Interview with Swiss Band Penkowski: Sounds from the Summit

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Interview with Swiss Band Penkowski: Sounds from the Summit

Text / Patrick Po Kei Lam
Photos / Patrick Po Kei Lam
Special thanks to Maybe Mars Records for organizing Penkowski’s 2024 China Tour, and to our friend Ruy for supporting this interview.

Total: 3673 words / Estimated reading time: 7–15 minutes

Author’s Note /

My interest in Switzerland began when I heard that the country had seven presidents, practiced direct democracy and compulsory military service, and was known for its tourism industry, chocolates, and a unique financial system beloved by high-level business professionals. However, Lenin once said he found Switzerland to be a dull retirement place, even though he spent a long time studying in the Zurich Library. What really surprised me, though, was that this country also produced some truly subversive noise music.

Penkowski is a post-punk band from Biel, a small town near Bern, Switzerland. They toured China last September; it was thanks to the recommendation algorithm that I even found out about their show. I happened to be free, so I bought a ticket. The concert was fantastic—not just because of the band members’ on-stage charisma, but also because their music struck me deeply: this was the kind of music I wanted to create.

After the show, the band members signed my stuff. I got to meet vocalist Jonas, bassist Dani, drummer Lukas, and guitarist Martin. They were a bit surprised I could speak their language and was running my own music project (I told them that’s probably why the algorithm fed their show to me). They invited me and another French-speaking fan, Ruy, to dinner. It was a lovely night for all of us.

After some thought, I decided to conduct a formal interview with the band to help more people discover their music and foster cultural exchange. Ruy and I prepared some questions and sent an interview request to Jonas. He readily agreed. We emailed him the questions, and he discussed them with the other members before responding online.

This interview was conducted entirely in English, French, and German between Paris and Biel. In this transcript, “Jonas” refers to lead singer Jonas Weber.

Me: Like all interviews—how did it all begin? How did you meet each other, and how did the idea of Penkowski go from a concept to a band? Was it spontaneous, or born out of a shared vision?

Jonas: Dani and I met at school in the fifth grade. When we were 12, we formed our first band, playing hippie-style songs by bands like Jefferson Airplane, CCR, Santana, and Pink Floyd, as well as psychedelic rock. We lost touch after high school for a while, but one summer we met again while hanging out by the river and decided to form a band again.

We invited Lukas to join; at the time, he and Dani were working together in a chemistry lab in Basel. That’s how the three of us formed a garage rock band called Beach Waves. At some point, we felt we needed another guitarist—mostly so I could focus more on vocals. That’s how the band expanded into what is now Penkowski.

Me: What’s the story behind the name “Penkowski”?

Jonas: The name comes from Oleg Vladimirovich Penkowski, a triple agent from the 1960s. He was a bit paranoid, and we felt that reflects our times well—everyone is kind of their own spy now, with multiple personas, avoiding identification and responsibility.

Me: How do you usually collaborate creatively? What are the roles within the band?

Jonas: Songwriting is where we invest the most time and energy. Many songs come from improvisation during rehearsals with no specific plans—just jamming. We record all our rehearsals, so when we stumble upon something inspiring, we can go back and develop it into a full section.

Sometimes, I come in with a more developed idea and tell the others how I imagine it should be played, but since everyone has different tastes and playing styles, the final result always becomes something uniquely “Penkowski.” I usually write the lyrics, sometimes Martin joins in. I love covering the rehearsal space in twenty different drafts of lyrics—when I want to sing something, I just pick one at random.

Sometimes, when a set of lyrics fits perfectly with a piece of music, I might even combine it with an entirely different set of lyrics. So our songs sometimes end up being a collage of different drafts. It’s kind of like sampling and referencing our own previous work.

Me: Where was your first live show? Any memorable moments from that night?

Jonas: Our first show was at a hippie music festival in the countryside. The crowd wasn’t quite ready for us. After two songs, a guy came up and said our music was too loud and sounded aggressive and weird.

Soon after, we played our first club gig in Basel with Acid Mothers Temple. The audience there was more receptive to our sound, haha.

Me: Your music blends post-punk, indie rock, and even experimental elements. What are your main inspirations? Are there any bands or artists who’ve been particularly influential?

Jonas: We draw inspiration from a lot of different things. Our lives are quite diverse. Some topics that come to mind include: Chinese cinema, watching Talking Heads concerts together, spam emails, conspiracy theories, geopolitics, The Fall, Stanisław Lem, theme parks, Formula 1, Lawrence of Arabia, DEVO, and the people around us...

Me: Switzerland isn’t exactly known for post-punk or underground music. Do you feel this presents specific challenges?

