Find an unused, forgotten factory, write a concert customised to it and go elsewhere. The project Ztichlé budovy (Quiet Buildings) was founded by several students of art schools in Brno, the first year performed in the hall of the former MEZ factory in Židenice. This year, they will return once again, but next time they should be moving on. We talked to several members of the creative and organisational community in the Zastávka Café in Židenice about the beginnings, present and future of Ztichlé budovy. We got to talk to Anna Laborová, Petra Čtveráčková, Kristýna Uhrová, Magdalena Dostálová and Filip Dufka. This year, the MEZ building will be full of music on 28 April.
Who stood at the beginning of the entire event, who and when came up with Ztichlé budovy?
Anna Laborová: It was last year sometime in January or February. Petra studies composition and we discussed the possibility of performing works by Conservatory students and all young people who create something. Such possibilities are very rare and that was the first impulse. Another thing is that we love to take music beyond the classical concert halls and we like industrial spaces. That was combined and I knew about a space in Židenice – it is under rehearsal rooms that we share with several bands.
Petra Čtveráčková: It is sometimes a bit problematic to organise concerts at the Conservatory. Our department is quite small, there are only six or seven of us, so organising a full-length concert using our own resources is not easy. So we decided to ask our friends. It was just an attempt, and eventually people from the Conservatory, from JAMU and one boy from Vienna contributed to the first event.
Organising concerts of contemporary music in non-traditional spaces is, however, not such an original idea...
AL: We do not boast that it was our original idea, we primarily wanted to try to do something entirely on our own.
Last year, you put together the programme from among friends, but this year you also addressed the public. How did it work?
AL: When we started to think about the next event last year in November, we were afraid about the event becoming some kind of a "VIP" circle. A closed society that plays on its own playground. So we decided to try to send an invitation to the world thinking that we would see who gets back to us. And based on that, we would create the final concept. We have created an invitation in the form of a video with edited footage from the MEZ factory hall and its sounds. Only what speaks to a person when they stand there. And then it is up to the composer to understand how it affects them, how to respond to it.
What types of people contacted you – was it your friends again, were there many unfamiliar names among them?
AL: There are some friends among them, some are returning from last year. In principle, we are not against the authors to be repeated. However, we also heard from DJs, to whom the factory hall evokes an environment to which they are accustomed. Some of the applicants were hip-hoppers with lyrics of not the highest quality and a strange video...
But if I understand this correctly, you do not generally mind DJs and do not define the genre?
AL: We want to focus on contemporary music, on....artificial music or how to say it...
...better not at all than this. But I would still like to find and define the criterion by which you decide.
AL: We are looking for it ourselves and every time we meet, we try to find the word. We do not want to say that the music that was not accepted is bad.
PČ: Rather it did not fit.
AL: We would not be able to appropriately incorporate it in the programme. But maybe next year, if we manage to organise the concert differently, there will be other things.
What surprised you the most among the applicants?
AL: I will not say any names but it was a boy with strange videos and half-naked ladies. Essentially, it was so shocking that it was funny.
Kristýna Uhrová: I was most surprised with how many good people applied. What an interesting repertoire came together and in what quantities.
And what did you think was good? Here, you might be able to describe it.
PČ: Three or four people from last year stayed with us. Among them Otto Wanke, he studies composition in Vienna, but he is a native of Znojmo. From last year, there is also violist Markéta Husková and violist Filip Holacký. Some names included, for instance, Marek Mrkvička who surprised us with a very creative video with electronic music. We now take the people, who applied, to the space so that we do not communicate by e-mail but instead we are in direct contact. When they think of something, we can address it right there and they are inspired on the spot.
But it was the same last year, wasn't it?
PČ: It was more of the opposite. Last time, we were looking for a place for songs, and this year we are looking for songs for the place.
AL: Next time, we will look for place for a place.
You can define yourself in relation to the history of the place. Or pick authors directly.
AL: I would like us to try something different every year, for the festival not to repeat itself.
KU: The first year was an event organised by students for students, this year it is more open. All participants should be connected through the place, for which they should compose something during the two months. And it does not matter whether they have a string quartet, are DJs or creators of sound installations. And we think that thanks to the connection through the place, a lot of very different things will work together well during the evening. And there will be no confusion.
