30 Years of Harlej at Full Throttle: From ’90s Party Beginnings to Major Halls and Arena Shows

Band Harlej certainly needs no introduction to any rock fan. Last year, the band celebrated the 30th anniversary of its existence – and the celebrations were truly spectacular. Throughout the year they released two best-of compilations, two singles, and also a new version of the popular song Tak jdem dál. In this special remake they paid tribute to their late singer Vláďa Šafránek, joined by several distinctive voices of the Czech rock scene such as Lou Fanánek Hagen, Petr Janda, Petr Hrdlička and Josef Vojtek.

At the end of the year, the band embarked on an anniversary tour featuring a total of nine stops across the Czech Republic. The tour also included a special show with an unusual "H"-shaped stage placed in the middle of the arena at O2 universum in Prague.

At Rebel Sound, we decided to take this opportunity to conduct an interview with the band's leader Tonda Rauer, who is also the only member that has been part of the band since the very beginning, meaning he truly remembers all thirty years of Harlej's history. I met him in a small pub in Prague — and the interview could begin.

Last year you celebrated 30 years of Harlej's existence. What were the celebrations like and how did you enjoy the anniversary tour?

The celebrations basically lasted the whole year, because it all started in spring with a slightly differently structured run of concerts. We released two best-of albums and during the summer we played several special shows at open-air events, so we enjoyed it in a working sense, but I think each of us truly savored it to the fullest. I'm the only one in the band who's been there for the entire 30 years, and for me it's incredible. When we founded Harlej, if someone had told me that in 30 years we'd still be playing, still have fans, and that the circle of people who love Harlej would keep growing bigger and bigger, I would probably have just shaken my head in disbelief. Of course, whenever you start something, you hope it will last for a long time. But I never imagined we'd manage to keep it going for this long. I see it as pure luck, and it makes me genuinely happy. The other guys in the band have also been in Harlej for a very long time. Kolinss and Libor have been there for about 24 years, Tomáš for more than 20, and Hofík will soon reach 15 years with us. So I think all of us see it as a real success that things have been going so well for so long.

Harlej was founded in 1995 as a project of musicians who were active in other bands at the time. How did the original idea to start Harlej actually come about?

It happened a bit by accident. Or maybe not exactly by accident, but it wasn't really planned either. Back then, Vláďa and I were playing in a band called Brian, which more or less fell apart. It gradually dissolved, and Vláďa and I started writing songs because we wanted to keep going. We were creating songs that were more rock'n'roll-oriented, as well as slower ones. In the end, we split them into two groups and offered them to a record label. They chose the slower, more serious material. We made the album Příliv and, at the request of the label Monitor, we even renamed Brian to Brain. However, among our friends the more upbeat, rock-oriented demo songs were still circulating at the time. Then a coincidence happened — some friends of ours were starting a new record label and asked if we would record those songs for them. So we reached out to friends we had played with before or people we knew well, asking if they would join us and record the material together. And that's how Harlej was formed.

Do you remember what kind of vision you had back then (where you saw yourselves "in 30 years"), and how do you look at that vision today? Did you ever imagine at the time that you'd make it this far?

We didn't think that far ahead. I'm sure of that. Of course, when you're creating something and recording it, you hope people will like it — that's natural. We believed that there would be people who would enjoy Harlej, but we definitely weren't thinking in terms of a 30-year horizon. I'm certain we didn't think that far ahead back then.

And how do you see it today? If you imagine Harlej's 40th anniversary, what do you think it will look like?

I hope it will be great. I really enjoy it, and I think the whole band does too. So we want to keep going for as long as we can. I wouldn't dare to say what the 40th anniversary of Harlej will look like, though. That depends on whether we can keep functioning well and keep coming up with songs that people enjoy. We'll keep doing what we love and hope that people will love it too — and hopefully we'll be able to celebrate the fortieth anniversary even better than we celebrated the thirtieth.

Harlej's thirty years can be divided into two eras — the period with Vláďa Šafránek and the period with Tomáš Hrbáček. What do you see as the biggest difference between these two phases?

