Antonín Fajt is the son of the singer and violin player Iva Bittová and the drummer Pavel Fajt. Even if he does appear as a guest on the latest album At Home by Iva Bittová & Čikori, it isn’t a case of nepotism. He came up with and perfected his playing and composing style himself. He has had the chance to compare his childhood spent in Moravia with the last ten years spent overseas. And since he enjoys linking musical activity with for example the culinary arts or the healing effects of art, our interview was by no means just about music.
When you were a kid you learned to play the violin, but in the end you went for the piano. What made you choose the piano?
I was five when I began to play the violin, and at the age I did not have the patience for it. It’s simpler with the piano since you don’t have to learn to coax a sound from the instrument that does not sound like a dying cat. After a few years playing the piano I also began to perceive harmonies and enjoy the piano works of composers like Chopin, Debussy, Scriabin and Ježek. I didn’t enjoy the exercises. If my mum hadn’t insisted on me practising I would have probably finished with it before I could find my path in music.
This year it is already ten years since you moved to America with your mother. Were you involved in any musical activities in the Czech Republic before that?
I only studied classical piano in the Czech Republic. I didn’t get a chance to try composition or improvisation, which is a pity I think. In America at secondary school they have optional courses such as Performance Class, something like a blues jamming session, or Jazz Ensemble. It was great to have these opportunities and try music other than classical. What’s more I had terrible stage fright and so I never gave any student recitals. I have the feeling that in the Czech Republic the approach is that if it doesn’t work straight away for someone, no-one will encourage them to get over these difficulties. It is rather a test to see if the person can manage it by themself. Of course by them I had already caught the percussion-playing bug from my dad. I liked the fact that you couldn’t produce a bad tone, and so you didn’t have to be nervous. For that reason at my first concert with mum I only played on djembe and bells.
What did crossing the ocean change most for you?
When we moved I was fifteen. To begin with Americans seemed a bit strange to me. They often smiled and talked about things that were meaningless, like the weather. Everything was more expensive but tasted worse. They had no idea how to cook. And there was nowhere to go to have fun. You had to go everywhere by car and most open spaces were ‘private property’ (and once I even got arrested for trespassing). Until I was twenty-one I could not go to the pub and even some concerts. So I was often bored but on the other hand it forced me to start to spend more time on music. In each case the hardest thing about the change was cultural adaptation. I feel like I have one leg in the USA and the other in the Czech Republic, but I am not at home in either. In the meantime the American materialistic lifestyle has also greatly influenced the Czech Republic, which I see as something rather dangerous. I have the feeling as if here in New York I was at the epicentre of everything evil, which is spreading to the whole world in the shape of greed and technological dependency. It is really important that people keep access to nature and also preserve the knowledge of older generations.
What did you study in school in America?
I studied at Bard College in a wooded valley of the Hudson River facing the ancient Catskills. I was the kind of private school called a liberal arts college. There were some two thousand students there in total and each of them had the chance to study a wide range of subjects, such as for example psychology, mathematics, gender studies, human rights or art. For me it was a great experience because I could choose various interesting courses. What’s more the school had a bit of an activist spirit and political focus. For example we did a lot concerning the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and the Arab Spring, discrimination against ethnic minorities, the equality of women, LGBT and similar. It was a good education but sometimes, but sometimes it was difficult to perceive them and see how society was divided because of unimportant things. Aside from political and religious knowledge I also had wonderful tuition in classical composition in my lessons with the American composer Joan Tower. Her approach was mainly focused on discovering and expressing your own individuality. I think it helped me to find my own form of expression in music, even if I sometimes lose it or it changes.
How is it with your musical style or musical activities now? What do you find most fulfilling?
Lately I have enjoyed playing for myself. When I play with other musicians or for an audience, I have a problem with the fact that they present what they want to hear, and I find it hard to express myself with the same openness. Despite that though I love giving concerts. At the moment I am preparing a new programme for solo piano focused on meditation and partly also on sound. I would like to create a concert environment where time flows slowly and people can even lie down. I am interested in the concept of trance and music therapy, of how to make the healing effects most accessible. At the same time I also like to connect musical culture with a culinary approach. Every style and folklore is made up of various ingredients and it is interesting to try and find out which are compatible.
Last year in the autumn in the Czech Republic you performed in a joint project with Matt Norman. Your duo combines acoustic and electrical instruments – keyboards, samplers, piano, drums, trumpet… How do you make music together? And are your works more often written or improvised?
Our duo is based on a combination and interweaving of contrasting moods, sounds and styles. Matt’s approach is sometimes even wildly fast, as if he were trying to use up all the energy in the first five seconds. Only he can play like that for a whole hour. On the other hand I am very slow. I constantly try to build something and frequently I think for several seconds or minutes ahead. At the same time we both try to react to everything and often that gives rise to marvellous moments. We never perform the same programme twice and mostly we choose compositions just before the concert according to the atmosphere. Otherwise I compose by creating the piano motif and then I describe what mood I am presenting. Matt mostly creates a complete composition with parts for me and for him. We solve further communication through music.
Where do you like to perform? Are you inspired during a concert by the hall’s acoustics or the environment?
I guess the best experience we had was when we accompanied the silent film Monster on the roof in New York. The sun was just going down and we were among the glass skyscrapers, which created a wonderful echo. Those kinds of out of the ordinary visual and sound effects are the best.
Do you work with any other American musicians. Which of the projects do you find most exciting at the moment?
I have already been working on a joint project with the drummer Dean Sharp for two years. He is a seasoned musician who has worked for example with Moby and with the Japanese composer Susumu Yokota. We are joined by the concept of creating as it were electronic music with the aid of analogue means. It is a kind of impure, bitonal minimalism. We enjoy exchanging our musical arsenal and often we bring new instruments to rehearsals. It is constantly developing.
When you return to the Czech Republic you sometimes play with your parents. I remember the duo Fajt & Fajt and now you were a guest on the album of the group Čikori and you also played with them in concert. Do you try to follow everything that your parents do, what kind of projects they have?
Obviously. When I am in the Czech Republic I discuss with dad new trends in music and we tell each other what we like. I see more of mum and so sometimes I listen to one of her projects that is in preparation. Or sometimes I listen to her practising. For example I could probably sing the whole of Čikori’s new album in my sleep since I was able to watch how it took shape. Of course I am close to the music of both of my parents – it is part of my identity.
You upload your works of the Bandcamp internet server. But are you also planning any album on physical media or are CDs already obsolete from your perspective?
Just now I am recording a new album, which should be issued both in electronic and physical form. But I am also thinking about how to share music in other than the classical forms. I have come up the idea of issuing small packets of music on a weekly basis. It would perhaps be fifteen minutes of solo prepared piano. I enjoy coming up with something new but I don’t like returning to things.
What are you listening to at the moment? And do you get hold of any Czech music aside from what your parents produce?
Recently I have fallen in love with Georgian polyphony. It is wonderful music. For example I am listening to the album of the Anchishkati choir and it is super! I also like jazz saxophonists. Not long ago I discovered Albert Ayler, who makes use of motifs from spirituals and gospel and who played completely crazily and beautifully. The contemporary saxophonists Ken Vandermark and Joe McPhee are also great. When I played with Matt in the Czech Republic we got to know the saxophonist Pavel Zlámal, the pianist Martin Konvička and also the group Nil.
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