KP: How is Spain this time of year?
Zurmuhle: Hot, dry, and humid. It’s a time when everything goes at a slower pace because many people are still on vacation or only just returning.
KP: I know you were born in Switzerland and started piano lessons when you were five. Tell us about your early life and formative years.
Zurmuhle: When I was 5 years old, my mother put me on her lap and introduced me to the piano. I remember this very well. Weeks later my mother told me that she would reward me with $2 if, by evening, I could play all three parts of a waltz she played for me in the morning. Well, I achieved this and my parents decided to send me to a private piano teacher. My teacher was a professional and a very kind person, but after three years, I had the desire to play other music besides Czerny and “Für Elise.” I began to play songs that I heard on the radio. This was the kind of music I really loved when I was 8 and 9 years old. It was probably the most important moment in my “career,” because just listening to music and replaying it trained my ear, the foundation for improvisation and composition later on.
Over time I lost interest in my traditional classical piano training and became more and more interested in playing music by ear. This is how I discovered the harmonic concepts by myself. Years later I bought books and taught myself, starting with blues, jazz, and a copy of the “Real Book.” Later on, I studied jazz at the Music Conservatory in Vaduz, Liechtenstein.
KP: When did you first become interested in music?
Zurmuhle: My mother had an old record player and a couple of LPs and shellacks. I played those records all day long. That old record player was one of my favorite “toys.”
KP: What kinds of music did you listen to then?
Zurmuhle: Mostly classical music or some of those really fluffy songs that were popular at that time. I don’t remember the titles, but I still remember some of the melodies.
KP: Do you play instruments other than the piano?
Zurmuhle: Well, different keyboards … and the wooden flute I learned to play in elementary school. So, not really …
KP: When did you leave Switzerland?
Zurmuhle: Nearly ten years ago, in January 1999. It was a very important step in my life. I left my country, my parents, friends, my language, my profession as a lawyer, and moved to Spain, barely knowing three words in Spanish. It was quite an adventure, but in retrospect it was the best thing I’ve ever done in my life.
KP: What motivated you to make such huge changes in your life?
Zurmuhle: At that time I had already overstayed my living in two worlds, meaning the music and law. For a long time, my soul had been longing for a major decision. Then one day a window of opportunity opened when I was in Spain. I decided in one night to take advantage of it and to begin an entirely new life.
KP: How long did you practice law?
Zurmuhle: I practiced law for ten years at a law firm and also at the court for one year. When I came to Spain in 1999, I decided to dedicate myself entirely to music.
KP: What type of law did you specialize in?
Zurmuhle: The system is different in Europe than in the States. It would be too complicated to explain it here. Basically, I practiced civil and penal law.
KP: You have released three incredible solo piano CDs in the past eight years. Did you release any recordings prior those?
Zurmuhle: Nothing that has been published on a CD. I composed soundtracks for several projects, mostly by Arno Oehri.
KP: Do you plan to do more solo piano recordings? I hope so!!!
Zurmuhle: Yes, of course. Right now, I am in a moment of major change. I seek a living situation with new inspiration. When everything is in its place, which should be in a few months, there will be much more.
KP: You have done quite a lot of music for film and multimedia productions. Let’s talk about some of those projects.
Zurmuhle: Well, people have always said that my music complements images and film. It started in the late 1980’s when Arno Oehri asked me to compose the scores for different performances, videos, and theater productions. A very nice project I worked on with Arno was a documentary about Norman Lee, the son of a family in Liechtenstein, who emigrated to the US. Norman Lee then became a famous clarinetist and big band leader in the US.
KP: Your piano music is incredibly atmospheric and emotional. What inspires you to create such passionate music?
Zurmuhle: That is difficult to answer. In my case it works this way:
first of all, there are the outer factors - I need space and freedom. Then there is the piano. (You have to love the piano in front of you). Then I improvise. By doing this I discover my inner world. Concentration is the most important factor, to be 100% absorbed by what is happening in the moment. And then suddenly I am somewhere else. All of my compositions were created in this way. I never sit at the piano with the purpose of composing (except if I really have to). I sit at the piano to enjoy myself improvising, and if it happens that something appears to me that is worth recording, I record it and later work on it “to give it form.”
