Photo by Giulia Rizzini

"Tempelhof was born, more or less, two years go.  At that time I was recording some acoustic tracks with Luciano [Ermondi] for a project called Mesico; we had known each other a long time, since we used to play in bands inspired by the likes of Joy Division, New Order, Interpol. . ." says Paolo Mazzacani, one half of the Italian electronic post-rock duo.  "After the sessions I went to Berlin for a week to visit my good friend Mizzi Stratolin, a talented Italian painter [later responsible for the Tempelhof album artwork], who lives in Neukölln, close to Kreuzberg, near Tempelhof airport, the old airport of Berlin. "One of those days, probably on our way back from UFA Fabrik, the International Center for Culture and Ecology, Mizzi pointed out Tempelhof, and told me the story of the airport, that it was a symbol of Nazi power, and that, afterwards, during the Second World War, it became a symbol of hope and freedom.  When I returned to Berlin, Luciano, who is a DJ and a big fan of electronic and dance music, was working on a track and asked me to put some guitar over the song.  That was the beginning of Tempelhof, and today that song is Enjoy Neukölln.

"All our work is inspired by cinema and video art.  Since the very beginning we have collaborated with Andrew Meneghelli of the Bologna Film Library Archive.  He allowed us the opportunity to work with film from the turn of the last century, in order to create little soundtracks.  The films, in many cases black and white, or hand coloured, frame by frame, are stunning - including experiments with the first modern cameras, and rudimentary special effects.  Our songs are like musical comments to these films, and they have certainly had a main role in out composing process.

"The album title - We Were Not The From The Beginning, We Will Not Be There For The End - is a reinterpreted phrase from William S. Burroughs' Naked Lunch.  I've always been impressed by the solemnity of Burroughs' writing; every single word has its own character, and he puts them together like a musician does with notes.  His writing is very musical, in an obscure way, very dramatic - you can find something close to that in our musical approach, I guess.

"Altering the original phrase - 'You were not there for the beginning, you will not be there for the end, your knowledge of what is going on can only be superficial and relative' - you been, trivially, an attempt to take a picture of our time, in this very moment, without defining it, because we are living in indefinable times, musically speaking.  We were not there when everything began; when the first jazz soloists were playing, when someone had the idea to put a microphone in an acoustic guitar, and, fortunately, we won't be there for the end.  On one hand, it is like pronouncing enthusiastically, 'Come on!  We are here, this is our moment!", on the other hand, it is questioning what it means to be a musician in 2009: we are only one of millions of talented bands all over the world!

"Anyway, I can announce that our next album will be called Your Knowledge of What Is Going On Can Only Be Superficial and Relative."

Tempelhof myspace

Tempelhof appears on:
We Were Not There For The Beginning, We Won't Be There for the End CD Album - link
Leaving Home / Cage individually-painted 12" vinyl - link