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Alexander "Xander" Honorat Rapstine was born on
September 12, 1976 on the dusty plains of the Texas
Panhandle. Classically trained on the violin since
age 4 and on the French Horn at 10, music from the
Classical, Baroque, and Romantic periods made up his
primary musical vocabulary. In junior high, Xander
took a heavy interest in rap and hip-hop, which lasted
only a few years until he discovered alternative rock
on a local college radio station (FM 90). From there,
his musical tastes began to branch out, and at the age
of 17, he started learning to play guitar. The first
year was pretty rough, but his abilities quickly
improved. His first band, Lint (aka Inane Excrement),
played only two shows.
In 1995 he moved to Austin to attend the University of
Texas, and took a strong interest in jazz and
progressive rock, all the time tempering these new
directions with classic rock and anything new he could
get his hands on. During his first two summer and
winter breaks, he played drums with his younger
brother and two friends back home in the band
Freemartin. They played a number of shows, but broke
up when the other members left for college as well.
In early 1997, Charlie asked Xander to join a band
that had recently lost its frontman. Xander played
guitar and the vocals were split among the members.
The band was christened It's Not Rocket Science and
played around Austin for a little more than a year.
Other than guesting with the Austin/Dallas band
Climate, there was little musical activity from Xander
between 1998 and 2003. His solo project, Enitspar,
never got off the ground, and two additional bands
with Charlie (Hellers & Schillings and later, Crown
Violet) seemed doomed from the beginning. Upon
returning from a two-year stint in Michigan in 2003,
Charlie and Xander decided to form The Evildoers, and
the rest is history.
Xander's influences are many and varied, but the
following have played the largest roles:
King Crimson, Mr. Bungle, Faith No More, Gabor Szabo,
Dave Brubeck, Commander Cody, Mike Oldfield, Modest
Mussorgsky, Richard Wagner, Black Sabbath, Weezer,
Nickel Creek, Genesis, Gentle Giant, Pink Floyd,
Einstürzende Neubauten, and Dead Can Dance
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