"Krone" interview

Alex Christensen: “The boss calls the shots”

More than 30 years of techno history - now mixed with classical music: Hamburg's Alex Christensen will soon be coming to Vienna.

(Bild: Marcel Brell)

With his project U 96 and the hit "Das Boot", he shaped the techno of the 90s, while the gender-reversed hit "Du hast den schönsten Arsch der Welt" also took him to number one in Austria. He also produced Helene Fischer, Tom Jones and Right Said Fred, among others. With his "Classical 90s Dance" tour, Alex Christensen is now coming to Vienna with an orchestra. A conversation about nostalgia, cocaine and opulence.

"Krone": Alex, on June 12, you will be performing legendary techno hits in a pompous guise with the Berlin Orchestra at the Stadthalle F in Vienna. It will be the last show of your "Classical 90s Dance" tour.
Alex Christensen: That's right. I love this city and have spent a lot of time here as a DJ and with U 96. I'm really looking forward to coming back to Vienna. I once produced Helene Fischer's Christmas album and then we gave a concert at the Hofburg in Vienna. I spent a whole week in Vienna, which I really enjoyed. Sometimes I think of myself as a Methuselah, but I also started making music very early on. I was producing at 17 and quickly became obsessed with it. Sometimes I can't even list all the people I've worked with. Sometimes I have to pinch myself because I can't believe it myself.

Do you have a kind of wish list of artists you'd like to work with, or do you just let people come to you?
Of course I'd like to produce the really big stars like Taylor Swift, but to get there you have to know the artist yourself and have a good relationship with them. Cold-calling from the outside is a waste of time. Otherwise I'm a bit done with the big names. I find it more exciting to produce young artists who still have the fire to write the biggest hit of all time or want to win a Grammy. They still have dreams and are not yet trapped in their brand, which then also brings limitations.

When you were a teenager, did it really start out like this: "I'm just going to make music now"?
I can't do anything else. I tried my hand at freight forwarding and did an apprenticeship, but that was rarely unsuccessful. There wasn't much of a plan for the music and I certainly didn't think about whether I could make a living from it back then. I just did it. After two years I had a small hit and after just under five years came "Das Boot" - that determined my future. You should never think you'll have a hit the next year, it'll never work out. Just persevere and keep going.

Conversely, this also means that hard work is essential, luck and talent are not enough.
Hard work always beats talent. I always compare it to fishing. If a boy has talent, he sits there for five minutes and catches a fish - but often gives up quickly. But if you sit there for two days, you're sure to catch more, even if it takes time. If you do a bit more than others and take a professional approach, there is much less risk of something going wrong.

Your youth took place in the 80s, for many you shaped the youth of the 90s. So your decade was different from the one that people associate with you musically.
I consumed and breathed in the 80s with Human League, Soft Cell, Culture Club and Ultravox. One of my first concerts besides Queen was Frankie Goes To Hollywood. This time shaped me musically and influenced me deeply. I took a lot of elements from the 80s with me in the 90s and incorporated them into my music. I'm a walking music encyclopedia. While others were doing nonsense in their youth, I only ever cared about the music. I read through all the credits in the booklets and knew exactly which people were involved and how. In retrospect, it was pretty nerdy.

When you talk about consumption, it wasn't always just about the music, especially in the 80s and 90s. What was it like for you?
Every music has its own drug and back then it was ecstasy. But I always felt like a "Native Indian". If I took something and thought it was too good, I would immediately become addicted and crazy. I might have smoked my joint, but I didn't do anything else. There were wild examples in my own circle of friends where experimentation went wrong and they completely crashed. Some DJs from Hamburg became addicted to heroin and then moved their record collection so that they could continue to afford the stuff - that was always a warning to me. I've never taken hard drugs, otherwise my face wouldn't look the way it does. There's still nothing wrong with me. If you can put an ox ring through someone's nose instead of a normal ring, then you know their time was too wild. (laughs)

As a DJ and electric musician, you have an incredibly nocturnal job. Can you keep it up forever without getting too worked up?
In 2018, I made a firm resolution that I would only perform with other musicians and my orchestra and no longer play DJ gigs, where you sometimes get shouted at when you're over 50 on stage. That's when it occurred to me that I wanted to do something where I could age gracefully and still be cool. Where the people who have aged with me can go along with me. With Alex Christensen and his Berlin Orchestra, you sit comfortably, have a drink and the sound is great. It doesn't last all night either and is still highly entertaining.

