Alexander Hacke (also known as Alexander von Borsig, Alex Hacke, Hacke, born 11 October 1965) is a

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected string ...

ist,

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and s ...

ist, singer, musician, record producer, writer and filmmaker from Germany. He is primarily known as a longtime member of the influential German industrial music group

Einstürzende Neubauten (, 'Collapsing New Buildings') is a German experimental music group, formed in West Berlin in 1980. The group is currently composed of founding members Blixa Bargeld (lead vocals; guitar; keyboard) and N.U. Unruh (custom-made instruments; perc ...

. Hacke has released two full-length solo albums, and has also collaborated with many other artists, such as

Robert Rutman Robert Rutman (15 May 1931 – 1 June 2021) was a German visual artist, musician, composer, and instrument builder. Best known for his work with homemade idiophones in his Steel Cello Ensemble, Rutman is regarded as a pioneer of multimedia perf ...

The Tiger Lillies The Tiger Lillies are a cult British musical trio formed in 1989 by singer-songwriter Martyn Jacques. Described as the forefathers of Brechtian Punk Cabaret, the Tiger Lillies are well known for their unique sound and style which merges "th ...

Danielle de Picciotto Danielle de Picciotto is an American-born artist, musician and filmmaker. She was born in Tacoma, Washington, Tacoma, Washington, USA,. She currently lives and works in Berlin, Germany. In 1989 she founded, along with her partner :de:Dr. Motte, Dr ...

FM Einheit Frank-Martin Strauß, better known as F.M. Einheit and also known as Mufti, (born 18 December 1958, in Dortmund) is an industrial and electronic musician and actor from Germany. While primarily known for his percussion work with the influential ...

Crime & the City Solution Crime & the City Solution are an Australian rock band formed in late 1977 by singer-songwriter and mainstay Simon Bonney. They disbanded in 1979 leaving only bootleg recordings and demos. In late 1983, Bonney travelled to London and in 1985 he ...

, Phew,

Gianna Nannini Gianna Nannini (; born 14 June 1954Who Is Who
''Bello e possibile'' ...

, Gry,

Miranda Sex Garden Miranda Sex Garden are an English music group from London. They were originally active from 1990 to 2000, reforming in 2022. Biography Formed in 1990, Katharine Blake, Kelly McCusker and Jocelyn West were originally a trio of madrigal singe ...

, Terranova,

Sprung Aus Den Wolken Sprung Aus Den Wolken is a German musical group based out of Berlin, part of Berlin's underground music movement of the 1980s - sometimes referred to as the " Geniale Dilletanten" movement. Their music is typically minimalistic industrial music. ...

Wovenhand Wovenhand (also stylized Woven Hand) is an American rock band from Denver, Colorado, United States, led by former 16 Horsepower frontman David Eugene Edwards. Wovenhand's songs are known for their strong and unsettling Biblical references, infl ...

David Yow David Yow (born August 2, 1960) is an American musician and actor born in Las Vegas, Nevada and best known as the vocalist for the noise rock bands Scratch Acid and the Jesus Lizard. Yow's debut solo album, ''Tonight You Look Like a Spider' ...

Mona Mur Mona Mur (born 29.07.1960 in Hamburg) is a German vocalist, composer and audio designer. Early years Mona Mur was born Sabine Bredy in Hamburg to Polish parents. In 1982 she collaborated with FM Einheit, Marc Chung and Alex Hacke of Einstürze ...

, Die Ichs, Schlaflose Naechte, Fred Alpi and others.

Biography

Early years

In the early 1980s he released a few solo tapes and mini-albums, such as '' Hiroshima''. He became a long-time member of

and also was a member of several other bands, such as ''Sentimentale Jugend'' (with

Christiane Vera Felscherinow Christiane Vera Felscherinow (born 20 May 1962) is a German actress and musician who is best known for her contribution to the 1978 autobiographical book ''Christiane F.'' (original title: ), and the film and television miniseries based on the ...

