Mario Batkovic

Swiss accordionist of Bosnian descent. Spent his adolescence wondering which instrument suits him best. He received his undergraduate degree from Hannover and his graduate degree from Basel with a focus on chamber music improvisations. Despite his background in classical music, he realised he was missing the chaos of playing in a band; so he took the stages with many bands in Switzerland, produced music, composed for films, founded his own studio and record label. In 2015, Geoff Barrow of Portishead admired Batkovic’s mastery of accordion and invited the band to their tour as Beak’s supporting act. Later, he shaked hands with Barrow’s record label, Invida. In 2017, he released his first self-titled solo album with the Invida label. You will be surprised to see how experimental, unusual and captivating accordion can be.