Was 2018 crucial for creating something that you can carry into old age?
When you play festivals as a big DJ, everything is timed. You might have an hour gig and hand in your stick with the correct setlist on it beforehand. The laser and light show is pre-programmed and you no longer have any options to intervene. There's no spontaneity either, because you're stuck in a corset and you're the clap-your-hands type who doesn't do much other than cultivate his brand. At some point, that wasn't enough for me and I no longer felt comfortable with it. I want to get out of my comfort zone, get excited and have a sweaty back because there are musicians around me who are much better than me and I want to do them justice. It's like an extreme athlete - you always want to get higher, faster or further.

As a DJ, you're alone on stage and carry the evening, now you're practically the orchestra leader and yet you have to communicate with other musicians all evening.
Nice of you to remind me of that. I'm already getting nervous. (laughs) When you know that everyone is much better on their instrument than you are, it's a different approach. Many musicians have stage fright and are nervous, that's a completely different set of demands that I've never experienced before. I no longer have to prepare for days on end because I have a certain routine thanks to the many shows I have played.

Were there any reservations on the part of individual orchestra members at the beginning of the project, because classically trained musicians sometimes still find it difficult to access popular music?
We are a 70 percent female orchestra, which is a deliberate choice. Otherwise it's sometimes too much testosterone for me and men can be quite stolid. Women can do a lot of things much better than men. But some instruments have to be played by men because it's genetically necessary - the trumpet, for example, because of its higher lung volume. But back to your question: imagine you've been playing Beethoven or Bach with the Berlin Symphony Orchestra for 20 years. At some point you memorize it so well that you can roll a cigarette next to it.

Then you play pieces like "Sandstorm" by Darude, which is not only elaborately staged, but also demands a lot from you in terms of craftsmanship. The musicians really enjoy it because it challenges them. An orchestral musician also goes out in the evening and dances to "Das Boot" or "Rhythm Is A Dancer". People don't just live in a classical music bubble, they have a social life. Many want to play with me because it's something different.

To what extent can you act as a musical master of ceremonies for these experts if they have perfect command of their instruments but you have a different vision of the sound than they do?
I have a very simple self-confidence. I pay for the whole shebang and if I pay, then it should sound and look the way I like it. You must never forget that these musicians are so conditioned that they can play a piece they've never heard before straight from the page. I don't have to get into a discussion about the content. One person is the boss and has to say where things are going - it's the same everywhere else. If someone then says that's not how it works, then they're in the wrong place. When I'm there, I have to exude a certain dominance so that things don't get too soft for me. I want to respond to my audience rather than to the sensitivities of our orchestra or construct.

You can choose from an incredible number of numbers for a program like this. What criteria do you use to narrow down the setlist for this evening?
We already have a supporting program, but I've changed it so that all the musicians receive their sheet music via iPads. So if someone in the audience wants to hear "Samba de Janeiro" and we've basically staged it for an orchestra, it costs me two clicks and we can get started. That's why the interaction with the people in the audience is so exciting. We have people with us who have bought concert tickets in ten different cities because there are always small variations and changes. This variety is also what makes us special.

Together with the orchestra and band, the North German techno pope Christensen strikes completely new chords.

(Bild: Marcel Brell)

Are there any regional specialties? For example, a song that is specially tailored to the Vienna concert?
(laughs) We recently played two concerts at a depth of 600 meters in a mine and used the miner's song. We then improvise and try to make it work. It has to be charming and nobody should feel like they're being shown up. I still have to think of something for Vienna. Maybe "Amadeus" by Falco or "Vienna" by Ultravox. Sometimes it has to be the clichés that come through. (laughs)

Is the current popularity of the laid-back songs and genres of the 90s related to the fact that it felt like the last decade when the world was generally still in order, whereas since 9/11 at the latest, everything has increasingly gone down the drain?
It's a fact that music is a "safe place". I couldn't imagine going to a Christmas market today without traffic bollards or 100,000 people walking around and partying in front of a truck at a "Love Parade". You automatically have the terrible attacks and assaults in your head. That was completely unknown to us in the 90s. But you can't turn the world back and that's why one of my concerts is like jumping into a ball pool. You have another two and a half hours where you can indulge in nostalgia and enjoy everything carefree, without thinking about the present. That's why the program is so successful.

Does the precarious situation in the world ultimately benefit you because you offer this "safe place" with your music and your projects?
That's difficult to judge. What if the world was still the same as it used to be? Maybe there would be even more people at concerts then? Many people have become socially anxious due to corona and various attacks and no longer dare to go out into the crowd. In the event industry, we're still not at the level we were in 2019, but you don't know what that would be like.

