The column

Together in the center | September 5, 2024

Marc Amacher likes to laugh loudly. Here, too, the Brienz native, who turned 40 on August 24, is just as authentic as in the blues and rock, which he celebrates with passion. On Friday, September 7, he will be celebrating the release of his fifth album “Live At The Garage” in the Oldtimer Gallery in Toffen. In the talk “Zäme im Zäntrum” Amacher also proves himself to be a very thoughtful musician with depth.

Before the camera rolls, Marc Amacher asks where one can buy good sweets in the center of Bern, as it is still his birthday today. As it turns out later, it is his son’s birthday, who turns 11 today. The blues and rock musician with the unmistakable raspy voice is sipping a non-alcoholic beer himself, a habit that has a lot to do with his passion. But more on that later.

Full-blooded musician without alcohol: Marc Amacher.Photo: Kelly Müller

Fifth album, first live album

When we announced the musician, who almost won the casting show “The Voice of Germany” in 2016, as a bluesman and rocker, he said with a loud laugh: “That’s 100 points.” In contrast to the winner eight years ago, Amacher has continued on his path as a singer and composer. “Live At The Garage” is his fifth recording after albums such as “Grandhotel,” “Roadhouse” and “8 Days.” His first blues album was called “Nüt Verunguet,” was sung in dialect and was released in 2012.

If you want to be a musician, you have to be able to play like Jerry Lee Lewis, because there are already guitarists like sand on the sea

Rolf Amacher father of Marc

From Bach to Mozart to Punk

Marc discovered his passion for music very early on, and he quotes his father Rolf, who said: “If you want to be a musician, you have to be able to play like Jerry Lee Lewis, because there are already plenty of guitarists.” He stuck with the guitar and singing. “I had flute and guitar lessons,” Amacher remembers, “the whole range from Bach to Mozart, up and down.” Marc then ended up in the punk band “Strange Dogs” by a roundabout route. That was before his apprenticeship as a road builder in his early teens.

Marc Amacher at the final of the Sat.1 casting show «The Voice of Germany» in mid-December 2016 in Berlin.Photo: dpa

From seller to musician

Another apprenticeship brought Amacher into sales, specifically in consumer electronics. “I was employed at ‘Musicbase’ in Monbijou,” Marc recalls of that time, “we set up the first home studios, which was still a technology in its infancy back then.” Today, tinkering with songs on your own computer is common practice, but Amacher is not a fan of artificial sound generated by a computer.

Vinyl records were considered an absolute highlight, people would come together in the living room and consciously listen to a record over and over again

Marc Amacher Blues and rock musician

Music was already a big topic in his parents’ house in Brienz, especially on the part of his father. “Vinyl records were considered an absolute highlight,” Marc sums up. “People would gather in the living room and listen to a record over and over again. You weren’t allowed to jump around in the living room because otherwise the needle would make a dangerous jump.” So there was no swiping like today on a smartphone; the songs on a record had value.

An extremely lively and humorous conversation: Blues rocker Marc Amacher with culture editor Peter Wäch (right) from the platform J.Photo: Kelly Müller

Aha-experience with Pink Floyd

And how did Amacher get from “Flötle” to punk to rock and blues? Again a hearty laugh, then his answer: “I would have to go into a lot of detail here and that would go beyond the scope of the show. But I was really into the music of Pink Floyd, which I discovered in the nineties. Maybe it has something to do with my great-grandfather, who lived in the USA for a long time at the time. Something might have stuck here.”

Then Marc Amacher becomes downright philosophical when he talks about the blues. “The basic instrumentation in the blues is similar to that of our ‘Hudigäggeler’, our folk music here is close to the Cajun style, the centuries-old, traditional and Francophone style of music that is cultivated in the states of Louisiana.” Mutual musical “fertilization” in other words.

The basic instrumentation of the blues is similar to that of our «Hudigäggeler», our folk music here is close to the Cajun style, the centuries-old, traditional and Francophone style of music that is cultivated in the states of Louisiana

Marc Amacher Blues and rock musician

Blues belongs to everyone

The blues expert sees clear parallels here, also in terms of music history, and he is convinced: “Blues music is the only common denominator that we all have, it is where everything comes together, without reservation. This is valid on a cultural level in that no one can claim that this style belongs to them alone.” Blues, a “soup” of influences from different origins? Amacher puts it this way: “In the blues, everyone is the same, just like at the regulars’ table in a pub, whether they are the mayor, a federal councillor or an ostrich farmer.”

The Brienz musician Marc Amacher at the 20th Snowpenair 2017 on the Kleine Scheidegg in the Bernese Oberland.Photo: Keystone

The thing with the beer

Before the man from Brienz started playing the blues, he wanted to know exactly what was going on and asked himself: “Am I even allowed to do this as a white guy from the Bernese Oberland?” The answer was and is clear: “I found these bridges and opened them up for myself.” Now the focus is back on his non-alcoholic beer because he takes a sip of it. Marc no longer drinks anything with alcohol in his blood and says: “I love being a musician too much to let alcohol take away my passion.”

I love being a musician too much to let alcohol take away my passion

Marc Amacher Blues and rock musician

Father of two children

When Marc makes music, he does it properly and with a lot of passion. With a new album and the accompanying record launch, it would quickly become a case of lack of sleep. “Too little sleep and alcohol,” Amacher is convinced, “then a limit is reached much more quickly. I don’t want to get there in the first place.”

The artist lives with his wife and two children in Heimberg near Thun. The boy turns eleven today, hence the sweets. “My son is a rascal,” laughs his father, “he never misses an opportunity to play the guitar, and he plays the drums pretty well. My eldest has just found an apprenticeship and loves the ukulele.”

Swiss musician Marc Amacher poses on the red carpet of the Swiss Music Awards 2023 in Zug.Photo: Keystone

Hard work in the music industry

When Marc Amacher talks about his livelihood, it is no coincidence that he compares it to a small farm and explains: “The music business today is like it was during industrialization. When the young people moved to industry, the old had to keep the farm running. Herbert Grönemeyer recently put it aptly in relation to us artists: The large middle class got by well for decades, but today with Spotify & Co. it is only the tip of the iceberg that is profiting financially.”

Marc Amacher performs with Scottish singer Emeli Sandé at the final of the talent show «The Voice of Germany» in Berlin 2016.Photo: EPA

With your head against the wall

But someone like Amacher who has the blues in his blood doesn’t give up so easily. “It probably has something to do with my nature,” says Amacher dryly. “I’ve always wanted to go headfirst through the wall, even if there was a risk of there being a hole in it.” In any case, he has already stormed the very big peaks. Marc has sung with international greats such as Robbie Williams, Alicia Keys and Emeli Sandé and has performed as the opening act at concerts by Eric Clapton and Billy Gibbons.

Live recording in the garage

“I wouldn’t have believed it myself as a little fat Brienz man,” he recalls today, laughing out loud, “so I mostly kept quiet about it. I never wanted to rub it in people’s faces, what I do, what I can do and who I am.” Amacher thinks for a moment and says: “Okay, now I’ve done it, but I was asked.” And he likes to let people know that he recorded his latest album at “Vobro Cars” in Madiswil: “In the body shop and workshop, people work hard all day. That suits me.”

Peter’s culture tip

«Live At The Garage»

Marc Amacher

Record launch

Vintage Car Gallery

Gürbestrasse 1, 3125 Toffen

Friday, September 7, 7 p.m.

More live performances: www.marcamacher.net

Marc Amacher during his recordings for the live album in the garage «Vobro Cars».Photo: zvg