[Music & Interview]: Tempus Fugit

 

 

Born in 1982 in the eastern part of Germany, Tempus Fugit moved to Leipzig for three years where he began to study German and Philosophy. In 2005 he moved to Berlin to start his traning as a nurse.

Already back in the days of the year 2000 he discovered his love to dj in the gothic scene with electronic music and EBM so he became soon a resident at the Zauberberg-Parties, a famous gothic party series in the eastern part of Germany that unfortunately doesn’t exist anymore.

He got in touch with the techno scene in 2010 so he tried to include techno in his sets. In 2014 he got the opportunity to play at the famous SABBAT-Parties in Berlin where he perfected his way to mix EBM and Techno. Later the influence of Berghain sound got stronger and stronger.

Nevertheless, he never forgot where he came from, having his roots in EBM and dark electronic music.

Tempus Fugit? Before this name he used “derHexer” (German for “the warlock”) being very interested in all the mystical stuff. Due to some personal circumstances he realized, that people have to remember their death and their end of life and they should enjoy every moment of your life.

The baroque quote “Tempus fugit, amor manet” (latin for “time passes, love stays”) had a big impact on him so he chose another alias after “DerHexer”….

 

Hi Christian, when we met the first time at Berghain your outfit was something that confused me: skinny jeans, braces and combat boots. You are a skin – a queer skin. When did you join the scene? What were reasons for it? Could you please also explain the scene a little bit.

I grew up in the eastern part of Germany. I always had to do with punks, goths and skinheads. I was never strict in being a part of a scene. A mixture is what makes me. Skinhead-culture came up in the late 60’s as a movement against hippies, the bright sight of live and was born in the suburban areas of industrial-cities like Manchester. The skinhead-culture has never been a political or rasisct-movement. But in they were always assimilated by leftwinged and rightwinged parties and groups. I think for me S.H.A.R.P. (Skinheads against rascial prejudice) or Trojan-Skinheads (leftwinged people) is a familiar spirit. But skinheadculture was always characterized by masculinity and heroism. There are some queer-skins but u won’t see them that much. It is not common. Anyways, I decited to make a statement. That’s is why I wear a huge patch on my jacked the shows, I AM A QUEER-SKIN!

 

 

You are married to an American guy. He is a queer skin too, right? Please tell us something about your love story 🙂

First of all, no he is not. 😀 We met at Berghain, at the famous, notorious „Klobar“. It was a bit difficult in the beginning. When we realized, that we match and that we complete each other there was nothing that could have stopped us anymore.

 

Enough talked about your private life. Let’s get to the music & DJ part. It didn’t take long time til we realised that we are both into EBM/Industrial/Electronic Pop like Nitzer Ebb or Depeche Mode – besides the techno stuff played at Berghain. How do you select the tracks for your DJ sets? Are you mixing techno with the other styles for one set or do you make separate sets? Is there a “combined scene” who enjoys both genres?

I select them in a way to tell a story. I combine tracks that have kind of the same message. And of course I try to switch from techno to EBM, Industrial, Disco, Electro and back. It is usually a dark background . I also think there is not a specific scene that combines all of the genres, but they all influence eatch other. Kraftwerk for examble, they were the reason for techno, they created new sounds, new technics. So they electronic music is all conected. There are tracks of VNV Nation that are very technoid and are quite similar. But they are very famous in the gothic scene. I tried to show u a cross-section in my little mix at the end of this interview. So you can get an idea.

 

 

When you buy stuff for a gig etc you need to check both scenes (alternative/goth and techno). How do you dig for new releases? Any specific stores where you buy it?

Most of the tracks I get online. But I find them in magazines, I know a lot from my past in the EBM-Electro-Scene and I always get inspired by other DJs, other people and the things, that happen in the world. And there are a lot of cruel and dark motives u can get.

 

For me it is a interesting combination: gay, skin, techno & EBM etc. It seems to be some kind of “unique selling point”. Is it that way? Do you use these things to build your image?

Of course! For most of the people I seem scary. And so is my music. Rough, forward going but always with a little twinkle, because u can’t take yourself too serious.

 

 

Like mentioned earlier we met at Berghain and had some proper dances there. What does the club mean to you? Is it a source of inspiration?

For me it is the place I can be the way I am. And people who know me there accept me the way I am. It is an inspiration for me, but I also realized that I am inspiration to other people.

 

What or who is inspiring you in general?

Kraftwerk, Depeche Mode, Terence Fixmer and darkness. 😉

 

 

What kind of clubs do you play? Where did you already play? Industrial parties? Techno parties?

I played some Gothic-Parties, Sabbat-Party in Berlin, and I am kind of a resident for the INTERZONE-Party.

 

As I know there is no record released by you with o. Do you have any ambitions to produce? What would you like to create – techno, ebm, a combination of them, something completely different?

Honestly, I have no intentions. Because I have no time. And I think I wouldn’t be good in it. I am happy with what I do. But if I would do it, I would create a sound like Terence Fixmer, but a bit darker.

 

 

As always the last question is about future plans. Let us know what you have in the pipeline. Perhaps playing in the US – the home country of your husband?

I will get better in my skills, play little parties and try to help getting INTERZONE bigger. I also talked to the guys of DURCH to play there in the nearest future and I will play in Toulouse in september. That is what I am really looking forward to.