Už Jsme Doma
Encyclopedia
Už Jsme Doma, (ˈuʒɪsme ˈdoma), are a progressive rock
band from Prague
, Czech Republic
, who originally formed in the Czech border town Teplice
in 1985. The group's complex and genre-bending sound, longevity, relentless touring and diverse involvement in outside artistic media have earned them a large international following. The Prague Post has termed them one of "the two great bastions of the Czech alternative
scene" (along with Psí vojáci).
Although, according to their pop-up book 11, they have "received all kinds of labels, like intellectual punk
, Slavic
tone provocation, African music, orchestra
l punk, funky punk, ska
, inspiration by Zappa
, Uriah Heep
, Gregorian chants, melodic avant garde and plenty of others," their
distinct take on rock music defies specific categorization or direct comparison. Many accuse the band's music of being chaotic, when in actuality it is thoroughly arranged, structured in a manner similar to classical
composition. Cited musical influences include The Residents
, The Damned, Ebba Grön
, Pere Ubu
, Uriah Heep, Omega
, and the Rock in Opposition
movement. Rolling Stone
's David Fricke
referred to them as "an amazing Czech quintet ... that rattled like a combination of Hot Rats
-aphonic Frank Zappa and John Zorn
’s hyperjazz." Critics have also compared the band to Fugazi and Men at Work
.
The band has, to date, released seven proper studio albums, two live albums, a best-of package and a DVD containing live footage and a documentary film about the history of the band, which discusses its artistic significance and chronicles its dozens of lineup changes in its long career. In addition to traditional band functions such as recording albums and touring, Už Jsme Doma have taken on a wide array of ambitious projects outside of simple music performance, including work with theater, film and art. The band's name translates literally to, "we're home now" but idiomatically means "well, there you go" in Czech conversation.
in the Czech Republic (then Czechoslovakia
) in 1990, the band was considered ‘illegal’ by the communist state
and was forced to hold secret concerts and risk arrest if caught. Despite this history, the band eschews straight-forward political commentary within their lyrics and art in favor of poetic and artistic symbolism.
Už Jsme Doma was founded by saxophonists Jindra Dolanský
and Milan Nový, drummer Jula Horváth, keyboardist Jiří Závodný, bassist Petr Keřka, and guitarists Ota Chlupsa and Jiří Solar. They played their first of many illegal concerts on a riverboat on July 6, 1985, with Czech punk bands FPB
(Fourth Price Band, which featured Nový on drums and several important future members of Už Jsme Doma) and Plexis. By 1986, singer Miroslav Wanek
and guitarist Romek Hanzlík, both from FPB, had joined, initially simply as guest members.
After a dissolution of the original incarnation in 1986, the group settled as a four-piece featuring Wanek (bass guitar and vocals), Hanzlík (guitar), Horváth (drums) and Dolanský (saxophone
). This same year, the band first worked with painter Martin Velíšek
, who designed a poster for the band. (This collaboration would have future significance, as Velíšek would go on to design all of the band’s album art, as well as their posters and t-shirts, and have significant input in their live show.)
By 1989, Horváth had been replaced on drums by a returning Milan Nový. The band had also added saxophonists Alice Kolousková and Martina Fialová, the latter of whom only played in the band for a short time, and shortly thereafter bassist Pavel Keřka (also formerly of FPB), which allowed allow Wanek to concentrate on singing and composing. This lineup, without Fialová, recorded the band’s only pre-Czech democracy
record, the three-song Rock Debut No. 7 7″ EP, released on the Panton Records
label. Strangely, this record used a programmed drum beat rather than a live drum track. By the end of 1989, Nový had left the band, emigrating to West Germany
before the Czech revolution, and had been replaced by Pavel Pavlíček.
The band's first album, Uprostřed slov, or In The Middle Of Words, was recorded in May and later released on the Globus Int. label; their second, Nemilovaný svět, or Unloved World, was recorded in June and released on Panton Records. The first album included songs that owed a fair-sized debt to punk rock (although several tracks, such as "Sopot", are closer to the avant garde than anything in rock;) the second, conversely, stood as the group's most orchestral and compositionally experimental album for years, featuring dense arrangements and a host of guest musicians and vocalists.
The early years of Václav Havel
's regime also marked a major change for the band in that they were able to not only play concerts legally, but also make a living off their music and thus involve themselves in a wide array of outside projects, including work with theater groups and an expanded European touring schedule, not to mention eight hour practices five days a week. The band also began integrating costumes into their live set.
In 1991, Kalousková left (she would later join the all-woman group Zuby Nehty
), and Wanek had begun playing second guitar and piano during live concerts. Although they juggled members, the band would stick with this five-member set-up into the next century. In 1993, the band recorded Hollywood, their third LP, which began to stray back towards harder-edged rock
, while still incorporating progressive compositions and non-traditional elements such as rhythmic crying and clapping. The band made its first appearance on North America
n shores in 1992. Slowly, the band was turning into what Nils Frykdahl
of Idiot Flesh
and Sleepytime Gorilla Museum
once described as "touring monsters", playing 80+ concerts in 1993 alone. The group also recorded a music video for the title track of Hollywood.
Hollywood marked their first record deal with a North American label, BMG
. Relations were short-lived, however, and the band, dissatisfied with the BMG's distribution setup, began working with the Czech label Indies Records, whom they have dealt with ever since.
In late 1993, Keřka and Pavlíček left and were replaced by Jan Cerha and a once-again returning Milan Nový, respectively. Under new management with a larger company called the Unijazz Agency, the band continued touring and began working on a new album. The band also re-recorded the vocal tracks to Nemilovaný svět in English
and released the reworked album on an American
label, Memphis Records, under the translated name "Unloved World".
This lineup also recorded a soundtrack album to a 1995 documentary called Jaro, Peklo, Podzim, Zima, or Spring, Hell, Autumn, Winter. This film was based around the life and work of painter Martin Velíšek. Around this time Velíšek had been granted full membership in Už Jsme Doma; Wanek says that Velíšek's art is as important to the band as the guitar lines, saxophone parts or lyrics.
In 1995, the band played their 10th anniversary set, which was the first show with their young new drummer, Petr Böhm, who replaced Novy. Böhm would serve as the group's drummer for the next decade. The opening set for this performance came in the form of a reunion of the Wanek, Dolanský, Hanzlík and Horváth lineup who, calling themselves the UJD Revival Band, played a set of early Už Jsme Doma material while disguised in wigs and sunglasses.
Later in the year, another change in the rhythm section occurred, ushering in bassist Kamil Krůta to replace Cerha. Krůta was a notable fixture of the Teplice scene, having been in the post-Wanek/Hanzlík lineup of FPB that Nový and manager Petr Růžička put together in 1986. Krůta and Nový also played in the two-piece group Pseudo Pseudo.
