how are you feeling
Stupid because I’m so tired. I lay on Františka for two months.
Thank God that you managed to record another album with Petr Ostrouchov before you got sick.
God really paid it, because it was three days before I collapsed. I left the studio with a satisfied feeling that we had finished, that I had finished singing. I look up somewhere and thank you.
Video of Vladimír Mišík – So good (official video)
Even in the bad state you were in, it must be said that you were a clicker in this one. Seconds, months and years – what does the poet mean by this?
Time goes backwards and forwards. It is a poetic description of a situation where life is slowly clinging and slowing down and so on.
On the new album, as on the previous ones, there are a number of songs where there are hammonds. Is that nostalgia for the big beat?
We didn’t have keyboards in the band, but I admired a lot of musicians who played hammonds and sang. I have admired hammonds since the beginning of big beat. I liked it. So I rejoiced and Ondra Pivec is the grandmaster. And he’s still a great guy.
In general, the group of musicians around Petr Ostrouchov are nice guys, aren’t they?
They are, they are fun. The conversation is very cheerful, there are jokes going on…
Today, it can be filmed even remotely, but you came together.
I wasn’t at all the basics, I was already a little sick. They had demos, Petr recorded it, I think Honza Steinsdörfer wrote it down, then they sat down and started playing it. They made five recordings, picked the best one and went for the next one. It was spinning in such a jamming way. Arrangements are often made, for example a bass with drums is recorded, then other instruments are recorded, that is also possible. But this spontaneous playing – you can feel that it’s great musicianship.
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If we were to discuss the key milestones of your life… 1982-84 playing ban. What was on your mind at the time?
It’s not just that it’s a mess, essentially not playing for two years. Thank goodness I got some small music rights from Supraphon, so I wasn’t broke financially, but it wasn’t a miracle. It lasted two years, it was extremely unpleasant.
How was such a ban lifted in your case?
Doctor Chlíbec worked at the Prague Cultural Center. He called me: “Vladimir, you can play again!” Then I was invited, it was preached that if I break something again, it won’t be just for two years. Then I think Vašek Veselý and I were supposed to play in the club, and they took us to the big hall because of the great interest. I had fifteen songs approved, so the very first concert I had to break everything because I had to play for an hour and a half. So I also played forbidden.
If you consider that you really can’t and now you know that you have to support your family, yourself, and at the same time you don’t get bitter, you don’t get bitter, which I feel was your case…
I became bitter towards a certain circle of those who caused it. To this day, hearing the word “communist” makes me sick to my stomach. But I survived.
Video of Vladimír Mišík–Rain whips the street (official video)
Speaking of your musical life, what was the magic of Blue Effect?
That we were young. Sometimes that’s enough. Radim Hladík played phenomenally on the guitar, the rhythm was excellent, and I also screamed somehow enough… (laughs)
I know from my own experience that Radim Hladík was not only an excellent guitarist, but also a regular and very critical listener of Radiožurnál. I will never forget some of his phone calls. What was unattainable about him as a musician?
For A player’s balance, for B feeling for melodies. Radim was a phenomenon in that he could play melodic stuff. He managed everything with bravado, a smile, and he was still a great guy. That’s always a plus for musicians.
How is Vladimír Mišík’s son Adam involved in the new album? And how does he remember the song Sunny Grave? Listen to the full interview.
