Stephan Eicher: “I didn’t look for the role of passer, but I’m proud of it” – rts.ch

For more than four decades, Stephan Eicher has marked the Swiss and French-speaking scene. Grand prix suisse de musique 2021, the musician wanted with his new album to make us a record that takes us in the arms. He presented it on Sunday on the 7:30 p.m. set.

In January, for the tour of his new album “Ode”, Stephan Eicher will be on the road once more. Despite his long career, the musician says at 7:30 p.m. on Sunday that he is still dreading the moment of going on stage: “I respect my audience, I take it seriously and therefore it stresses me out”.

The singer has been seducing his audience for four decades. Polyglot, the Swiss German artist sings in his language, in that of Shakeaspeare and especially in that of Molière.

French, he very quickly married it. It was with the title “How long” that he exploded in French-speaking Switzerland before continuing with “Lunch in peace”.

A Swiss German title on the French hit parade

But it is with a song in Swiss German “Hemmige” that the artist squatted the French hit parade as well as the Olympia poster.

The career of Stephan Eicher, sixty years old with Yenish origins, is made of very highs and very lows. Seven years of absence were imposed on him because of a conflict with his former label.

During the pandemic, he sang from his kitchen, where he created “The Raft of the Useless”, a metaphor for his life and that of all artists.

>> Watch the full return on singer and songwriter’s four-decade careersigned Julie Evard

A look back at four decades in the career of the Bernese singer and composer Stéphane Eicher / 7:30 p.m. / 2 min. / yesterday at 7:30 p.m.

>> Read also Stephan Eicher releases four songs inspired by the pandemic

A new album to exorcise the Covid period

Today, he returns with a poetic album, “Ode”. One of his titles, “Around your neck”, was written in the midst of a pandemic. This period hit Stephan Eicher hard. Within six weeks, he lost both parents. It was impossible for him to take his father in his arms, on his deathbed.

With what happened to him, the musician says he wants to make film music: “I like to make people believe that we are at the cinema. (…) When shit hits, good music helps, it’s comforting .”

In French, the lyrics are written by Philippe Djian, his longtime accomplice. In German, they are those of Martin Sutter, a Zurich writer.

Bridging the gap between French-speaking Swiss and German-speaking Swiss

Stephan Eicher sees himself as a bridge between cultures. He succeeded in introducing Romans to the German-speaking Georges Brassens, Mani Matter, a Bernese “troubadour” who died 50 years ago. “I didn’t look for the role of passer, but I’m proud of it.”

Bridging the gap between the different linguistic regions of Switzerland is for him one of his successes: “If something were to remain of my work, the fact of having nibbled a little on this Röstigraben, that would not be bad.”

In Switzerland, he is one of the rare artists to have crossed the barrier of Rösti. According to him, to dare to sing in several languages, one must not be afraid of ridicule: “I’m not afraid of making a fool of myself, I don’t take anything seriously, except maybe music, love and friendship.”

>> Read also Stephan Eicher and his little kitchen music

Interview: Fanny Zürcher

Adaptation web: Miroslav Mares