Jonas: There is a DIY music scene in Switzerland, but we never considered ourselves part of a movement or scene. Within such clusters, things tend to align too easily, and the music becomes boring. So we try to stay away from that.

Me: As part of post-punk—your music often carries a cold, detached, even mysterious tone. How did that aesthetic develop?

Jonas: I think we’re generally warm and passionate people, but aesthetics and art function differently from everyday life. Our music is driven by themes and inspirations that are often far removed.

Artists try to distill and combine various elements, and what makes that interesting is the unexpected connections between seemingly unrelated things. So maybe what we create feels distant and cold because the things we connect don’t usually “go together.”

But performing on stage is an incredibly intimate thing. We do try to connect with the audience. It’s a beautiful experience—but we’re definitely not the kind of performers who play to please the crowd.

Me: Your album covers and tour posters often feature Asian elements—Mao-style fonts, stills from Takeshi Kitano’s films, and so on. What draws you to these visual motifs?

Jonas: That actually comes from a deep connection I have with China. I’ve traveled to China multiple times, collaborated with Beijing band Backspace, and recorded music there.

Penkowski has toured Europe with Lonely Leary and Fazi, and my label Fiasko Ltd. also works on cultural exchanges between China and Switzerland. We’re genuinely trying to connect our country with China.

Me: Honestly, your stage presence reminds me of David Bowie’s 80s flair, Jim Carrey’s humor, and Tom Cruise’s intense energy. How did you develop that unique style?

Jonas: Haha, thanks for associating me with those legends. Honestly, I always wanted to be an actor. Part of the character I’ve created for Penkowski stems from the gray suit I always wear on stage. I’ve come to enjoy diving into lyrics and improvising text live.I started to mimic myself, becoming a bit obsessive—just like the spy Oleg Penkowski. It all came quite naturally.

Me: How do you see the relationship between music and visual elements? Is there someone in the band who handles the design side of things?

Jonas: For me, the visual aspect has always held an important place. We've always worked with the same artist for our cover art. Daniel Schoch from Basel is a painter and sculptor—and a very close friend of mine. We've been collaborating on visual designs since the beginning of the band. His paintings contain such a diverse array of worlds and perspectives.

Me: If Penkowski’s music were a film, what genre would it be? Is there a film that perfectly embodies your worldview?

Jonas: Leather-clad legs cutting across the frame, blur and soft focus—like a scene from a movie. The colors feel like nighttime in a Wong Kar-wai film from the '90s, but also somehow like Tarkovsky—sci-fi without the spaceships. That’s the kind of visual world we live in.

Me: Do you ever feel like making music is like throwing stones into a calm lake? Does that feeling of isolation or marginality fuel your creativity?

Jonas: Absolutely. I think that’s how most musicians feel today in the content era. When you're constantly tossing things onto Spotify, it really does feel like skipping stones across the surface of the water. Information overload... emptiness. That’s partly why we still press our records on vinyl—to at least create the illusion that something might last. No one’s out there asking you to make music. We’re just really good at stone skipping, so I kind of like that metaphor for what we do, haha.

Me: If you could collaborate with any Asian artist—in any medium—who would you choose, and why?

Jonas: I actually wrote a letter to Jia Zhangke last year. My girlfriend took a photo of him at a film festival and passed him the letter. In it, I said I’d love to compose music for one of his films, and that I deeply admire his work. He read the letter, but never replied. I guess some dreams are just meant to stay dreams. (If anyone knows Director Jia—please remind him for it!)

Me: What’s your take on the trend of cultural blending in today’s global music scene? Do you see this erasure of boundaries as an opportunity or a challenge?

Jonas: We’re very intentional about engaging with that kind of cultural blending—we go with it. For example, the sense of otherness and emotional detachment in Chinese cinema has been a huge source of inspiration for me. It’s what shaped the layered fusion of styles in our music. Jia Zhangke’s film The World tells the story of a “great world” set inside a tiny theme park in Beijing. When we reference that film, the meaning it creates is very different from what it meant when viewed in China. It becomes a kind of exchange—and that process is what makes it so fascinating. We want to blur boundaries. That’s a statement, and also a refusal to accept isolation between people. I truly believe we need more connection—both politically and humanly. We should move closer to one another—not just through digital images on our screens, but for real.

Me: Is there anything else you’d like to say to your audience in China? Will you be returning?

Jonas: We’re incredibly grateful to have built these connections with the people of China. I mean, you’re on the other side of the world, yet we’ve felt such deep resonance, friendship, and openness—it’s truly amazing. We love that feeling, and we’ll always strive to keep that connection alive. Thank you!