What led you to record a solo album?
It never occurred to me in the past that I would ever release my record. I never even acknowledged it. I’m a fan of the history of popular music, but I’ve never appreciated David Gilmour’s solo album, for example, because I was interested in his band Pink Floyd. I have never appreciated the solo albums of Kiss members or anyone else. I was interested in the bands of which they were members.
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I didn’t even have the ambition to sing, especially since I am surrounded by the best singers on our stage. In the 1980s, when I had a Bossanov band in which I sang, I found that I hated my voice. When I hear a recording from that time, I’m terribly ashamed. Then I never sang solo anywhere.
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I’ll make it a little easier now. My mom always told me that she didn’t mind my bands, that I didn’t have bad singers in them. However, she added that I have the best voice. I objected that she sees me as the right mom, but why would I sing when I have such aces around me. I enjoy the place behind the keyboard instruments and I am completely satisfied. But she stood by her and convinced me that I had a velvet voice, supposedly as Matuška, and that she would like women.
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So you listened to her?
When the lockdown came, I remembered her and decided to give it. I wanted to have fun composing songs, try to write Czech lyrics about what I live about, make songs in a different spirit than the ones at JAR and Monkey Business, and invite good friends to record.
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I wrote the first song I’ll probably get a dog. I sent it to about twenty strict people I know are not one-sided on my side, and they called me excited that the song had such a unique atmosphere and was so different that I should continue composing.
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I chose Matěj Ruppert and Tereza Černochová, the singers of Monkey Business, and the son of Marie Rottrová, Vít Kučaj, as co-producers. When I make someone else’s music, I’m always sure it’s good or not. But producing yourself is a weird thing, so I approached them. And their response to other ideas was good.
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In the end, my album is one of about twenty so-called cover albums that have been released in our country in recent months. By its implementation, I saved my mental stability, because the covid period combined with complications in my personal life was very demanding for me.
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Roman Holý released the first record.
Photo: artist’s archive
So is he downright personal?
He is so personal, alas. The lyrics fundamentally intersect with what I was experiencing at the time and how I perceive the life around me.
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In the song The End of the West, you sing about fears about the future of Europe. Are you worried about her?
This song is a hot potato and I’m a little worried that it’s understood correctly. It is not about fear of where Europe is heading. It is such a cry into the darkness against the hysteria about migration caused by some populist political parties and thus frightening uneducated and old people.
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It is a sigh against the hysteria of Czech society. At the same time, he points out that I am sorry for the dramatic outflow of classical Christianity in our country. Although I am not a believer, I am sorry. I think the Ten are part of a decent upbringing. Compared to the philosophy of some other religions, it is a fairy tale that should lead us further.
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The relationship with women appears several times in the texts. Is this an important topic for you?
This is one of the most important topics for most people. It is constantly processed in film, literature and music. But I wanted to do it differently. I perceive the song Hunting is My Love as a monument to women, their attraction and beauty, as well as a monument to the hopelessness of men who are unable to be monogamous. It’s about how men constantly torture us wonderfully, complicate our lives and we can’t look at just one.
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It’s even harder with our musicians. In many ways, it’s easy for us to get out of the way, the devil’s lawyer is present basically every weekend when we go to concerts. As David Koller says, we simply have such a contact profession.
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The second song about the female world is Fuck is a miracle. I don’t think anyone has ever dealt with this topic this hard. Not even in the movie. In my opinion, sex in the vast majority is actually a great trauma. But when a person finds the right counterpart who will perceive him in the same way, when in one thing they meet one hundred percent, then intercourse can be a miracle. I have personally experienced both variants.
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I sang that song with Necrocock, the guitarist of the metal band Masters Hammer. He’s on the other side of the music spectrum, but I really admire him. When I sent him an offer to perform with me, I thought he would send me to hell. But he really liked it, he agreed to it and as a vocalist he eventually participated in five songs of the album.
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Roman Holý.
Photo: artist’s archive
Are there songs that are more important to you than others?
In general, they are all completely unimportant, but for me, everyone is important. As an author, I have learned and I honor that I will not publish anything that I am not happy with. I blame a lot of bands for releasing bad records, which I skip in their discography. I don’t understand why they do it, why they don’t record an album that has everything from A to Zet great.
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Every song on my record has its place and I agree with it. There is no so-called cotton wool on it. There are fourteen of them and they form a range of topics that I wanted to rely on.
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You talked about your mother. Is it important for your career?
It’s completely irrelevant to my music career. But it is absolutely essential for me as a human being, and therefore it affects everything. He has been asking me since I was fifteen, when I had my first band Bossanova, to write a song for it. I tell her not to go crazy that I can’t do it, because it’s done by people who are undercutting and want to lure money out of the audience with a touching song.
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My mom always supported me in music. At a time when the used Škoda cost fifty thousand, they did not hesitate with their dad, sold the cottage, took out a loan and bought me the first Rolland X8P synthesizer for fifty thousand. I will never forget that. She, my dad and my grandmother always came out to meet me. They are irreplaceable for me.
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As guests or lyricists, you invited Radek Pastrňák, Tomáš Hanák, Martin Kyšperský, Ota Klempíř, Ondřej Pivec, Dan Bárta, Mucha, Necrocock, MC Geye and Ewa Farná to the album. How did you choose them?
These are all people I love. That was the only criterion. It sounds exaggerated to many, but I take music so seriously that I don’t recognize the slightest calculation in it. So my record is a pure imprint of what kind of songs I like, what instruments and people in the music industry I like. I missed some of them because I couldn’t visit them, I never did anything with others, and at the same time I love their work.
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How will you continue to present the songs from the album?
I think it’s good these days when there are pictures for a song. So I will try to provide everyone with a suitable visual, preferably a video clip. I also dreamed of a band associated with all my favorite musicians, with whom I would very much like this album and the upcoming Ranger of Peace for next year. 2 presented live. I imagine some ten concerts in the theater. Even with the choir, so that all the vocal parts from the album sound as great as possible.
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