What is American is nice, said the famous songwriter Ivan Mládek. He revealed how he got to the series Wednesday.
Ivan Mládek in our interview looks back at his musical career, from the first jazz clubs through the formation of Banjo Band to the phenomenon of Jožin from the marshes, which brought him fame not only at home, but also abroad. With his typical perspective, he talks about his beginnings and also about what he enjoys more than music today - painting and humor.
We did not forget to ask him, how his most famous song made it to the Wednesday series. Ivan Mládek answered our question about the teaser for the Wednesday series, where Jožin z bažin was played.
How do you look at your music career today, when you realize that "Jožin z bažin" has become a cult phenomenon not only here, but also abroad?
"Jožin z bažin" and the rest of my goofy songs would somehow not fit into my musical career, I got into songwriting out of necessity so we could earn our living with old jazz, which we fell in love with. If we stuck with that, we would probably not get far with our nation and end up as economists, technicians, craftsmen, God forbid politicians. Given my idea was to become a virtuoso banjo player, my musical career for existential reasons slipped onto some cowardly commercial sideline. Fortunately, I started to enjoy entertaining people. My plan to become a virtuoso fell through, but over time I feel that I didn't reach my musical peak in the late seventies with the banjo, but paradoxically with the guitar. As a fan of black ragtime pianists, I managed to mimic their mechanic play with bass, three-tone accompaniment, and melody using guitar technique. Later to my disappointment, I found out the French Dadi and American Atkins played similarly and more effectively, but only with single-tone accompaniment. When I recorded several instrumentals in thismy style at the request of Panton, there was a great disappointment. When it wasn't seen that I was playing alone, the audio recordings seemed to have been performed by two bad guitarists. Or a bad guitarist recorded a baseline and then a melody badly. Therefore, we decided to erase the recordings. However, the recordings were not erased and after 40 years they were released by Supraphon in the Mini jazz edition. I was not surprised when a guitarist with a guitar on his back nearly insulted me recently. Judging by the fairly sympathetic appearance and his probably expensive guitar in a hard case, this was no tramp and my inclusion in the "Mini Jazz" edition probably rightly angered him. There was no chance to defend myself, he stood on the sidewalk, I sat at an open car window and the lights changed to green.
How long has Banjo Band been playing together and what keeps you together?
If I disregard various small groups with which I played throughout the sixties and with which I swept through various jazz clubs, country clubs, variety shows and nightclubs in a different arrangement every time, the existence of Banjo Band can be counted from the Folk and Country Festival in Lucerne in December 1970. The organizers registered Banjo Band under my name without my knowledge, even though it did not exist at that time. After a futile attempt to excuse myself from performing in Lucerne, I had no choice but to put together a group capable of appearing on the stage in Lucerne. I remind that I only played more or less tenor banjo at that time, we played only American evergreens and some original songs and not to mention my singing which I didn't even think of. However, I had to start working. In two weeks I managed to find "seven brave men" who would be willing to rehearse seven instrumentals non-stop according to the score of our pianist Pavel Skála for two weeks - and then go embarrass themselves in front of two thousand spectators. We managed and surprisingly had great success in front of a predominantly tramp audience. Without anyone opening their mouth, and without any of us moving. After several hours of bluegrass, this probably happened due to an unexpected change. Ears and brains love change. So we've been playing together for 55 years, still roughly in the same line-up, the only excusable reason for leaving the band is death. And what keeps us together? Small old-age pensions.
What have you been focusing on lately – music, painting, or humor?
Lately it's probably more painting – and therefore also humor. I try to focus only on humorous themes, I only consider those humorous that I laugh at heartily for several hours.
How did you find out that they want to use the song Jožin z bažin for the trailer for the series Wednesday, and what was the actual filming of this clip like for you?
From my manager, she also had to explain to me what it was about, what the czech term for Wednesday is and that it is being filmed by Americans. I've heard that, I have ingrained "what's American is nice".
How do you feel when your music enters the context of a gothic and dark series? Does it sit well with you, or did it rather amuse you?
I've gotten used to the fact that due to the internet, any music can end up anywhere. Often by chance. If Jožin from the marshes made its way to the Brazilian jungles, among the Eskimos and into the Kremlin, why couldn't it promote a gothic and dark series.
What do you think attracts a foreign audience to that song - humor, simplicity, melody, or something else?
Perhaps a little from everyone. And mainly thanks to the fact that people of all languages, colors and eye orientations like humor. I'm just not sure how cannibals would react to a fattened Pešák.
Do you think such connections can attract a younger generation to Czech music and humor?
I think that the young generation doesn't have to be attracted to music and humor. But everyone likes something different. This problem is solved by summer festivals, everyone will find their music there - and everyone will surely enjoy humor there too. Especially those who like black humor. For example, when a friend's wallet is stolen, or when a friend loses a precious gold ring with a diamond, or when a friend's five-year-old brother goes missing. The latter always turns up, because you can't buy anything for him.
Do you follow today's pop culture? Do you have favourite contemporary performers or series?
I follow today's pop culture carefully when I have to. Mainly at festivals I listen with interest to the bands that perform before us and then while packing instruments and changing, I listen with interest to the bands that play after us. I'm not such an ignorant person to prepare myself for these nice moments by sitting locked in the car with earplugs. Like one of our musicians, whom I won't name. And as for contemporary performers, I like Ondrej Havelka and his band, Xavier Baumaxa and also, I don't know his name, he has long hair, bushy eyebrows, slightly O-legged, singing terribly high and then terribly low, I'll remember his name, I'll give you a call. And I like to watch the Italian series "Inspector Montalbano"
Is there any personal dream or project you would still like to realize, whether in music, painting or elsewhere?
They are about to pull out two of my teeth, who knows how it will turn out, even in a banal procedure anything can happen – so I prefer not to plan any further projects.
Sources: author's text, interview