That's a tough question. I think Harlej has matured a bit over the years, but I don't believe that's simply because of whether Tomáš is in the band or Vláďa was. It's more about the natural evolution. When we started Harlej, we were really wild and goofy — we made fun of everything. One reason for that back then was that Vláďa and I thought we would continue with Brain as well, so the more serious side of our music would have its place there. But as Harlej found its fans and grew stronger, Brain gradually faded away. We then started incorporating some of the more serious material — what you could call the "second side" — into Harlej, which is why the band became a bit more serious over time. Of course, Tomáš is naturally a different person than Vláďa — everyone has their own personality and way of expressing themselves. So I'd say Harlej with Vláďa was more playful and goofy, while Harlej with Tomáš is more rock-oriented.

How was it after Vláďa left, and how did you manage to adapt with Tomáš?

I think it wasn't that difficult for us. Vláďa left basically overnight, and his departure was quite a surprise, but we wanted to keep Harlej going. As I always say, every band is about five pieces fitting together, not just one person. At that time, I knew I wanted Harlej to continue. I wanted to keep working on something I had devoted a huge part of my life to, putting in a lot of time and energy. As a band, we simply knew we would fight to prove that Harlej would live on — that Harlej isn't about one person, but about the whole band. So we worked hard and fought for it. Maybe this question is more for our fans, who had to get used to the fact that it would be different, because the singer is always the most visible part of a band. And Vláďa was an extremely visible part of Harlej — an absolute bohemian who lived for the stage and for singing. So I think a lot of people assumed we wouldn't survive his departure, but we believed in the band's ability to convince people that we were moving forward. Things might look a little different, but we'd still be here.

For me, as a fan, it was also a big change, and I had to get used to Tomáš at first.

Of course, that's always difficult. The singer is the irreplaceable face of the band, so any change hits immediately. I'm a bit of a traditionalist myself and don't like it when things change, so I understand that it takes time to adjust. But as a band, we believed in ourselves, we fought for it, and I'm really glad that people gave us the chance to prove ourselves and win them over.

Besides the change of singer — was there any other major turning point in Harlej's history?

A major turning point actually happened during Vláďa's time. When we recorded the album Zastavte tu vodu, it was quite pivotal for Harlej, because it included songs like Svařák, Pověste ho vejš, Zrzi zrzi, and similar tracks. At that time, Vláďa was going through a very unusual period. We barely played live before the album because he wasn't sure if he even wanted to continue, and so on. Then he came up with the idea of making a total change in Harlej — an earthquake, basically — to completely revamp the band. So at that point, it was just Vláďa and me left in Harlej, and the rest of the lineup was replaced. We brought in guys from Debustrol, and I think it was a very significant shift for the band. It changed not only the style of playing but also many other aspects — this was the first big transformation in Harlej's history.

Is there a Harlej album you'd call truly groundbreaking? You already mentioned Zastavte tu vodu…

I think a groundbreaking album is always the first one, because it introduces a new band. I'd put it like this: the first album is groundbreaking because you spend the most time on it — you prepare endlessly before going into the studio. It's something new, something that gives you that special thrill. I also think the second album is extremely important, because once you've made the first one and touched people, you need to confirm that what they liked can continue. For us, Zastavte tu vodu was absolutely pivotal. Then there's Čtyři z punku a pes, the first album with Tomáš, where we presented a new face of Harlej. I think it showed people that things would be different, but it made sense. Another important album, marking the period after Vláďa left, was University. That's when things really started turning for the better. I personally also love the album Smutku dávám sbohem, which is a bit different. We were perhaps subconsciously working through certain events, especially Vláďa's passing. He was a friend, and even after leaving Harlej, we never really lost touch. For a while, we didn't talk much, but we were always friends, and Vláďa still supported Harlej in his own way — I dare say he still loved the band. In 2015, he even joined us as a guest on the 20-year anniversary tour. His early death obviously affected us deeply, and that album (Smutku dávám sbohem) reflects that process of coping. I had also been finishing a Brain album I had started with Vláďa, and completing it after his passing influenced everything. So for me, that's definitely another very important album.

