About

Highway 1 was born from the serendipitous meeting of singer Alf Pastix and composer Sandrine Rudaz on Californian soil. Both had been deeply affected by the harsh realities that lurk beneath the glitz and glamour of Hollywood and the natural disasters that have ravaged the breathtaking landscapes.

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This powerful song captures the inherent dichotomy of California, where beauty and horror coexist. It portrays the heart-wrenching contrast between the tragic crimes and rampant homelessness that plague the state, juxtaposed against the awe-inspiring beauty of the iconic "Highway 1" (Route 1) that snakes along the Pacific coast. The devastating forest fires that burned hundreds of hectares of vegetation during the time of their collaboration further highlight this duality, inspiring them to create two versions of the same song: one upbeat and catchy (Sunrise), and the other more somber and introspective (Sunset).

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The lyrics of Highway 1 are infused with a sense of hope and resilience, emphasizing that even in the face of horror, beauty can flourish. This song serves as a poignant reminder of the complexity and contradictions that make California such a unique and compelling place.

Alf Pastix

Alf Pastix is a bilingual (French/English) duo from Friborg distilling Urban Folk music.

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After a first Folk album entitled "Fairytales at half past six" in formation of six musicians, Alf Pastix became a duo to release "High" in 2018, an album imbued with "urban melancholy" (cf. Thierry Raboud, La Freedom). In 2021, the project "Back from Death Valley", an acoustic EP recorded in California in collaboration with guitarist Ramon Villarroel, was born. In parallel with these various projects, the group regularly offers new singles, including the latest, "Devant le Ciel", available since April 23, 2023.

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Over the years, Alf Pastix has multiplied the appearances on stage. Examples include the Rock Oz'Arènes in Avenches, the Gurten Festival in Bern or La Spirale et le Nouveau Monde in Fribourg, among many other dates including the SBB Artists on Tour in Swiss train stations or in California, during the Climate Strike event in particular.

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Alf Pastix is currently working on a new project and plans to release more singles later in 2023.

Sandrine Rudaz

Currently based in Los Angeles, Swiss-French composer Sandrine Rudaz creates music for film, video games, and theatre. Career honors include a Jerry Goldsmith Award nomination and two Hollywood Music in Media Awards. Her work for the drama short “A” for Alpha (HBO) won Best Original Score at the Garden State Film Festival.

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Sandrine worked on more than thirty films among which feature films such as The Shell, Fate of the Night and Night Hunter, and short films such as the world acclaimed Kneeling Sheep. She released her first piano album in 2019. She was selected to attend the 2018 SESAC Workshop with composer John Swihart (How I Met Your Mother). ​

Her music utilizes both her European classical piano training and American education to craft stylistically distinct soundscapes; she is at home writing for full orchestra, solo and duo settings, and all ranges in between. Sandrine holds a Master of Music in Film Composition from the Pacific Northwest Film Scoring Program, a Bachelor of Arts in Music from the Conservatory of Lausanne in Switzerland, and further studied orchestration at Stanford University. She is ambassador of Primetime Network and a member of the Alliance for Women Film Composers, Society of Composers and Lyricists, and Women In Film.