, also known as Christiane F.), ''

'' and ''

''.

Einstürzende Neubauten

In 1980, at the age of fifteen, he joined

, which had been formed earlier the same year. Hacke played guitar and worked with the band's sound until the mid 1990s. Then he changed from guitar to bass and is now a bass player and, according to band leader

Blixa Bargeld Blixa Bargeld (born Christian Emmerich, 12 January 1959) is a German musician who has been the lead singer of the band Einstürzende Neubauten since its formation in 1980. Bargeld was also a founding member of the Australian rock band Nick Cave ...

, "a musical director of the band".

Solo activities

Hacke's first full-length solo album was '' Filmarbeiten'' (1992). In the 1990s he was frontman of the band

Jever Mountain Boys Jever () is the capital of the district of Friesland in Lower Saxony, Germany. The name Jever is usually associated with a major brand of beer, Jever Pilsener, which is produced there. The city is also a popular holiday resort. Jever was granted c ...

, who played their favorite songs, particularly

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, o ...

cover-version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song relea ...

s. In 2003 Alexander Hacke and his longtime partner

(married since 2006) organized the monthly event "BadaBing" in the famous Berlin 70s Club "Big Eden", presenting new and unusual bands and in this way initiating a new wave of Berlin-oriented "Futur-electroclash" music all over Europe. They travel extensively performing multimedia shows together and presenting workshops on Berlin underground culture. In 2004,

produced a documentary on

for which Alexander Hacke did the sound design. 2007-05-24 Hacke and Tiger Lillies live

In 2005 Hacke and de Picciotto conceived and directed "The Mountains of Madness", an audio/visual live show based on stories by H. P. Lovecraft, inviting the English Trio

to participate and perform in the successful production throughout Europe. In the 2000s Hacke created the album ''

Sanctuary A sanctuary, in its original meaning, is a sacred place, such as a shrine. By the use of such places as a haven, by extension the term has come to be used for any place of safety. This secondary use can be categorized into human sanctuary, a s ...

'' (released in 2005), travelling with a mobile recorder in Europe and North America and collaborating with numerous artists, such as

J.G.Thirlwell James George Thirlwell (born 29 January 1960), also known as Clint Ruin, Frank Want, and Foetus, among other names, is an Australian musician, composer, and record producer. He is known for juxtaposing a variety of different musical styles. ...

(

Foetus A fetus or foetus (; plural fetuses, feti, foetuses, or foeti) is the unborn offspring that develops from an animal embryo. Following embryonic development the fetal stage of development takes place. In human prenatal development, fetal develo ...

Caspar Brötzmann Caspar Brötzmann (born 13 December 1962) is a German guitarist, vocalist and bandleader. Brötzmann typically performs with the power trio lineup of Caspar Brötzmann Massaker (his early band), with guitar, bass guitar and drums. He uses rock ...

, Larry Mullins (Toby Dammit),

Vinnie Signorelli Vinny or Vinnie is a masculine given name, usually a shortened version of Vincent, Vincenzo, or Vicente, which may refer to: Vincents * Vinnie Anderson (born 1979), New Zealand rugby league footballer * Vinny Appice (born 1957), American rock d ...

(

Unsane ''Unsane'' is a 2018 American psychological horror film directed by Steven Soderbergh and written by Jonathan Bernstein and James Greer. The film stars Claire Foy, Joshua Leonard, Jay Pharoah, Matt Damon, Juno Temple, Aimee Mullins, and Amy ...

), Michael Evans (KBZ 200), Sugarpie Jones (Celebrity Skin), Bob Rutman (Steel Cello Ensemble), Nils Wohlrabe (

The Leather Nun The Leather Nun are a Swedish rock group. Careening from garage rock to goth and pop-rock, Leather Nun became cult heroes in their native land and wide abroad. History The Leather Nun (a.k.a. "Lädernunnan") was formed in 1978 in Gothenburg, ...