This incarnation of the band was given a difficult task - to serve as the live band for famous American avant garde artists The Residents
, who picked Už Jsme Doma as their backing band for their 1995 musical play based around their 1991 album Freak Show
. Wanek arranged live band versions for their complex, unique compositions, and Už Jsme Doma, along with select other Czech musicians, performed these arrangements in the Freak Show theater piece, with Wanek acting as conductor. This musical was performed 20 times in the Archa Theater in Prague in 1995. The Residents later released selections from these performances on CD and DVD.
In 1996, Už Jsme Doma began working with American label Skoda Records, who issued Hollywood and, later, the rest of their back catalog. In Europe, Indies Records began re-releasing the four albums, which had fallen out of print. Hanzlík, the band's guitarist for ten years, left this same year to pursue a career in the business end of music with his agency AMP. He was replaced by young guitarist Radek Podveský. 1996 also saw the release of 11, a pop-up book with illustrations by Velíšek and prose by Wanek, detailing the band's career up to that point.
In 1997, Jan Čejka (previously of the bands Hej Vy, Klid, and Orchestr Ondřeje Hybše), also joined, replacing Krůta, who later moved to Orlando, Florida
, USA, to form the experimental group Koonda Holaa and the Beetchees. This lineup of the band toured extensively for three years. One live set was released as a live album, Vancouver
1997, along with two other live tracks from previous tours (the only Už Jsme Doma tracks released featuring Krůta.)
In 1999, they released Uši, or Ears, their fifth CD. Producer Dan Rathbun, known for performing with the bands Idiot Flesh
and Sleepytime Gorilla Museum
, as well as production work on punk rock
and experimental
records, recorded the album and gave the record a full in-studio sound. The songs themselves continued in the direction of Fairytales from Needland, with emphasis on hard rock elements. The opening track has been described as sounding like a Clash
outtake, but the album is not without epic moments of sweeping grandeur. Influenced by the death of Dolanský's father and Wanek's divorce, Uši is a meditation on communication, mental divisions between individuals, and loss. The album is also notable for featuring the largest number of Jindra Dolanský compositions on any album, at four songs.
In late 2001, after 16 years in the band, Dolanský, saxophonist and only original member, left the band. Having grown weary of the exhausting touring schedule and having developed an interest in family life, the decision was made that Dolanský's desire to reduce the band's activity was incompatible with Wanek's desire to intensify it. Wanek's decision to continue the band without Dolanský was a mildly controversial one, as many felt the band couldn't maintain its character without Dolanský's distinct saxophone, or that Dolanský's role in composition would be irreplaceable. Wanek insisted that the band would retain its overall identity despite the change. The new arrangements of old material used keyboard, guitar lines and vocal melodies to replace the saxophone parts in the old songs. The band has remained a four-piece ever since. Čejka also left the band at this time and was replaced by Jaroslav Cvach. Cvach's tenure was brief - after two years in the band, he was followed by bassist Miloš Albrecht.
The band's next album was released in late 2003 under the name Rybí tuk, or Codliver Oil. With Rathbun again recording, but with the production credit going to Wanek, the new material incorporated walls of guest instrumentation and choir vocal layers, including guest appearances from members of Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, Tin Hat Trio
and Faun Fables
. The compositions were the band's most avant garde and orchestral since Nemilovaný svět, a sharp left turn from their increasingly rock-oriented sound.
The band continued their hefty touring schedule, although they had ceased travelling to North America due to complications with their booking agency. A live DVD shot in 2003 at a Tokyo
performance was released on the Poseidon label in 2006; this set, released as Uz jsme doma v Tokiu (Live in Tokyo), featured a good overview of material from the band's career performed in hornless arrangements.
In October 2005, they performed a grandiose 20 year anniversary set at the Archa Theater in Prague. The first half of this performance was a 40-minute medley of songs from 1985–1999, with guest appearances from many former members, including Dolanský (who performed the entire first half of the set), Alice Flesarová (née Kalousková), Závodný, early xylophonist Roman Kolařík, Čejka, Cvach, Hanzlík, and Böhm. The second half was a 'proper' set by the lineup of the time accompanied by a 20 piece choir, Mikrochor. This performance was recorded and released as a live CD and live DVD, both called 20 Letů (translated as 20 Flyears), the latter packaged with an hour-long documentary about the history of the band called Puding (Pudding).
In late 2006, Židel left after a short tenure due to family obligations. The band was then rounded out by trumpet
player Adam Tomášek, the first horn player in the band since Dolanský's departure. This also marked the first time the band had only one guitar player since the early '90s. This new incarnation debuted with a Polish tour, where they were met with "packed venues and enthusiastic responses from the Polish audiences." This lineup also recorded music for the Czech TV puppet series called Krysáci, or Rats, and planned future work with this show and the accompanying film, Lajka.
In October 2007 the band embarked on their fifteenth US tour, their first since 2001, playing their first shows ever on American soil without Jindra Dolanský. This coincided with the long-delayed US release of Rybí tuk, on the re-established Skoda Records label. Later in the year, Wanek collaborated with famous Czech drummer Pavel Fajt (of Pluto and Dunaj
) on a 60+ page poem Wanek had written, with structured improvisational accompaniment by Fajt.
In the latter half of 2008, the band began playing several live sets of FPB songs performed by the currentUž Jsme Doma lineup along with Hanzlík, coinciding with the release of a 3-CD set of FPB material by Malarie Records called Kniha prani a stiznosti, or A Book of Wishes and Complaints. In addition to playing the FPB set, Hanzlík frequently joined Už Jsme Doma for portions of their set. Additionally, the Polish Nikt Nic Nie Wie record label released remastered LP versions of the Pohádky ze Zapotřebí and Uši albums.
Original drummer Jula Horvath died on July 26, 2009. The group performed several tribute concerts in his honor. In November 2009, they embarked on their first tours of in Australia
, New Zealand
and Tasmania
. Late in the year, a live compilation DVD entitled Czech Music on The Road – 10 Days That Shook Japan was released featuring material recorded on the group's 2008 tour of Japan with several other Czech groups.
released the album statewide in September, coinciding with a US tour. The band shared several dates on their touring bill with Zuby Nehty, marking the latter's first American shows.
New drummer Jaroslav Noga replaced Paleta in September 2011. The new lineup re-recorded the album Fairy-tales from Needland with new arrangements, slated to be released in 2012. Their first live appearance with Noga occurred on October 6th in Prague.
