This music and photography project revolves around a substantial part of our personal memories – memories of both our childhood and youth in Europe’s largest prefab estate in Berlin-Marzahn-Hellersdorf, East Germany, during the politically intense 1980s and 1990s. The building project started out with good intentions – it was established as a quick fix to the social issue of housing shortage. Yet at first glance, the endless grey rows of cold concrete and steel came across as rather anonymous and gloomy during this last decade of the communist-era GDR. Nonetheless it was the world we were living in – daily routines with our family and friends, school and holidays. And it was also during that time that we started practicing our first instruments. After the Peaceful Revolution in 1989, the subsequent fall of the Berlin Wall and all through the 1990s, the area kept its contradictory atmosphere of vibrant euphoria and underlying melancholia. As we strongly felt the need to incorporate all different aspects of these turbulent times into our work, we decided to release them in a series of records over the next years to come. While CONCRETE FIELDS was dedicated to our childhood behind the Iron Curtain in the 1980s, WÆNDE was a collection of impressions regarding the sudden fall of the Wall – the moment of change that is shaping us to this very day.
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Now we turn to the no less intense 1990s – for us, those years bring to mind family trips and our sheer amazement for the vast beauty of the world. Together we travelled to the furthest corners of our planet, we were thrown into unfamiliar, often rather crazy situations and willingly absorbed the, up to then, unknown to broaden our rather narrow horizon – triggered by the restricted travel options in the fenced and walled republic east of the river Elbe. Yet we were hit with a certain kind of longing towards the end of this decade, a feeling of both melancholia and nostalgia for especially ONE of the most magical resorts and retreats of the former GDR: “our” small holiday island HIDDENSEE – east of Rügen in the Baltic Sea. It was only later that we rediscovered this car-free paradise – a place completely rejecting the usual concept of seaside glamour with shopping malls and nightlife districts. We learned that, during GDR times, people coming to the island were not only longing for a glimpse of the often clear Western shore, but also used it as a starting point for attempted escapes, either equipped with air mattresses or simply swimming for their lives.
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The album picks up the dually cubistic style established by our last album WÆNDE: it explores Daniel’s distinctive piano sound with its phrases revealing both a reduced fragility and a reclusive intimacy, confronting Sebastian’s free cello textures and patterns. At the same time, analogue synthesisers and filters as well as time-based effects play an increasing role but are still being used for emphasis only. The setup – up to now rather intimate and acoustic – is gradually expanding into the direction of electronic music. Apart from his Klingenthal cello, which he only recently added to his setup, Sebastian for the second time since our solo debut – the recently released EP Q3A with his track “An Daniel” – uses the two handmade analogue kick and bass synthesisers from Erlbach. Klingenthal is one of the four infamous places in the Saxon “Musikwinkel” – German for “musical area” – of the Vogtlandkreis. Erlbach as well is a town in that very region. Daniel, on the other hand, is playing his restored childhood upright together with a heavily altered, organic drone synthesiser – just as in his track “For Sebastian” on the last release. The piece was designed by a Ukrainian radio engineer and musician who later emigrated to Russia.
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In line with previous works, – THE GRUNEWALD CHURCH SESSION, CONCRETE FIELDS, WÆNDE and the Q3A EP – HIDDENSEE is based on novel improvisation enclosing a simple structure of accessible melodic or harmonic motifs. The initially modest compositions are gradually transformed from sketches into exceptional musical happenings. The subtle use of additional technology also sparks new ideas. Whether the stroking, twitching, knocking on the cello’s bridge or the triple ping pong delay itself which triggers the sequenced filter – the newly developed figures open up a new level of inspiration. Perfectly synchronised by use of a Clock, the echo effect – panned hard to both left and right – illustrates the joy we find in experimenting with dualism. The sound is, by the way, completely made without computer equipment. Daniel’s piano is also paired up with a synthesiser in his setup, engaging the listener in a lively dialogue between keys and the synthesiser’s electronic contact switches. Emerging only sporadically, the tremolo is timed to match Sebastian’s Clock. Only a few dark pieces can be found on this record. The intentional gloomy emptiness of the last two albums – in the course of which only the frugal but equal emotive interplay of both instruments offered the occasional glimpse of light – has faded away almost completely. Rhythmic tracks are taking over here, recreating the feelings of joy, freedom and wanderlust we experienced back then.