Yes, on Smutku dávám sbohem in many songs, you can really feel Vláďa's presence.

Another unique album was Když chválím, tak sebe, which we recorded with Vláďa. We wanted it to have a more rock-oriented sound, less metal, and we made it sonically very raw and rattling — which probably annoyed some people. But what makes this album special is that even today, we still play more songs from it than from any other. So it's an album that may seem understated in our discography, but for us, it was hugely important.

Do you ever have conflicts within the band? And if so, how do you handle them?

The band is a group of five people – five personalities – and it would be ridiculous, even unbelievable, if we didn't occasionally have some conflicts. I think in any group like this, conflicts are inevitable. What's important is that everyone knows when they need to pull together, when it matters. There are important things, and on those important matters, everyone has to stand together – and I believe that's exactly what happens in Harlej. Of course, conflicts arise when a band is working, because music is a creative process and everyone has their own opinion. But the key is to recognize how lucky you are to have this band and how well it works. Harlej isn't about one individual with a bunch of people around them; it's five people working together. And because of that, all conflicts eventually get resolved. I think we've got that fully in balance in Harlej.

What do you think is the hardest and the most valuable part of keeping a band going after so many years?

The most valuable thing is that it works. The hardest part is that in any band there will inevitably be really tough moments – when something goes wrong, or something doesn't turn out as planned – and everyone really has to remember what I said earlier. They need to pull together in that moment and overcome it. That's the hardest part: putting aside your own ego for the good of the whole. But I think the older people in the band get, the easier it becomes. When you're twenty or twenty-five, you deal with things in a more intense way – "this has to happen right now," or big arguments, or stuff like that. As you get older, you appreciate what you have more, and these issues are resolved, I think, more easily.

Tough moments do happen. Thinking about the last really difficult time we had, I realize that we've been living for a long time in a place where we simply enjoy ourselves. We enjoy making music and being part of Harlej, and we're grateful for what we have.

 You played bass in Alkehol for a long time, and you used to do double shows with them (if I'm not mistaken, it was around the time Tomáš started singing with you). Later, Honza Bartoš replaced you. What is your relationship with Alkehol today, and do you ever regret leaving? I have – and will always have – a great relationship with Alkehol. I spent a wonderful 25 years with them, and I think we're all good; we can see each other, grab a beer, and hang out. Harlej and Alkehol ran alongside each other for a long time, and then the guys in Alkehol wanted to play a bit more, so Bart came in as my replacement for the shows I couldn't do. At a certain point, there were so many substitutions that it became quite a complicated situation, which wasn't fair to the fans at the concerts. The guys decided they wanted to continue playing only with Bart, and that was it. I don't take it personally – I see it more as a practical matter – and Bart fit into Alkehol perfectly. It did get a bit messy, but as I said, I had a wonderful 25 years there, and I will always love that band and be grateful for the time I got to play with Alkehol.

And what is your relationship with the current band Debustrol, from which you "borrowed" some musicians, while Kolins still plays in both bands?

I think we have a good relationship, because since I used to play in Alkehol, when we offered spots in Harlej to the guys from Debustrol, it was clear that it wasn't about them leaving Debustrol. Alkehol was playing a lot, so it was obvious that Debustrol would still have plenty of time to perform. I believe that both bands – Debustrol and Harlej – can comfortably coexist. Over the years, we've clearly divided the year: a part of it is for Harlej, and another part for Debustrol, and I think that works out perfectly fine.

During the festival season, is it difficult to coordinate Harlej and Debustrol shows so you don't have to "fight over" Kolins?

Well, Kolins spends a lot of time driving! It's really admirable how much energy he can muster to make it all work. And I think we try to organize things so that both bands can operate the way they need to.

How do you think rock music has changed the most since the '90s, when you started?

