Stephan Eicher
cosmopolitan chansonnier
Stephan Eicher is the Grand Seigneur among European chansonniers. Music was always a family affair for the Eichers: Stephan was born in 1960 and raised in Münchenbuchsee near Bern, his father introduced him to music at an early age. He attended the F+F School of Art and Design in Zurich, acquiring the recording and composition techniques which he put to good use with his first synth-punk band, the Noise Boys, at the end of the ‘70s. This was followed by an intense two-year ride on the New German Wave with his brother Martin Eicher and the band Grauzone: the timeless song "Eisbär" (1981) was to propel Grauzone and Stephan Eicher to sudden fame in the German-speaking world. His "Chansons Bleues" (1983) marked the start of an incomparable solo career as a cosmopolitan rock and pop chansonnier. He has since captivated a large audience at home and abroad with his unmistakable voice and his songs in French, English, German, Italian and Swiss-German dialect. His songs are musical trains of thought, a window on his inner world: He has mused over his homeland as a place of memory and longing (e.g. "Engelberg"), set lyrics by Philippe Dijan and Martin Suter to music ("Song Book"), and explored his Yenish roots in the 2017 documentary "Unerhört Jenisch". In 2009, the City of Zurich awarded him the Kunstpreis. Stephan Eicher has always been committed to furthering the younger generation of Swiss musicians. In 2020, he celebrated the 40th anniversary of his career at the Culture and Convention Centre Lucerne (KKL) in the company of companions old and new, including Sophie Hunger, Tinu Heiniger and the Helvetic Balkan brass band Traktorkestar.
