Fai Baba has changed. He’s not the same anymore. Ten years of rock ‘n’ roll touring in Europe. Three years of absence, an ashram in India, then a deer farm in the Jura, recently the relocation to a farm in Aargau. The gangly fellow from Zurich, a different person. More mature. More peaceful. More serious. More adult. And now suddenly he is back. Like out of nowhere. But not empty handed, on the contrary: Fai Baba brings music with him music. New music. In swiss dialect!
My yoga teacher encouraged me to sing in Swiss German. Right after that, my first dialect piece emerged. He called it an earworm.
Fai Baba
On his sixth studio album «Veränderet» («Changed»), Fai Baba (born Fabian Sigmund) sings for the first time in his native language, the finest Zurich German. You can listen to stories from his life, based on his engagement with his own language, experiences and thoughts. A newly found energy, matured during his break. Also on board: a new band that thoroughly covers a variety of styles between Americana, Blues as well as Rock ‘n’ Roll, Folk and even Spaghetti-Western. They play mellotron, twangy guitars, electric and double bass, vintage drums, brass, piano, recorded by Manuel Egger at Suburban Studios. The enormous range of themes and sounds creates a universe of tunes and words that has never existed in the Swiss dialect before.
I listened to many Swiss songs and had to realize that I myself didn’t want to make music this way. So I created my own dialect music.
Fai Baba
The album title track «Veränderet» represents the core essence of the record and sums up Fai Baba’s life change as simply as ingeniously. A catchy bass clarinet motif, played by Sha (Nik Bärtsch’s Ronin & Mobile, Sha’s Feckel), plus a full-bodied groove by Reto Gaffuri (b), Arno Troxler (dr) and Mike Fischer (g) form the base. Along with them, the 36-year-old Fai Baba sings about his transformation with his very peculiar soul voice as clearly as vividly. That’s why the following stylistic concept definitely fits better: Swiss-Neo-Folk. This is no longer the same old wild music from back then but the thoughtful work of an experienced musician who reveals his personality more than ever before. Or in his own words: «I have changed. I am not the same anymore!»
Fai Baba, born Fabian Sigmund, is a Swiss musician. After tours all over Europe including two appearances at the legendary radio station KEXP and five albums released on the Basel label A Tree in a Field Records, he presents his first Swiss dialect and Swiss-Neo-Folk album «Veränderet». Recorded with Reto Gaffuri (b), Arno Troxler (dr), Mike Fischer (g) at Manuel Egger (Suburban Studios), the album marks a new phase in the life of the busy Zurich guitarist and singer.
