I am horrified and desperate from the current political situation. We can't expect anything good from Trump and Putin now, says the composer and singer Michal Kocáb
Michal Kocáb is now considered a legend of the Czech music scene. We caught up with him at the Lucerna cinema in Prague, where a ceremonial ceremony was being prepared to award prizes for lifelong cultural contributions. And it was Michal Kocáb who was one of the laureates. In the interview, we asked him if he knew the currently most listened to song in the Czech Republic Pistachio by the young popular duo Calina and Sofian Medjmedje. And as a former politician and civil activist, we could not ignore political topics - so the conversation turned to Andrej Babiš, Filip Türk, but also to Donald Trump and Putin.
Michal Kocáb became famous with his band Pražský výběr, which he founded during his studies at the conservatory, where he studied composition and organ. As a politician, he became the minister for human rights and national minorities in 2009. As a music producer, he composes music for film and theater. For the music to the film King of Thieves, he even won the Czech Lion in 2024.
He didn't even know what he was to receive the award for
We caught him a bit confused in front of Prague's Lucerna.
When we asked him what he thinks of the award and other awarded artists, his answer surprised us a bit.
"You caught me off guard, I have no idea what this award is. When I get it, I'll be able to answer you. I assume it's probably for music. It's probably not for politics."
Although at that moment it might have sounded somewhat disrespectful towards the award, Michal Kocáb immediately assured us that he appreciates the award.
"One must appreciate every recognition, that's clear. Such a person has not yet been born who would not appreciate that."
Doesn't listen to contemporary popular music
If you think music producers listen to the latest music works to maintain an overview, you're mistaken. At least in the case of Michal Kocáb. He indeed revealed in an interview that he is currently working on an opera for the National Theatre in collaboration with renowned lyricist and former presidential candidate Michal Horáček, and therefore he doesn't have time to listen to music.
"I am completely immersed in it. And as it usually goes, composers don't pay much attention. Not that they're not interested, but they simply save every moment to get to work."
Political situation? Terrible
Such were his words about the current political events. He also sharply positioned himself against Andrej Babiš. He allegedly has many reasons why president Petr Pavel should not have appointed him as Prime Minister.
He also expressed certain resentment towards the speaker of the Chamber of Deputies Tomio Okamura.
"I'm waiting for him to go to Hungary and start fraternizing with Orbán."
Opinion on Putin and Trump
We also asked him about his opinion on the state of global political situation in relation to the war conflict in Ukraine.
"Well, I hope we somehow survive this period and that Donald Trump will not be there forever. He may have two more years or I don't know how many. Putin will probably be there forever. We know how these potentates arrange things. Well, I'm absolutely desperate about it, but I also have hope that we can somehow solve it. And I especially expect a lot from the moral and ethical stance of European leaders."
Source: author's article, own questioning, Wikipedia