Jindra Dolanský's saxophone playing is unique, and his tendency to grab notes with very little sustain shaped the band's approach to songwriting, enabling them to build complex melodies within condensed spaces. The lead guitar work often involves a lot of single-note soloing with no bends, and very high-pitched, frantically strummed diminished chords whose backbeat
-emphasizing rhythm may call reggae
or ska
music to mind for some listeners. Others may describe the sophisticated chords
of Wanek's pickless, fingerstyle guitar work as jazz chords
. The drumming is consistently high-energy, relying on backbeats, polyrhyhthmic
tom-tom
work and off-beat cymbal
fills. The bass lines are also high-energy, utilizing sixteenth notes to pack more into less space than most rock bands, and harmonic notes to complement the primary melodies and add to the composition's density.
Every aspect of the band's music is premeditated and composed and there is no improvisation. This approach has allowed the band to sail through their many lineup and instrumentation changes while retaining the intentions of the compositions. The departure of Dolanský pushed saxophone parts onto the guitars, keyboards and vocals; the recent replacement of solo guitar with trumpet has condensed lead guitar and sax lines into the singular trumpet parts.
All compositions between 1985-2001 are credited to either Wanek and Dolanský or solely Wanek, with all lyrics credited to Wanek; and all post-2001 compositions are credited to Wanek. Wanek has said that all told, the band's compositions were "80% [himself], 20% Dolanský." The pre-Wanek songs to appear on records include "Jó Nebo Nebo," "Jazz 1960," "Šantrůček," "Fíkus," "Krešlak," "Soubor opatření," and "Delikatesa," although Wanek was responsible for the lyrics and final arrangements, which involved his adding and reworking parts. Early lyrics were not actually scripted, but were improvised "Swahili
", or fake English
, lyrics which eventually gave shape to the Czech lyrics Wanek wrote.
on the Residents
entitled Eyeball to Eyeball with Karel Císař (a collection of Czech translations of Residents lyrics with a forward by Wanek), and amassed countless unpublished works. His lyrics have been described his writing as “an axe for the frozen sea inside us,” a line taken from fellow countryman and influence Franz Kafka
. In Puding, Wanek also states, albeit with a snicker, that the music isn’t important to him and is merely a vehicle for his lyrics. Nearly all of Wanek’s lyrics were written in Czech, while a few verses in songs like “Hollywood” and “Kovbojska,” or “Cowboy Song,” are in English (to connect the particular verse to a Western sensibility.) All have been translated into both English and Polish, and while in English-speaking countries, Wanek has occasionally sung English versions of the songs from Nemilovaný svět, as well as a few translated verses, such as in the song “Ticho”, or “Silence.”
Artist Velíšek has been published in several volumes and enjoyed popularity outside of his work with the band. His unique, absurd cartoon style, replete with alarming flourishes of realism, gruesomeness and beauty, gives Už Jsme Doma records their distinct look. Throughout much of the ’90s, Už Jsme Doma performed in yellow robes designed by Velíšek, giving their live show an equally absurd and distinct look. However, the band slowly began to stray away from this practice due to a distaste for uniforms and the distraction from the music that the robes induced.
Progressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
band from Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
, Czech Republic
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
, who originally formed in the Czech border town Teplice
Teplice
Teplice , Teplice-Šanov until 1948 is a town in the Czech Republic, the capital of the Teplice District in the Ústí nad Labem Region. It is the state's second largest spa town ....
in 1985. The group's complex and genre-bending sound, longevity, relentless touring and diverse involvement in outside artistic media have earned them a large international following. The Prague Post has termed them one of "the two great bastions of the Czech alternative
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
scene" (along with Psí vojáci).
Although, according to their pop-up book 11, they have "received all kinds of labels, like intellectual punk
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
, Slavic
Slavic peoples
The Slavic people are an Indo-European panethnicity living in Eastern Europe, Southeast Europe, North Asia and Central Asia. The term Slavic represents a broad ethno-linguistic group of people, who speak languages belonging to the Slavic language family and share, to varying degrees, certain...
tone provocation, African music, orchestra
Orchestra
An orchestra is a sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. The term orchestra derives from the Greek ορχήστρα, the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus...
l punk, funky punk, ska
Ska
Ska |Jamaican]] ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s, and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. Ska combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues...
, inspiration by Zappa
Frank Zappa
Frank Vincent Zappa was an American composer, singer-songwriter, electric guitarist, record producer and film director. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa wrote rock, jazz, orchestral and musique concrète works. He also directed feature-length films and music videos, and designed...
, Uriah Heep
Uriah Heep (band)
Uriah Heep are an English rock band formed in London in 1969 and regarded as a seminal classic hard rock act of the 1970s. Uriah Heep's progressive/art rock/heavy metal fusion's distinctive features have always been massive keyboards sound, strong vocal harmonies and David Byron's operatic vocals...
, Gregorian chants, melodic avant garde and plenty of others," their
distinct take on rock music defies specific categorization or direct comparison. Many accuse the band's music of being chaotic, when in actuality it is thoroughly arranged, structured in a manner similar to classical
Classical music
Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...
composition. Cited musical influences include The Residents
The Residents
The Residents is an American art collective best known for avant-garde music and multimedia works. The first official release under the name of The Residents was in 1972, and the group has since released over sixty albums, numerous music videos and short films, three CD-ROM projects and ten DVDs....
, The Damned, Ebba Grön
Ebba Grön
Ebba Grön was a Swedish punk band formed in Stockholm in 1977. Ebba Grön consisted of Joakim Thåström , Gunnar Ljungstedt and Lennart Eriksson . After the release of their second album in 1981, they were joined by a fourth member, Anders Sjöholm, also known as Stry Terrarie, on keyboard...
, Pere Ubu
Pere Ubu
Pere Ubu is an experimental rock music group from Cleveland, Ohio.Père Ubu may also refer to:* Ubu, the enigmatic central figure of a series of French plays by Alfred Jarry, including Ubu Roi, and subsequent plays Ubu Cocu and Ubu Enchaîné...
, Uriah Heep, Omega
Omega (band)
Omega is one of the most successful Hungarian rock bands.-Biography:Formed in Budapest in September, 1962 by the winds player László Benkő on organ and János Kóbor as a singer and rhythm guitarist, they initially performed covers of British and American rock songs, frequently changing the lineup of...
, and the Rock in Opposition
Rock in Opposition
Rock in Opposition or RIO was a movement representing a collective of progressive bands in the late 1970s united in their opposition to the music industry that refused to recognise their music...
movement. Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
's David Fricke
David Fricke
David Fricke is a senior editor at Rolling Stone magazine, where he writes predominantly on rock music. In the 1990s, he was managing editor before stepping down.-Background:David Fricke is a graduate of Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pennsylvania...
referred to them as "an amazing Czech quintet ... that rattled like a combination of Hot Rats
Hot Rats
Hot Rats is the second solo album by Frank Zappa. It was released in October 1969. Five of the six songs are instrumental . It was Zappa's first recording project after the dissolution of the original Mothers of Invention...
