SPS: Forty Years of Punk Without Compromise, Agencies or Pointless Bullshit

In 2027, SPS are preparing to celebrate forty years of existence, but instead of looking back, they are still living for concerts, new singles and the freedom they have stubbornly protected from the very beginning. In this interview, Skleník and Zdeněk speak openly about why the album Adios, kamarádi pankáči really will remain their final full-length studio record, how guitarist Petr Čepelák made the band's sound heavier, what releasing vinyl means today and why SPS still handle everything themselves after all these decades. They also discuss worn vocal cords, motorcycles, three generations of fans and their plans for the major anniversary.

In 2020, you firmly declared that Adios, kamarádi pankáči was your tenth and definitively final full-length studio album, and that from then on you would continue only with individual singles. Does that commitment still stand without exception today, or have packed clubs and a van in full motion made your fingers itch to record another complete album after all?

Skleník - Hi. We made a promise, so we will probably keep it. In spring 2026, we recorded three singles and immediately added them to our live set. Putting enough material together would not really be the problem, but we each live in a different city, we work during the week and arranging rehearsals is complicated for us. Even for those three singles, we had one full-day session at the house near Plzeň where our drummer lives, followed by about five rehearsals in Prague before we went into the studio. We spent two days recording and three days mixing. At the same time, you go to work and play shows at weekends. Most importantly, we want to start playing whatever we record straight away, so ten songs would only sit on an album because there would be no room for all of them in the setlist.

Zdeněk - Yes, as Skleník said, Adios, kamarádi pankáči was our final album. But we are not against going into the studio, even if it is only to record a single song.

Looking back at Adios, it was a record strongly shaped by the arrival of guitarist Petr Čepelák. Which songs from the album have stood the test of time and become permanent parts of your live set alongside classics such as Ruská or Podivný dědictví?

Skleník - Judging by the response at concerts, Adios has been the biggest success. We also play Milionáře regularly. In a longer club set, we include Vršovickej voříšek and Globalizační as well.

As a magazine focused on heavier music, we naturally enjoy punk with balls, speed and aggression. You have previously admitted that Petr Čepelák is into black, thrash and death metal. How strongly does that metal element influence the current sound of SPS? Do you have to rein him in during rehearsals, or do you let him run free?

Skleník - Petr definitely has his own signature and a completely different way of playing guitar. To put it in simple terms... Zdeněk drives it forward, while Petr adds palm muting :) They complement each other well. Of the three of us who play stringed instruments, Petr is the only real musician and he has a solid command of his instrument. Zdeněk and I are old school.

Zdeněk - Petr's arrival made the band heavier, so a metal guitarist is ideal for a punk band.

Punk and thrash metal have always been historically close, from Lemmy and Slayer to the Czech scene of the 1990s. From your point of view, where is the boundary between well-played, aggressive punk rock and straightforward thrash metal?

Skleník - I grew up on metal. When I was fifteen, I mostly listened to grindcore, death metal, thrash metal and crossover. I loved Cannibal Corpse, Obituary, Sepultura, Brujeria, Slayer, Anthrax, Morbid Angel, Carcass, Gorefest and other bands. Then I heard the Sex Pistols, and that was the end of metal for me :) But to answer your question, the best album combining punk and thrash metal is The Exploited's Beat the Bastards. You will find everything there!!!

Zdeněk, your raspy voice is the trademark of SPS. Years ago, you laughed about your doctor advising you not to shout too much, while a fortune-teller predicted that you would keep singing until the age of seventy. How are your vocal cords coping with demanding weekend double-headers today, and do the guys still help you onstage as much as they used to?

Zdeněk - My vocal cords are worse, but they probably are not going to get any better, so I will somehow rasp my way to the finish. Of course the guys help. Skleník and I alternate, and the others sing backing vocals. At concerts, we divide it so that I sing seventy percent and Skleník thirty percent. I cannot really handle double-headers anymore, which is why we have only had one this year.

Zdeněk, in our previous interview you were looking forward to your second granddaughter and to taking your Royal Enfield out into the countryside. How do you manage to combine being a grandfather and a biker with the wild life inside a punk van?

Zdeněk: I do not have as much time for the motorcycle as I used to, so I neglect it a little. But honestly, I manage it fairly well. It is no longer as wild as it used to be, when we often slept after concerts. That was exhausting. I am the band's driver, so I am more likely to have a drink at the cottage during the week than at concerts. And I am already a grandfather three times over!!!

Skleník, you are a passionate vinyl collector. In the past, it really annoyed you when someone auctioned your LPs on Aukro for absurd prices, not to mention rarities costing thousands. From your perspective, what does the vinyl-collecting boom look like today? Has the situation calmed down, or is the market for Czech punk and metal rarities even crazier?

