Xao Seffcheque

Xaõ Seffcheque, born Alexander Sevschek (also credited under the name Alexander Seusek), was an Austrian musician, songwriter, music journalist, screenwriter and filmmaker whose career became closely connected with the Düsseldorf punk and New Wave scene. Born on January 5, 1956, in Graz, Austria, he moved to Düsseldorf in November 1977, drawn by the city's developing underground music and alternative art scenes. He quickly became involved in the local counterculture, joining the experimental music and performance collective padlt noidlt, alongside Mike Hentz, Michael Jansen and Frank Köllges. The group combined music, improvisation and performance art, providing an introduction to the more unconventional side of the Düsseldorf scene. 

 
Alongside his musical activities, Seffcheque began writing about punk and New Wave for the German music magazine Sounds and the Rowohlt publishing house's Rock-Session series. His writing was characterised by an irreverent sense of humour and a close connection with the musicians and scenes he covered. He subsequently contributed to Spex, the influential alternative music magazine launched in Cologne in 1980, documenting the rapidly changing German underground.

 
His recording career began around 1980 with Xao Seffcheque + Post and the limited-edition 10-inch 'Deutschland Nicht Über Alles'. Featuring Rainer Mackenthun, Frank Mart and Andreas Brüning, the record introduced his deliberately provocative approach to punk and New Wave. That same period brought 'Sehr Gut Kommt Sehr Gut', an unusual release presented as though it were a compilation featuring Kraftwerk, DAF and Der Plan, although all the tracks had actually been performed by Seffcheque himself. The record played with the identities, sounds and conventions of the German electronic and punk scenes, using humour and parody as part of its musical approach. 

 
Seffcheque also worked with the group Blässe, recording the single 'Lieben Sie Saxofon' in December 1980 alongside Brigitte Bühler and Eva Gössling, contributing bass and drums. He subsequently developed several projects under different names, including Xaõ Und Die Pest, Xaõ Und Der Rest and Xaõ Und Die Post. The 1981 LP 'Ja – Nein – Vielleicht' brought together his interest in punk, experimental pop, satire and deliberately eccentric songwriting. Another project was O.R.A.V.s (Ohne Rücksicht auf Verluste), which he developed with writer Peter Glaser. Their contribution to the split LP 'O.R.A.V.s / Deutschland-Terzett', released on Alfred Hilsberg's influential ZickZack label in 1981, included playful reinterpretations of songs by Fehlfarben, turning their often confrontational lyrics and arrangements into something considerably more absurd. 

 
His connections with Düsseldorf's punk community also brought him into contact with Fehlfarben. He briefly played with the group and maintained close relationships with several of its members. In 1981, he joined forces with Fehlfarben singer Peter Hein to establish Family 5. The project developed a distinctive mixture of punk energy, soul, funk, brass arrangements and sharp social commentary. With Seffcheque involved in songwriting, guitar and the group's broader creative direction, Family 5 became a long-running undertaking, releasing numerous albums and remaining active until 2021. 

 
His activities extended beyond recording and performing. Between 1984 and 1985, he appeared as a presenter on the West German television programme "Musik Convoy", alongside Alan Bangs and Robert Treutel, including a recurring segment called Quiz Mit Xao. He continued contributing to various publications, including Sounds, Musikexpress, Spex, Tempo and Twen, while also making occasional appearances as an actor. 

 
From the 1980s onwards, Seffcheque increasingly concentrated on screenwriting, film production and directing. Among his best-known projects was "Manta – Der Film" (1991), for which he was involved in writing the screenplay. Other credits included "Einfach Nur Liebe" (1994), "Theaterdonner" (1995), "Mit Meinen Augen" (1996), "Die Spur Meiner Tochter" (2000) and episodes of the German television crime series "Tatort" and "Polizeiruf 110". He also directed the short film "Mom" in 1997 and later worked on "Die Kleinen Und Die Bösen" (2015) and "Postings" (2020), the latter of which he co-wrote and co-produced.

 
His connection with the Düsseldorf punk scene remained an important part of his later work. In 2005, the youth theatre production "Helden Für Einen Tag", written with Martin Ritzenhoff, revisited the city's 1979 punk culture through a fictional story. The project was subsequently adapted into the WDR radio play "Zurück Zum Beton" in 2012. In 2019, Seffcheque and Edmund Labonté published "Geschichte Wird Gemacht – Deutscher Untergrund In Den Achtzigern", an illustrated book documenting the German underground of the 1980s, featuring essays, around 250 photographs by Richie Gleim and an accompanying CD of music from the period.

 
After moving to Cologne in 2001, Seffcheque continued working as a screenwriter, composer and teacher, giving courses in screenwriting, dramaturgy and film production at several institutions, including the SAE Institute and Hochschule Macromedia. He died in Cologne on May 26, 2023, aged 67.