About

Smooth Attack are Martin Akeret, Sarignia Bonfà and Raphael Stricker

Martin Akeret

Since 1992 Martin released his music using aliases such as Gary Rich, Drama Martini and Popshop. In 2001, after an intensive and hard work, he produced his important Popshop debut album "My friend frigo LP". This record was loved by the press and the public in the same way. In May of 2002 Oliver Kapp, head of Indulge/Raygun (Hamburg) signed Popshop for his album "Salon Bizarre" which appeared worldwide via Intergroove on CD and Double-Vinyl. The album received a few N°1-Chart-Features, namely in De:Bug and in Groove Mag/D. This album also contained a video clip called "Role Model" played on VIVA Swizz and VIVA Germany. This clip also had a special appearance in the broadcasting show Electronic Beats on VIVA. Due to the good feedback, Popshop was invited for two live shows to Montreal (Canada) in December 2004. A few years later his work was accompanied by a special highlight: The famous UK act Zoot Woman engaged Popshop as their tour support for the Swiss live gigs in 2008. Finally, "A Warm Place Without Memory" (2010) was the title of the next Popshop album with the awesome video clip of «Basic Life Support» which was selected for the best of at CH-Filmszene on television SF1. Popshop released his still actual album "Visual Heart Blood" in Spring 2013 which included a CD and a separate DVD with 16 videoclips. These videos were also shown at the television channels SF, JOIZ and 3Sat.

Sarigna Bonfà

Her mother is Thai and her father is Italian and Swiss, so Sarignia has a extraordinary origin. She was born in Switzerland in 1987 but she spent a lot of time in Thailand. She lived like a nomad. When she was a child she loved to sing and she was performing at the "Mini-Playback-Show" at home in front of the television. Her father is a passionate drummer (Djembe) and he is also a DJ. Sarignia's voice is powerful and nevertheless soulful. She was singing in a choir a few years ago and she was also playing in several local band projects in Zurich and surroundings. She wrote a lot of beautiful songs but she never released then until Martin Akeret founded Smooth Attack together with her in autumn 2012. This was the signal to produce these songs. It is useful in this regard that Sarignia and Martin live in the same town (Winterthur).

Raphael Stricker

Raphael Stricker has been playing Lego alongside records and musical instruments from an early age. His father, mother and older brother each have their own intense relationship with music, which they passed on to the youngest on various levels: On the one hand, the theoretical knowledge of music and its impact on society, and on the other, the emotional empathy for music and the ability to play an instrument. At around the age of eight, he secretly played his brother's guitar, and at around the age of twelve he took lessons on the classical guitar. During this time, he also formed his first bands, in which he was always the driving force. At school, he always sat behind an instrument in music lessons, was interested in rhythm and began to teach himself to play the drums. After the rock phase, he entered the punk rock phase and scene relatively early on. There he organized the first concerts of the bands - with much success with the audience.

His intellectual engagement with the music was a constant companion. For him, music was and is more than just entertainment or a hobby; music is his purpose in life. He has been composing music himself since his youth, making his own demo recordings with live instruments (bass, drums, guitar, piano and vocals).

As he knew early on that it would be difficult to earn a living from music, he did an apprenticeship. In addition, he always played in bands in which he played an important role in the creation of the music. At the age of 28, he took his first steps towards becoming a professional musician. After completing the preliminary course at the Bern University of the Arts, he began to work intensively with the guitar in a different way at the Institute for Contemporary Music in Winterthur (WIAM). With his skillful playing between soft/playful and loud/distorted, he has been an integral part of Smooth Attack's music since summer 2017.