-aphonic Frank Zappa and John Zorn
John Zorn
John Zorn is an American avant-garde composer, arranger, record producer, saxophonist and multi-instrumentalist. Zorn is a prolific artist: he has hundreds of album credits as performer, composer, or producer...
’s hyperjazz." Critics have also compared the band to Fugazi and Men at Work
Men at Work
Men at Work are an Australian rock band who achieved international success in the 1980s. They are the only Australian artists to have a simultaneous #1 album and #1 single in the United States . They achieved the same distinction of a simultaneous #1 album and #1 single in the United Kingdom...
.
The band has, to date, released seven proper studio albums, two live albums, a best-of package and a DVD containing live footage and a documentary film about the history of the band, which discusses its artistic significance and chronicles its dozens of lineup changes in its long career. In addition to traditional band functions such as recording albums and touring, Už Jsme Doma have taken on a wide array of ambitious projects outside of simple music performance, including work with theater, film and art. The band's name translates literally to, "we're home now" but idiomatically means "well, there you go" in Czech conversation.
Early years (1985–1990)
Until the Velvet RevolutionVelvet Revolution
The Velvet Revolution or Gentle Revolution was a non-violent revolution in Czechoslovakia that took place from November 17 – December 29, 1989...
in the Czech Republic (then Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
) in 1990, the band was considered ‘illegal’ by the communist state
Iron Curtain
The concept of the Iron Curtain symbolized the ideological fighting and physical boundary dividing Europe into two separate areas from the end of World War II in 1945 until the end of the Cold War in 1989...
and was forced to hold secret concerts and risk arrest if caught. Despite this history, the band eschews straight-forward political commentary within their lyrics and art in favor of poetic and artistic symbolism.
Už Jsme Doma was founded by saxophonists Jindra Dolanský
Jindra Dolanský
Jindra Dolanský is a Czech musician. He was the saxophone player, backup vocalist and co-composer for the Czech avant garde punk rock group Už Jsme Doma from 1985–2001....
and Milan Nový, drummer Jula Horváth, keyboardist Jiří Závodný, bassist Petr Keřka, and guitarists Ota Chlupsa and Jiří Solar. They played their first of many illegal concerts on a riverboat on July 6, 1985, with Czech punk bands FPB
FPB
FPB, short for Fourth Price Band, is an influential Czech punk rock band formed in 1981 in Teplice, a Czech town bordering Germany, by bassist, singer and poet Miroslav Wanek and his friend, Petr Růžička, who was considered the band's manager. These two were soon joined by drummer Milan Nový and,...
(Fourth Price Band, which featured Nový on drums and several important future members of Už Jsme Doma) and Plexis. By 1986, singer Miroslav Wanek
Miroslav Wanek
Miroslav Wanek is a Czech poet, musician, and lyricist. He is the frontman for the avant garde punk rock group Už Jsme Doma, in which he has served as the lead singer and bandleader since 1986, the bassist from 1986–1988, the guitarist and keyboardist since 1988, co-composer from 1986–2001, and...
and guitarist Romek Hanzlík, both from FPB, had joined, initially simply as guest members.
After a dissolution of the original incarnation in 1986, the group settled as a four-piece featuring Wanek (bass guitar and vocals), Hanzlík (guitar), Horváth (drums) and Dolanský (saxophone
Saxophone
The saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
). This same year, the band first worked with painter Martin Velíšek
Martin Velíšek
Martin Velíšek is a popular Czech artist whose work spans the media of glass and canvas, animated film, album covers, book covers, photography, sculpture, and interiors....
, who designed a poster for the band. (This collaboration would have future significance, as Velíšek would go on to design all of the band’s album art, as well as their posters and t-shirts, and have significant input in their live show.)
By 1989, Horváth had been replaced on drums by a returning Milan Nový. The band had also added saxophonists Alice Kolousková and Martina Fialová, the latter of whom only played in the band for a short time, and shortly thereafter bassist Pavel Keřka (also formerly of FPB), which allowed allow Wanek to concentrate on singing and composing. This lineup, without Fialová, recorded the band’s only pre-Czech democracy
Democracy
Democracy is generally defined as a form of government in which all adult citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. Ideally, this includes equal participation in the proposal, development and passage of legislation into law...
record, the three-song Rock Debut No. 7 7″ EP, released on the Panton Records
Panton Records
Panton Records or PANTON was a Czechoslovakian and later Czech record label and music publishing house of the Czech Music Fund, founded in 1968.In Czechoslovakia it was one of the three major state-owned labels, the other two being Supraphon and Opus....
label. Strangely, this record used a programmed drum beat rather than a live drum track. By the end of 1989, Nový had left the band, emigrating to West Germany
West Germany
West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....
before the Czech revolution, and had been replaced by Pavel Pavlíček.
First three albums (1990–1995)
Following the revolution, Wanek was actively involved in the integration of democracy into the Czech Republic.The band's first album, Uprostřed slov, or In The Middle Of Words, was recorded in May and later released on the Globus Int. label; their second, Nemilovaný svět, or Unloved World, was recorded in June and released on Panton Records. The first album included songs that owed a fair-sized debt to punk rock (although several tracks, such as "Sopot", are closer to the avant garde than anything in rock;) the second, conversely, stood as the group's most orchestral and compositionally experimental album for years, featuring dense arrangements and a host of guest musicians and vocalists.
The early years of Václav Havel
Václav Havel
Václav Havel is a Czech playwright, essayist, poet, dissident and politician. He was the tenth and last President of Czechoslovakia and the first President of the Czech Republic . He has written over twenty plays and numerous non-fiction works, translated internationally...
's regime also marked a major change for the band in that they were able to not only play concerts legally, but also make a living off their music and thus involve themselves in a wide array of outside projects, including work with theater groups and an expanded European touring schedule, not to mention eight hour practices five days a week. The band also began integrating costumes into their live set.
In 1991, Kalousková left (she would later join the all-woman group Zuby Nehty
Zuby Nehty
Zuby Nehty are an all-female underground rock group from the Czech Republic.-History:The band formed under the name Plyn in 1980. Plyn played concerts at the 007 Club, Euridika, and at alternative festivals...
), and Wanek had begun playing second guitar and piano during live concerts. Although they juggled members, the band would stick with this five-member set-up into the next century. In 1993, the band recorded Hollywood, their third LP, which began to stray back towards harder-edged rock
Hard rock
Hard rock is a loosely defined genre of rock music which has its earliest roots in mid-1960s garage rock, blues rock and psychedelic rock...
