Trauffer, you are one of the most successful Swiss musicians. But mainly, you are an entrepreneur in the family business for wooden toys, you opened your own hotel last year and recently started running your own restaurant. Are you not starting to get overworked?

I tend to work a bit too much, that's true (laughs). But in the meantime I have found a good balance. Not too much, but not too little either – otherwise I would be unhappy.

 

Despite your success, you seem very down-to-earth – a quality that people like to attribute to us Swiss. Do you embody Swiss values?

That depends. When I said back then that I wanted to fill the Hallenstadion as a Swiss musician, some people found that very un-Swiss or even arrogant. But when I sing about eating fondue in a song, they say I'm the ultimate Swiss. I guess everyone has their own opinion.

 

There is not just "one" Switzerland, our country lives from its complexity.

It's important that we don't forget that, and I think it's a shame how politics has developed in recent years. There are almost only extremes, left and right. The moderate centre is slowly disappearing. It's not just the farmers playing the accordion on one side and the hip, modern city dwellers on the other. I have many friends in Zurich and am here more often than many would think. Neither in the city nor in the country do I encounter these overdrawn stereotypes in real life.

 

Do you not also play with such clichés in your songs?

I’ve also been accused of exaggerating in my songs. But that's just my personal attitude to life, that's how I experience my reality. There are clichés everywhere – but the truth is usually somewhere in between. Why do we always think that we have to decide for a certain pigeonhole? My wife, for example, is a vegetarian. Nevertheless, in the middle of our restaurant we have a big cupboard with dry-aged meat. At the same time, half of our menu is vegetarian or vegan. There are so many beautiful things from both worlds, so why should we only be allowed to live out one side?

 

In addition to the hotel in the "Trauffer Erlebniswelt" in Hofstetten near Brienz, you also run your own restaurant, the “Alfred's”, with your wife Brigitte. What do you put on your plates?

Above all, it has to be "real". When we serve meat, it's Swiss meat, slaughtered by a butcher from the region. Most of the vegetables come from the Bernese Seeland. At the beginning, I strictly didn't want any fish, but now we have salmon from Lostallo in the Grisons and shrimps from Basel on our menu. I think it's crazy to fly in salmon from Alaska or beef from Argentina and then sell it cheaply. It just doesn't add up at all.

 

So do you stand up for your home country with your food and music?

Yes, but I don't even do it on purpose. Honestly, I could buy the wood for our toys much cheaper, for example from Romania. But that just doesn't make sense to me. Today, everyone wants to be sustainable – we have been living this idea in our company for the last 20 years. This extends to water-based paints for painting our wooden cows. Such developments often cost more money at first, but that's part of it.

 

You seem thoughtful, but your music is light and cheerful. Is being on stage a balance for you?

I grew up in a very unmusical family. We only had a few records, and they were cheerful. For me, music has always stood for fun and entertainment. Sure, I have a thoughtful side and could also express my views or values in my songs. But others can do that much better. For me, the most beautiful thing is to simply entertain people. Whether it's an audience of 200, 2,000 or 20,000 people, it doesn't matter to me. I simply enjoy giving people a break from their everyday lives. You don't need Trauffer on stage preaching about the environment.

 

On your current album "Glöggelä" you sing about the Brooklyn Bridge on the one hand and the "Brüggli am Bach", a little bridge by the stream, on the other. Where is home for you?

I am at home in Brienz in the Bernese Oberland. That's where I was born. If I was born in Zurich, my home would be in Zurich. I could also settle in a city flat and feel at home there. Or in New York. It's not like I just walk around in my farmer's shirt all day and go yodelling in the forest. I'm on the road a lot in the world, and on business I travel mainly in Europe.

 

When was the last time you were in a city that you would have liked to stay in a little longer?

We were in Hamburg recently, I could have easily stayed there for a while. I really like the new town there, you can feel a lot of culture and it's still a wild ride on the Reeperbahn.

 

Do you perhaps like Hamburg so much because the city is sometimes described as a little rough around the edges, or in your words: "real"?

That's exactly it! People there don't talk around seven corners, but tell you their opinion directly to your face. Maybe I'm really drawn to places like that.

 

How "real" are you as a host? That is the role you live the most at the moment.

I think the role of a host suits me. It's the same in a restaurant as on stage: people buy a ticket or order a three-course meal and have a certain expectation. Then you have to deliver.

 

What about the other way round? What are you like when you are a guest yourself?

Since I’ve been running a restaurant myself, I see things with completely different eyes. I now see the effort that goes into very simple things. When I order a plate of spaghetti in a mountain restaurant, I now immediately think: Wow, someone had to transport that up here first! That happens automatically. I haven't been able to listen to music like a normal person for a long time. As soon as I hear a song, I immediately start to analyse it.

 

Are you a detail-obsessed type who spends nights on a song? Until it is just perfect?

Fortunately not. I'm someone who can let go quickly. Sometimes my team sends me a new version of a song where they've made the drums half a decibel louder at one point – and everyone is thrilled. Then I sometimes think to myself: Are you guys crazy? (laughs) Nobody cares. For me, a song simply has to be round, I can't really describe it. If the voices harmonise and the melody carries you along, then I'm satisfied. You can play around with half a decibel for a long time, it doesn't really change anything.

 

Are you so relaxed in all areas of your life or are you sometimes also nit-picky like a real “bünzli”?

In my woodworking business, I'm actually an extreme “bünzli”. I check and sign every single invoice myself. That's four federal folders every month. The other day, I came across an invoice from the restaurant for a saw. I went to the accounting department and told them that this must be wrong, surely it belonged to our wooden toys company. It then turned out that the saw was actually bought by my chef for the restaurant. When you mature the meat from a whole saddle of beef in one piece, you have to cut it into pieces at some point. So it was a butcher's saw.

 

You don't drink alcohol in your restaurant. Why not?

I like to drink wine, but not in our restaurant. That's pure self-protection. Otherwise I would automatically drink too much.

 

What kind of wine do you drink when you are not in your restaurant?

I like red wine best, preferably dark and with lots of tannins. I am a big fan of Ribera del Duero. Wine is a passion for me, I'm now even a trained sommelier and I'm starting Level 3 this autumn.

 

How did you get into this?

We made the decision to build the hotel in 2019. At first, we didn't want to run the restaurant ourselves. But we quickly realised that it couldn't be separated from the hotel. That's when my wife and I obtained the innkeeper's licence. Then I got my diploma as a cheese sommelier and started training in wine. I have to have a real task, I can't just run around from table to table playing the host. Now I know my way around at least two important areas: cheese and wine.

 

Music currently plays second fiddle in your life. Do you not get restless at some point and want to make new music?

I have the great privilege that I don't have to live from my music. That has an enormous influence on the authenticity of my songs and of me as a person. I am glad that I never had to take my career as an artist too seriously and that music can still be a hobby. I have seen many fellow musicians come and go over the years. Many artists are afraid that they will have to go back to normal work at some point. Those who were once able to make a living from music don't necessarily want to go back to construction or the office. For me it's different: I go back to work every Monday anyway. No matter if I played in front of thousands of people the day before.

 

In March you are going on tour again. What are you looking forward to the most?

All the happy faces. That's what drives me. As long as I can make people happy and entertain them with my music, I consider myself very lucky. Now come the so-called "smaller" concerts, which in my case are around 5,000 people each. I'm really looking forward to celebrating a party together with the audience and really giving it my all on stage. For me, this is also a feeling of home.