Newsletter English

01 Fall Newsletter

Hello everyone, and thanks for signing up for our newsletter.

We want to use this format to keep you updated with information about us. Basically, we’re trying to move away from Instagram and similar platforms. We’ve noticed it’s getting harder and harder to actually find the info you want on Instagram. There are other considerations too, which we’ll definitely talk about another time.

In this newsletter, we’ll cover:

Meet the band. This time: Björn, bassist and graphics dude
The EP
Upcoming shows

Meet the band

What was your first real contact with punk—was there a record, a show, or maybe a band that opened your eyes?
I didn’t come from the punk world at all. I always listened to rap and soul. I grew up in Berlin in the ’80s and ’90s, so artists and bands from the U.S. shaped me. Only at the end of the ’90s did I start listening to rap in German.

My biggest influences would be A Tribe Called Quest, D’Angelo, Snoop Dogg, Run DMC and—this is a bit embarrassing to admit—Limp Bizkit. From Germany I was influenced by the scenes in Hamburg and Stuttgart, and by Rödelheim Hartreim Projekt. I never listened to the newer German gangsta rap. Only now am I discovering artists like SSIO. And of course, being from Berlin, we liked Kool Savas and Spezializtz.

Now, through Baffo d’Oro, I’ve started getting into punk. I’ve got great sources in the other three guys. That’s how I stumbled upon Death, for example. I think they’re really great.

But I also like listening to bands like The Sheepdogs.

A few years ago I listened to a lot of blues, too. One of the best concerts I’ve ever been to was Buddy Guy at the Montreux Jazz Festival.

There’s one band I can’t leave out: I’m a fan of Steel Panther. I’ve even been to one of their shows. Highly recommended.

I think all of that somehow inspires me when it comes to finding a bassline. Although I do sometimes get dirty looks when I play triplets or a gallop.

Many say punk is more an attitude than music—what does punk mean to you?
To me it means swimming against the mainstream—no matter the field. Questioning the status quo without always having a better solution at hand. In music it means doing what I believe is right—of course inspired by somewhere. Very few people are free of that; those who are end up changing history.

In life, it means questioning things and not just doing them because “that’s how it’s always been done.”

The whole DIY approach is punk to me as well. It might not be perfect, but you did it yourself and created something. Whether that’s specifically punk is for each person to decide, but if I look at punk’s beginnings, that was definitely part of it. And that’s exactly what I mean when I say questioning things is punk. In essence, the beginnings of rap are punk to me, too. Back then people just started making the music they thought was cool in their bedrooms. They had a cassette recorder, a microphone, turntables, and some kind of sampler. At first they made party music and also tackled very political topics in their lyrics. That’s punk to me.

Though I don’t think anyone would call me a punk. But in my heart, I am one.

How did you get into making music?
Pretty late. I bought that PlayStation game with the plastic instruments. A friend back then and I played it together. I was pretty good on the guitar. After a while I thought, dude, you’re playing a plastic guitar for 4 hours and you can’t actually play guitar. So for my 30th birthday I bought a Squier beginner’s set. After that I only played the game with my kids. When we moved to a new apartment, I noticed my neighbor could really play guitar—hard to miss. We started making music together and he asked me to play in his band. The project fell apart because of COVID. I switched to bass because a band with three guitars is crap.

What would you tell your younger self?
Oof, I don’t think much. I’m in a good place, have good friends, a cool family, and good jobs.

mentioned bands:

- A Tribe Called Quest

- D'Angelo

- Rödelheim Hartreim Projekt

- Death

The EP

As you’ve hopefully already noticed, we released our first EP “This is It” on April 25. You’ll find our four singles on it, with Borderline appearing in a new guise.

I could write quite a long text here about how each song came to be, because it basically goes back to the early days of Baffo d’Oro. But I’ll try to keep it short.

After we recorded and released our first two songs very professionally at Groovefactory—on vinyl, by the way, cut in a tiny run by Koni from Vinyl Manufaktur in Bern (we still have a few)—we kept writing new songs and eventually had enough good ones to record again. But since it’s very expensive—even with a friends-and-family rate—to record four songs in a studio, we decided to record everything in our rehearsal room. Michel is very well equipped in that area. So we recorded everything ourselves except the vocals. By chance, Michel then met Luca from Influx Studio in Bern. He took on the mixing for us. He and his band, Roberto Ravioli, have become good friends. That gave us four songs in solid quality. After Michel attended some workshops on releasing music and all that stuff, we put together a small release plan, which led to us putting out “This is It” in the spring.

Michel has since taken on the band’s manager role and steered the entire release. Thanks to that we managed to make a few small waves: we got radio airtime—including on Couloir 3, Radio Vaudoise, and Radio Neo1.

We were added to various playlists and even got reviews at home and abroad.

All of this makes us really happy. But the most important thing is that it led to concert inquiries—because that’s what we’re most excited about.

Shows

12.10.25 — Kofmehl — kofmehl.net
31.10.25 — Egelsee, Verein am See — www.vereinamsee.ch
22.11.25 — Rock im Pavillon
19.12.25 — El Cannario — @el_cannario
20.02.26 — TBA
28.03.26 — Dä 3. Stock — www.dae3stock.ch

If you prefer UK or US spelling/wording, tell me which and I’ll adjust.