Flugmodus Partyband

Scroll past the client logos and the gallery on Flugmodus Partyband's site and the only individual name that shows up in the operator's own formal copy is in the Impressum, not the marketing pages: Sofia Tzoka, listed there as the person responsible for the site's content, with an address in Basel. A client testimonial published a few screens up spells the same name with an extra "h", Sophia Tzoka, and calls her "eine herausragende Stimme und ein breites Spektrum" (an outstanding voice and a wide range). Officially, though, the band avoids framing itself around a lead singer at all. Its own FAQ states plainly that "alle vier Mitglieder von Flugmodus sind erfahrene Berufsmusikerinnen und Berufsmusiker mit fundierter Ausbildung," all 4 members trained, professional musicians, and that it plays as a 4-piece, "typischerweise mit Gesang, Gitarre, Bass und Schlagzeug": vocals, guitar, bass, drums.

The tenure claim is consistent everywhere it appears. The homepage says "seit 2013 begleiten wir Hochzeiten, Firmenanlässe und private Feiern in der ganzen Schweiz" (since 2013 we have played weddings, corporate events and private parties across Switzerland); the About page repeats "seit 2013" for stage experience; the dedicated wedding page rounds it to "seit über einem Jahrzehnt" (for over a decade). 3 phrasings of the same starting year, nowhere contradicted.

2 of the other regular players are named on the site too, and not just in a review. The band's own Partners page describes "die beiden Musiker der professionellen Liveband Flugmodus, Michel Argast und Walter Sarbach," who have worked for over 10 years alongside a separate touring musician called Borovsky on studio productions and live shows. A client review elsewhere on the site puts an instrument to each name, Walter Sarbach on guitar and Michel Argast on drums, and the Impressum's own phone contact is credited to "(Walter Sarbach)": 3 independent pages agreeing on the same 2 people. A different review also names a keyboardist on a specific booking, but that role doesn't appear anywhere else on the site and the FAQ's own description of the standard lineup, guitar, bass and drums behind the voice, doesn't include one, so it isn't repeated here as a fixed fact.

What actually happens across a wedding day

The wedding page breaks the day into named segments rather than describing a generic performance: apéro and arrival get "dezente Live-Musik," quiet, unobtrusive live music, so guests feel welcomed without conversation getting drowned out; dinner gets music that "gleitet sanft durch den Raum," with volume, style and tempo adjusted continuously; the cake and any dedicated song moment are played live, with the site noting a couple can instead just plug their own choice into the band's sound system if they'd rather; the first dance is covered live or with backing support; and the party proper starts once the formal program has wound down. For the ceremony and apéro specifically, the FAQ says coverage is "gut möglich," genuinely workable, "je nach Ablauf und Location," depending on schedule and venue, and flags that the details worth settling early are which songs, whether power is available, and whether the ceremony is outdoors. Where it isn't, the band says it has "mobile, akkubetriebene Lösungen," battery-powered gear, for a garden or a meadow with no outlet nearby. The wedding page states outright that a couple can book the ceremony as a duo or trio and add the full band later for the floor, rather than paying for 4 musicians through a 2-hour dinner they don't need covered.

Repertoire rules, not a fixed setlist

The FAQ is unusually direct that there is no set programme: "es gibt keine starre, fix vorgegebene Setliste." The stated range runs "über mehrere Jahrzehnte Musikgeschichte," several decades of music history, classics, rock, pop, disco, funk, soul, dance classics and current chart songs, and a couple can request the full song list in advance or veto genres and specific tracks outright, a veto the site says holds even if a guest later asks for the excluded song. First-dance songs get rehearsed ahead of time "sofern er sich musikalisch gut für unsere Besetzung eignet," provided it suits the band's own instrumentation; where it doesn't, the FAQ says they'll sometimes recommend playing the original recording instead of forcing a cover. The band also states it plays "zu hundert Prozent live," 100 percent live, with no hidden backing tracks, and that once the last set ends, recorded music keeps running through their own PA for roughly 20 to 30 minutes while they pack down, so the room doesn't go silent mid-strike. For a longer night, the FAQ mentions a combined live band plus DJ package rather than treating the two as a choice.

Stage, power and setup, stated in specifics

The band gives real numbers for what it needs from a venue rather than leaving it vague. Minimum stage footprint is "rund 4 × 3 Metern," about 4 by 3 metres, with 4 by 4 to 5 by 4 metres called ideal; a standard "230-Volt-Steckdose (mit 16 Ampere abgesichert)" covers most events, with extra power arranged directly with the venue only for unusually large productions. Setup, including a soundcheck of 20 to 30 minutes, takes roughly 90 minutes in total, timed to finish before guests arrive where possible; breakdown afterward runs 45 to 60 minutes. For events running past several hundred guests, the FAQ says the full technical setup is handled through long-standing outside technical partners rather than the band's own rig.

Travel radius and the language gap worth flagging

The band's stated working area is centred on Basel and reaches "innerhalb von etwa zwei Stunden Fahrzeit," within about a 2-hour drive, covering Zürich, Bern, Luzern, Zug, St. Gallen, Winterthur and the Aargau as named examples; anything further, including just over a nearby border, gets travel and any overnight cost agreed transparently before a couple signs an offer. The FAQ separately confirms it has handled venues reachable only by mountain railway, boat or shuttle.

For this tenant's audience, the more relevant gap is language. The entire site is in German, with no English version of any page. The one place English shows up is in 2 client reviews the operator has chosen to publish as-is: one from a couple who booked the band for an office Christmas party, another from a couple who booked their 50th birthday party and note that "pre-event admin was easy." The FAQ's answer on multilingual weddings names Switzerland, Germany, Greece, Italy, France, "Grossbritannien" and "den USA," Britain and the USA, among the countries its past couples have come from, and frames shared music rather than a shared language as what actually holds a mixed guest list together on the floor. None of that amounts to a stated claim that planning, contracts or on-the-day announcements happen in English; the FAQ confirms the band handles short MC duties itself (announcing the first dance, cueing the party) but is silent on which language, and refers out to a separate MC from its own network for anything more involved. A couple planning from abroad should ask directly rather than assume.

Price and booking, on the record

Flugmodus states clearly why it publishes no fixed price: "weil wir keine Standardlösung verkaufen," because it doesn't sell a standard package, and gives a birthday party with 60 guests as one example of how differently 2 bookings can be priced. What a quote covers is spelled out anyway: consultation, musical preparation, travel, setup and breakdown, soundcheck, its own sound and lighting, the live sets and the between-set playlist, with extra cost limited to exceptionally long travel, an overnight stay, or unusual technical demands. For anyone with a specific date in mind during the Swiss wedding season, the FAQ recommends enquiring 12 to 18 months ahead, while adding that later enquiries are still worth sending since dates do open up. Referenzen lists more than 700 events to date and names a long roster of hotels (Baur au Lac, Bürgenstock Resort, the Hermitage at Lake Lucerne among them), corporate clients including Novartis, Roche and the Swiss Army, and one line that stands out among the festival credits: the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022. None of that is a wedding fact by itself, but it corroborates a working band with a real booking history rather than a template site with a phone number attached.