1972–2023
Alex Christaki was a kind, empathetic, intelligent, creative and remarkable person.
A musician, photographer, geek, entrepreneur, dreamer and philanthropist, Alex was simply known to many people across Plymouth as "The Smileonthetiles guy".
Alex meant a lot of things to a lot of people and he often gave his time and energy so generously to others, moreso than anyone could ever give to him.
Many were unaware that Alex was a very talented, classically trained jazz pianist specialising in solo contemporary piano and holding a BSc in Music.
His involvment with music started at a young age and he spent a lot of time as a teacher of music and music technology, sharing his passion for everything musical with those who loved it as much as he did.
Alex performed all over the South West for events, jazz festivals, weddings and social occasions and was one of the two members of The Half Quartet.
In 2018, Alex partnered with a local artist to introduce pianos to the streets of Plymouth.
Alex helped to fund the project as part of the larger "Street pianos" project which saw 1,850 pianos installed in 55 cities across the globe.
In addition to his music, Alex loved photography. His passion for it spawned Smileonthetiles which argueably became his greatest success.
Alex built a small empire of nighttime photography across Plymouth. Covering 2,350 nights out in Plymouth in 213 different venues he and his team amassed over 1.8 million photos.
To many, Alex was the original nighttime photographer and inspired many clubs to branch out and find their own photographers. Nevertheless, Alex remained the most popular and successful.
MVI_5425.MOVAlex took Smileonthetiles to new heights by working closely with the Plymouth Herald, sending them the best photos every week to feature in a spread.
This was a task that he achieved every week for over 10 years. Come rain or shine, Smileonthetiles photos always appeared in the Herald.
Alex loved technology and his distain for Apple products was hilariously legendary.
He could always be found playing with the latest gadget, camera, steadicam, games console, home security system or weather station and generally enjoyed talking tech with people who loved it as much as he did.
Alex loved urban exploration and often used his gadgets as a reason to go out and explore parts of the world that others had forgotten.
In the last few years of his life, Alex spent some time working with the Samaratins. In five years he managed to amount over 7,000 hours either on call or on shift.
In 2010, Alex started a movement known as PASV in which he attempted to bring attention to the rise in street violence across Plymouth.
I feel so lucky to have known Alex for 5 years through Samaritans, but that’s 10% of his life and I’m the new boy on the block looking through one particular lens. So, it has been a heart-warming and cathartic delight to discuss the huge topic of ‘Alex’ with a number of those close to him in the last 10 days. Any misrepresentation now is my fault alone.
And where do you start with a man who packed enough for two lives into his own half-lifetime? Another mighty Greek, Aristotle, said “Give me a child until he is 7 and I will show you the man.” So, let’s start with the baby and child. I’m told he never slept, he was always hungry; a demanding, and very active, cheeky, loveable character, whose later school reports mentioned ‘disruptive’ more than once. Does this sound familiar?
Well, yes, but who could possibly predict how that restlessness and curiosity would shape him. As an infant, he was able to quickly and naturally pick out tunes on the keyboard that he’d heard. His parents wisely channelled this with early piano lessons and, in due course, he’d achieved Grade 8, gone to study music at Dartington College of Arts and then Bath College of Music. As a music professional, he taught first in Basingstoke and then back here at Estover Community College, renowned for its music.
While at Estover, he wrote ‘Prynoukia’, a superb 21-minute piece for full orchestra and steel band which was performed live in Plymouth in 1998 by the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra and Real Steel.
Three years earlier, he wrote the string arrangements for 3 tracks on The Stranglers album ‘About Time’ – if you’re into the Stranglers you’ll know his string introduction to Still Life that lasts a minute and a half.
For many years he was one half of the Half Quartet and brought delight at so many gigs. He was also a sponsor of the Piano Project to get his instrument into places where anyone could play. As one arts commentator said, an excellent pianist, composer, arranger and music tech wizz. As with everything else in his life, he didn’t keep it to himself – he continued to teach piano and music tech, and his friends include many talented musicians. His neighbours in Blandford Road were treated to impromptu jam sessions and, as sleep never seemed that important to Alex, to the occasional passionate rendition of his favourite Beethoven at 2 in the morning. One special friend treated me to a recent video in which Alex argues passionately with himself over who was more perfect, Beethoven or Bach. You couldn’t disagree with his conclusion that Bach was more perfect but Beethoven wins top spot. Why? Because Ludwig challenged convention, broke rules, pushed boundaries, constantly improved. Just like Alex, eh?
While teaching in Basingstoke, he took up photography and look where that took him. Isn’t one talent enough, Alex? Perhaps making people joyful through their ears was simply not enough. Out one night on commission to get photos for View 2’s new website, he saw the way people reacted to having their pictures taken while they were in party mood. “We can do this” he declared and with his partner founded Smile on the Tiles. How many of us have heard him say “we can do this” in relation to just about anything that doesn’t seem to have been done before? For the enthusiastic, smiling Alex, everything was do-able.
