGGEST WITHIN THE
TECHNO COSMOS LIKE CLR OR
ALSO COCOON PLUS RUNNING HIS
VERY OWN LABEL CREDO FOR
YEARS ALEX IS NOT ABOUT TO EXPECT HIMSELF TO BE THE SUPERSTAR
DJ. THE TECHNO HE IS PLAYING IS STRAIGHT, POWERFUL, BASSY AND
MODERN, IN THIS RESPECT ALEX IS VERY OLDSCHOOL. IT`S STILL THE
MUSIC THAT HAS TO SPEAK FOR ITSELF AND THE VIBE CREATED BY THE
SELECTION OF MUSIC HE IS PRESENTING WHICH ARE THE DOMINANT
FACTORS ON HOW A NIGHT GOES. AT THE SAME TIME BUILDING A
RELATION TO THE CROWD IS AS IMPORTANT AS THE MUSIC ITSELF AND
THE PLACE WHERE IT IS PLAYED, BUT IN THE END IT IS AS SIMPLE AS
HE TELLS: "EXPECT THE WHOLE PARTY
TO BE LIKE A MOVIE, AND WHILE THE PEOPLE ON THE DANCEFLOOR ARE
THE MAIN ACTORS I´M JUST DELIVERING THE SOUNDTRACK...".
DISCOGRAPHY
A
SELECTION OF RELEASES LISTED IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER (NEW TO
OLD).
