Franz Treichler is a Swiss singer, songwriter, musician, composer and record producer. He is best known as the vocalist and sole consistent member of the Swiss industrial rock band The Young Gods, which he founded in 1985 with sampler player Cesare Pizzi and drummer Frank Bagnoud. Treichler was instrumental in the band's adoption of samplers as a main instrument. He released his solo debut album, Braindance in 2001.
Treichler was born on 14 November 1961 in Fribourg. His father is Brazilian. He enrolled in Fribourg Conservatory in 1971 and then attended Lausanne Conservatory, where he studied classical guitar. He was introduced to rock music artists such as Pink Floyd and Jimi Hendrix by his older brother. Moving to Geneva in 1977, he was introduced to the burgeoning punk rock movement. In 1979, Treichler formed the band Johnny Furgler & the Raclette Machine, which became Fribourg's first punk rock band. The band featured Cesare Pizzi on bass and Jacques Schouwey on drums while Treichler sang and played guitar. Pizzi was replaced by Heleen Wubbe at the same year and the band changed their name to Jof & the Ram. The band's self-titled EP was recorded and released in 1979 and 1981, respectively; Jof & the Ram broke up in 1983. During this time, Treichler also played guitar on the punk rock band Schizoids. In 1981, along with Schouwey and Wubbe, he became the co-founder of Fri-Son concert hall in Fribourg. Treichler is married to his Jof & the Ram bandmate, Heleen Wubbe. They reside in Geneva.
Relocating to Geneva following the demise of Jof & the Ram, Treichler formed The Young Gods with Cesare Pizzi and Frank Bagnoud in 1985. The band originated from Treichler's sound collage experiments with a 4-track recorder and eschewed guitars in favour of a sampler, composing music from distorted guitar and classical music loops. Working with Swans member and producer Roli Mosimann, the band released 1987's The Young Gods and 1989 L'eau rouge to critical acclaim from publications such as Melody Maker. In 1993, the band released The Young Gods Play Kurt Weill, which featured covers of Kurt Weill compositions. Treichler relocated to the New York for the recording of the band's English-language record T.V. Sky and Interscope-debut, Only Heaven. He relocated to Switzerland following the departure of the band's second drummer, Urs Hiestand. The band has released electronic-influenced record Second Nature and Super Ready/Fragmenté in 2000 and 2007, respectively. Treichler resumed playing guitar on 2008's Knock on Wood, as well as on the band's 2010 and 2019 studio albums, Everybody Knows and Data Mirage Tangram.
Treichler is also a record producer, having worked with French industrial metal bandTreponem Pal on their self-titled 1989 debut and 1993's Excess & Overdrive. He has also produced remixes for artists such as Prong, Foetus and Noir Désir. In the late 90s, Treichler composed electronic music pieces for dance companies. His compositions for the Swiss choreographer Gilles Jobin from 1997 to 1999 were compiled on his solo studio album, 2001's Braindance. In 2014, Treichler was awarded the Swiss Grand Award for Music. In 2015, he scored an exhibition curated by the Swiss artist Donatella Bernardi.