, while still incorporating progressive compositions and non-traditional elements such as rhythmic crying and clapping. The band made its first appearance on North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
n shores in 1992. Slowly, the band was turning into what Nils Frykdahl
Nils Frykdahl
Nils Frykdahl is an American musician most known for his work with the bands Sleepytime Gorilla Museum and the now-defunct band Idiot Flesh. He has a bachelor's degree in music from UC Berkeley, which he received in 1989. He also is a member of the bands Faun Fables and Darling Freakhead, and used...
of Idiot Flesh
Idiot Flesh
Idiot Flesh was a band formed in Barrington Hall, a student co-op at the University of California at Berkeley. They formed in 1985 under the name Acid Rain, and their demo album "We Were All Very Worried" was released as a cassette-only edition in 1987...
and Sleepytime Gorilla Museum
Sleepytime Gorilla Museum
Sleepytime Gorilla Museum is an American experimental rock band, formed in 1999 in Oakland, California. The band fuses classical, industrial, and art-rock themes throughout their music...
once described as "touring monsters", playing 80+ concerts in 1993 alone. The group also recorded a music video for the title track of Hollywood.
Hollywood marked their first record deal with a North American label, BMG
BMG
Bertelsmann Music Group, , was a division of Bertelsmann before its completion of sale of the majority of its assets to Japan's Sony Corporation of America on October 1, 2008. It was established in 1987 to combine the music label activities of Bertelsmann...
. Relations were short-lived, however, and the band, dissatisfied with the BMG's distribution setup, began working with the Czech label Indies Records, whom they have dealt with ever since.
In late 1993, Keřka and Pavlíček left and were replaced by Jan Cerha and a once-again returning Milan Nový, respectively. Under new management with a larger company called the Unijazz Agency, the band continued touring and began working on a new album. The band also re-recorded the vocal tracks to Nemilovaný svět in English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
and released the reworked album on an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
label, Memphis Records, under the translated name "Unloved World".
Pohádky ze Zapotřebí, collaborations with the Residents, Uši (1995–2000)
The band released their fourth album, Pohádky ze Zapotřebí, or Fairytales From Needland, in 1995. With Wanek receiving the producer credit, this album drifted deeper into the hard rock realm and is considered by some to be their most accessible album compositionally. Sonically, however, the band has mentioned regret and dissatisfaction with the poor quality of the recording and expressed an interest in re-recording the album (which a later lineup of the group would go on to do in 2011.)This lineup also recorded a soundtrack album to a 1995 documentary called Jaro, Peklo, Podzim, Zima, or Spring, Hell, Autumn, Winter. This film was based around the life and work of painter Martin Velíšek. Around this time Velíšek had been granted full membership in Už Jsme Doma; Wanek says that Velíšek's art is as important to the band as the guitar lines, saxophone parts or lyrics.
In 1995, the band played their 10th anniversary set, which was the first show with their young new drummer, Petr Böhm, who replaced Novy. Böhm would serve as the group's drummer for the next decade. The opening set for this performance came in the form of a reunion of the Wanek, Dolanský, Hanzlík and Horváth lineup who, calling themselves the UJD Revival Band, played a set of early Už Jsme Doma material while disguised in wigs and sunglasses.
Later in the year, another change in the rhythm section occurred, ushering in bassist Kamil Krůta to replace Cerha. Krůta was a notable fixture of the Teplice scene, having been in the post-Wanek/Hanzlík lineup of FPB that Nový and manager Petr Růžička put together in 1986. Krůta and Nový also played in the two-piece group Pseudo Pseudo.
This incarnation of the band was given a difficult task - to serve as the live band for famous American avant garde artists The Residents
The Residents
The Residents is an American art collective best known for avant-garde music and multimedia works. The first official release under the name of The Residents was in 1972, and the group has since released over sixty albums, numerous music videos and short films, three CD-ROM projects and ten DVDs....
, who picked Už Jsme Doma as their backing band for their 1995 musical play based around their 1991 album Freak Show
Freak Show/Freak Show Soundtrack
Freak Show marked the beginning of The Residents' obsession with emerging computer technology in the 1990s. Much of the music was made with various MIDI devices. "Freak Show" also served as the name for a CD-ROM that was released in 1994, a stage performance by a theater company at the Archa...
. Wanek arranged live band versions for their complex, unique compositions, and Už Jsme Doma, along with select other Czech musicians, performed these arrangements in the Freak Show theater piece, with Wanek acting as conductor. This musical was performed 20 times in the Archa Theater in Prague in 1995. The Residents later released selections from these performances on CD and DVD.
In 1996, Už Jsme Doma began working with American label Skoda Records, who issued Hollywood and, later, the rest of their back catalog. In Europe, Indies Records began re-releasing the four albums, which had fallen out of print. Hanzlík, the band's guitarist for ten years, left this same year to pursue a career in the business end of music with his agency AMP. He was replaced by young guitarist Radek Podveský. 1996 also saw the release of 11, a pop-up book with illustrations by Velíšek and prose by Wanek, detailing the band's career up to that point.
In 1997, Jan Čejka (previously of the bands Hej Vy, Klid, and Orchestr Ondřeje Hybše), also joined, replacing Krůta, who later moved to Orlando, Florida
Orlando, Florida
Orlando is a city in the central region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat of Orange County, and the center of the Greater Orlando metropolitan area. According to the 2010 US Census, the city had a population of 238,300, making Orlando the 79th largest city in the United States...
, USA, to form the experimental group Koonda Holaa and the Beetchees. This lineup of the band toured extensively for three years. One live set was released as a live album, Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
1997, along with two other live tracks from previous tours (the only Už Jsme Doma tracks released featuring Krůta.)
Idiot Flesh
Idiot Flesh was a band formed in Barrington Hall, a student co-op at the University of California at Berkeley. They formed in 1985 under the name Acid Rain, and their demo album "We Were All Very Worried" was released as a cassette-only edition in 1987...
and Sleepytime Gorilla Museum
Sleepytime Gorilla Museum
Sleepytime Gorilla Museum is an American experimental rock band, formed in 1999 in Oakland, California. The band fuses classical, industrial, and art-rock themes throughout their music...
