Kostas Alexakis becomes “Alex K”
Sep 7, 2009 Guitarists, Kostas Alexakis/Alex K/Kotsadoros
Posted by
geden
A very good friend of mine will be launching his new album soon. When I say soon, I mean it could be anytime between now and the theoretical end of the universe. The album is estimated to be released at the end of this year (in time for your Christmas stockings to be filled) but it might even happen sooner.
Back to the point! His name is Kostas Alexakis, hailing from Corfu in Greece. This is a spontaneous interview I did with him on MSN messenger. The idea is to promote “Alex K” and his up and coming album and to give everyone an idea of what “Alex K” and his music is about.
VS: “When did you start playing the guitar?
Kostas: “It all started when My father bought me a guitar for my 16th birthday. It was a Fender Squire, with a Floyd-Rose tremelo system. I eventually sanded the whole thing down to the wood, by hand.”
VS: ”What made you do that?!”
Kostas: ”Because it was pink!” (Camp laughter…kidding)
“I played that for a year, then wanted to sell it and quit guitar, but I sold it and got my white Ibanez RG 550, brand new!” (A guitar which is used on the album)
VS: “What made you want to quit the guitar?”
Kostas: ”I wanted to buy something else, but to buy that something else, I had to sell my guitar to raise the funds for it.”
VS: “What made you decide to keep the guitar?”
Kostas: “My mother told me to keep the guitar, but I thought it would be okay if I bought another guitar with the money I made from the Squier.”
VS: ”So it looks like you should be thanking your mother for your guitar playing, at this point?” 
Kostas: “That’s for sure.”
“She motivates me, when it comes to music”
VS: How so?
Kostas: “If I’m down about being abroad and away from home, she’s always there to remind me of why I’m doing music. That it’s for my own good and my chances of a career are far greater in London etc.”
VS: “Okay, that’s always a good thing.”
“So what happened next in your life?”
Kostas: “I started a business degree.”
VS: “??????”
Kostas: ”I know, it’s not what you would have thought, a Malmsteen, Vai and Satch obsessed guitarist doing a boring business degree.”
“I was driven by my parents to do it though. I still got through the degree without any problem’s, and I did more playing than ever.”
“I was doing a lot of transcribing at that time as well.”
Speaking of Malmsteen! Now is a good time to show you just how much of an inlfuence Malmsteen was. Kostas is playing on a borrowed Malmsteen strat and blasting over “Blue”
VS: “Looks like you managed to do music and educate yourself at university just fine then.”
“No excuses for other individuals wishing to do music and have a good education.”
“I’m guessing ACM came next?”
Kostas: “That’s right. I decided to audition for the Higher National Diploma at the Academy of Contemporary Music in Guildford, England.”
“It was a spontaneous thought really. I just wanted to do something with music at that time.”
VS: “Would you say that, that was the first time you started to believe in yourself as a player?”
Kostas: “The only reason I started to believe in myself as a player, was because of the support I got from my guitar teacher and my friends.”
“Otherwise, yes, that was the first time I started to think I could do this for a living.”
VS: “I’m guessing you aced the audition at ACM?”
Kostas “The teacher’s at ACM really liked my playing and put me through for the HND without any hesitation.”
VS: “Sounds like a pretty good start.”
“Who inspired you the most at ACM?”
Kostas: “There were 3 players that inspired me the most.”
“Eric Roche, Pete Callard and Guthrie Govan.”
VS: “Eric Roche was an acoustic guitarist, how did you draw influence from him? Was it his playing or his personality?”
Kostas: “Both. Mainly what he had to say about music. He was very spiritual, and he taught me music theory of course”
VS: “Favourite bit of advice from Eric?”
Kostas: “Always try new things.”
VS: “Good advice!”
“Onto the next thing then. You finished the HND at distinction level and went on to do the degree.”
“What was the highlight of the degree for you?”
Kostas: “Meeting Paul Cornford and getting to demo some of his amps at trade shows.”
“That was when I was first getting into valve amps and “real tone”.”
“Jamie Humphries leant me his Harlequin 6 watt Cornford and I was hooked!”
“Otherwise I went on to finish the degree, which was during a very hectic period in my life.”
VS: “What have you been doing since the end of the degree?”
Kostas: “I moved to South-West London and started teaching from a music shop in Wimbledon.”
“I also played in various bands and put the idea of recording an album on hold.”
“I got together with a friend of mine (Jonathan Graham) and we started the band “The Unnamed Faces” http://www.myspace.com/theunnamedfaces
“This, alongside my own project, is what I’ve been working on.”
VS: “So looks like we’ll have a singer/songwriter and a band to blog about soon?”
Kostas: “I hope so.”
VS: “What can you tell us about your debut album?”
Kostas: “I was thinking of calling it “Supernova”
“Because I’m planning on exploding onto the scene hahaha!”
“More because that word describes the way I output music though. SRV, Malmsteen, Vai, Satch and Timmons are all compressed into one small space and are unleashed as an explosion!”
Here’s a video of Kostas doing an amazing version of the famous Satch song “Summer Song”
VS: “You’ve also chosen a new artist name, so that people can identify you more easily. What made you decide to do that?”
Kostas: “Not many people can remember the name Kostas Alexakis very easily, or sometimes even pronounce it. Most people stop after they say Kostas Alex…so I decided to just leave it as Alex, then put my first initial at the end.”
VS: “I guess when you pick up the guitar you become “Alex K”?” (Hands Kostas a virtual guitar)
Alex K: 
http://www.myspace.com/kostasa
http://www.youtube.com/user/kotsadoros
Tags: acm, alex k, eric roche, Guitar, instrumental, joe satriani, kostas alexakis, kotsadoros, malmsteen, satch, Shred
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