I think rock music itself hasn't really changed that much. When we started, it was a lot more spontaneous. Everyone had more fun, there was more drinking, that kind of thing. Of course, over time, as ticket prices went up and other things changed, there's more responsibility—you want the concert to be the best it can be for the audience—so bands think about that more. But the fun can't disappear, or it wouldn't feel right. So, playing live isn't the same kind of party it used to be. Another big change is technology and how people approach things. Back then, everything you saw at a concert was really being played live on stage. Today, that's often not true—studio overdubs and playback are used. I have to say, we're not friends with that, we don't use anything like that. I still believe that even if you polish a song a lot in the studio, with tons of guitar tracks, live you can't play all of them at once—there's only two of us, so we can't play eight guitars simultaneously. We prefer it live, even if it's a bit different from the recording. Bands that want it to sound exactly like the studio recording often use overdubs or playback. Everyone chooses their own path—I'm not saying one way is right or wrong—but this is definitely something that's changed a lot. Sometimes I go to a concert today and think, "If this had happened in '93, the musicians would be standing there shaking their heads." But, like I said, everyone has their own approach, and I'm not judging what's right or wrong.

Do you think it's easier to break through today thanks to social media, or is it actually harder because of all the competition?

I don't really know. That's a tough one to answer. My take is this: for a band to succeed, you need a solid group of people who play well together, a good idea, strong songs, and some luck. That's the foundation. You have to be in the right place at the right time and have something that connects with people. Even if only one person shows up to a small club gig, you have to perform in a way that makes them go tell their friends, "Hey, I saw this band—it was awesome, too bad you weren't there, come with me next time." I don't think it was necessarily easier back then because there were fewer bands, nor do I think it's easier now just because music is more accessible. It comes down to the idea and a bit of luck—hitting on something that captures people's attention. Musicians today have the same chance as we did. Then there's the effort: you have to dedicate a lot, believe in it, and push hard. That part hasn't changed. In some ways it might be simpler now, in others it might have been simpler back then—but I believe that if you start making music because you love it, because it comes from you and not something generated by AI or whatever, and if it's good, it will find its audience. I think it's always hard, because it's the same as trying to succeed in any other field. No one breaks through just by snapping their fingers—you always need work, luck, the right people, and a solid idea.

Does Harlej—or did it ever—have musical influences that shaped your sound?

I'm not sure that Harlej as a whole had a single set of influences, but every musician has their own. You always listen to music, and it affects you, but it's not like you decide "Harlej must sound like this." Of course, everyone has their role models, and there are countless influences—you take a bit from each. I'll never lie and say we invented something out of nowhere. For example, playing in the middle of a hall at O2 Universum wasn't some sudden inspiration. I saw Metallica do it—around '93, when they were on the Black Album tour—and I wanted to try it ever since. The same goes for Kolinss; he saw it too. Experiences like that leave a huge mark. There are also musical and sonic influences from other bands in Harlej. People you meet, musicians you work with, all leave an impression—because none of us live in isolation. But we never had anyone in Harlej whom we wanted to copy completely or say, "Yeah, we want to sound exactly like them."

I once even heard someone say that Svařák is melodically similar to Metallica's Whiskey in the Jar.

Svařák was indeed inspired by that song, but it was purely by chance. It wasn't originally our composition—we made it as a joke because Vláďa knew the song from Most and kept singing it, so we thought we'd do a cover. At that moment, we noticed that both songs—one a local traditional from Most and the other an Irish traditional, as far as I know—sounded surprisingly similar. So we kind of mashed the two traditions together. It was just fun, and that's how our version of Svařák came about. Interestingly, we only found out almost twenty years later that Svařák isn't actually a traditional song—it has a credited author.

Which songs do you enjoy playing live the most these days?