How much did the rampant rave culture around The Prodigy in the early 90s inspire and encourage you to create your own music?
Incredibly strong. Anyone who has ever seen Prodigy live knows that they hit you like a hurricane. Once you've been in a rock circle, it's hard to get out. Rock music is a bit outdated. If you go to Wacken today, the people are around 55 and gray-haired. There's very little mixing. Rock lacks the crazy stuff and the stuff that can annoy parents - only hip-hop and sometimes electronic music can do that.

Was it a goal for you to shock or offend your own parents or, later, other people?
No, that was never an issue. My parents were always my best friends, supporters and favorite people. If they were, then I wanted to radiate edginess to the outside world. I find it very funny when an emancipated woman sings about "the most beautiful ass in the world" and everyone wonders how that works. That was in 2007, long before political correctness, and even then I turned the perspective around and turned an actually disgusting song into an emancipated one. It's really funny to do something with a joke on your neck, I'm still happy about it today. Of course, if a man sang the song, it would be disgusting.

As a musician and producer in the 90s, was there also more room and understanding for trying things out and perhaps sometimes failing?
You don't get the trial and error process today. Every Friday, around 30,000 new songs are sent into streaming orbit - including a lot of white noise, where trial and error doesn't stand a chance. Because the means of production have gone back to the people, the people release so much that nobody listens anymore. Only very few peaks get through somewhere that are algorithm-driven and not because they are musically sophisticated. Once you're well placed in the streaming bubble, you'll be heard even if you produce bad music.

Do you have the feeling that music itself is worth less today because it seeps into the digital orbit so unfiltered and in such large numbers?
We used to measure virality differently. There used to be a show called "Big Brother" and there was a Walter in seventh place. His song went to number two in the charts back then. In terms of virality, it's similar to what happens with songs on the internet today. If you get the same number blasted at you for 19 episodes of "Deutschland sucht den Superstar", that's TV virality that's similar to today. The wheel is not being reinvented, the music industry is just changing.

Is there sometimes a struggle within you in the sense that you would like to create something new and look forward, but the viewers and listeners always expect and hope for nostalgia and retrospection with Alex Christensen?
You can consistently separate the two. When I do a tour like this, I don't play a song that you don't know. You get there and you have to know what you're getting. We know this from many bands who rigorously play far too many new songs and then everyone in the audience struggles with it. Everyone runs to the bar and only comes back when the hits are played. It's awful. On the side, I always try out new songs and see if they go viral. I also collaborate with other DJs and like to tinker around. You don't have to see it all so narrowly, they're just two different construction sites.

Is it sometimes difficult to lay your hands on successful existing songs and tweak them?
You have to get used to it. No matter how popular a song is, there will always be people who think your reworked version is stupid, but that's fine. You have to learn to live with criticism and respond in a funny way. Sometimes I ask back in a comment what the critic is doing and then nothing comes of it. Some characters have to grumble and need that as an outlet. But well, that's the way it is, it's not so bad.

Are there discussions in Hamburg about whether you or Scooter's H.P. Baxxter is the real techno pope?
(laughs) I was recently invited to his 60th birthday party. He's the live pope because he sells more tickets than I do. But I'm the first techno pope because I was successful a year earlier. He's a great artist and we're really good friends - I give him everything from the bottom of my heart.

Do you currently have any other projects in mind where you might get out of your comfort zone again?
Nothing concrete is planned yet, but this tour is also taking me over completely. I can't do anything else for a year because I don't have the time. After that, I can let myself drift and think, but the Berlin Orchestra and my own brand are the focus for now.

Are there things from your past that you would do very differently today?
Nothing would be more boring than living the same life again. I would do many things much better with the experience I have today. You're young and stupid and I probably didn't have that many brain cells until I was 30. I messed up a lot back then. When "Das Boot" also took off in England, the record company called because I was going to get two appearances on "Top Of The Pops" and nothing was bigger than that back then. But I wanted to go fishing and didn't feel like it at the time. So my career in England was over immediately. I had to grow into a lot of things and learn. I made some mistakes that, looking back, weren't particularly clever. (laughs) I had no idea about anything and you couldn't google everything back then.

What is the biggest challenge for the program that you are now bringing to the stage in Vienna?
You have to think of it like a school trip. We're all on the same bus for three weeks and I'm deliberately on board so that I can hear the nuances and notice what the atmosphere is like. Everything has to be balanced and you have to nip competition in the bud. You always have to be very open and attentive and after three weeks, things can get a bit creaky. Then you have to sit down and solve these problems with people - that's also part of it, apart from the music.

Live in Vienna
Alex Christensen and the Berlin Orchestra are coming to Austria for the first time with their "Classical 90s Dance" program on June 12 at the Wiener Stadthalle F. Tickets and further information on this very exclusive event are still available at www.oeticket.com.