AL: When meeting with composers in the venue, I like how the method of communication changes from a cold e-mail to personal contact. Marek Mrkvička came completely alive there, you could see how he was enjoying it, he actually began to create right away and think about how everything could work together. So far, we have eleven authors, it will be a long night. We do not have the exact programme yet but we do not need too much time. So far, we know only that we will have two halves and projections will take place in the second half because there will still be daylight during the first one. Among the performers is also guitarist David Petráš from musicology in Brno.
KU: I was thinking that we could gradually reveal it on our website.
Revealing the programme is very trendy, you should not ignore it...
KU: Each week a new name, of course.
AL: David Petráš also wants to work with a tape recorder and tape echo, so it will be interesting. And then we have a big surprise – Josef Klíč.
Well, well, I was actually going to ask you whether you had any old hands apply...
AL: He is not that old...
... but he already has some experience in music.
AL: It was a big challenge for us to collaborate with someone who has much more experience than we do.
KU: Most importantly, we did not expect it. We thought that we would hear only from students and suddenly there was such a name among them. And in fact, we even wondered if it suits us, or whether we want him just because his name is Josef Klíč. Then we realised that he can be an inspiration. Eventually, it was a great meeting, we were testing from all sides how the echo works and so on. Another name is Stanislav Abrahám from Prague, a student at FAMU.
PČ: He teaches at AVU.
AL: He is a student and teacher at all different places. But his work with sound collages is very interesting. A meeting with him is still in front of us and we are really looking forward to it. And then there will also be collaboration with the audiovisual association Vačice, liška, motýl, a velryba. It is an improv group that uses video projections for their performances and plays in a violoncello, guitar and contrabass line-up.
PČ: They caught our attention because their sound will sound really nice in there.
What audience came last year? Were they friends again, or even people from elsewhere?
AL: There were many of them. We tried to distribute posters and leaflets, as always, people came with other people – eventually we had 180 of them. I did not know many of them. It was probably the first time when I did not say "hi" to everyone at a concert. And there were also people from Židenice even though we did not post any posters. I posted one in the street like a punk, it lasted about three days, and we also had leaflets here in the Zastávka Café. So some locals noticed it. Among them one gentleman who used to work in MEZ. They came to us and they liked it, they were very happy with it.
Have you tried to contact the local council to contribute?
AL: No. Židenice does not have the best reputation in this sense.
KU: We also did things very quickly, we put the whole event together in two months.
AL: This year, we scheduled for six. Last year, we had no grants, this year we have two applications but we have already heard that we should not count on it. Admission is voluntary, but we collected enough to cover last year's expenses and we had some extra money for this year.
That is a success. In this regard, you are doing better than many philharmonic orchestras.
AL: Sure, but our budget is super low. I really enjoy that we draw the maximum from the minimum.
KU: There is also the huge support of friends. If everyone wanted money for their performances, we would definitely not have enough.
AL: The fantastic thing is that we are still in touch with people, who participated last year. We keep getting some feedback from them which confirms our opinion that it makes sense to do it.
You mentioned before that you had a band – what band?
AL: A little bit of swing, contrabass, guitar, drums, violin, we had a concert yesterday. And then Miniminy with Madla Dostálová right here.
KU: And with me.
AL: And yeah, you too.
KU: Yesterday, I was the only one to whom you did not dedicate a song.
AL: We have great internal relationships.
You mentioned video and projections, how big a role do they play in the programme?
KU: I like that it is not a mammoth event and that it focuses on music. We were talking about multimedia at one of the first meetings but then we realised that we did not want that. So even though the industrial space that offers many opportunities and perhaps encourages some visualisations is cool, music always comes first. And I would like to keep it that way.
Do you have any plans for the future?
AL: I have not talked about it with anyone, but next year I would like to find a suitable space for an orchestra. It is just an idea, and I do not know if it will work out next year. The condition, however, is a suitable space.
So you would move somewhere else?
KU: Yes, we do not want to turn MEZ into a concert hall. We want to find unused spaces and bring music to them.
AL: For example, they offered us the option to organise a concert in Malá Amerika which is an industrial space, but it is in operation already. We also hear from people from other places and it is great but we are looking for places that people do not know. This year, we are repeating the concert in MEZ because the first year was successful and we want to repay our debt to the place.
Do you have any specific tips for the next concert space?
AL: I know of a factory in Komárov near the river, there are still old cranes and equipment. Moreover, there is a nice environment outside so we could work in a different way there. And I would really love to get into the textile factory in Obřany.