While most of the pieces are constructed with a certain kind of density, we still leave enough time and space for personal contemplation. Ultimately, this establishes a dialogue that exceeds our original instruments cello and piano – using remnants of the past: half-forgotten movies from the 1980s, love songs, and the retro-futuristic architecture of the communist era. These elements come together in a volute to reveal something utterly moving and beautiful: Little twists and humour will always be essential to our work – without them we might not have understood those troubled times without sunlight, beaches and adventures as well as we do now. It was humorous words filled with ambiguity and the ability to read between the lines – brief glimpses of light – that brought new life into our prefab world where slight resignation and hopelessness was tough to beat from time to time. Both literally and metaphorically, this approach alludes to the two sides of the Berlin Wall – or, as one could say, to the two sides of the same coin.
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HIDDENSEE is already the third project to be produced at our very own Klingenthal Studio. Again we mixed the complete set at once – centrally by means of our live mixer and directed solely by the nuanced and dynamic play of our instruments. Apart from the final mastering, we used a simultaneous production process: all tracks were recorded as stereo mixes without extensive editing and spatial effects. With a great portion of intuition instead of obsessive practicing, we recorded improvisations based on simple motifs. This experimental, slightly archaic and seemingly incidental way of recording again refers back to our musical beginnings – first steps that can still be heard.
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Among our studio setup, a fully analogue mixing console can be found – originally built between the 1960s and 1970s for professional radio broadcasting – with high-end tube preamps as well as a select collection of iconic restored microphones of East German and Russian origin.
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Aiming to make the complex recording process sound more authentic, we gladly accepted the invitation of Antonio Pulli to re-record at the legendary Funkhaus in Berlin. Years ago he had supported us together with Francesco Donadello back when we were working at Vox-Ton Studio. Now he opened up the massive gates to Nils Frahm’s impressive studio scape for use – an inspiring atmosphere that comes close to that of a museum, located at the house’s once highly frequented Block B in Nalepastraße. Here at Saal 3, we had the chance to work with a reverb chamber, using analogue treasures to capture the results on diverse tape machines.
The former architect Franz Ehrlich made use of the house-in-house concept to create a concrete base that allows for sheer masterful acoustics: trapezoidal studios rest on individual foundations, separated from one another by reverb chambers and expansion joints. The sound design results from a successful synthesis of spatial concept, miking and reverb chambers, which are still fully intact. From the very beginning up to this day, the reverbs at Funkhaus are “made by hand”.
When we were young, we frequently visited Funkhaus – especially for the huge staff Christmas parties in the large canteen, during which children would sit on the radio Santa Claus’ lap to be rewarded with the desired present. To our utmost dismay, we learned that the new owner was about to tear down the walls in order to “make more room for storage”. When we heard that Nils Frahm had successfully convinced him of these historical premises and the value they have to offer – at the same time conveying the recording potential for contemporary musicians – this not only came as a huge relief but it also felt as if we were given a precious present once again. We are more than happy to support Nils with our work and to help preserve this house, this sonorous piece of home – a present that we pass on to our audience, which again contributes by filling Funkhaus with new life. We truly believe that these walls are living, breathing beings with heart and soul – while re-recording, it felt as if the reverb chamber itself was trembling with hope and joy.
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Finally and once again HIDDENSEE was given into the gifted hands of Martyn Heyne who mastered the record at his beautiful Lichte Studio in Berlin. Andreas LUPO Lubich made the lacquer cut at Schnittstelle Berlin.
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The artwork of the LP, both on the cover and inside of the record sleeve, reveals two more images from our photo session in 2015. We chose a short series with a typical prefab building that was very common during that time and that is shown here from different angles. Convoluted, contorted, anonymous, including not only a vast number of balconies but also enormous mosaics – and a tom-cat on the window sill here and there. The images were shot at the present day, using – with some professional guidance of Anne Krausz – original cameras from that time. They can be found in almost all our releases. The cover image portrays the apartment block from an again ambiguous perspective – it resembles both a ship’s bow and a mountain.
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The Special Edition on 100 vinyls will be released including a serigraphed collection of 12 postcards – matching the number of tracks on this album. These cards were produced with a risograph and show the island Hiddensee as depicted in a home video from 1986. While the video was shot on an original AG8 hand camera from the former CSSR, the risograph prints from Japan are environmentally friendly.
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There are many more details to be found – all of which are philosophically and musically based on the dualist approach. All tempi, for instance, are double-digits. But maybe we are drifting off here a little too far :-D
What can be said is that we have once again committed ourselves to this long term project with every fibre of our being and we hope that you will “mitkommen“ on this “wunderbare“ journey. Enjoy this new puzzle piece of our collective memories. We hope it will inspire you to take some time for yourself and contemplate your own stories. But who knows, it might as well just spark your joy of discovery and wanderlust.

The project is dedicated to our loving parents Harald and Gabriele, who never cease to inspire and support us. For Alma Lucia *22.02.2019!

ALOHA!
Sebastian & Daniel Selke
May 2019
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