Luckily music not only consists of the familiar seven white notes, six note values and a manageable amount of styles, but first and foremost of an unlimited number of ways of expressing yourself. Some of them are harsh and abrasive, some sweetish, playful or mellifluous, others cumbersome, avant-garde or even bizarre. Experience has shown that music is usually most fun when it sounds inspired and visionary. In this respect, TEMPORARIS, the solo debut by Southern German guitarist Alexander Schädler, generates an unusual amount of enjoyment, because Schaedler arches his artistic signature across a multitude of different atmospheres, styles and influences. It’s this rich variety of different facets which makes TEMPORARIS a very special tour de force through the creative orbit of a musician who helps himself to (almost) every shade that contemporary music has to offer. Summing them up in a few words wouldn’t do justice to the ten songs on the album (seven original compositions plus three interpretations), that’s why we advise you to listen to them and make up your own mind! Alexander Schaedler at least would definitely be in favour of this approach.
Schaedler has played the guitar since the early eighties, taking regular lessons since 1984 and studying at the Stuttgart State University of Music and the Performing Arts from 1999 to 2006. Ever since, the multi-instrumentalist (he plays the guitar, drums, bass, piano and banjo) has worked as a guitar instructor and freelance live and studio guitarist. Between 1994 and 1995, he was also a member of the Brunswick group, Shifty Sheriffs, teaming up three years later with Love Like Blood, who enjoy great international renown on the strength of their numerous releases. His first solo album TEMPORARIS sees Schädler blend different musical styles and techniques in new ways, combining – as he calls it – “guitarist and compositional skills with the benefits of modern technology. I like to explore my musical vision and discover new forms of expression through the multi-layered application of all available media.”
And that’s exactly how TEMPORARIS works: be it the groovily rocking instrumental ‘Summerside’ (according to Schaedler “a little AC/DC, Joe Satriani and Steve Morse”), the offbeat ‘Freakk Phunk’ with its unconventional halftone/whole tone scale, the country number ‘Creepy Cheese’ in an obvious bluegrass tradition or – watch out! – ‘Aus Boehmen kommt die Musik’, originally sung by Austrian crooner Peter Alexander, given the rock guitar treatment in Schädler’s version. He sees ‘Perturbado’, on the other hand, as an homage to the renowned trio, Al Di Meola/Paco De Lucia/John McLaughlin, while the medley ‘Potpourrix’ consists of ten popular melodies by classical composers, embedded in a mix of rock, pop, punk, country and reggae. There are no taboos on TEMPORARIS, and boundaries are blurred in the context of this diverse album. Schaedler produced TEMPORARIS, on which he played and programmed all instruments himself, at his own studio, before entrusting the result to Ralf Dietel (KrashKarma, ex-Nine Inch Nails) in Los Angeles for mastering. Schaedler: “I have used the computer as a musical medium which opened up a whole new creative working environment. The interaction with the capabilities of state-of-the-art digital audio workstations is an important part of my compositional concept.”
To cut a long story short: this is no musical fast food or uniform pulp; Alexander Schaedler’s album stands out by its sheer craftsmanship, compositional talent and the courage not to allow pseudo-standards and would-be taboos to limit his creative spirit. TEMPORARIS doesn’t demand a university education from its listeners, it asks only two things: an open mind and curiosity about unusual music!
