Focus 2023

The comparisons sit quite loosely in the press text to the debut album of the Zurich band. But of course, it's a bit true when it refers to the energy of Courtney Love and the nonchalance of Warpaint. "Sweet Mortality", the title of the debut album, brings out different facets of rock music, which can be located between energetic and casual. Grunge and psychedelic influences are provided with a lot of pop appeal. In addition, singer Gini Jungi intones in moods from exhilarated to cool. With Annie Taylor you can let go of anger excellently or simply feel well taken care of. These are two options we like to fall back on in times like these. – The Gap

From the rusty scraps of phone-made GarageBand demos, Barbicop explores the bubble gum ocean of catchy dream pop built with awkward drumbeats and over saturated sounds. Despite limited musical instruments and tools at her disposal, Barbicop, (aka Maddie Sandri, also singer and guitarist in Dream Parade) constantly evolves her outlook and approach to creating music. Founded in the musky punk scene of Berlin, Barbicop emerges from influential and culturally vibrant surroundings, which she drags into her sound with a poppy twist. The pain of adulthood, the beauty of emotional connection, and the absurdity of the internet are themes that are developed and drawn out in the form of sweet yet wacky melodies. Let's make a soup and bathe in it.

All the fishes in the sea, get away, ‘cuz here comes she… IKAN HYU was founded in the end of 2016 by two musicians from Winterthur/Zürich, Switzerland. Their reputation as an explosive duo created waves throughout the Swiss music industry - before they released their first EP „ZEBRA“ in October 2018, IKAN HYU had already played over 50 concerts throughout the country, one of which as the supporting act for the English band Royal Blood. For Lift up IKAN HYU was listed by Noisey Switzerland as one of ten bands to influence the year of 2018. With ZEBRA the IKANs were awarded the „SRF Best Talent“ for the month of November. In February 2019 the band went on a one month tour through Indonesia, Anisa’s second homeland. In the following summer they played at numerous small and several large Swiss festivals, amongst which the Winterthurer Musikfestwochen, the Gurtenfestival and the Openair St.Gallen. Following that came a one week Sicily tour, shows at the Reeperbahn Festival in Hamburg, the Waves festival in Vienna and the Eurosonic Festival in Groningen. In December 2019 the IKANs opened the Germany shows for SOFI TUKKER. * Anisa and Hannah are masters of multitasking and each play up to three instruments simultaneously. They accompany their rap and vocals with electric and acoustic drum elements, moog bass, electric guitar and synths of all kinds. Since IKAN HYU borrows from various styles of music, attributing a genre to their sound would be pointless. Nevertheless a fitting description has established itself: Elastic Plastic Space Power Gangster Future Pop.

Moira loves playing with music. She sings her songs in French and English with great passion. She accompanies herself on various instruments. She is currently touring the country with the songs from her new album "Ile du Bonheur". Her music moves somewhere between pop, gypsy, folk and chanson. Quote: "It's as if Moira were to stroll through a fairground, and at every stand, no matter how different, she could soak up all the impressions and let us experience them with her. The high whooping notes and also the dramatic soul attacks penetrate purely into the ear and land unpolluted directly in our hearts."

We live in an enchanted world, unfortunately way too often we’re too busy to even notice. It takes a special type of artist to draw back the curtain and make us recognise this magic nestled in the mundane. Singer-songwriter Pina Palau possesses this rare gift. Her songs obsess over the everyday: coaxing the poetry out of situations and characters that seem all too familiar. She loves the incongruous, the contradictory, the petty, the awkward and the ugly found in all of us; and is somehow always able to transmute it into something precious and beautiful. Her forthcoming debut record is titled Illusion and it's full of all types of delicious indie-folk iterations. The record was produced together with Mario Hänni of Mnevis and ex-drummer of Sophie Hunger and Pablo Nouvelle. It will be released by Mouthwatering Records, the home of Black Sea Dahu. Pina’s songwriting evokes the work of Adrienne Lenker of Big Thief, Julia Jacklin, Hand Habits, Courtney Barnett and Phoebe Bridgers’ solo work as well as her output with the Boygenius group along with Lucy Dacus and Julien Baker. Her musical roots, however, reach back to the women who laid the foundation for female singer-songwriters: Joan Baez, Patti Smith and Janis Joplin.

Soft Loft is a safe haven, an attitude, a way of life. It’s where the broken and the imperfect are embraced and celebrated. Soft Loft is non-hierarchical. Soft Loft is where reality is transmuted into dreams and dreams back into reality. Judgement is suspended here. Because vulnerability is the gateway to connection. Anything goes, as long as it’s heartfelt and it flows. Soft Loft is a collective of musicians dedicated to creating safe spaces using sound. Soft Loft are: Jorina Stamm, Sarina Schmid, Lukas Kuprecht, Simon Boss and Marius Meier.