, as well as production work on punk rock
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
and experimental
Experimental music
Experimental music refers, in the English-language literature, to a compositional tradition which arose in the mid-20th century, applied particularly in North America to music composed in such a way that its outcome is unforeseeable. Its most famous and influential exponent was John Cage...
records, recorded the album and gave the record a full in-studio sound. The songs themselves continued in the direction of Fairytales from Needland, with emphasis on hard rock elements. The opening track has been described as sounding like a Clash
The Clash
The Clash were an English punk rock band that formed in 1976 as part of the original wave of British punk. Along with punk, their music incorporated elements of reggae, ska, dub, funk, rap, dance, and rockabilly...
outtake, but the album is not without epic moments of sweeping grandeur. Influenced by the death of Dolanský's father and Wanek's divorce, Uši is a meditation on communication, mental divisions between individuals, and loss. The album is also notable for featuring the largest number of Jindra Dolanský compositions on any album, at four songs.
No brass; Rybí tuk (2000–2005)
Už Jsme Doma began the century with the release of Patnáct Kapek Vody, or Fifteen Drops of Water, a fifteen-track retrospective of their career featuring three songs from each of their five albums. As a bonus, the disc included a track from Spring, Hell, Fall, Winter, and a recording of the song "Jó Nebo Nebo" recorded live at their very first concert in 1985.In late 2001, after 16 years in the band, Dolanský, saxophonist and only original member, left the band. Having grown weary of the exhausting touring schedule and having developed an interest in family life, the decision was made that Dolanský's desire to reduce the band's activity was incompatible with Wanek's desire to intensify it. Wanek's decision to continue the band without Dolanský was a mildly controversial one, as many felt the band couldn't maintain its character without Dolanský's distinct saxophone, or that Dolanský's role in composition would be irreplaceable. Wanek insisted that the band would retain its overall identity despite the change. The new arrangements of old material used keyboard, guitar lines and vocal melodies to replace the saxophone parts in the old songs. The band has remained a four-piece ever since. Čejka also left the band at this time and was replaced by Jaroslav Cvach. Cvach's tenure was brief - after two years in the band, he was followed by bassist Miloš Albrecht.
The band's next album was released in late 2003 under the name Rybí tuk, or Codliver Oil. With Rathbun again recording, but with the production credit going to Wanek, the new material incorporated walls of guest instrumentation and choir vocal layers, including guest appearances from members of Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, Tin Hat Trio
Tin Hat Trio
Tin Hat is an acoustic chamber music group currently based in San Francisco, California. Their music combines many genres of music, including southern blues, bluegrass, neoclassical, eastern European folk music, and avant-garde.Since its formation in 1997, the original Tin Hat Trio has often...
and Faun Fables
Faun Fables
Faun Fables is a band from Oakland, California. Faun Fables is a concept and vehicle for Dawn McCarthy, who was inspired to write the original material while traveling after leaving the New York City music scene in 1997. Faun Fables also covers both 20th century compositions by other song writers...
. The compositions were the band's most avant garde and orchestral since Nemilovaný svět, a sharp left turn from their increasingly rock-oriented sound.
The band continued their hefty touring schedule, although they had ceased travelling to North America due to complications with their booking agency. A live DVD shot in 2003 at a Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
performance was released on the Poseidon label in 2006; this set, released as Uz jsme doma v Tokiu (Live in Tokyo), featured a good overview of material from the band's career performed in hornless arrangements.
Lineup changes, commemorative releases, return of brass (2005–2010)
In 2005, things took a surprising turn when Böhm, Podveský and Albrecht all left the band simultaneously. Wanek was forced to fire the latter two, which led to the departure of Böhm for financial reasons. After briefly questioning the future of the band, Wanek hired all new replacements – Pepa Červinka (bass), Petr Židel (guitar), and Tomáš Paleta (drums). This lineup enjoyed successful tours of France and Japan, and recorded the track "Životopis," a song with lyrics written by early 20th century Czech poet Ludvik Kundera and music by Wanek. This track appeared on the compilation Brno - město básníků, or Brno - Town of Poets, released in 2007 on Indies Records. It is notable as the only song from UJD's history to have lyrics written entirely by someone other than Wanek, and for being the only studio track recorded with this lineup.In October 2005, they performed a grandiose 20 year anniversary set at the Archa Theater in Prague. The first half of this performance was a 40-minute medley of songs from 1985–1999, with guest appearances from many former members, including Dolanský (who performed the entire first half of the set), Alice Flesarová (née Kalousková), Závodný, early xylophonist Roman Kolařík, Čejka, Cvach, Hanzlík, and Böhm. The second half was a 'proper' set by the lineup of the time accompanied by a 20 piece choir, Mikrochor. This performance was recorded and released as a live CD and live DVD, both called 20 Letů (translated as 20 Flyears), the latter packaged with an hour-long documentary about the history of the band called Puding (Pudding).
In late 2006, Židel left after a short tenure due to family obligations. The band was then rounded out by trumpet
Trumpet
The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
player Adam Tomášek, the first horn player in the band since Dolanský's departure. This also marked the first time the band had only one guitar player since the early '90s. This new incarnation debuted with a Polish tour, where they were met with "packed venues and enthusiastic responses from the Polish audiences." This lineup also recorded music for the Czech TV puppet series called Krysáci, or Rats, and planned future work with this show and the accompanying film, Lajka.
In October 2007 the band embarked on their fifteenth US tour, their first since 2001, playing their first shows ever on American soil without Jindra Dolanský. This coincided with the long-delayed US release of Rybí tuk, on the re-established Skoda Records label. Later in the year, Wanek collaborated with famous Czech drummer Pavel Fajt (of Pluto and Dunaj
Dunaj (band)
Dunaj were a Czech art/alternative rock band from Brno active between 1986 and 1998. The band is notable for its inclusion of Czech rock figureheads Iva Bittová and Pavel Fajt, as well as its own international success and influence on the Czech alternative rock scene...
) on a 60+ page poem Wanek had written, with structured improvisational accompaniment by Fajt.
In the latter half of 2008, the band began playing several live sets of FPB songs performed by the currentUž Jsme Doma lineup along with Hanzlík, coinciding with the release of a 3-CD set of FPB material by Malarie Records called Kniha prani a stiznosti, or A Book of Wishes and Complaints. In addition to playing the FPB set, Hanzlík frequently joined Už Jsme Doma for portions of their set. Additionally, the Polish Nikt Nic Nie Wie record label released remastered LP versions of the Pohádky ze Zapotřebí and Uši albums.
Original drummer Jula Horvath died on July 26, 2009. The group performed several tribute concerts in his honor. In November 2009, they embarked on their first tours of in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
and Tasmania
Tasmania
Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...
. Late in the year, a live compilation DVD entitled Czech Music on The Road – 10 Days That Shook Japan was released featuring material recorded on the group's 2008 tour of Japan with several other Czech groups.
Jeskyně (2010–present)
The group released Jeskyně, or Caves, their seventh studio album, in May 2010 on Indies. American label Cuneiform RecordsCuneiform Records
Cuneiform Records is an independent record label based in Silver Spring, Maryland.The label releases a mixture of musical styles, including progressive jazz, modern fusion music, progressive rock, the Canterbury Scene and electronic music...
released the album statewide in September, coinciding with a US tour. The band shared several dates on their touring bill with Zuby Nehty, marking the latter's first American shows.
