(born in 1977, march 24) is a native swiss jazzrock guitarplayer living in Berlin.
A major player on the berlin pop scene since his membership days with Thalaya , Larss credits include work with such jazz icons as saxophonplayer Donny McCaslin, piano player Mark Soskin and Peter Madsen. Lars role of an own bandleader-composer, stylistically versatil and flexible studiorecording artist, liveplayer and integrating sideman (Thalaya/ The peacekeeper & the purple egg) has made him an often requested artist playing about 120 shows a year.
Lars own musical story began in Rio de Janeiro/Brasil where he lived for 3 years with his parents, Helmuth and Margrit Rüetschi, a schoolteacher and an independent journalist and his brother sven where they adopted Debby, his afrobrasilian sister. "I will pull all my life of this years. I think for a child this impressions are so strong. you hear the people playing live music everywhere, all the night long the city is full of samba beats. Music is a very strong part in life there ! Brasil has everything, sadness, happyness; most of the people are poor, but they try to deal with their live..listen to brasilian lyrics, they are often melancholic but there is mostly a touch of hope. This country has a big poverty but an unbelievable cultural richness uprised by multi races and ethnic influences. Like afro traditions combined with european classical music inducing musicians like Baden Powell. In Rio de Janeiro my parents buyed hundred of LPs: Gal Costa, Martinho da Villa, Gilberto Gil, Milton Nascimento, Boca Livre etc. Back to Europe this music were the things my parents listened most of the time. Thats why i have this influences in my style. To be honest; i didnt grow up with bebop :) This music i discovered when i was older, and i had to analise it as if you learn a foreign language. Brasilian music i got like a mother tongue and i thank god for that."
Lars begann to play the piano when he was 7 years old, 2 years just playing by ears and trying to play songs knowing from his parents LPs. "Even though i had classical lessons in the age of 9 to 15 i practiced more my own things, tried to compose the first time i touched the piano, i played every day, but i hardly practiced the stuff i got in the lessons. The first moment i sat on the piano i felt for bringing my current personal mood to the instrument, whether happyness, sadness, agressions.. what ever".
The first time lars picked up a guitar he was 14. "We were in the eighties, i was in my adolescence. Hardrock bands like AC/DC, Metallica and guns n roses were present, the electric guitar was the right instrument for me , my motivation was to sound like these guitar heroes. With 15 i could play most of the tunes and i went more into the virtuoso instrumental rock stuff, playing tunes by Joe Satriani, Steve Morse, Steve Lukathers Los Lobotomys and so on.
At the same time lars took classical lessons with a brasilian guitar player and discovered also the lyrical and soft character of this instrument.
"I was practicing like crazy, picking up my instrument every free second. in summer holidays i practiced the hole day.the first time i picked up the guitar i knew i want become a professional musician playing on stage as much as possible. I am very grateful to my parents that they always supported my dream !
In this age i practiced a lot, lot of technique. Those where the days, you could impress the girls by playing fast :)..." but this way i got my first studio job with 17.
With 16 Lars got a tinnitus (the perception of sound in the absence of a corresponding external sound) - caused by ignition of thetympanic membrane and simultan playing to loud - and reduced to play the electric guitar for almost 2 years - just playing classical guitar this time. "Every kind of sound intensity agressed me totally". Thats why he went deeper and deeper into acoustic stuff, listening to Ralph Towner, Baden Powell, Vicente Amigo, Paco de Lucia practicing Leo Brouwer, Villa Lobos an developed his own kind of playing fingerstyle guitar. "It was my acoustic period an im happy about it, it was so much focus on playing lead guitar before, i think i would have lost this part."
After buying his first fusion album "odds or evens" by Mike Stern, he was so fascinated about the harmonic and rhytmical structures that he begann to aim more and more into the jazz direction focusing on guitarplayers like Pat Metheny, Mike Stern, John Abercrombie, George Benson etc. but also traditional players like Wes Montgomery were major influences for Lars.
"The first jazz concert i visited was at the age of 16. John Abercrombie and Marc Copeland played together. I had no idea what they were playing there but i was so fascinated that i wanted to solve this mystery :) "
1998 - 2002 Lars studied jazzguitar at the academy of music Basel/ jazz faculty with french-marseille guitar virtuoso Francis Coletta as his guitar teacher. "It was a great time, he supported my love for different styles, never forced me to go in just one direction. As a studio cat he knew about the importance of flexibility, versatility, style security and good ears. He made me learn to catch musical essence in a fast way.
After his certification Lars returned to a "rockier" aesthetic combining his jazz experiences with an overdrived sound an extroverted playing. "For me, with a soft or also harder overdrived sound i fell closer to the human voice, i have more possibilities to phrase and transform my feelings into music.
2005 Lars moved to Berlin looking for a better and larger music market, jumped into the session scene playing every day on berlin stages for making his contacts. On a studio session he was developped by London -originated nigerian- singer Leon Adonri who hooked him up for his power-fusion band "The Peacekeeper & The Purple Egg", playing an own style influencend by funk, ska and soul. For more than a year they play every thursday in the Berlin club "ACUD", their shows are famous for being very extroverted and exzessive combined with instrumental virtuosity and strong interaction with the audience. So perhaps thats the secret they have full house every week.
In august 2005 Lars played for "The Lindale Project" a three week studio session with jazzgiants Mark Soskin (sonny rollins, steve smith, billy cobham) and grammy award nominated saxophon player Donny McCaslin (Maria Schneider Orchestra).
After a casting 2006 Lars was taken in the german pop band "Thalaya", including 3 female singers and 5 band musicians. Characterized for their 3 voice arrangements combined with folk- influenced acoustic and electric guitars they are touring through whole germany and playing a lot of TV shows and big festivals as on the world-famous Waldbühne Berlin, Football WM 2006.
Apart from touring with Thalaya and the Peacekeepers Lars plays in his own instrumental projects, lyrical acoustic-Jazz-Folk up to electric high energetic guitar Jazz-Rock to find complete expression of his impulsive but also lyrical side.