Gianna Nannini Gianna Nannini (; born 14 June 1954Who Is Who
''Bello e possibile'' ...

, Andrew Chudy (alias

N.U. Unruh N. U. Unruh (born Andrew Chudy on June 9, 1957, in New York City, U.S.) is a German musician, experimental percussionist, and instruments inventor, probably best known for his work with German music group Einstürzende Neubauten. Biography In 198 ...

), Lary 7 (The Analog Society), and

(

The Jesus Lizard The Jesus Lizard is an American rock band formed in 1987 in Austin, Texas and based in Chicago, Illinois. They were "a leading noise rock band in the American independent underground… hoturned out a series of independent records filled with ...

). In the reviews on this album Hacke was compared to

Frank Zappa Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American musician, composer, and bandleader. His work is characterized by nonconformity, free-form improvisation, sound experiments, musical virtuosity and satire of A ...

and

Captain Beefheart Don Van Vliet (; born Don Glen Vliet; January 15, 1941 – December 17, 2010) was an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and visual artist best known by the stage name Captain Beefheart. Conducting a rotating ensemble known as Th ...

. The "Road Record", an excerpt of which can be seen on Sanctuary, was documented by de Picciotto, describing the revolutionary recording style Hacke used to produce the record. Hacke also contributed to several soundtracks to such films as ''

Sonnenallee ''Sonnenallee'' (''Sun Avenue'' or ''Sun Alley'') is a 1999 German comedy film about life in East Berlin in the late 1970s. The movie was directed by Leander Haußmann. The film was released shortly before the corresponding novel, '' Am kürzere ...

'' and '' Das Wilde Leben'' (biography of

Uschi Obermaier Ursula "Uschi" Obermaier (; born 24 September 1946) is a former fashion model and actress associated with the 1968 left-wing movement in Germany. She is considered an iconic sex symbol of the so-called "1968 generation" and the protests of 1968. ...

, 2006/07). Hacke produced music for

Fatih Akın Fatih Akin (Turkish: Fatih Akın, born 25 August 1973) is a German film director, screenwriter and producer of Turkish descent. He has won numerous awards for his films, including the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival for his film '' Head- ...

's film '' Head-On'' (2004) and is a main character in '' Crossing the Bridge: The Sound of Istanbul'' (2005), Akın's documentary of the

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

music scene. On several occasions he reunited on stage with

(ex-

) for an experimental performance.Information about Alexander Hacke's EP "Doomed", in which a concert of Hacke with FM Einheit in 2009 in Berlin is mentione

/ref>

Private life

Alexander Hacke's first noteworthy girlfriend was

Christiane F. Christiane Vera Felscherinow (born 20 May 1962) is a German actress and musician who is best known for her contribution to the 1978 autobiographical book ''Christiane F.'' (original title: ), and the film and television miniseries based on the ...

, who became famous with the internationally acclaimed movie and book ''

Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo ''Christiane F.'' (german: Christiane F. – Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo, italic=yes, ) is a 1981 German biographical drama film directed by Uli Edel that portrays the descent of Christiane Felscherinow, a bored 13-year-old growing up in mid-19 ...

'', a biography of her heroin addiction. They performed together in Europe and the US with their band Sentimentale Jugend and also appeared together in the movie ''Decoder'' in 1983. On 3 October 1989, Hacke's son Joshua was born in Berlin. His mother is Angela Mettbach, a Berlin nightlife figure who had a short-lived musical career with her band Octopussy. Hacke was briefly married to German actress and singer

Meret Becker Meret Becker (; born 15 January 1969) is a German actress and singer. Life and career Meret Becker was born in Bremen, the daughter of the actors Monika Hansen and Rolf Becker but she was raised in Berlin by her mother with her stepfather Ott ...

and was involved in her musical career. Becker guested on

's album ''

Ende Neu ''Ende Neu'' is the seventh full-length studio album released by Einstürzende Neubauten in 1996. The title means "ending new"; it is a wordplay (reflected in the cover artwork) involving the band's name: Einstürz''ende Neu''bauten. This was the ...

