Czech expert jury of Czeching 2017
Five promising bands with a potential to break abroad for this year’s Czeching were nominated by Czech radio experts but also by music programmers and editors in ch...
Jiří Špičák
Born in 1986, Jiří is a regular contributor to Hospodářské noviny and magazines His Voice and Cinepur. His music favourites include Joanna Newsom, Klaus Schulze, Steve Hauschildt, Sufjan Stevens, Olivier Messiaen, The Fiery Furnaces, James Ferrara, Paavoharju, Os Mutantes and the entire catalogue of the Ghost Box label. He works as Head of Music at Radio Wave. He also presents weekly show of new music called Factory. Jiří recently co-edited a book focused on music scene in the city of Ostrava called Oáza.
Veronika Ruppert
Editor and host at Radio Wave. One of the most popular Czech experts on fashion. Veronika Ruppert is a stylist, producer and host of the only radio fashion show Modeschau. She is a long term supporter of young Czech designers. Hosts various fashion talks and curates fashion events in collaboration with a non-profit organization Elpida. She is also a DJ performing under moniker Neoru and organizing regular parties Levitate, inviting mainly female artists and DJs from the local scene and abroad as well. Veronika recently lives alternatively in USA.
Tomáš Kelar
Drummer, producer and music dramaturg Tomáš Kelar moved to Great Britain with his family in the early eighties and, as one of the few Czech musicians, became successful on foreign scene. His former Welsh band Mountaineers signed a contract with the famous Mute Records label which also released music by Depeche Mode, Nick Cave, Erasure, Moby or Goldfrapp. Tomáš is currently a member of the group Midi Lidi and he was working on the Čoko Voko project as well. He is also the director of Kabinet Múz and its main dramaturg.
Michal Brenner
When it comes to music dramaturgy, Michal Brenner is definitely one-step ahead of most of the Czech clubs. He is known for picking the most interesting artists on current music scene to perform at MeetFactory club or at club events such as Bohemian Like you among others. Even though he has a degree in mathematics and physics, he always preferred organizing music events. For six years he was a director of the progressive Festival Sperm and besides being the music director at MeetFactory, Michal co-funded, along with other European clubs and festivals, an international project SHAPE that focuses on supporting the mobility of progressive audio and visual artists.
Michal Pařízek
Michal Pařízek, a music publicist and one of the founders of the Full Moon magazine as well as its current edi’or in ’hief, has been active on the music scene since 2002. Besides the printed Full Moon magazine, Michal extended the activities of the platform, which now include regular concerts, mobile vinyl bazar Gram Bazaar and FullMoon Forum that serves as a music label. He has been a part of the Scrape Sound promotion collective for some time now.