Michael Frei (Songs and Vocals): Born in 1966 in the German part of Switzerland, he discovers the French language at the age of 10 when his family moves to Montreux. An only and solitary child, he reads and writes a lot. The shock of a new culture only increases his feeling to be « different » from the other kids, and so he tries to express his alienation through poems and songs. Maybe because none of the two languages heâs confronted with is really his own, he naturally chooses English when he starts to write pop tunes. Since 1984, heâs played in a bunch of rock bands, first as a drummer and then, unavoidably, as a singer. His first serious project, KÃFKà CiTy, is born in 1989 when he meets Jacques Bevilacqua, the guitarist who has been with him ever since. The band makes two records, tours in Germany and Switzerland and splits in 1994. He then starts to write words for other artists, tries to make a living and, in 1998, forms another band (Greenhouse Effect) that is still active today. Hemlock Smith is his solo project, planned for a long time. The first album, released in 2002, is a collection of weird pop songs, built upon loops and enriched with ambient sounds and noises. The new record though, scheduled for a 2006 release, is an attempt to play simple songs in a simple fashion, to capture the groove and magic of a recording session, often on the first take. It was mostly recorded over a 5-day period and embraces new influences, like folk, soul and jazz, that hadnât been apparent in his music beforeâ He lives in Lausanne, Switzerland, is married and father of two.