Tempel’s Land Of Bears Among Rock And Ice

Before bringing their unique post-rock sound to the land of rock and ice, Swedish duo Albert af Ekenstam and Filip Leyman of Tempel took time out to chat with us about musical plans, amorous adventures and tips for keeping warm.

By Carmel McNamara

Hello Tempel. How are you? What are you up to?

Hi! Everything’s great. We’re enjoying the beautiful autumn weather here in Gothenburg and just starting to prepare for the Airwaves show.

‘A land of bears, among rock and ice’ (Descartes’ description of Sweden) has also been used to describe your sound. How else would you describe it in under 12 words?

Icelandic, Swedish, ambient, electronic, Nordic, Japan-ish, melancholic, Gothenburgish, deep ocean, dreaming, dynamic.

Will this be your first trip to Iceland?

This is the first time, and most likely not the last. Iceland is really intriguing and exciting. We should take all of our gear and go to a remote cabin on a mountain somewhere and make a new record!

Any thoughts/expectations? Do you think you will get chance to get out of Reykjavík to explore a bit?

We’ve heard about pools in Reykjavík that are built on hot springs. Gotta try one of those! Since we’re big fans of hiking, we would love to get out into the countryside but there’s not enough time.

What can people expect of the Tempel show? What is the live experience like? Will you play with a full band?

Full band, yes. We are really happy to have Karl Vento and Finn Loxbo with us in the live band. They’re such great musicians. The live experience is quite intense but dynamic.

Will you be mainly playing material from your debut album ‘MMXIII,’ or new stuff too?

We’ve been writing a lot of new material lately, so it’s gonna be both.

I love the artwork for your album by Love Hultén – will we be treated to some extraordinary visuals for the live show too from your resident artist Hultén? Was it him that came up with using the ‘pi’ symbol in your name?

Love is so good and such a fantastic person. He’s gonna be a big part of future performances but cannot make it this time, unfortunately. And yes, it was his idea to use pi.

Both of you have links with other Swedish artists who are also playing on the bill this year (Albert as guitarist with Sumie Nagano, and Filip as the producer of Anna von Hausswolff’s album ‘Ceremony’). Are you going to be kept busy with a few other shows too?

Yes we are. Albert is playing with Sumie on Friday and Filip with Anna v H the day before.

And what about the rest of Airwaves? How are you gonna approach it? Meticulous planning or unexpected encounters just to see what you discover?

Hopefully we will meet up with some nice Icelandic people and musicians and just have good time and I think we will be inspired to come over again.

Any Icelandic artists you are looking forward to seeing?

We want to see a lot of stuff but especially Ólafur Arnalds with the symphony orchestra. We’re also inspired to just look around and see what I find; you have so much talent and great musicians in Iceland.

And finally, any Swedish tips can you offer up for surviving the Icelandic cold weather (not that we’re expecting another hurricane this year, but best to be prepared…)?

The secret for getting out of a cold, windy snowstorm alive is the “double hood.” Come to our show and we will give you a really big warm Swedish hug.