Well, that's a tough one, because I enjoy playing live and I enjoy playing the whole concert. Since I'm the one putting together the setlists, I don't include songs I wouldn't enjoy. What we play, I genuinely enjoy performing. Some musicians say they don't like playing the same well-known hits over and over, but some songs you just end up playing repeatedly. We've been performing for 30 years, and Zfetovanej, which we've been starting with for many years, was on our first album—and I think it's only been skipped at maybe five concerts in all that time. But it's still fun. You're always looking forward to when the intro finishes, Libor hits the cue, you strike the guitar, and the concert kicks off. Honestly, there's nothing I dislike playing. You'd probably have to ask the rest of the band about that, because, as I said, I choose the setlist—so I don't pick songs I wouldn't want to perform.

Are there songs you'd rather not play, but people keep requesting them?

I wouldn't want to stop playing songs that people love, because bands exist thanks to their fans and should be grateful for that. You have a responsibility toward the fans, because they are the ones who make it possible for a band to exist. A band should be thankful that people come to their shows, so why would you stop playing the songs they enjoy? Sure, sometimes we end up playing a song over and over, but not every fan is at every concert, so why wouldn't we play it for them? It's of course getting harder to put together a setlist, because the number of fan favorites keeps growing, and you can't play exactly the same thing every year. It's a challenge to rotate songs, but I actually see it as a huge plus that this is the case. It would be silly if we only had eight songs that we were forced to play all the time. It's nice that fans love so many of our songs. We play for the audience, and I think when they come to a concert, they should get what they want. Do we play some songs repeatedly? So what? If actors perform a play people love for years, they perform it the same way. We have the advantage that no two concerts are identical—even when we play the same songs, it's always a little different. But I don't think we ever play anything we don't enjoy. When I go to a concert, I want to hear the songs I love, I want to hear the biggest hits. I don't want to stand there watching the band say, "Now we'll play something new, even if people don't like it, just to change things up." That's not our approach.

So, are there any songs you'd like to play yourselves, but that don't get much reaction from the fans? 

There are such songs. They're songs we might like to play, but we're not fully confident about them. Concerts are limited in time, so there isn't much room to rehearse or experiment too much. But there aren't that many of these songs. I've mentioned before that when we made the recent best-of records, we were constrained by time, because vinyl isn't expandable—we released one vinyl with Vláďa and two with Tomáš. I've also said somewhere that I'd be tempted to release another vinyl, not called a "best of," but named something like "songs we want to remind you of." But I'm not sure if a concert is the best place for something like that.

Could you name some songs that you'd like to remind people of?

I'd have to think about that. For example, I like the song Máme to spočítaný, and I like Jména. There are some things from the older albums, but off the top of my head, I can't really name more. I'd really need to think about it a bit more.

For myself, I'd love to hear some of those, and I'm sure many fans would too—sometimes even some older, less-played songs. It would make the setlist of hits more interesting and instantly more original.

I have a lot of songs I like that we don't actually play. Another one is the song Poprvé a naposled, but as I said, the concert playlist isn't flexible.

That's a great idea—making an album of songs you want to remind people of. In concert setlists, you sometimes include older tracks from Vláďa's era—alongside the classics like Svařák, Zrzi zrzi, Pověste ho vejš, Zfetovanej (which today fans know well from both singers), you also play lesser-known songs like Balada or Lopata, remembered mainly by longtime fans from Vláďa's time. As a fan who started listening to Harlej during Vláďa's era, I really appreciate that you keep his memory alive, especially since he had a difficult life. How do these songs play out today with Tomáš? What is your personal connection to them, or the band's perspective?

Tomáš has been in Harlej for over 20 years. When he joined, everything we played naturally came from Vláďa's era, so we were used to it. It was a bit strange when I revisited the old albums while selecting tracks for the best-of that mapped Vláďa's period—I listened to those albums again and reminisced. I have a really strong connection to those songs, because I worked on them as a writer or arranger and lived with them from the ground up. Whether the ideas were mine or Vláďa's, that time can't be forgotten. Every song you work on, you want to perfect it somehow. Not every song turns out perfectly—I'm not saying we didn't record some mistakes, I'd be foolish to claim otherwise. And it's obvious that when you record albums, not everything goes perfectly, but I love those songs. They always reflect the state of mind you were in at the time, and when you listen back, they tell the story of what was happening then. It's really good to listen to them. 

