Fight or Flight Philipp Zuercher Solo: Electric Guitar and Live Loops Fight or Flight – Give and Take – Casual Care these are the titles of my new trilogy, just released on Bandcamp.
Footage of men in battle, women and children fleeing their country. Care work for elderly family members. And my own health. Over the past two years, these topics have concerned me, and they have also shaped my music.
Cover art by Philipp Zuercher. Pictures were taken inside the Coudray Tower at the Royal Fortress of Chinon (France). The impressive structure was built as a defensive tower by Philippe Auguste after the siege of 1205 and used as a prison for Templar dignitaries by Philippe le Bel in 130
Why pay for music downloads at Bandcamp when you can stream everything for free on Spotify etc.? – Bandcamp’s Fair Trade Music Policy supports new, independent music productions: 80%-90% of the revenue goes directly to the artists. – If this music ever appears on Spotify, Apple Music, etc., it may take weeks or months. – And especially if you have not got any of my music yet, you may benefit from the new 30% discount on downloading my entire Bandcamp discography. That includes 11 albums for less than $50.
Listen to the «Swiss Corner» of the monthly Musikmagazin featuring «Dragonfly – Future Songs». (German)
Originally, Dragonfly was one of my solo studio projects. During Covid-19 lockdowns it grew into a virtual band including me playing different instruments, as well as two musicians from South Africa collaborating online, and a Swiss string quartet recorded in a nearby castle.
«Weshalb Forellen Quartett» recording at Schloss Belp in january 2021
Philipp Zuercher: composition, electric guitar, pedal steel guitar, electronic instruments, production. Ronan Skillen: percussion, tabla, slide didgeridoo amaFranx: bass Weshalb Forellen Quartett: Mario Huter, Monika Camenzind, Grégoire Babey, Martin Birnstiel
A new recording of my solo guitar «New World» trilogy is now available on Bandcamp. And once again, Steven Götz did a fantastic cover art job.
Sheet music (TABS and musical notation) are also available. Visit Score Exchange for more information or download any specific part: Part 1 – Part 2a – Part 2b – Part 3
Future Songs is a concept album. The idea was to have a fictitious future band sung songs about the past. These songs would then be a comment on our present.
Originally, Dragonfly was one of my solo projects. In my home studio, I started combining electric guitar with instruments I had only played for a couple of years: pedal steel guitar and a selection of electronic instruments. During Covid-19 lockdown periods, Dragonfly grew into a virtual band including two musicians from South Africa collaborating online, and a Swiss string quartet being recorded in a nearby castle.
The idea for Future Songs had crossed my mind three or four years before. In the meantime, the world and thus my concept have changed in many unexpected ways. As concerns the future, I was lost for words more often than not. Consequently, most Future Songs turned out to be instrumental pieces. Some of the scarse lyrics are still reminiscent of the original concept, while others have turned out a little more personal. The poem I am reading in Future Angst for instance is a reflection of my late father’s fear of dying.
Future Songs is now available as a digital album. Artfully mastered by internationally renowned Bob Katz at Digital Domain, USA. High resolution audio files in 24bit/96kHz WAV or AIF emphasizing the warmth and depth of the original recordings may be downloaded from Bandcamp only.
Velostation Bicycle Parking Bahnhof Bern March 5th Trough April 3Rd, 2021
Listen to Philipp Zuercher’s soundtrack «Ist es die Angst», including Philipp on electric guitar, electronics and voice; Gao Tong Tong and Yuval Andereth: «Voices of Thunder»
Kunst kreuzt Weg is an annual event by Open Parish Heiliggeist Bern, celebrating Passiontide. 14 contemporary artists are to create new interpretations on the traditional stations of the cross. Due to Covid-19 restrictions, this year’s event will be taking place in a different form: a kind of orienteering along places of public interest in the city of Bern. See map below.
Map for Kunst kreuzt Weg 2021, please click to zoom in
Station of the Cross XII. „Dying“ (Installation and Soundtrack by Philipp Zuercher) I consider my art to be some kind of «Dichtung» (poetry) in the sense of «Verdichtung» (densification), in both space and time, as a sculpture including a soundtrack. Combining ancient metaphors and symbols in order to create new ones. Somewhere between life and death, where «dying» is taking place. My father, who died a few weeks ago, claimed that dying was «each person’s end of the world». That made me think of the Apocalypse and consequently I compared the Book of Revelation with the Passion narrative and found some striking similarities as well as many a source of inspiration for this piece of art. I consider the result – visible as well as audible but only temporarily – to be some sort of manifestation.
On the Installation A kind of crucifiction, composed of a guitar hero, the angel announcing the end of time, as well as Baron Samedi (Loa of Death and Resurrection) and Nataraja (Hindu deity Shiva’s reincarnation as the King of Dance).
On the Soundtrack «Gloria» sung by an electronically alienated boys choir. Voices of Thunder in Chinese and Hebrew: «I am the One-Who-Will-Be», «I am the Beginning and the End» etc. A synthesized singing bowl (of wrath?) moving across the skies. A guitar solo once referred to as schizoid by a female listener. And a poem on my father’s fear of dying.
Listen to Philipp Zuercher’s soundtrack «Ist es die Angst», including Philipp on electric guitar, electronics and voice; Gao Tong Tong and Yuval Andereth: «Voices of Thunder»
Vera Rüttimann, a Swiss photographer based in Berlin, has analysed urban emergences of the human search for meaning for over a decade. While visiting Bern and the Kunst kreuzt Weg’s stations of the cross, she shot a series of strong images.
