Monika Načeva and her band have prepared an extraordinary audiovisual programme for the FALL festival at DOX. You can look forward to a performance by one of the most distinctive figures of the Czech alternative music scene and an intense fusion of music, poetry, imagery, and light.

The set will feature songs from Načeva’s cult album Nebe je rudý – which was recently reissued on vinyl for the first time, thirty years after its original release – along with tracks from her latest album, Jdem temným dnem. The reissue of Nebe je rudý was accompanied by a special concert tour, culminating in a sold-out release show at Palác Akropolis in Prague, which was described as a ritualistic affair transcending time.

On the album Jdem temným dnem, Načeva continues her long-term project of taking the poetry of Czech authors whose work was historically pushed to the margins of official culture and setting it to music. This time she has reached for texts by Šárka Smazalová, Vladimíra Čerepková, Ivan Blatný, Jan Hanč, Pavel Zajíček, Milan Koch, Věra Jirousová, and Egon Bondy. Their verses, as performed by Načeva, spring to life with extraordinary urgency and resonate surprisingly strongly with the present day.

Visuals

Linda Hojdyšová, who has been collaborating with Monika Načeva since 2024, will take care of the evening’s unique visual design. She holds a degree in film studies from the Faculty of Arts of Charles University in Prague, and she focuses on digital video art, which she has used to accompany several of Načeva’s concerts in the past. She draws inspiration from the medium of photochemical film, which she enjoys blending with digital VJing. The evening will also feature the premiere of the music video for the song “Šaman”. The video was created during a two-day improvised shoot in Monika Načeva’s garden, and it is composed of scenes shot on 16 mm film and footage from a cheap digital camcorder. Here analogue and digital media come together as naturally as music and imagery do throughout the entire concert programme.

Lighting and Sound

Another striking feature of the evening will be the original lighting design by Zbyněk Oudys, which will create a unique visual space and work in conjunction with Hojdyšová’s projections to transform the concert into a cohesive audiovisual experience. The sound design will be handled by Tomáš Vtípil – a sound wizard, producer, performer, and composer of scores for film and theatre who moves across musical genres and has long collaborated with prominent figures of the Czech alternative scene.

Band

Monika Načeva will be accompanied by her current band, consisting of Michal Jarmil Koval on bass, Vojtěch Procházka on keyboards, and Jakub Švejnar on drums. These three distinctive musical artists, each with their own projects and experience spanning a wide range of contemporary genres, have joined with Načeva to form a band that can shift from a subdued, almost intimate style to a raw and intense sound.

Monika Načeva has been one of the most prominent figures of the Czech alternative music scene for more than three decades. Her work spans rock, electronic, experimental music, and improvisation, but poetry remains her constant. A turning point in her musical career came when she encountered the poetry of Jáchym Topol. His texts first appeared on her debut album Možnosti tu sou… (1994), followed by the cult classic Nebe je rudý (1996), in which she blended Topol’s poetry with electronic music and trip-hop. Each new project leads her to a different sound and often to new musicians. She has collaborated with prominent figures of the Czech alternative scene such as Michal Pavlíček, Jan P. Muchow, and Tomáš Vtípil, among others. She also interprets the texts of non-mainstream authors with extraordinary intensity. On her latest album, Jdem temným dnem (2024), for example, she set to music the poetry of Šárka Smazalová, Vladimíra Čerepková, Ivan Blatný, Jan Hanč, Pavel Zajíček, Milan Koch, Věra Jirousová, and Egon Bondy. In addition to her musical career, Načeva is also an actress and has worked with numerous theatre companies around the Czech Republic. She currently performs at the Minor Theatre in Prague.