Boris Blank

Born January 15, 1952 in Zürich, Switzerland, Boris Blank is best known as being the musical half of electronic duo Yello. While vocalist and frontman Dieter Meier is typically the focal point of the band, Boris Blank is the architect of the Yello sound, constantly evolving as technology progresses. His interest in music began when he was a child, yet he had no formal training. His style grew from experimenting with samples and new sounds that he’d create on his own as a teenager. In the late 1970s, he met Carlos Perón, who shared Blank’s interest in creating music out of tape loops and experimentation. They formed Yello with vocalist Dieter MeiÏer and embarked on a musical journey that began in the world of the avant-garde and took them into the charts in the 1980s and beyond. The band’s debut album, Solid Pleasure, was released in 1980, however, Carlos Perón quit in 1983 to pursue music on his own. While they’ve released over a dozen albums in their 40 years of existence, Yello’s most popular song internationally was 1985’s “Oh Yeah”, which appeared in the hit film Ferris Bueller’s Day Off the following year. It has become a 1980s staple, appearing in many films and TV advertisements. During breaks in the band’s career, Boris Blank has worked on other projects including two releases in 2014: Convergence (with Malia) and Electrified. He also creates music for film and TV under the name Avant Garden. He returned to solo music creation in February 2024 with his third album Resonance, a wellness-centered fusion of ambient electronica commissioned for the FORTYSEVEN thermal spa near Zurich, designed by leading Swiss architect Mario Botta. Inspired by the sound of open spaces, Stefan Bock and Stefan Zaradić of IAN Records worked with Boris Blank using the Spatial Sound Wave system developed by the Fraunhofer Institute.