According to statistics, Stubborn is your forty-fourth album. Is it still difficult to find the desire and motivation to record new records?
If one works actively on the stage and gives concerts, the motivation to record albums is great. After all, I need new songs for my performances. And when the authors offer you good songs, it’s another motivation.
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I recorded fifteen of them on a new record and I would choose more of them if there was more space in the CD format. We even considered releasing a double album for a while. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, we had plenty of time to choose good songs for the record.
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Do you address the authors of the songs yourself, or do they offer them to you?
It’s different. For example, I addressed your Patejdl, Václav Noid Bárta or Ondřej Soukup, on the contrary, Lucie Šoralová or Jakub Lenz alias Robin Mood offered me their song.
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In the case of the author duo Lešek Wronka and Petr Šiška, I first received an offer to sing their song Woman’s Revenge for the film of the same name. I liked it, I agreed, but the agreement was that it was only for the film.
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Eventually, it became the first completed song for the entire album. It’s on it in the form of a bonus. It was only after the realization of the song Ženská pomsta that we decided to record my entire album. And I’m glad that Lešek and Petr offered me another song for them.
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Helena Vondráčková
Photo: Lucie Levá
For the first time, you collaborated with producer Karel Mařík. Why did you choose him?
People from Warner Music came up with the idea to connect us. I must admit that I didn’t know Karel so much before. But when I found out how much he had done with Dan Landa and wrote songs for former Nazareth singer Dan McCafferty, it was clear to me that the result could be interesting.
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This was confirmed by our first personal meeting, where he told me about his idea. I was pleased that he wanted to record a record with a live band, because it hasn’t happened to me in a long time. I was also close to his ideas that he wanted to achieve a modern sound, but at the same time not succumb to any trends. We fully understood each other and agreed to start filming in April.
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Our cooperation was then nice and spontaneous. We worked in a small studio in the house of guitarist Tomáš Kryl, who recorded, mixed and mastered the album. His sympathetic mother also contributed to the great mood, and she even sometimes cooked something good for us. We also laughed a lot at the stories we told. And we didn’t know that before.
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Relational themes most often appear in the lyrics of new songs. Do you tell your lyricists what to write about?
I do not determine. However, I now have the feeling that they know me very well and know what is happening in my life and what I am thinking about. In neither case did I return the lyrics, they were all true and fit into the mood of the album.
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In the song Ve dvou you sing about standing behind your partner, you are happy with him, and let everyone think about it. Does it correspond to what you experience in your life with your husband Martin Michal?
Absolutely, this text is very important to me. It’s about me and my husband. It was written by Petr Šiška, and when Martin gave it to me and I read it, I asked him if he also read it. He told me yes and he realized he was about us.
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Why is the album called Tvrdohlavá?
Originally, I wanted the album to be called Girl’s Woman, after the opening song. Representatives of the publishing company, however, felt that the name Tvrdohlavá would be more commercially attractive for fans.
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It is interesting that Patejdl’s song Tvrdohlavá was originally supposed to be called You expected more. However, its name was similar to the name of Lucie Šoralová’s song, so we agreed with yours that his song will be called Tvrdohlavá.
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Helena Vondráčková
Photo: Lenka Hatašová
There are two duets on the album, with both of your singing partners being women, Olga Lounová and Vanda Šípová. Why did you make that decision?
Because they are both great singers and both duets were suitable for two women. We have a long-term relationship with Olga Lounová, she has been a guest of my concerts several times and we met as performers in the musical Mamma Mia. Our voices harmonize beautifully together, hers is a kind of opposite of mine. When the song Burned My Face Forever, I knew I would sing it with her.
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The duet with opera singer Vanda Šípová was an idea by producer Karel Mařík. I already knew about her from my make-up artist, who told me that he had worked with her on a TV show and was fascinated by how he sang, what she looked like and that she liked popular music.
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Then Karel came up with the idea that we could record another duet and Vanda Šípová could sing with me in it. It all kind of fit into me. I agreed and I think the result is worth it. By the way, the people Chlap je koala are very much liked by the people to whom we played the record before its release.
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When I got the final mix of songs, we were on a houseboat and my husband Martin played them. He fell in love with them and kept playing them over and over for three days. I told him to stop or he would oppose them. And now it happens to me that every morning when I get up, I have a song from the record in my head. It’s been a long time.
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What awaits you in the near future?
Lately I’ve been performing often in Poland. I filmed several TV shows there and gave concerts at events for a lot of people. I experienced an interesting situation in an amphitheater there. To ensure that the auditorium did not look empty due to coronavirus regulations, the organizers placed a large orange balloon on each empty seat. When I came on stage, my first thought was that a substantial part of the audience came to the concert with an orange balloon. Only then did I realize that it was the organizing intention. In the future I will have several more concerts and TV shows in Poland.
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Recently I received a wonderful offer from the German television MDR, ie MittelDeutsche Rundfunk. She is preparing a farewell to the television ballet, which has worked for her for more than fifty years. The show will feature mainly people who have performed with it very often. I am one of them, so I should sing in it on October 25th.
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We managed to move the Czech tour called Up to the Heights, which we had planned since the spring, in the autumn. I’m really looking forward to them, because I started to miss live concerts. Of course, we will also play some songs from the new album.
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