Argonaut - CD

Introducing Marty's band, who have swapped electric guitars for ukulele and banjo. Argonaut's debut EP will be played on tour with Jelen

There are five of them and they've had a string of minor and major successes with previous bands, however, it wasn't until they got together that they took a second wind. Marty's gang, a bunch of seeming outsiders who were inspired to follow their dream by the breakthrough of Jelen, a band playing similar music. They have just released their debut EP Argonaut and are about to embark on a fall tour alongside their famous contemporaries.

"Music has always been everything to us, our whole life. And it basically doesn't matter if you're bashing electric guitars or 'strumming' a banjo. The important thing is the need to say something, to express yourself," says Martin Hon, the lead singer of Marty's band and the author of most of the songs on the debut EP.

He mentions electric guitars for a reason. He and the other members have a long history of working in bands playing hard music. In 1998, Hon himself and his classmates formed the band L.O.S., in which he played guitar, sang and composed music and lyrics. They looked up to the likes of Nirvana, The Offspring and other greats of rock and its genre offshoots.

However, after many years of working together, nine albums and three hundred performances, including those at major festivals in the Czech Republic and abroad, the original ambitions faded and performing became a leisure activity. Due to disagreements between the members, L.O.S. eventually broke up. And Hon decided that music would be only a marginal interest for him.

But then he met Honza Mirga and Vit Coufal, who had a similar fate when they left the emo rock band BezDozor and the metalcore band Empty Hearts. And together they rekindled the fire of enthusiasm. This time they were inspired by folk-rock bands that started to break into the first league of world pop music a few years ago. And through the band Jelen, this genre started to thrive in our country.

"It is a fact that the success of Jelen is motivating, and not only for us. They showed us that it can be done and gave us the courage to leave the rehearsal room and play for people. And now we've even got the chance to go on a club tour with them in the autumn. We wouldn't have believed it a year ago!" Hon notes.

He also adds that they've finally returned to the instruments they started out on as little boys. After all, he himself begged his parents to buy his first guitar on the basis of weekends in the cottage settlement Vlastějovice near the Sázava River, where he experienced his first tramp evenings around the campfire.

The Argonaut EP is the first introduction to Marty's band. They will find four original songs on it, with three tracks, including the single Víla, contributed by Martin Hon as the main composer and singer of the band. Also involved was Honza Mirga, the other singer and ukulele player, who wrote the song Blue Jeans. Other members of the ensemble are bassist Vít Coufal and Patrik Klčo, who plays banjo.

Marty's band will perform live as an exclusive guest of the Jelen's autumn tour called Midnight Train by Michal Tučný.