New drummer Jaroslav Noga replaced Paleta in September 2011. The new lineup re-recorded the album Fairy-tales from Needland with new arrangements, slated to be released in 2012. Their first live appearance with Noga occurred on October 6th in Prague.
Musical analysis
The band's approach to arrangements is unique in the world of rock. They bring the instruments and vocals in different directions within the same scales and keys to create a dense melodic atmosphere. In addition, their rhythms often accent off-beats and half-beats, throwing the listener in unexpected directions. The music is an exhausting juxtaposition between beauty and ugliness, as songs will frequently shift between modes to create tumultuous, powerful hooks (a good example of this is the song "Hollywood.") The band is also fond of shifts between time signatures and the insertion of extra beats in the shaping of the mood of the song.Jindra Dolanský's saxophone playing is unique, and his tendency to grab notes with very little sustain shaped the band's approach to songwriting, enabling them to build complex melodies within condensed spaces. The lead guitar work often involves a lot of single-note soloing with no bends, and very high-pitched, frantically strummed diminished chords whose backbeat
Beat (music)
The beat is the basic unit of time in music, the pulse of the mensural level . In popular use, the beat can refer to a variety of related concepts including: tempo, meter, rhythm and groove...
-emphasizing rhythm may call reggae
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
or ska
Ska
Ska |Jamaican]] ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s, and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. Ska combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues...
music to mind for some listeners. Others may describe the sophisticated chords
Chord (music)
A chord in music is any harmonic set of two–three or more notes that is heard as if sounding simultaneously. These need not actually be played together: arpeggios and broken chords may for many practical and theoretical purposes be understood as chords...
of Wanek's pickless, fingerstyle guitar work as jazz chords
Jazz chords
Jazz chords are chords and chord symbols which are commonly found in Jazz music and harmony.-Intervals:Each chord is described as a series of intervallic relationships to the root of the chord...
. The drumming is consistently high-energy, relying on backbeats, polyrhyhthmic
Polyrhythm
Polyrhythm is the simultaneous sounding of two or more independent rhythms.Polyrhythm in general is a nonspecific term for the simultaneous occurrence of two or more conflicting rhythms, of which cross-rhythm is a specific and definable subset.—Novotney Polyrhythms can be distinguished from...
tom-tom
Tom tom
Tom tom and similar names may refer to:In music:* Tom Tom , 2010 alternative rock song* Tom-tom drum, a cylindrical drum with no snare* Tom Tom Club, a New Wave band** Tom Tom Club, an album by Tom Tom Club...
work and off-beat cymbal
Cymbal
Cymbals are a common percussion instrument. Cymbals consist of thin, normally round plates of various alloys; see cymbal making for a discussion of their manufacture. The greater majority of cymbals are of indefinite pitch, although small disc-shaped cymbals based on ancient designs sound a...
fills. The bass lines are also high-energy, utilizing sixteenth notes to pack more into less space than most rock bands, and harmonic notes to complement the primary melodies and add to the composition's density.
Every aspect of the band's music is premeditated and composed and there is no improvisation. This approach has allowed the band to sail through their many lineup and instrumentation changes while retaining the intentions of the compositions. The departure of Dolanský pushed saxophone parts onto the guitars, keyboards and vocals; the recent replacement of solo guitar with trumpet has condensed lead guitar and sax lines into the singular trumpet parts.
All compositions between 1985-2001 are credited to either Wanek and Dolanský or solely Wanek, with all lyrics credited to Wanek; and all post-2001 compositions are credited to Wanek. Wanek has said that all told, the band's compositions were "80% [himself], 20% Dolanský." The pre-Wanek songs to appear on records include "Jó Nebo Nebo," "Jazz 1960," "Šantrůček," "Fíkus," "Krešlak," "Soubor opatření," and "Delikatesa," although Wanek was responsible for the lyrics and final arrangements, which involved his adding and reworking parts. Early lyrics were not actually scripted, but were improvised "Swahili
Swahili language
Swahili or Kiswahili is a Bantu language spoken by various ethnic groups that inhabit several large stretches of the Mozambique Channel coastline from northern Kenya to northern Mozambique, including the Comoro Islands. It is also spoken by ethnic minority groups in Somalia...
", or fake English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, lyrics which eventually gave shape to the Czech lyrics Wanek wrote.
Poetic and artistic merit
Wanek’s lyrics have earned him a reputation as a respected Czech poet. In addition to his bands' lyrics, he wrote lyrics to a song for the Czech band Pluto, the prose in the pop-up book 11, co-authored the out-of-print bookOut-of-print book
An out-of-print book is a book that is no longer being published. Out-of-print books are often rare, and may be difficult to acquire.A publisher will usually create a print run of a fixed number of copies of a new book. These books can be ordered in bulk by booksellers, and when all the...
on the Residents
The Residents
The Residents is an American art collective best known for avant-garde music and multimedia works. The first official release under the name of The Residents was in 1972, and the group has since released over sixty albums, numerous music videos and short films, three CD-ROM projects and ten DVDs....
entitled Eyeball to Eyeball with Karel Císař (a collection of Czech translations of Residents lyrics with a forward by Wanek), and amassed countless unpublished works. His lyrics have been described his writing as “an axe for the frozen sea inside us,” a line taken from fellow countryman and influence Franz Kafka
Franz Kafka
Franz Kafka was a culturally influential German-language author of short stories and novels. Contemporary critics and academics, including Vladimir Nabokov, regard Kafka as one of the best writers of the 20th century...
. In Puding, Wanek also states, albeit with a snicker, that the music isn’t important to him and is merely a vehicle for his lyrics. Nearly all of Wanek’s lyrics were written in Czech, while a few verses in songs like “Hollywood” and “Kovbojska,” or “Cowboy Song,” are in English (to connect the particular verse to a Western sensibility.) All have been translated into both English and Polish, and while in English-speaking countries, Wanek has occasionally sung English versions of the songs from Nemilovaný svět, as well as a few translated verses, such as in the song “Ticho”, or “Silence.”
Artist Velíšek has been published in several volumes and enjoyed popularity outside of his work with the band. His unique, absurd cartoon style, replete with alarming flourishes of realism, gruesomeness and beauty, gives Už Jsme Doma records their distinct look. Throughout much of the ’90s, Už Jsme Doma performed in yellow robes designed by Velíšek, giving their live show an equally absurd and distinct look. However, the band slowly began to stray away from this practice due to a distaste for uniforms and the distraction from the music that the robes induced.
