I think, everybody´s interested to know how LAHKA MUZA began?

We began in 1984 having a classic four member line-up, including a live drummer. This period map demo tapes „Schizofónia“ (1988) and „Nevinnosť”(1991) released by Black Point, a Prague label. After the leaving of other two members for their own life carrer we reformed to the classic duo, which collabarates with guest musicians. We started to use digital machines in a larger extent. In this personell were recorded also all three CDs : „Tieň bolesti (1992, Zoon) Chvenie absolútna (1992, Indies) and Sen ohraničeného života (1998, Sonicca).

Is it due to my ingnorance that, I´ve heard of you couple of months ago, while „Chvenie absolútna” was out in 1995, whether Indies Recs. didn´t best to promote you outside of Slovakia? How´s the response been to that record?

Amongst the listeners that got through to the records was response fairly good. Likewise most of reviews were taking it in a positive tone.But this kind of creation will always remain maximally alternative despite the publicity, that this label can afford. Beside this, Indies is a czech label, which has outside of its home country practically no possibilities for any propagation. We choosed it only because of there is no label in Slovakia, willing to release similiar stuff, as our CD has.

While we´re at Indies, how had you come to be in the label, that´s deeply into prog, art and avantgarde rock, how do you feel having got such bands like SER UN PEYJALERO or UŽ SME DOMA as the labelmates?

As indicates the previous answer, to label Indies we got through more or less by a change, after breaking down of the only pure alternative slovak label ZOON RECORDS, where we released our first CD „Tieň bolesti“. The rest of bands at Indies we practically don´t even personally know, for our almost absolute different style.

I´ve tried to read your lyrics (Polish and Slovakian languages are much alike, indeed), and if I´m not wrong, your poems touch such topics as apocaliptic times, downfall of mankind... Which of visions is more true for you, the vision of end of the world when Jesus Christ arrivals second time on the Earth to judge the living and the dead by St. John´s Apocalypse, or the vision of TV news ( global conflict, ecologically destroyed Earth? )

The apocalyptic sounding of lyrics is by no means our invention, although many listeners try to fit us into this position. Visions of the end of the world repeat in a history with an iron regularity , most often by the end of millennium. Despite the fact, that at the present time most things don´t work, we wouldn´t like to become another cheap co-announcers of frustration and extinction. Behind the symbolicism of our lyrics is situated pure energy for which is sometimes neccessary to descend to the bottom of one´s inside to find there a way of an individuality able to transfer „The vibration of an absolute“.

By the way, do you treat your lyrics secondary to the music, as many other bands used to do?

Our natural intention is the total equality of music and lyrics, even though majority of our listeners perharps don´t even notice the lyrics, because they take the music only as a certain form of an entertainment and they don´t want to burden themselves with thinking about it. Finally, as you mentioned, many bands in fact keep them in it by „The insignificance“ of their lyrics.

What symbolizes the eye on the cover?

The eye belongs to the mostly used and the most ambiguous symbols in the history of mankind. Whether in an alchemic meaning of „The Eye of an Absolute“ or, for example, in the meaning of an entry gate to the parallel existence of human spirit. Gate, which definitely conceals things worth of human attention and behind which hardly anybody dares to see through. To be said in the language of present time, what runs about here is the real, unpretended alternative life style.

How do you think, why music has the strongest effect of all kinds of art on human begin?

It has been mentioned in one of the previous answers, people today don´t try very hard to think, but that is what most of any art branches, such as painting, sculpture, literature primery reguire. Only music can affect primary – emotionally and that is perhaps why it took the role of a dominant scene for the 20" century busy people, doing several activities at one time.

With „Chvenie absolútna“, you gave a breath of fresh air to dark wave genre, though you went far way beyond typical dark wave formula... do you find LAHKÁ MÚZA in that pigeonhole yet?

We do never put ourselves to any branch, that means neither to the branch of Dark wave. Membership in any stream basically means to band ending of its evolution, for it is pushed by fans of that genre to uncreasingly repeat the schemes of previous work. Intergenre bands, among which we also want to number, have so much more bigger art freedom, but which brings along with it as an incidantal phenomena much smaller listener basis.

What about the records you have done before and after that album? What were your musical roots and where are you going in on the up-coming releases?

Our first CD „Tieň bolesti“, likewise the two demo tapes preceding the CD, were recorded without the use of samplers, the dominant role played guitar sound, although not in the usual rock sounding. On „Chvenie absolútna“ got to the foreground sampled sounds and keyboard areas, and guitars took the supplementary function. On the present CD „Sen ohraničeného života“ shared guitars and electronics equal parts in the working space. On each of these CDs is important the vocal part of our music, which had gradually developed from the purely performative to the form, using „melodical“ structures. In the next program we will definitely lay stronger stress upon the rhytmical point and the internal movement will become faster too. We will try to put back the dominant role to the guitars. The sacrality of the whole sounding will remain.

Do you play live?

We play live 5-10 times a year, mostly in Czech republic and partly here, in Slovakia. The conditions for a good presentation of this kind of music is very bad, starting with the low technical standard of the soud apparatus at clubs, ending with low interest of people for such music. There´s been several offers from the Western Europe, even from Canada. We´re never realised them, not because of the financial problems, but mainly for the language barreir – our lyrics are not english!

Besides you and „XIII. Století“ I didn´t hear any other haunted group from Slovakia or Czech, would you get wider my knowledge by mentioning more groups that´re into the type of music, and characterizing them in the nutshell, and I´d also ask if your knowledge of Polish scene is the same limited as mine on yours?

We don´t know the bands to the extent we could express responsibly about their work, but for all at least three names : EINLEISTUNG ZEIT – noise industrial from Slovakia, SKROL – postidustrial formation from Prague at the border of dark wave and noise and V.O.I.D. – again czech noise industrial band. Our knowledge on the present polish scene is equal to absolute zero...

Anything in closing?

The situation at the alternative scene is getting worse, sometimes you may even think, this scene doesn´t exist anymore. Music starts to be for the man of a break of the 21st century less and less important. It´s role takes computer culture. Despite these unattractive visions one always tries again and again To move further the musical borders, in the means of keeping our own integrity as well as for the pleasure of others, who are still ready and willing to watch alike ideas. That is pertinent to our contingent listeners in Poland.

28.5.1998 by LAHKA MUZA