Music for nostalgics and the newly enamoured

Splendid's song 'CHicago' includes the words "Wo nä Zischti cha si wie am Wuchenänd" ("Where Tuesday feels like the weekend"). On this particular Tuesday evening, the Odeon on Bellevue in Zurich is just as busy as it is at the weekend. It's packed, the customers who found tables are sipping gin'n'tonic and Aperol spritz, and the music is slightly too loud. The two members of Splendid, 38-year-old Michael Egger and 32-year-old Levin Lucca Dennler, suggested the venue. They love places like the Odeon that have a cosmopolitan vibe and nostalgic charm.

The band took their name from a similar institution in Zurich's Niederdorf district: the Splendid Bar. Egger is a well-known singer-songwriter of Bernese dialect pop band Jeans for Jesus, while Dennler co-founded the pop duo Hainan and produced successful artists like German ESC winner Lena Meyer-Landrut and Swiss rapper Loredana. Having been friends for years, the pair founded the band Splendid and released their first album last year. Now they will be one of the main acts at the m4music festival.

Their first single, 'Wägem Geld' (For Money), which was released in early 2025, is a cover version of a Polo Hofer track. Why Polo Hofer in particular?
Levin: Although we have a completely different musical background, Polo Hofer, Endo Anaconda and Kuno Launer were a major influence on us. Covering one another's songs is common amongst artists who sing in dialect.
Mike: We wanted to put our own stamp on this musical treasure. We modernised it by changing it from a major to a minor key, shifting from rock to new wave and adapting the lyrics. Instead of being about Jeanette in suspenders, it features a business major on Only Fans.

Your lyrics are "Tanze wie verrückt, schrei ids Mikrofon – wägem Gäld" (Dance like crazy, scream into the mike - for money). Do you dislike performing on stage?
Mike: I used to get really nervous before gigs. I've since developed strategies to tackle my stage fright, but it'll never be my favourite part of making music.
Levin: It would be crazy to suggest we do it for the money. In Switzerland, few people earn a lot singing in dialect.

So how do you earn your money?
Levin: We work on other projects in parallel. I'm a music producer, while Mike works for a publishing house. Splendid was intended as something that made us feel good. I found that having to be so honest for once and less cool was harder than I had imagined.
Mike: Our collaboration felt very easy. Many of the songs just came naturally to us.

Splendid is currently attracting a lot of hype. What does success mean to you?
Mike: Well, there's commercial success and success in your own scene. That creates a kind of tension. I'm especially pleased that even young people in Zurich who don't understand our musical references enjoy our music nonetheless. Like a Zurich FC fan who approached us in a bar.
Levin: For a long time, we weren't sure if other people would appreciate our music. But just a week after our album was released, people were singing along to all the tracks at a concert we gave at the Dachstock in Bern. That felt like success to us.

The track 'Längwilig' portrays a feeling of weariness. Is life in Switzerland too easy for you?
Mike: Yes. Everything is so aligned, uniform and optimised that it can often feel restrictive. I reckon it's much more exciting being curious, questioning things and not automatically considering unconventional people as threatening.

The track 'Room 104' is all about a stay in a psychiatric hospital. Does that come from personal experience
Mike: Yes. Psychological crises and mental illness are commonplace in our surroundings. Our brief, almost sober song aims to dispel the taboos about spending time in a mental hospital.

'CHicago', which pays homage to city life, describes western Zurich as "Dert, wo eim irgendeinisch dsGlück find" (a place where happiness is found). Where is that for you?
Mike: In other people, late at night – albeit less often than before – and in those almost magical moments when a song is created. We wrote 'CHicago' in about 24 hours. Looking back, I always find it fascinating just how quickly that can happen.
Levin: I'm delighted that people come to our shows. Realising this project with six wonderful musicians is a huge privilege, especially right now.

Time for a final sip of beer. After the interview, they want to go out for dinner. It's Mike's 38th birthday the next day, so it might be a late night. But that sometimes happens in places where Tuesdays can feel like the weekend.