Alex Wiska

Alex Wiska (born November 12, 1950 in Dattenfeld ; actually Alexander Wiska ; † March 3, 2011 in Siegburg ) was a German musician. He gained fame primarily through the use of an electrically amplified Saz as a solo musician and with his band Alex Oriental Experience .

biography

Wiska's musical career began in Cologne in the 1960s when he was a member of the bands Famous Four and Playboys . Wiska was first heard on a record release in 1967 on the Playboys single Ombächli . In 1968 he studied for two semesters at the Cologne Conservatory of Music, but then left his hometown and came to Ibiza via New York, where he founded the band Sweet Stoned with Uli Hundt (later: Schroeder Roadshow ) . In 1970 Wiska came to Turkey and became a guitarist in the successful band of Cem Karaca , with whom he achieved two "gold records". With Mahzuni Serif he learned how to use the saz, which in an electrically amplified version he developed was his future instrument of choice.

Back in Germany, Holger Czukay , Jaki Liebezeit and Irmin Schmidt von Can produced Wiska's first solo LP in 1972, followed by the second solo LP produced by Liebezeit in 1974. From 1976 to 1980 Wiska performed numerous solo appearances with saz and rhythm machine, a. a. in the opening act for Frank Zappa and Bad Company . In 1980 he finally founded the band Alex Oriental Experience with Manni von Bohr and Horst Stachelhaus , which released 13 albums by 1998 on Wiska's label Wiska Records , which was also founded in 1980 . He was friends with the Turkish musician Gültekin Kaan .

Web links

• Biography at krautrock-musik Zirkus.de
• Rockpalast archive with information on performances from 1985 and 1992
• Obituary for Alex Wiska

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Martin Schneider: 'Alex': Wild 1973 'Turk-Rock' project with some help from Can's Jaki Liebezeit and Holger Czukay. In: Dangerous Minds. October 17, 2016, accessed October 15, 2019 .