Anorak

Anorak News | Eliana Burki Blows Her Horn For Swiss Punk

Eliana Burki Blows Her Horn For Swiss Punk

by | 4th, January 2009

ELIANA Burki is what passes for rebellion in Switzerland, country of civic pride, immaculate streets, assisted suicide and a brand of racism that explains why mountain goats are white.

Switzerland is where all the unsavoury bits of neighbouring Italy and France are stored for war. Switzerland is Europe’s bank. Austria is its cellar.

Burki has a pierced nose – yeah, a bit like a dairy cow – and ripped jeans “Eliana Burki is a symbol of anarchy in the Swiss alphorn scene”.

The alphorn was used by shepherds in the 18th century to communicate across the Alps and attract women, or other lonely shepherds.

Daily practice allowed her to go beyond the 12-note range of most players and use the alphorn in a blues-funk-jazz style that is at odds with the more purist form.

She tells Swissinfo:

“You can compare it to the punks of the 1970s. I feel like them. The instrument is difficult to play and I needed to practise for 20 years to develop this virtuosity. I take it to the limits but there are many more limits waiting for me.”

Switzerland is full of limits. So Anorak suggests an exchange programme with Switzerland getting the bagpipes, and shopping precincts in the Home Counties experiencing a dose of Burki’s horn.

Burki can then go on tour, taking her horn on British trains, buses and finally the London Tube, reminding the British what punk is really all about, and so too Switzerland…



Posted: 4th, January 2009 | In: Celebrities Comment | TrackBack | Permalink