Alexander Kowalski

Born in Greifswald, Germany, the first decisive direction for Alexander Kowalski was the move to Berlin with his family in the 1980s. He spent his formative years as teenager in the city where the fall of the wall and resulting chaotic and creative sense of freedom initiated a worldwide reputation that is today legendary.

Alexander was drawn to the buoyant Berlin techno scene that would spawn so many outstanding producers and DJs of his generation. Soon he was regularly buying the newest techno and house records from Detroit and Chicago at the Berlin record store Hard Wax, which opened in 1989 and become a focal point in the scene. Motivated by a coincidence, Alexander began a musical self-discovery although he was raised without learning to play a musical instrument or reading musical notes. He found a tracker software for the Amiga 500 on a floppy disk that also contained an editable demo file with primitive remixes of Depeche Mode songs. After a few playful attempts with the tracker, Alexander realized that he had found the potential to express himself creatively and refine his own musical language. Together with a friend he began to construct a home studio where he soon produced his first demos.

In the summer of 1997 Alexander Kowalski struck his first coup debuting in the legendary Tresor Club, the international magnet and heart of the techno city Berlin. With this performance he established himself as a 100% live artist: the sweat-inducing energy of his live act and the interaction with the euphoric audience shaped his career from the get-go, and shifted Alexan- der in the proximity of rock bands that he admired. The successful gig opened important doors for him, and the clairaudient Tresor label management soon released the first official vital signs from the new talent. His track “The Wide Theatre”, under the pseudonym DisX3 appeared on Pacou’s assembled compilation “Headquarters – New Faces”.

This was followed by performances in clubs and at smaller festivals, and Alexander began to successfully collaborate with other musicians on projects like DoubleX with Stassy from the Berlin producer-duo Sender Berlin. As an exciting new live act he quickly garnered critical echoes and in 1999 he found himself under contract with Heiko Laux for his label Kanzleramt. The alliance proved to be ideal. In the following years Alexander Kowalski – now releasing under his given name – established himself as a top international attraction on the leading German techno label. In 2001 “Echoes” was released, Alexander’s sensational debut album in which his visionary dubtechno design was presented, breathing new life into the spirit of Detroit and showing an impressive love of detail towards sound aesthetic.

The following year with “Progress”, his second long-player, he succeeded in his breakthrough. On the album Alexander showed for the first time his virtuous skill, blending sophisticated techno arrangements with melodic vocal lines. The track “All I Got To Know” with singer Raz Ohara emerged as a hit during that year’s club and festival season. In 2003 “Response” was released, the album that conclusively cemented Alexander Kowalski’s reputation as one of the most important new producers and live acts. The material from these three albums and a repertoire of hits like “Lock Me Up” feat. Turner, “Belo Horizonte” or “Speaker Attack” brought about his headlining at Dortmund’s Mayday, at Time Warp, Melt!, SonneMondSterne and other large festivals where he caused a furor, resulting in numerous awards and top standings in Groove and Raveline magazines’ year charts. Furthermore he also proved his exceptional talent as a remixer for acts like Dave Gahan, Agoria, Paul Kalkbrenner, Sascha Funke or Len Faki.

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