Local rock band with new album

The Zug rock band Humanoids recently released their latest album "Could you love to loose?" online.

In his Rock Spezial program last Wednesday, the SRF radio presenter Dominic Dillier described the music of the Zug band Humanoids as "Psychedelic Rock". "That's pretty much right," says guitarist Aldo Caviezel. The four new songs released onto all download portals last Friday as an EP album entitled "Could you love to loose? (sic)" go to the heart of it. It is honest, rough, grounded rock, multi-layered, profound, and in places almost meditative. Music that relaxes and stimulates at the same time, music that’s good for you.

“We don't let ourselves be talked into things. Our music, that's us,” is the simple statement of the singer Philipp Muchenberger on the radio show. He writes all the lyrics and plays the keyboard and organ. Along with guitarist Aldo Caviezel, the band consists of Marc Schweiger (bass) and Erich Güntensperger (drums). They are all around 50 years old, and have been playing together in this formation for 20 years. "Could you love to loose?" is the band's fifth album. For the first time, however, it will not be released physically on CD or vinyl, but will only be published online.

"We work at a professional level, but we don't make a living from it," explains Caviezel. "That’s why we’re not dependent on the income (from the band)." The band's main concern is that their music is heard. "It’s an opportunity for us to position ourselves internationally," added Erich Güntensperger. This has obviously worked out for them. By midday on Friday, the album had been heard or downloaded almost 30,000 times on the Spotify platform alone. "It is also astonishing that there are more interested parties from Germany, the Netherlands and the USA than from Switzerland," Caviezel states. There have also been offers from abroad. "But we all have family and jobs, so we can't go on tour for weeks." A concert series through Switzerland is planned for next autumn, however.

A video clip is also being worked on, produced by the two Zug filmmakers and video artists, Tom Gibbones and Lukas Meier. The clip should come out next summer or autumn.

The actual christening of the album took place on January 18, at a Humanoids concert in the Galvanik in Zug.

The new album has been reduced to the maximum, the guitarist says cryptically and explains: "We recorded the songs live, but without an audience, in the Galvanik in Zug, quite deliberately without recording strings, choirs or other additions." The song texts are socially critical and somewhat philosophical. "The title of the album asks if you could imagine losing, taking a step back, giving up." The reduced form of the recordings forms the corresponding outer frame for the text content. “Basically, we don't make any political or religious statements. It’s life that concerns us, the daily madness of the human psyche.” The name of the band, Humanoids – which translates as human-like - symbolises this message.

The songs are exclusively in English. "It is a very musical language," Güntensperger explains. It’s also simpler, more lower-threshold than German. The band have never felt the need to sing in another language, and there is no single composer at Humanoids. "We develop the music together," says Güntensperger. “Someone comes up with an idea, the fragment of a melody. And we then practice and jam until something arises that we all like.” The two agree that this is a very nice way to work together. "But it can also be tedious and tiring," admits Caviezel. The creation of some songs takes two years, others are completed in two months. "We take our time, and that's a good thing."

Once a song has been composed, it also has to be arranged. "We are real pedants," admits Caviezel. “We constantly question our work, break with conventions, playfully deal with expectations. We don't want predictable regularities with stanzas and choruses.” It’s the arrangement that provides the surprises, and sets special accents and highlights.

"That's why we never manage to keep the songs short," complains Güntensperger with a wink. As a drum teacher, he's the only one of the group to have turned his hobby into a profession. "I love music," he says confidently. “It has something universal, it’s a drug, healing power, breathing and life for me.” Aldo Caviezel nods and adds: “We humans live in the rhythm of the heart, the organs, the language. We are music.”

Note: The album ‘Could you love to loose?’ from the Zug rock band Humanoids can be downloaded from all download portals. Further information at www.humanoids.ch