Tele (band)

Band history

Tele produced their debut album Tausend und ein Verdacht themselves in 2000 before being picked up by Tapete Records a couple years later. Their sound and style consisted of an Indie rock guitar sound, and they arranged their songs in a post rock way.

The record company Tapete Records from Hamburg distributed their album in 2002 and published an EP with five new songs. Tapete Records published as well 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 every day life, often with respect to their love affairs. Tele's music resembles that of the 1980s, but not necessarily in an intentional, retro-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. The album was produced by sound engineer Patrik Majer, who also arranged the productions for the band Wir sind Helden. 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 Baden-Württemberg 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, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Zanzibar und Madagascar) by order of the Goethe-Institut. In October 2007 Tele played (with the Berlin Band MIA.) on behalf of the Goethe-Institut again, this time in China (Nanjing).

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. Die höchste Eisenbahn 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 official website has not been updated since 2012.

Work with other artists

Albums

EPs

Singles

Live albums

Compilation contributions

Remixes

Music videos