Yair Etziony - We Were Here Before, We Will Be Here After (2020)

'To wander through any great city is to experience time in a unique way. The weight of history is everywhere - in the buildings, in the monuments, in the street names. But so too is the urgency of now, the present, shouting at you from every billboard and shop window. Quieter, biding its time, waiting its turn, the potential of the future is there too. Every boarded-up building, every chain-link fenced wasteland, every 'Acquired For Clients' sign is the future's tentative foothold in the present. The past, the present, the future, all held in uneasy tension by people, by us.

We know that some people think Berlin is a great city, but for me, it's lots of small villages, or islands, connected by a huge transportation system. At times, one might not leave your particular village for weeks. Each of these villages will have a main street that might be a bit noisier and crowded - but go a bit deeper into one of the smaller streets and you'll find a vast ecosystem full of life. From small 'Spielplatz' where the kids play to a small 'Spätkauf' where you can buy candy or beer and meet other locals after a day of work.

Berlin, particularly Neukoelln. has its own slow movement - it’s not like London or New York, especially if you step out from areas of business and tourism. The village aspect of things will slowly take you over and, due to the size of the ring area, you will tend to stay in your own area and will rarely leave.

There is a dark future looming over many of these islands, a new power is threatening to ruin and change them forever. With every small local business shutting, we lose something that makes our city special. This music was written while many of our favorite bars and businesses were closed or closing.

This album was written while I had a break from my work, and I could seclude myself in one of the small villages, just near the mighty 'Tempelhofer Feld' park, spending my early mornings making music and enjoying the neighborhood around me. The songs were written during two periods, so half is dedicated to Summer and the other half to Winter. In those intervals, I could see my surroundings changed by external money.

For the making of the record, I wanted to go back to my debut album 'Flawed'. The main instrument I used was an old E-mu sampler. Those were really expensive back in the mid-90s when I bought my original one. But nowadays, they are very cheap to buy. The idea was not to create a second version of the original, nor to try and deal with mistakes, but to try and use the same tools and see what has changed from those times. And they changed a lot.’
- Yair Etziony