Buty

At the beginning of 1985 Radek Pastrňák, guitarist, singer, and last but not least original lyricist and composer, met the drummer Richard Kroczek. The two together revived the band U238, which faded away again after the bandleader Petr Míček flew. The inseparable couple Pastrňák - Kroczek then for a time became part of the dance band, very ambitious, though, called B Complex. After leaving the band they dived into jazz, already under the name Buty. This was in 1986 and Buty, consisting of our friends P + K, and Vítek Kučaj, Ivan Myslikovian and Luděk Piásečný in addition, immediately began to attend regional rounds of Rockfests.

"When I lost weight, ending at 40 kg, I decided that I had to live on something, so Richard and me escaped into Marie Rottrová's orchestra. There we played for two years, made a recording and wrote piles of songs for Buty, which were recorded nowhere. I was looking forward to buying something nice for the money earned in that period, but finally the money disappeared God knows where and I began to lose weight again. That was the period when Buty underwent a transformation from jazz via funky and big beat to its present shape." (RP)

In 1989, still together with their activities in Buty, P + K became involved in Redl's AG Flek. That was the period when most of the "older" repertoire of Buty came into existence, to be recorded later on the "well concealed" album "Whistle to Yourself, Just Whistle" (Monitor), including, among other things, the hit called "Crow".

"We still think that the record "Whistle to Yourself, Just Whistle" is reasonably good. The problem is people hardly know about its existence." (RK)

March 1994 (Ppoommaalluu, BMG) - "The material for the first recording had been ready for a long time before it was used. We invited the bass guitarist Petr Vavřík, the keyboardist Milan Nytra, the cellist Andreie Toader and the clarinettist Milan Straka to take part in the recording. The material for the second CD called Sslloowwllyy was put together much more quickly. As for the lyrics I cannot see any significant shift. All of that is completely autobiographical pieces. I have never written a lyric that would be just serious or just funny. I like all of that together in each text. While the first recording was a goulash, a mixture of everything, this one is a cake containing every flavour, every ingredient. It is an image of the dark corners of everyday life. We are not trying to create a style, our achievement has simply gone through the shadow separating the good from the bad." (RP)

The composition of the group Buty is heavily international. See for yourselves: a Greek (Nikos Engonidis - cello), a Yugoslavian (Milan Straka), a native of Ostrava - Poruba (Richard Kroczek), and now we are even playing with the idea to invite the guitarist named Norbert Kovacz (a Hungarian).

Buty is "international" and their music is "inter-style". Sslloowwllyy but surely you will find out for yourselves.

Paradoxically enough, eight long years after the foundation of the group, Buty received the title "Discovery of the Year" of the Czech Grammy, starting a new journey with their piece called "Timber."

"The recording is unique for us in that its release date was known in advance. At first we felt limited and contained by it, but finally we realised that the grape can only release its sweet juice when pressed." (RP)

The next (fourth) recording called "Rastakayakwanna" BMG 1997 was being prepared for a slightly longer time. In November 1996 we settled in a small hotel in the Beskydy mountains to work on it and after that the rest of the material was completed by Radek Pastrňák alone in his cottage, also in the Beskydy. The title of the recording is derived from the title of the song called "Brutwanna" (black enamelled baking pan). Phonetic reading will reveal that the title of the recording is twice the title of the song.

Nearly two years later the group re-entered CD shops and radio hit parades with the recording "Fern" (BMG 1999). The single-play record "Daddy" meanwhile won the heart of many a new fan. The CD was again prepared in Richard Kroczek's Cottage Studio in the Beskydy. You can find there the traditional Buty style ("Daddy", "If", or "Steam Engine") next to real rock hits ("Olina", "Stoker's Blues"). A video clip was made to the second single-play called "Over a Herd of Horses".