Current members
- Miroslav WanekMiroslav WanekMiroslav Wanek is a Czech poet, musician, and lyricist. He is the frontman for the avant garde punk rock group Už Jsme Doma, in which he has served as the lead singer and bandleader since 1986, the bassist from 1986–1988, the guitarist and keyboardist since 1988, co-composer from 1986–2001, and...
– lead vocalsLead vocalistThe lead vocalist is the member of a band who sings the main vocal portions of a song. They may also play one or more instruments. Lead vocalists are sometimes referred to as the frontman or frontwoman, and as such, are usually considered to be the "leader" of the groups they perform in, often the...
, guitarElectric guitarAn electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
, keyboardsKeyboard instrumentA keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
, bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, bandleader, lyricist, composer (1986–present) - Pepa Červinka – bass, vocals (2005–present)
- Adam Tomášek – trumpetTrumpetThe trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
, vocals (2007–present) - Jaroslav Noga – drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
(2011–present) - Martin VelíšekMartin VelíšekMartin Velíšek is a popular Czech artist whose work spans the media of glass and canvas, animated film, album covers, book covers, photography, sculpture, and interiors....
– brushesPaintingPainting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
, visuals (1994–present)
Past members
- Jindra DolanskýJindra DolanskýJindra Dolanský is a Czech musician. He was the saxophone player, backup vocalist and co-composer for the Czech avant garde punk rock group Už Jsme Doma from 1985–2001....
– saxophoneSaxophoneThe saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
, vocals, composer (1985–2001) - Milan Nový – saxophone (1985–1986); drums, vocals (1988–1989, 1993–1995)
- Jula Horváth (deceased) – drums (1985–1988)
- Ota Chlupsa – guitar, vocals (1985–1986)
- Jiří Solar – guitar, vocals (1985–1986)
- Petr Keřka – bass, vocals (1985–1986)
- Jiří Závodný – pianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
(1985–1986) - Roman Kolařík – xylophoneXylophoneThe xylophone is a musical instrument in the percussion family that consists of wooden bars struck by mallets...
(1986) - Martin Kubát – saxophone (1986)
- Romek Hanzlík – guitar, vibraphoneVibraphoneThe vibraphone, sometimes called the vibraharp or simply the vibes, is a musical instrument in the struck idiophone subfamily of the percussion family....
, vocals (1986–1996) - Pavel Keřka – bass, vocals (1989–1993)
- Pavel Pavlíček – drums, vocals (1989–1993)
- Alice Kalousková – saxophone, vocals (1989–1991)
- Martina Fialová – saxophone, vocals (1989)
- Jan Cerha – bass, vocals (1993–1996)
- Petr Böhm – drums (1995–2005)
- Kamil Krůta – bass, vocals (1996–1997)
- Radek Podveský – guitar, vocals (1996–2005)
- Jan Čejka – bass, vocals (1997–2001)
- Jaroslav Cvach – bass, vocals (2001–2003)
- Miloš Albrecht – bass, vocals (2003–2005)
- Petr Židel – guitar, vocals (2005–2006)
- Tomáš Paleta – drums (2005–2011)
Albums
- Uprostřed slov (In the Middle of Words) (LP, Globus – 1990, CD issued on Skoda, Indies)
- Nemilovaný svět (Unloved World) (LP, Globus – 1992; CD issued Skoda, Indies; with re-recorded English vocals, Memphis, 1993)
- Hollywood (LP/CD, BMG – 1993, CD reissued on Skoda, Indies)
- Pohádky ze Zapotřebí (Fairytales from Needland) (CD, Indies, Skoda – 1995; remastered LP, Nikt Nic Nie Wie – 2009)
- Jaro, Peklo, Podzim, Zima (Spring, Hell, Autumn, Winter) (soundtrack CD, Indies – 1996)
- Vancouver 1997 (live CD, Indies – 1997, reissued on Skoda as bonus disc with In the Middle of Words)
- Uši (Ears) (CD, Indies, Skoda – 1999; remastered LP, Nikt Nic Nie Wie – 2009)
- Patnáct Kapek Vody (Fifteen Drops Of Water) (Best-of CD, Indies – 2000)
- Rybí tuk (Codliver Oil) (CD, Indies, Skoda; LP, Nikt Nic Nie Wie – 2003)
- 20 Letů (20 Flyears) (live CD, Indies – 2006)
- Jeskyně (Caves) (CD, Indies, CuneiformCuneiform RecordsCuneiform Records is an independent record label based in Silver Spring, Maryland.The label releases a mixture of musical styles, including progressive jazz, modern fusion music, progressive rock, the Canterbury Scene and electronic music...
– 2010)
Singles
- Rock Debut no. 7 (vinyl 7″, Panton RecordsPanton RecordsPanton Records or PANTON was a Czechoslovakian and later Czech record label and music publishing house of the Czech Music Fund, founded in 1968.In Czechoslovakia it was one of the three major state-owned labels, the other two being Supraphon and Opus....
– 1989) - Tříska, split with ZZZZ (vinyl 7″, PolyvinylPolyvinyl Record Co.Polyvinyl Record Co. is an American independent record label based in Champaign, Illinois. It has released notable records by of Montreal, Japandroids, Braid, Mates of State and many others.-History:...
– 2004)
Video
- v Tokin (Live in Tokyo) (DVD, Poseidon – 2006)
- 20 Letů / Puding (20 Flyears / Pudding) (2 x DVD, Indies – 2006)
- Czech Music on The Road – 10 Days That Shook Japan (DVD compilation, Indies – 2009 – "Poslepu", "Jassica", "Strach", "Tříska", "Rybí tuk", "Jo nebo nebo", "Řeč", live)
Other
- 11 (pop-up book written by Wanek, illustrated by Velíšek, about the band and its implications, Argo – 1996)
Compilation appearances
- Roll Over Teplice (LP, Panton – 1990 – 3 tracks, reissued on CD reissue of In The Middle Of Words)
- Czeching In (CD, Skoda – 1996 – "Jassica," from Hollywood)
- KFJC 89.7 FM: Live From the Devil's Triangle (CD, independent release – 1998 – "Telefon", live on KFJCKFJCKFJC is a non-commercial college radio station in Los Altos Hills, California at Foothill College, using an Variety radio format that features a broad spectrum of music styles and public affairs programming. KFJC's broadcast is 24/7 in the San Francisco Bay Area...
) - East Timor Benefit Album (CD, independent release – 1999 – "Jassica", live on CIUT Toronto)
- Brno – město básníků (Brno – the Town of Poets) (CD, Indies – 2007 – previously unreleased song "Životopis")
- several other compilation appearances