“Felix Slováček: Music, Life, and Dealing with Outrageous Gossip”

There is almost no defense against outrageous gossip and so-called guaranteed information. The best strategy is to ignore the made-up nonsense that sometimes borders on hysteria. “I learned not to read it and not to notice it,” said the popular musician and composer Felix Slováček, who is currently celebrating his eightieth birthday, to the editors of PrahaIN.cz.

If readers were to take seriously everything that has appeared in the press in recent years about him, as well as about his wife Dagmar Patras, they would find out that the closely watched couple has definitely gone through several dozen divorces, the number of their alleged lovers would be a decent phone book and is almost constantly in treatment for several types of addiction.

Thanks to his life experiences, Felix Slováček, who has already lived through many dramatic moments, is not one of those people who just gets upset. “I’ve learned to ignore things like that. I just don’t read that crap. And done. If I started to fight back against these lies and nonsense, it would only be adding fuel to the fire. I don’t need that, so I devote myself to my family and music in peace, without getting upset or depressed. This is the best defense,” the musician told our editors.

Felix Slováček has been successfully on the scene for several decades. He experienced the massive rise of popular music in the 1960s, when famous groups, singers, composers and musicians were literally born like mushrooms after the rain, and with them also ageless mega-hits.

However, he is very skeptical about the current state of Czech popular music. “I dare say that the Czech music scene can be compared to one big disaster. A good song has to have something in it that really appeals to the listener. And unfortunately, I hardly see that here. A quality composer and musician who lives by his work does not need to use profanity in the text to suit him,” the musician points out.

Sea…

When asked what his continued success lies in, he replied that he constantly strives to perform for which he has nothing to be ashamed of. “I play melodies full of life, joy and beauty to the listeners. I don’t try to pander to them, but I always give them a professional performance. The listeners will appreciate that,” emphasized the musician.

According to him, today’s authors and musicians are in an unhappy situation. Enjoying music is getting harder and harder.

“For example, if someone has a group, writes a new song and wants it to appear on the radio, for example, they have to pay for it. Then he goes on the concert circuit, where he earns some money. But then he takes it, and so that he is not forgotten next year, he has to pay again. And so today musicians move in this strange circle,” said Felix Slováček. “I recently had an interview on the radio. In the entire hour during this show, not a single song of mine was allowed to be played. The playwright told me that it would violate some of their criteria or something. It’s all rather absurd,” he added.

During the year, the musician attends dozens of concerts and spends hours in recording studios. That’s why he looks forward to the summer season every year, when he “switches off” for a few weeks.