Alex Bau LIVE on the Virtual Sessions presented by The DJ Sessions

AN AFFECTION TO VINYL AT A VERY EARLY STAGE MOST PROBABLY IS THE PERFECT PRECONDITION TO FINALLY ENDING UP PLAYING THOSE VINYLS FOR PEOPLE. SOMEBODY WITH A MUSICAL BACKGROUND. SOMEBODY SERVING AND EDUCATING THE PEOPLE AT THE SAME TIME. SOMEBODY BEING CALLED DJ.

THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT HAPPENED TO ALEX BAU BACK IN THE 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, SYNTHPOP, WAVE, GOTHIC ROCK TO 90`S INDEPENDENT, GRUNGE, EVEN HIP HOP AND AGAIN THE MORE DARKER SIDE OF SYNTH-BASED POP MUSIC, ALEX WAS ALREADY VERY MUCH INTO THIS NEW UPCOMING STYLE CALLED TECHNO. LIKE A LOT OF FELLOWS AT THESE EARLY RAVEDAYS, THE FIRST CONTACTS TO THAT SOUND WERE KIND OF CHEESY AND COMMERCIAL. THOSE TECHNO TRAX COMPILATIONS WERE NOT REALLY DIGGING DEEP INTO THE UNDERGROUND BACK IN THE DAYS, BUT THEY BROUGHT HIM FAR ENOUGH TO QUESTION AND TO BECOME CURIOUS ON WHAT COULD BE HIDDEN BELOW THAT SUPERFICIAL SURFACE.

QUITE SOON ALEX DISCOVERED A UNIVERSE OF NEW SOUNDS, NEW MUSIC AND STYLES, RANGING FROM BASIC CHANNEL, WHICH STILL IS THE “SOUL OF TECHNO” FOR ALEX, TO THE FRANKFURT SCHOOL OF TECHNO WITH ITS VERY OWN SOUND, MAINLY DEFINED BY LABELS LIKE SVEN VÄTH`S EYE Q AND HARTHOUSE. BUT AT THE SAME TIME HE ALSO WAS VERY INTO TH EARLY STUFF FROM THE BERLIN-BASED TRESOR LABEL OR SOUND FROM THE U.S. LIKE JEFF MILLS AND HIS AXIS OR PURPOSE MAKER. THESE SOUNDS SERVED AS A KIND OF BASIC INGREDIENT ON ALEX` FIRST OPEN TO CLOSE SETS DURING HIS FIRST RESIDENCY AT LIBELLA, ALTENMARKT, BETWEEN 1994 AND 1998. A SMALL, DREAMY SPOT CLOSE TO THE ALPS WITH THAT CLUB IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE THAT MADE ITS NAME ACROSS THE NEIGHBORHOOD WITH ITS ALTERNATIVE, INNOVATIVE AND OPEN MINDED STYLE. BY THE WAY, IT’S ALSO ONE OF THE FIRST SPOTS THE MIGHTY DJ HELL GOT TO DJ IN THE LATE 80`S. VERSATILITY WAS THE KEY BACK THEN TO KEEP PEOPLE IN THE MOOD FOR STAYING UNTIL THE VERY END, SOMETHING ALEX PRESERVED UNTIL TODAY. CREATING UPS AND DOWNS, NOT JUST A LINEAR LEVEL OF ENERGY THROUGHOUT THE NIGHT. THIS WAS THE LESSON ALEX LEARNED THROUGHOUT THESE EARLY YEARS.

THOUGH THE MEDIUM TO PLAY MUSIC HAS CHANGED FROM VINYL TO A PRETTY COMPLEX DIGITAL DJ-SETUP, THE APPROACH IS STILL THE SAME. TOURING THE WORLD FROM BUENOS AIRES TO TOKYO OR FROM NEW YORK TO MELBOURNE, PLAYING CLUBS LIKE TRESOR, BERGHAIN, LEHMANN, U60311, BUTAN, THE EGG, REX, FLEX AND COUNTLESS MORE OR FESTIVALS LIKE LOVEPARADE, RAVE ON SNOW, NATURE ONE, ALMOST COUNTLESS RELEASES ON NUMEROUS LABELS, INCLUDING SOME OF THE BIGGEST WITHIN THE TECHNO CIRCUS LIKE CLR OR COCOON PLUS RUNNING HIS VERY OWN LABELS LIKE TONEMAN FROM 2000 TO 2006, AND FINALLY CREDO SINCE 2007, ALEX IS NOT ABOUT TO EXPECT HIMSELF TO BE THE SUPERSTAR DJ. THE SOUND HE IS PLAYING IS STRAIGHT, POWERFUL, BASSY AND MODERN. IN THIS RESPECT, DESPITE THE SEARCH FOR NEW SOUNDS, ALEX IS KIND OF OLDSCHOOL IN TERMS OF HIS MUSIC SELECTION PROCESS. IT HAS TO BE THE MUSIC TO SPEAK FOR ITSELF AND THE VIBE CREATED BY THE SELECTION OF MUSIC HE IS PRESENTING WHICH ARE THE DOMINANT FACTORS ON HOW THE NIGHT GOES. AT THE SAME TIME BUILDING A RELATION TO THE CROWD IS AS IMPORTANT AS THE MUSIC ITSELF PLUS THE AMBIENCE OF THE PLACE WHERE IT IS PLAYED. TO MAKE A LONG STORY SHORT, IN THE VERY END IT’S AS SIMPLE AS THAT:

“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…”.