''. In 2006, Hacke married his longtime partner

, an American Berlin-based multimedia artist who is known for having founded the Berlin

Love Parade The Love Parade (german: Loveparade) was a popular electronic dance music festival and technoparade that originated in 1989 in West Berlin, Germany. It was held annually in Berlin from 1989 to 2003 and in 2006, then from 2007 to 2010 in the ...

together with Dr Motte and for singing in the band Space Cowboys.

Solo discography

* 1980: Das Leben ist schön * 1981: Borsig-Werke * 1982: Christiane F.: Wunderbar (Mitarbeit) * 1982: Hiroshima * 1982: Mona Mur und die Mieter: Jeszcze Polska * 1988: Crime and the City Solution: Shine * 1989: Crime and the City Solution: The Bride Ship * 1990: Crime and the City Solution: Paradise Discotheque * 1992: Phew: Our Likeness (Musiker) * 1992: Filmarbeiten * 1994: Jever Mountain Boys: Bury the Bottle with Me * 1994: Gianna Nannini: Dispetto (Mitarbeit) * 1994: Die Haut: Sweat (Mitarbeit) * 1995: Blind: Live Saver (Produzent) * 1995: Miranda Sex Garden: Fairytales About Slavery (Produzent) * 1998: Meret Becker: Nachtmahr (Produzent, Musiker) * 1999: Terranova: Close the Door (Mitarbeit) * 2001: Fieber – Tagebuch eines Aussätzigen, Gedichte von Klaus Kinski, rezitiert von Ben Becker, Musik von Alexander Hacke * 2002: Fred Alpi: Les chiens mangent les chiens (Produzent) * 2005: Sanctuary * 2005: Martin Dean: The Best of Martin Dean (Mitarbeit) * 2006: Mountains of Madness together with Tiger Lillies & Danielle de Picciotto (DVD) * 2006: "I Hate You" for the Monks-Tribute-CD Silver Monk Time * 2008: "The Ship of Fools" in collaboration with Danielle de Picciotto (DVD/CD) * 2009: "Doomed" * 2010: "Hitman's Heel" in collaboration with Danielle de Picciotto * 2013: "American Twilight" Crime & The City Solution, MUTE Records * 2014: "Ministry of Wolves" in collaboration with Mick Harvey, Danielle de Picciotto, * 2016: "Perseverantia" Album; CD/LP collaboration with Danielle de Picciotto * 2017: "Unity" Mediatation Album, CD Collaboration with Danielle de Picciotto * 2018: "Menetekel" Album; CD/LP collaboration hackedepicciotto * 2018: "Joy" Mediatation Album, CD Collaboration hackedepicciotto with Eric Hubel and Vincent Signorelli ''For discography of Alexander Hacke with Einstürzende Neubauten, see:

's discography (all releases).''

Film soundtracks

* 1988 Nihil, oder alle Zeit der Welt, directed by

Uli M Schueppel Uli M Schueppel (born 7 May 1958 in Erbach, Germany as Ulf Schüppel) is a German director and documentary filmmaker. The "M" in the middle of the name is not an abbreviation of a name, but a reference to the Elvis Presley's song "Trouble": ''My m ...

* 1990

A Priori ("from the earlier") and ("from the later") are Latin phrases used in philosophy to distinguish types of knowledge, justification, or argument by their reliance on empirical evidence or experience. knowledge is independent from current ex ...

, directed by Uli M Schueppel * 1992

Vaterland Vaterland means "Fatherland" in German. It may also refer to: *Vaterland, Norway, a neighborhood in Oslo *The ocean liner SS ''Vaterland'', later known as SS ''Leviathan'' *''Liechtensteiner Vaterland'', largest daily newspaper in Liechtenstein * ...

