I have no idea who I am. At this very moment, I am writing and listening to music by a local singer I like, Tom Liwa. I have memories of a past and a future, but I am mainly in the present. Right now, for example, I am in the present. And presently I am writing. I have various names. One of them is Tellbach, another is Art Abscon, and yet another is Mika Chrome. Tellbach can only be seen from behind, Art Abscon wears a mask, and Mika Chrome is the guitarist of Norma Loy, one of the most influential French coldwave bands from the 80s. Mika Chrome wears no mask and does not turn his back on the audience, but there are not many pictures or videos of him on the internet. My first name is Michael. Michael is a technical translator when he works at the office. I like translating. You learn a lot from the texts you translate. I live in a Bauhaus building in a place called Einschornsteinsiedlung in an industrial city called Duisburg. The front cover of Tellbach’s debut album actually shows the house I live in. I like the colour green. And beer. My birthday is the 3rd of April, which makes me an Aries. My ascendant is Virgo. Aries gives me all those funny ideas and the energy to pursue them vigorously despite all obstacles while Virgo makes sure that I bring those ideas to perfection, which is necessary because Aries can be a bit sloppy and too easily satisfied at times. On my last birthday, I released the very first album on my own label, Opus Abscondi. It is the debut of my most recent project, Tellbach, and it is only available on CD for the time being. I will probably also make it available for downloading and streaming at a later date because that is what people seem to do nowadays. However, I will wait with that. To me it is a lot more satisfying to own an album you can touch, and I think other people should feel the same. I guess I can be a bit headstrong at times. Aries again. I am also a little proud of my first self-made physical release. Anyone can upload music files on the internet. I will release another CD soon on Opus Abscondi, in May. The artist is called Misty Bywater. Her album “Lullaby Waterfall” was my first attempt at being a music producer. I am very proud of this one. You will see why. I have played in other bands, too, but that was before the age of the internet, and today most of my old music only exists on music cassettes I keep somewhere in a drawer or in my memory. Maybe I will release some of it in the future to make it available to the public again. Oh, I am also writing a book. Its title is “The Book of Abscon”. It is about me and the Grandmaster, of course. I am not a great writer, but I have a lot of funny stories to tell. I also have some other plans for this year. Concerts, for example. Art Abscon will play a few more or less private unplugged solo gigs this summer and looks forward to it, and Tellbach will start playing his first concerts in autumn. He is currently preparing a live set using three pocket synthesizers while Mika will probably be on stage with Norma Loy again. I am also recording more music. The “Time Trip Tapes”, for example, a series of minimal electronic music albums recorded and released on music cassette. There will also be a second Tellbach album that I will record on an 8-track reel-to-reel tape recorder. Art Abscon is planning a full length album featuring psychedelic chamber music arrangements of German folk songs. I guess I am what I do and create. This is why I do and create as much as I can. I might cease to exist if I stopped doing and creating things. This is why I am rather one or two persons too many than none.

So, this is me, in short, for now, and at the moment.