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Alex Zander
(b. 1964 in Ohio), is an American writer, editor, publisher, songwriter, radio and club disc jockey, promoter, publicist and actor.
Most well-known as founder, publisher and writer for MK ULTRA Magazine (later renamed MK Magazine in 2004) from 1995-2005, he achieved success as part of the counterculture, underground and industrial rock movements. MK ULTRA Magazine grew from an underground tabloid-style, self-distributed black and white newspaper to a full color glossy-covered magazine which received worldwide distribution, and expanded from 1999-2001 to a nationally syndicated weekly radio program originating out of Chicago known as the MK ULTRA Radio Network.
Alex Zander is currently working on a book of his memoirs in the entertainment industry titled, "Hope Resides in the Unsatisfied Mind". He lives in Chicago, IL.
Biography
Growing up in rural Ohio, Zander’s passion for music, writing and DIY FSU mentality was already present.
Zander’s love of music developed in the 5th grade when he began playing clarinet in the school band. Soon he discovered the rock band KISS - "the perfect mix of comic books, monster movies and music". This led to his life long love and dedication to the art form – Rock-N-Roll.
In the 6th grade he created a zine, Monster Monthly. Inspired by his love of drive-in movies and comic books, it consisted of horror and sci-fi stories which he wrote and edited. He also drew the covers. The school secretary typed his stories and collated them to distribute to classmates.
By the 7th grade Alex had a music column, and learned several other woodwind and brass instruments in band. Gaining an interest to form a rock band and learning guitar, his dream came true in 1979 when he won tickets to see his first rock concert - Cheap Trick. Two months later he attended a KISS concert (the first of over 40), forever inspiring him to pursue some sort of music career.
High school continued his trend to learn and actively seek out music. After hearing the introduction and bass line to The Beatles "Come Together”, he learned the bass guitar his freshman year. By his sophomore year, he quit the high school band to start his own, "Fantazm". He was the lead songwriter and bass player for that band, and the others that followed.
Alex wrote the music column for the high school paper, and began a crusade for the Freedom of Speech in music and entertainment. This included covering the Dead Kennedys’ Frankenchrist Trial in 1986 after corresponding with Jello Biafra’s roommate and founder of the No More Censorship Defense Fund.
During the summers of his freshman and junior years of High School instead of taking the summer off Zander attended radio broadcasting classes at an out of state school and worked full time as well as continued playing in his teen rock bands drawing heavily on post punk and new wave music and were on that image.
In 1983 after graduation he moved out of state and began focusing more on writing and eventually attended college, concentrating on broadcast journalism and public speaking.
During the 1980's he worked in night clubs as a disc jockey and had several of his songs published in newspapers, poetry forums and anthologies. He won several small awards.
Career
His first freelance rock journalist job was with Stage Magazine in 1989. His first interview was with legend, Gene Simmons of KISS.
He continued being a club DJ, while working freelance for several magazines until 1994 when he launched his own publication, MK ULTRA. In January 1995 he landed a cover story with the band, Type O Negative. This would be the first of many interviews with singer Peter Steele. MK ULTRA became a reality as a 28 page newsprint tabloid with a small run of only 250 copies published in Pittsburgh, PA. By the summer of 1995 (and two issues) MK ULTRA received national recognition and subscriptions over the world.
Also in 1995 Alex Zander made his first journey to Chicago, IL for the Convergence gothic music festival. This festival cemented his connection with the music scene in Chicago, and he made his home there in 1998.
In 1999 he produced and hosted an hour long weekly radio program, MK ULTRASOUND on FM station Rebel Radio. Later that year it was picked up by Flagstaff Arizona's LOUD RADIO Network and began syndication as the MK ULTRASOUND Radio Network known for it's cutting edge non mainstream music, dark and sometimes controversial humor as well as in depth live uncensored interviews. The show was also co-hosted by The Madman Mike Jakabow.
By 2003 MK ULTRA had distribution deals with Tower Records and Desert Moon Publications becoming distributed worldwide and also sponsored 2 national tours headlined by Invisible Records artist, Pigface.
Zander also picked up gigs as an independent promoter and publicist, and was the executive producer for several music videos.
MK ULTRA was renamed MK Magazine in 2004. As the music industry began to take a turn, MK Magazine crossed over into rock music and adult entertainment. In that same year Alex Zander was interviewed and photographed for AVN’s (Adult Video News) cover story for their Rock and Porn Issue, and featured in subsequent issues. MK Magazine folded as a print publication in 2005 after his distributors went bankrupt, but continues online at www.mk-magazine.com. The models in MK ULTRA spun off into their own entity as the MK UltraViXXXens.
Zander now heads up AZ ULTRA PRODUCTIONS, Inc. as an Entertainment Industry Consultant.
Film roles
Alex Zander has appeared in several motion pictures including the independent feature "The Mercy Seat" loosely based on the Nick Cave song of the same name in which he played the security guard that killed the films 2 stars/villains at the finale of the movie.
In 2005 he appeared as himself in the Pigface Tour documentary "Free For All" directed by Cliff Sieloff. The films played several major markets in the US, and China.
He recently filmed a small role in the soon-to-be-released "Fancy Pants". Starring: Patrick Gleason, Roddy Piper, Robert Carradine, Hollywood Yates, Richard Kind, Nicholas Turturro, and Beth Horn.
Television
Zander has been on a bevy of entertainment based television shows including, Damon Zex, Soundgroove Rock TV in which he had a regular segment, Chance Chants, JBTV (4 episodes) as well as the Showtime reality series "Family Business" based on the work and life of adult film icon Seymore Butts aka Adam Glasser.
Books
Alex Zander is currently outlining a book of his memoirs titled "Hope Resides in the Unsatisfied Mind" detailing his work in and behind the scenes of the music and entertainment industry.
External Links
MK MAGAZINE: [1]
MK ULTRA History: [2]
About MK ULTRA: [3]
Weblink on Alex Zander: [4]
AVN Articles: [5]
[6]
Appearance on Family Business/trailer: [7]
MK ULTRA Magazine reviews: [8]
Zoominfo: [9]
Myspace page: [10]
MK ULTRA myspace page: [11]
ultravixxxens myspace page: [12]
AZULTRA Productions myspace page: [13]