, directed by Uli M Schueppel, together with

Mick Harvey Michael John Harvey (born 29 August 1958) is an Australian musician, singer-songwriter, composer, arranger and record producer. A multi-instrumentalist, he is best known for his long-term collaborations with Nick Cave, with whom he formed Th ...

* 2000

Planet Alex A planet is a large, rounded Astronomical object, astronomical body that is neither a star nor its Stellar remnant, remnant. The best available theory of planet formation is the nebular hypothesis, which posits that an interstellar cloud colla ...

, directed by Uli M Schueppel, together with Mick Harvey * 2004: '' Gegen die Wand'' (Filmmusik), Regie:

* 2005: '' Crossing The Bridge: The Sound Of Istanbul'' (Dokumentarfilm), Regie: ''Fatih Akın'' * 2007: '' Das wilde Leben'', Regie:

Achim Bornhak Achim (; Northern Low Saxon: ''Achem''), commonly Achim bei Bremen, is a municipality and the largest town (population 30,059 in December 2006) in the district of Verden, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the right bank of the Weser, a ...

* 2007: ''Fuori dalle corde'', Regie: Fulvio Bernasconi * 2009: ''Elektrokohle - Von Wegen'' (Darsteller und Filmmusik), Regie: ''Uli M Schueppel'' * 2009: ', Regie:

Esther Gronenborn Esther Gronenborn (born 1968 in Oldenburg) is a German film director and screenwriter A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenp ...

* 2009: ''Last Cowboy Standing'', Regie:

Zaida Bergroth Zaida Bergroth (born 8 February 1977) is a Finnish film director best known for her 2020 film '' Tove''. Career Bergroth was born in Kivijärvi in 1977. She graduated from the Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture in 2004. ...

* 2010: ''Empire Me - Der Staat bin Ich!'', Regie:

Paul Poet Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) *Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity * Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chri ...

* 2011: ''Lollipop Monster'', Regie:

Ziska Riemann Ziska may refer to: * Jan Žižka, a Czech military officer * '' Ziska: The Problem of a Wicked Soul'', a horror novel by Marie Corelli Mary Mackay (1 May 185521 April 1924), also called Minnie Mackey, and known by her pseudonym Marie Corelli ...

* 2012:

Polluting Paradise ''Polluting Paradise'' (german: Der Müll im Garten Eden, also known as ''Garbage in the Garden of Eden'') is a 2012 German documentary film directed by Fatih Akın. The film was screened in the Special Screenings section at the 2012 Cannes Film ...

, Regie:

Fatih Akin Fatih Akin (Turkish: Fatih Akın, born 25 August 1973) is a German film director, screenwriter and producer of Turkish descent. He has won numerous awards for his films, including the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival for his film '' Hea ...

* 2015: The Cut, Regie: Fatih Akin * 2018: "Iuventa" Regie: Michele Cinque, together with Danielle de Picciotto * 2018: "Zersetzt" Regie: HansJörg Thurn, together with Danielle de Picciotto

DVD

*2006

The Mountains of Madness ''The Mountains of Madness'' is an audiovisual musical adaptation of the works of H. P. Lovecraft by Tiger Lillies, Danielle de Picciotto and Alexander Hacke. It was conceived by Hacke in 2005. Tiger Lillies performs the music with narration by H ...

(with

and

) *2008 Ship Of Fools (with

) *2009 "In Berlin" Documentary by Michael Ballhaus and Ciro Cappellary *2010 How Long is Now (with Danielle de Picciotto)

References

External links

Officiel site
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hacke, Alexander 1965 births Living people Musicians from Berlin German electronic musicians German industrial musicians German rock bass guitarists Male bass guitarists Einstürzende Neubauten members German experimental musicians Alternative rock bass guitarists Crime & the City Solution members German male guitarists