I know you've played hundreds and hundreds of concerts, but is there one that really stuck with you, one you'll never forget?

There are many. It's definitely not just one concert. Some shows are just special and stick with you. For example, one we played a long time ago in Veltruby near Kolín. We arrived a bit later because we were waiting for Vítek Fiala and Karel Schürrer, who at the time was filling in for Dan Šůra, and they were playing somewhere with the band Lokomotiva. There were a lot of people waiting, and it was the first time we really experienced that moment—"Wow, these people are here waiting for us." Then there was the first time we closed the Czech Rock Block festival in Plasy. The 10-year anniversary tour of Harlej in Plzeň, when we were filming our first DVD. A concert in Prachatice where something clicked and you could see that the fans had finally fully accepted Tomáš. The first Lucerna show for Harlej's 20th anniversary was absolutely unforgettable. For me personally, even though it was an emotionally tough concert, the tribute concert for Vláďa in Žluté Lázně was also unforgettable—the sheer number of musicians who came to play for Vláďa and the crowd that came to watch made it an indescribable experience. Then, of course, all the concerts for the 30th anniversary, when you see that even after 30 years people are still enjoying it. And especially—without wanting to diminish other shows—the concert where you stand in the middle of the arena with fans all around you… that simply brings your knees weak.

To lighten things up a bit, can you share a funny story from a concert?

That's one of the hardest questions. The majority of musicians will tell you that the funniest things can't really be shared publicly. Nothing suitable for publishing comes to mind right now. For example, I'll never forget when we were talking about Zfetovanej—we've played it countless times. I haven't counted the concerts, but maybe around two thousand. There was one show, it's been a long time, where I was standing on stage, the intro ended, and I remembered just one single chord from that song. Every time we reached that part, I played only that one chord correctly, and the rest were just random noises. By coincidence, our sound engineer recorded it, and we laughed about it for a long time, sometimes just playing it back for fun. A lot of these little things happen. Nowadays, we use a drop curtain at the beginning, and you're always thinking, "What if it falls?" and at that moment, it feels like a huge mistake. But then, logically, you just laugh because everyone at the start of the concert is waiting, thinking, "What if it doesn't work?" There are plenty of these moments. It's hard to pick a single story we'd have to sit down with ten beers, and then maybe I'd start remembering them.

Do you still meet "longtime fans" who have followed Harlej since the '90s?

Yeah, we meet people who have remembered Harlej for that long. I have a friend who has been coming to Harlej shows since the very beginning and even brought his son along. The boy was about three years old at the time, and we used to lift him onto the stage, and a lot of people thought he was my son. My friend and I still joke about that. Another fan who's known us the longest, basically from the very first rehearsal we ever had, is Hofík, who's been in the band for 15 years now. He really knows Harlej from the very start, from the first moment those five of us got together. When we first met in the rehearsal room, Hofík was already there with us. There are people who remember the beginnings of Harlej, and I still meet them.

Do you ever reminisce with them about the old days? Is it nice nostalgia?

Of course! The early days of Harlej and the '90s in general were just one huge party. It was really wild back then. Nowadays, when bands come to a festival, everyone tends to stick to their own little area, and everything is prepared separately. Back then, bands shared one dressing room, there was one drum kit on stage, and everyone took turns—it was really a party. And the people who were part of it, whether musicians, tech crew, or friends who came along, they just had fun, so it's something to look back on. At least for those who remember it.

What are Harlej fans like today, and what differences do you notice between the younger generation and those who remember the old Harlej?

I don't think there's a fundamental difference. Music fans are music fans, and rock music, in my view, is about spontaneity and freedom, and the fans are basically the same. Back then, they didn't stand there with a mobile phone in their hands. Today, people don't hold phones as much as some say, although there was a time when folks tended to record everything. I believe rock music isn't fashion music. Rock is about living it and feeling it—it's not about saying "now I'll be a rocker." For me, it's a kind of freedom, liveliness, authenticity, music without pretense, and I think that's why people keep coming, because they're not pretending—they're basically the same as they were years ago.

