Franz Treichler was born in Fribourg in 1961. Having trained in classical guitar at the Lausanne conservatoire, he began in 1983 to focus on electrified music. He was behind the opening of the Fri-Son concert hall and an active member of the rock and alternative scene at the start of the 1980s. Around the same time, in 1985, he formed The Young Gods, a band since cited as an influence by such well-known acts as Nine Inch Nails, U2 and David Bowie.

The band’s career took off far beyond the Swiss border, especially after they signed to the legendary US label Interscope. They have been touring all over the world for more than 25 years. Treichler has worked on a plethora of projects besides The Young Gods, driven by his constant desire to evolve and his unstinting will to push himself further. He is the musical director of the Gilles Jobin contemporary dance company and producer of numerous albums, sets silent films from the Dada movement to music, is a member of an electronic music collective, provides audio materials for a variety of exhibitions, and has travelled to the Amazonian rainforest to record the traditional music of indigenous peoples.