Cyril Cyril

Hailing from Switzerland, Cyril Cyril crafts an entrancing and rhythm-driven strain of psychedelic rock shaped by the sonic traditions of North Africa and the Middle East. The project unites Cyril Yeterian, who adapts his banjo to evoke the timbre of a bouzouki or krar, with percussionist Cyril Bondi, whose self-built drum kit supplies the propulsive beats; together they have earned praise for their high-energy live shows and for the whimsical, lyrical scope of albums such as the 2020 release Yallah Mickey Mouse and its 2024 successor Le Futur Ça Marche Pas.

Each musician had already spent more than ten years immersed in Geneva’s music community prior to joining forces. Yeterian handled vocals and accordion for the zydeco blues group Mama Rosin, established the wide-ranging label and shop Bongo Joe, and contributed to the garage rock and swamp pop collective Broadway Lafayette alongside Detroit veteran Mick Collins. Bondi, meanwhile, supplied drums for jazz and improvisation outfits including Diatribes, Plaistow, and the Insub Meta Orchestra. The pair began working together in 2017, with Yeterian on altered banjo and guitar, Bondi striking a bass drum fitted with tropical nut shells and jingle bells, and both contributing vocals and organ. Their first shared effort, the single “Colosse de Rhodes,” led Parisian imprint Born Bad Records to sign them; the label partnered with Bongo Joe to issue the debut album Certaine Ruines in 2018.

Cyril Cyril spent the next several years touring widely across Europe, then delivered the more elaborately produced second album Yallah Mickey Mouse in 2020. A lone track titled “Frankie” surfaced the following year, and in 2023 the duo teamed with Meridian Brothers for the single “Diablos de Chuao”/“Navaja Bogotá.” Their third full-length, Le Futur Ça Marche Pas, arrived in 2024 and included guest spots from members of both Meridian Brothers and Orchestre Tout Puissant Marcel Duchamp, with mixing handled by Carlos Quebrada of Genosidra.