Barbara Lehnhoff didn’t want to become a musician – like so many other individuals, but her debut album under moniker of Camilla Sparksss is better than the new Laibach. You can find danceable technoid rhythms and electro-industrial punk tunes on it.

Barbara grew up in Canada amongst Indian reserves with a little brown bear. She is master of tracking and trapping, and knows the smoke signals.  Then she went among alpine natives of Swiss-Italian borderland to learn economic, graphic design and film making.

„I started playing bass in 2004 when I was studying video in Lugano, Switzerland. I needed a soundtrack for a short film I was working on and so I met up with Aris and we started recording.” And art punk band Peter Kernel was born from this co-operation. They were invited by Spencer Krug from the Canadian band Wolf Parade to open for their European tour in 2010.

How does Camilla Sparksss started?

Camilla Sparksss started while I was unloading my 8×10 Ampeg bass cabinet for the 15th time while we were touring Peter Kernel. I looked at Aris and said “we need to start a lighter project”. (…and of course we’ve always wanted to start something electronic).

(An 8×10 Ampeg bass cabinet’s dimensions: 120 x 66 x 40, around 65-75 kg. – editor’s note)

CS is absolutely another musical world than P. Kernel. What are the main musical influences of CS?

I think CS is a different style from PK, but if you listen carefully both projects are very similar. They’re both minimal, instinctive and raw. The main difference lies in the production and instruments used. At the begging we wanted to transform PK into electro, but as we started writing the songs we became nostalgic of the “acoustic” punch of a live band. So we decided to give Peter Kernel a little sister called Camilla Sparksss. But both projects are influenced by what we’re experiencing in our everyday lives and how we feel in the moment. Musically we listen to very different kinds of music, at the moment my favourite band is Moonface. It’s the solo project of  Spencer Krug.

Are there any non-musical projects?

I love making clothing, especially hand made T-shirts. You can check them on my Bandcamp page. And of course videos. Oh, and I love cooking, but I’m not very good at it.

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On her shows there are two dancers. Anahì Traversi, a Swiss-Argentinian theater actress, and Miriam Vile, a Swiss-Italian „Gangsta” jewellery designer.  Next shows: 07 Jun > Luzern, Südpol (Switzerland), 19 Jun > Lyon, Sonic, (France), 21 Jun > Vesoul (France), 07 Jul > Lugano, Elettrolake Fest, Piazza Manzoni (Switzerland).