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ALEX
BAU /// DJ & PRODUCER /// MUNICH
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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.
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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.
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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 POPMUSIC, 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 TECHNOTRAX
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.
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QUITE SOON ALEX
DISCOVERED A UNIVERSE OF NEW SOUNDS, NEW MUSIC AND STYLES,
RANGING FROM BASICCHANNEL, 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 MIGHTHY 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.
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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:
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"EXPECT THE WHOLE PARTY
TO BE LIKE A MOVIE, AND WHILE THE PEOPLE ON THE DANCEFLOOR ARE
THE MAINACTORS, I´M JUST DELIVERING THE SOUNDTRACK...".
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TOUR |
INTERACTIVE MAP INCL.
CITIES PLAYED AT LEAST ONCE OR MULTIPLE TIMES UP TODAY,
HOWEVER PROBABLY NOT COMPLETE.
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ALBUMS
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EP
/ SINGLES |
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REMIXES
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