Tele is a German rock/pop band from

Freiburg Freiburg im Breisgau or simply Freiburg is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fourth-largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, Mannheim and Karlsruhe. Its built-up area has a population of abou ...

(now

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

Band history

Before being signed to Tapete Records a few years later, Tele self-produced their debut album, ''Tausend und ein Verdacht'', in 2000. Their sound and style consisted of an

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand in the early to mid-1980s. Although the term was originally used to describe rock music released through independent reco ...

guitar sound, and they arranged their songs in a

post-rock Post-rock is a subgenre of experimental rock that emphasizes Texture (music), texture, atmosphere, and non-traditional song structures over conventional rock techniques. Post-rock artists often combine rock instrumentation and rock stylings wit ...

way. The record company Tapete Records from

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

distributed their album in 2002 and published an EP with five new songs. Tapete Records published their second album, ''Wovon sollen wir leben'', in 2004. This album contains mainly German pop songs with background stories in the texts. In the majority of cases, the texts deal with the individual's everyday life, often with respect to their love affairs. Tele's music resembles that of the 1980s, but not necessarily in an intentional,

retro Retro style is imitative or consciously derivative of lifestyles, trends, or art forms from the past, including in music, modes, fashions, or attitudes. It has been argued that there is a nostalgia cycle in popular culture. Definition The term ...

-fashioned way. This is due to the use of keyboard arrangements and synthesizer-wind instruments. For their third full-length LP, ''Wir brauchen nichts'', Tele began experimenting with different sounds, taking inspiration from the 1940s, lullabies, and choir music. Sound engineer Patrik Majer, who also arranged the production for the band

Wir sind Helden Wir sind Helden (, German for "We are heroes") was a German pop rock band that was established in 2000 in Hamburg and based in Berlin. The band was composed of lead singer and guitarist Judith Holofernes, drummer , bassist and keyboardist/guita ...

, produced the album. Lead singer Fransceco Wilking featured on Wir sind Helden's third album Soundso, singing an exchange with Judith Holofernes. To date, ''Wir brauchen nichts'' is Tele's most commercially successful record due to the success of the single ''Mario'', which Tele used to represent the state of

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg ( ; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a states of Germany, German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million i ...

at the Bundesvision Song Contest. The song ranked at number 10 after viewer votes. In June 2006, shortly before the completion of the third album, Tele executed a tour through Africa (South Africa,

Mozambique Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique, is a country located in Southeast Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west, and Eswatini and South Afr ...

Namibia Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country on the west coast of Southern Africa. Its borders include the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south; in the no ...

Zimbabwe file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...

Tanzania Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...

Zanzibar Zanzibar is a Tanzanian archipelago off the coast of East Africa. It is located in the Indian Ocean, and consists of many small Island, islands and two large ones: Unguja (the main island, referred to informally as Zanzibar) and Pemba Island. ...

, and

Madagascar Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off the southeastern coast of Africa, it is the world's List of islands by area, f ...

) by order of the

Goethe-Institut The Goethe-Institut (; GI, ''Goethe Institute'') is a Nonprofit organization, nonprofit German culture, cultural organization operational worldwide with more than 150 cultural centres, promoting the study of the German language abroad and en ...

. In October 2007, Tele played (with the Berlin Band MIA.) on behalf of the Goethe-Institut again, this time in China (

Nanjing Nanjing or Nanking is the capital of Jiangsu, a province in East China. The city, which is located in the southwestern corner of the province, has 11 districts, an administrative area of , and a population of 9,423,400. Situated in the Yang ...

). 2009 saw the release of their most recent LP, ''Jedes Tier'', which received critical acclaim from both music critics and fans alike. The band went on hiatus after completing their promotion of ''Jedes Tier'', releasing a live album documenting the tour shortly after. Francesco Wilking has produced a solo record, ''Die Zukunft liegt im Schlaf'', and started another pop rock band with Moritz Krämer. released their debut album ''Schau in den Lauf Hase'' in November 2013. As of 2014, they are touring Germany to promote the record. It is unknown if and when Tele will reform for a new project as their former website, 'teledieband.de' is no longer available.

Work with other artists

* Judith Holofernes sings the

background vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are u ...

in two songs on the 2004s album. * On the song "Für nichts garantieren" by

Francesco Wilking sings together with Judith Holofernes. * Tele were the

opening act An opening act, also known as a warm-up act, support act, supporting act or opener, is an entertainment act (musical, comedic, or otherwise), that performs at a concert before the featured act, or "headliner". Rarely, an opening act may perform ...

on the "Wir sind Helden" tour 2008

Discography

Albums

* 2000 Tausend und ein Verdacht (first own distribution, then distributed by Tapete Records) * 2004 Wovon sollen wir leben (

Universal Music Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as Universal Music Group or Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum ...

) * 2007 Wir brauchen nichts (Universal Music) * 2009 Jedes Tier (Tapete (Indigo))

EPs

* 2003 Tele (Tapete Records)

Singles

* 2004 Falschrum (Universal Music) * 2005 Es kommt ein Schiff (Universal Music) * 2007 Mario (Universal Music) * 2007 Fieber (Universal Music) * 2007 Bye Bye Berlin (Universal Music)

Live albums

* 2007 Live aus dem Postbahnhof (Tapete) * 2010 Jedes Tour (Tapete)

Compilation contributions

* 2003 "Now Now Now" auf „Müssen alle mit" (Tapete Records) * 2004 "Wunder in Briefen" auf „Müssen alle mit 2" (Tapete Records) * 2004 "Now Now Now" auf „ Immergutrocken" ( Grand Hotel van Cleef) * 2005 "Es kommt ein Schiff" auf „Müssen alle mit 3" (Tapete Records) * 2007 "Mario" auf „Müssen alle mit 4" (Tapete Records)

Remixes

* 2005 "Falschrum (Rework Remix)" * 2007 "Mario (Erobique Slick Mix)" by Erobique ( International Pony) * 2007 "Fieber (Discofox Remix)" by Tommy Finke

Music videos

* Falschrum * Es kommt ein Schiff * Wiemir (live) * Mario * Fieber

References

External links

portrait bei laut.de

Tele at Myspace
* {{Authority control German pop music groups German rock music groups