They, and the growing band of photographers employed, were out taking photos until 2 a.m. then back uploading them until dawn onto a creaking web picture gallery, heavy with the weight of the hundreds of thousands of gleeful revellers. Through yet more special friendships with talented people, Smile on the Tiles got a new website fit for its scale, and the 1.8 million photos it holds is testament to Alex’s creativity, his fearlessness, and, particularly, the energetic passion that made his ideas come to life.
That’s what happens when you combine the power to dream with an incisive clarity of thought and the strength of character to make things happen. You get an artist, a social innovator. Let’s be honest, you also get someone who would challenge and debate, sometimes when the rest of us didn’t have the energy for it. His ability to get to the crux of a matter meant he was able to easily find fault and articulate it – almost always with kindness and an innate desire to make things better. Yet he also had an enduring, childlike, sense of wonderment, perhaps why he loved astronomy and the concept of our boundless universe.
We’ve recalled that infant who never slept, was always hungry, demanding, active and disruptive. But what happened to the cheeky little boy?
Well, I wonder if Alex ever left his eight-year-old self behind, because almost everything he did was done with the intensity of childhood self-belief and an innocent glee that could tip into prankishness. Never intended to be at other people’s expense, he nonetheless derived huge amusement from playing the fool.
Two stories from very close friends bring this to life. He loved watching the shopping channel QVC and, following a last ever chance to buy a 145-bar pressure washer at a once-only price, he called the freephone and asked “What happens when the bars run out?”. The puzzled agent didn’t understand, “you said it had 145 bars, what should I do when they run out?”. You can imagine how he allowed that conversation to run for some time.
On another occasion, Boxing Day in Drakes Circus, the same Detective Columbo-esque feigned ineptitude played out. Wanting his burger, bun, toppings and fries in an uncommon combination, and being remarkably slow and indecisive at the order point, it was hardly surprising the server got it wrong. A little while later, on discovering a topping discrepancy, he took it back to the counter and asked them to make the modification to it. Their (almost certainly wise and safe) response was to give him another burger, so he spent the next 5 minutes making a short video about how to get a free burger. It's so Alex, so innocent, so funny, so childish, so carefree, so spontaneous.
And the loveable character? Surely what made him so loveable was the amount of love and loyalty he showed for his fellow human. So much of what he did in life was to make other people happier or more joyful - his music, his photography, his technical wizardry; and his soul was fed by the pleasure so evident on the faces around him. But it went further and deeper than giving joy. He knew that most of us have periods of panic, of uncertainty, of darkness, of fear, of aloneness, of not belonging, and he passionately wanted to gift a little bit of his calm and sureness, light and safety, companionship and acceptance. Alex wanted to bring us all hope and he wouldn’t give up on people. I’ve been told a few times “He always had my back”. Incidentally, he also had a fondness for very small animals like the pair of apparently male rats that produced 15 babies one Christmas, although I’m told he hadn’t yet understood larger creatures like dogs.
Perhaps looking for a more structured channel to support people, he joined Samaritans 5 years ago. I was blessed to be Alex’s mentor at that time and asked him if he wanted to use his own name. “I think I will give Al a try – do you think that would suit me?”. Written down, it looked wrong, like A.I. Intelligence, oh yes, in wild abundance but there was nothing artificial about our Alex. He was the very definition of genuine.
Most volunteers at Samaritans do a 3 hour shift each week, perhaps a few other bits to help keep things running smoothly. Not Al, as soon as he was through his 6-month probation, he volunteered for more. It won’t surprise any of you that he dived in with headfirst generosity, the only way he knew. In five years, he completed 7,234 hours on call or on shift, more than a full-time job! He was a Listening Volunteer, Shift Leader, Trainer, Mentor, member of the Recruitment & Selection Team, Deputy Director for I.T., member of the Branch Leadership Team, and Trustee. It’s as if he became a part of the furniture, and a member of the family.
And that’s why this church is full. Because Alex made us all feel we belonged to one big family. And so he will always be for his parents, his brother, his son, his fiancée, his wider family, his closest friends, and those of us who missed the first 45 years of this blockbuster of a perfect gentleman’s life.
As I think of Alex sleeping now, he’s doubtless salivating at the thought of his Mum’s next Moussaka, listening to Beethoven’s Ode to Joy, while dreaming up a wildly implausible scheme to rid the world of unhappiness. And the thing is, we all know if he had one more life, he’d have made that happen and we’d all be roped in to help.
Thank you for inspiring us all, Alex.
Alex, you were like an older brother to me. We could have spent two lifetimes together and still not had enough time to do all the things we wanted to do.
You helped me to dream big and gave me the courage to go and achieve what I wanted. The laughter we had will never be forgotten and I am forever indebted to you for the happiness I now have.
The time we shared was short but fantastic and I feel privileged to have met you and had the chance to call you my friend.
