Zrní
Zrní
Genres: Czech, alternative, indie, folk rock, alternative rock
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Květy
About Zrní
Zrní (meaning "grain" or "corn" in Czech) is a Czech folk, indie rock and art rock band from Kladno which was formed in 2001. Members: ** Vocals, recorder & acoustic guitar: Jan Unger ** Electric and acoustic guitar & vocals: Jan Juklík ** Violin: Jan Fišer ** Bass & Vocals: Jan Caithaml ** Drums, accordion, beatbox & sampler: Ondřej Slavík Biography: The band consisting of Jan Unger (Vocals, flute), Jan Juklík (Acoustic guitar, electric guitar, ukulele, vocals), Jan Fišer (Violin, vocals), Jan Caithaml (Bass, vocals) and Ondřej Slavík (Drums, accordion, beatbox, samples and more) formed on June 23rd, 2001, which is the day of their first (unofficial) concert at the restaurant "U České Lípy". They're currently signed to APPLAUSE BOOKING and have (among others) released more than six albums, a remix album, an acoustic album and a collaboration album with VerTeDance. They call their music "něžný artbrut" ("tender art brut") and it's a mix of folk, pop and electro. Tender artbrut. Wood, muscles, water, hammers. They are Zrní, a band from Kladno. They like to play with music, to talk through music, to communicate like you do with your fingers in the air, like people in the streets. They are inspired by everything: sounds, animals, comics, computers, the Poldi steelworks. They draw from this fast-paced electronic time of today, which brings all kinds of different sounds of machines, cars, cities. It brings new human feelings, new situations, new engineering possibilities. They also get inspiration from the folk music, which comes from this land and the experience of their ancestors. They sing in Czech. About the night city, the homeless, about apple trees in the orchard. About the computer game hero, who goes to discover the world. There is five of them. In an unchanging lineup, they have been playing together since 2001. They met in high school. Scattered across different classes, they would run into each other in the hallways, carrying their instruments, and eventually discovered that they would both be busking in Celetná Street in Prague to earn some money. On weekends they hitchhiked as students between Kladno and Prague, played on the street with violins, flute, guitar, singing, sometimes some percussion, and returned home with a few hundred crowns. They remember December 23rd. That time there were only two of them, playing serious classical music, flute and violin. Their hands were frozen, and for half an hour they were surrounded by curious kindergarten kids with their teacher. It was sweet. Their hands were red, tourists could not get through to them and they earned nothing. Then the police came: “Well, gentlemen…” and they went home. No money for presents. But there was something mysterious about it that they loved deeply. Gradually they started meeting more often. They became friends through music to the core, went on hikes, wandered around, always with their instruments. They began writing their own songs and swore loyalty to each other for life and death, and that they would become the most famous band of all time. They named it Zrní. Since then, their weekends have not been anything but rehearsals. They rehearse. First in their basement, then in a bright, spacious and expensive rehearsal room they paid for, and now back in a basement again. A dark, cold one. In their bassist’s basement for several years now, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, with the miraculous tolerance of his parents, who enjoy their festive Sunday lunch upstairs while the glasses tremble above their heads. Their music, along with their opinions, has gone through serious development over the eight years since. They went through countless disagreements about which direction to take, arguments about their own personalities, crises from endless obscurity, until everything gradually calmed down and settled into a relatively long-lasting, pleasant creative atmosphere and mutual understanding. They found their musical language. It works for them. Each of them has a role in the machine, each brings their share and their own distinctive atmosphere. Compared to the beginning, they now sing exclusively in Czech, because that allows them to speak with absolute honesty, down to the marrow, because every letter carries associations. Czech is important to them, and looking back they are grateful to themselves for the name Zrní, an honest, pure word. Seed, work, food. Musically, what they have always enjoyed most is simply playing. Playing around, talking through music, communicating, like fingers tracing shapes in the air, like people on the street. Creating and interacting as they see it everywhere around them. From the start they agreed that they did not want to use worn-out formulas or phrases, nor any fashionable trends that would sound old in a few years. Whenever they are asked to define their style, to choose a genre, they honestly do not quite understand what is being asked of them. Anything can influence them: a melody, a sound, a comic book, a computer, the old Poldi steelworks. They draw from the tradition of folk music rooted in their landscape and in the experience of their ancestors. And of course also from the fast, electronic era they were born into, which brings the sounds of machines, cars, cities, new human feelings and situations, new technical possibilities. They love Radiohead, Efterklang, Arcade Fire, but also DVA, Koubek or Dvořák. Everything passes through them, mixes, transforms, and they are the meat grinder and out come the strands, frying into potato pancakes. A beer, a feast. At concerts they work a lot with energy. They try to be spontaneous, childlike and human in their playfulness. Zrní has been playing together since June 23, 2001, still in the same lineup: vocals, violin, guitars, bass, drums, accordion, flute, sometimes mugs, spoons, stones, samples and loops. Through their music they would like to spread the desire to observe, to be fascinated, to take life as a game, an intense experience, as a kind of conversation between pieces of one whole. A conversation through scents, eyes, shapes, sound. If people could feel something like that in their music, they would be happy.
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