So at least it's a new generation that grew up in a different environment, and the era they grew up in has influenced them in some way.

Of course, if we talk about how it was 30 years ago versus today, people naturally change with the times. Those who went to concerts thirty years ago behave differently now, and today's twenty-year-olds behave differently than twenty-year-olds did thirty years ago. But what I mean is that people who discover rock music do so for a reason. And I believe that reason was the same then as it is now. For me personally, the reason I play this music today is the same as it was back then.

I was also wondering—what might be different for them, since the younger fans only know the era with Tomáš, while the older ones remember Vláďa? So they might even sing along to Balada or Lopata at concerts.

Well, of course. It's natural that when we play a song from the first album, and it's that old, there are people at our concerts who weren't even born when it came out. I think you meant comparing today's twenty-year-olds to twenty-year-olds back then. Those old songs are very old for many people. That's clear. But we don't play that many of them. On standard concerts, the oldest song is Zfetovanej, and it's the only thing we play from the first album. And it would feel strange if the concert started with something else. So Zfetovanej is there, like… it kicks things off, and you immediately think, "Yeah, that's how it should start, Zfetovanej belongs here." So that's why it's included.

Last year, you also played Volání krve, which is also from the first album.

Yes, but that was part of a special playlist for the 30th anniversary, when you want to remind people of some old songs. We included Volání krve because it was actually the very first song that ever came together for Harlej. It's basically a piece of our history—Volání krve existed, and that's how Harlej was born.

What are your plans for this year?

Well, we're about to start playing again. We'll get back to our endless tour. The plan is to play lots of concerts, and if everything goes well, record an album by the end of the year so it can come out next year. Of course, that still depends on whether we can put together enough songs that we really stand behind. In Harlej, we've never approached it like, "Now we just have to record an album"; it's always been about making sure we stand behind the record we're making and have a reason for it.Before the tour kicks off, we'll release a new video, and if things go well, we'll put out at least a new single after the summer. But mainly, we want to enjoy the concerts and prepare the album. Last year was about looking back, and even though it seemed like we weren't doing much, the best-of work kept us busy. We recorded two new songs, two new videos, reworked Tak jdem dál with friends from the industry and made a video for it, prepared an indoor tour—so there was a lot going on with the concerts and reminiscing. Now it's time to look forward again, have a little fun, and then simply take the next step with a new album.

Are you planning to release a DVD from the anniversary tour?

There won't be a DVD from the anniversary concert. We released a documentary of the entire tour, which people can watch on YouTube and relive the concerts and atmosphere. If we were to shoot a DVD, we would have logically filmed it in Prague, where the stage was unusually set up in the middle of the hall. But when you're doing something you haven't tried before, you don't want the stress of extra things, and we didn't even know where we would place the cameras and so on, because we hadn't tested it. So we decided not to make a recording.

That's a bit of a shame, but what can you do?

I think anyone who wants to see it can watch a lot in the documentary, and the video I mentioned also uses footage from those concerts, so anyone who wants to remember it will at least have that opportunity.

What would you like to say to our readers and Harlej fans?

Take care of yourselves and live in a way that makes you happy and proud of who you are. It's worth it.

Harlej warmly invites fans to the "Tak jdem dál tour," during which they will be accompanied by the band Loco Loco. Tickets are available directly on Harlej.cz.

Thirty years on stage and hundreds of concerts, lineup changes, and both strong and difficult moments—but throughout, you could feel Tonda's sincerity, openness, and genuine joy in playing. And that's exactly the main reason why Harlej has remained so successful even after three decades.

Now, all that's left is to thank Tonda for the time he gave me and for this fairly extensive interview. I sincerely wish Harlej and Rebel Sound all the best—may all your plans succeed, whether it's concerts or a new album. I look forward to their future projects and to seeing them again at the shows of this amazing band!

Verri