The Beauty Above
The Beauty Above is a solo project created by Alex Koffler, who as composer, producer, and musical alchemist, is the all encompassing voice of the project. The Beauty Above is the culmination of Alex's passion for music and his continuous exploration of diverse cultures, art, and music through his sundry of world travels.
The Beauty Above weaves together heavy guitar driven rock, lush electronic textures, and the sensually hypnotic grooves of the Middle-East, creating an evocative tapestry of innovative sound. This seductive artistry evokes the vigor and raw sexuality of Led Zeppelin and the mystique and etherealness of The Doors, synthesized with a modern edge. It's powerful, it's atmospheric, and it's sexy. In the words of one critic, “It's decadent rock at its finest.”
Tell me about your history? How did you get where you are now?
alex koffler aka the beauty above:
dark-mysterious-sexy
early influences
alex's musical foundation and talent, as both composer and musician, began with his eclectic and intellectual beginnings. being born to ivy league professors nurtured and helped unleash his inexhaustible lust for knowledge, as, undoubtedly, being the great nephew of the legendary musical pioneer kurt weill, wielded the strands of alex's musical and artistic auspices. at the budding age of eight, alex's love affair with the stage began with a performance at madison square garden under the direction of highly revered choreographer jacques d'amboise. later, at age eleven he would study with famed musical composer aaron copland, touted as the "pioneer of american music."
other interests and influences
alex relentlessly seeks to incorporate his influences and interests into his music. lust, his newly released ep is an example of alex's brilliant fusion of heavy metal with traditional middle-eastern rhythms. alex's other strong areas of interests are mysticism, sacred geometry, eastern philosophy and thought, cultural anthropology, and political science. after being raised in nyc, alex has lived in paris, milan, tokyo, bali, sedona, arizona, austin, texas, and currently resides in los angeles. travels have led him throughout africa, europe, north, south, and central america. after a brief stint playing keyboards with a newly incarnated red temple spirits, alex moved to austin, texas, to begin work on his first solo project, the beauty above. lust, alex's first solo ep, was recorded in the fall of 2003. in addition to the ep, alex composed the soundtrack for the forthcoming short film "the path of darkness," which will be released into the festival circuit in 2004.
Have you performed live in front of an audience? Any special memories?
yes
Your musical influences
god I don't know where to begin? Brian Eno, Bill Laswell, Massive Attack, Killing Joke, David Bowie, Sabbath, Zeppelin, Sakamoto, Kraftwerk, Trent Reznor, Layne Staley, David Sylvian, iles Davis, Coltrane... these days I'm really into King Crimson.