Skleník - Well, the truth is that today you cannot find anything cheaply, either at a flea market or in a second-hand bookshop. As a collector, that bothers me because I would love to get hold of many records that I had on cassette or CD when I was young, but I simply do not want to pay CZK 800 for those reissues. Prices here are ridiculously inflated. Memories of finding an LP by Ferat next to the bins, or buying the first Root album, Zjevení, for twenty crowns, feel like a fairy tale now :) You could still do that fifteen years ago, but not today. Of course, when a band releases a new album, I am happy to support them and buy the vinyl, but paying CZK 4,500 on Aukro for Kabát - Děvky ty to znaj seems ridiculous to me. Those records are owned by speculators who do not even listen to them. But I travel around Europe a lot. For example, two years ago in Sweden, I bought two LPs by David Bowie - both first pressings - in a small shop, in top condition, for a total of CZK 360. That genuinely makes you happy. I bought more vinyl there too, but unfortunately I had no suitcase, only hand luggage. So I left behind a good fifty records that I would happily have given to friends or traded. These days, I mostly trade records with friends rather than buy them. But when I look through my collection, I realise that I always buy something somewhere while travelling, and I keep it instead of taking photographs. Just off the top of my head... The Clash from Edinburgh for GBP 5, Public Image from Amsterdam for EUR 7, The Damned from Berlin for EUR 10, Sex Pistols from London for GBP 24 (a second pressing from 1978), The Ramones from Rome for EUR 15, and I could go on. I always leave the price stickers on so I can keep track of vinyl inflation :)

You have released successful reissues of the albums Jsme v hajzlu, Podivný dědictví and God Save The President. Are you preparing any more vinyl treats from the official SPS catalogue for fans and collectors to undercut the resellers?

Zdeněk - Just to be clear, we did not release the records God Save The President and Před popravčí četou ourselves; our former label released them. We reissued Jsme v hajzlu, Podivný dědictví, Století chaosu, Útěk z reality, Adios, kamarádi pankáči and Singly. Skleník and I recently discussed releasing an EP featuring the last three singles.

Skleník, you revealed that you used to compose most of your lyrics in your head during long walks. In the lyrics to Globalizační, you referred to a bored generation living in comfort and to people worrying about trivial things. Where are your feet and thoughts taking you now, and what subjects inspire your lyrics today?

Skleník - Yes, I used to write that way during hikes, but I do not really do it anymore. I realised that movement itself is enough for me, whether I am in a city or a forest. It simply has to come on its own. For example, I can tell you the story behind the song Chuligán from the album Století chaosu. One summer, I was standing at a bus stop with a tennis racket in my hand. At the time, Mafuna, the manager of Tři Sestry, and I occasionally went to hit a ball around. A punk was standing at the stop, and some old women were staring at him and commenting on his appearance. I listened to them, then eventually walked to the courts, and I literally wrote the lyrics in my head. I did not put them down on paper until sometime that evening. The lyrics went... verse: 'They say everyone judges you by your appearance, by your trousers they put you in a box...' and the chorus: 'To them you are a hooligan, a person they have written off...' It can be that simple. Sometimes it just falls out of you, and sometimes you struggle with it and write some rubbish that you throw away anyway.

Krkavec mentioned that three generations of fans now come to see SPS. Do you still see young blood in leather jackets in the front rows beneath the stage? Do today's twenty-year-olds understand the legacy of SPS in the same way as those who started following you at the turn of the 1980s and 1990s?

Zdeněk - Since I founded SPS in 1987, I can now see the third generation of fans. A lot depends on where you are playing. At one of our club shows, there are many young people, while at a rock festival there are more long-time fans. And how do they perceive it? Today's generation is different from the way we were. On the other hand, it is great that young people come to the shows, and over the past few years it seems to me that more and more of them are turning up.

You have always taken pride in doing everything yourselves, including concerts, merchandise and releasing records, without allowing any agency to tie you down. Does that freedom require a lot of energy today, or is it the only way to remain true to your punk roots?

Zdeněk - Yes, we arrange everything ourselves and have complete freedom. Skleník handles the concerts, I take care of the merchandise, and we release the records together. For example, in 2027 we are taking a winter and spring break from concerts, and nothing is putting pressure on us. No agency, no contracts and so on. We will not start playing summer festivals until May.

What are SPS planning for the rest of the year? Can we look forward to a new single, a music video or special festival sets? And finally, what message would you like to send to the readers of our magazine?

Skleník - This year, we have an autumn tour with The Fialky, which we are really looking forward to. They are friends of ours, and we have toured together once before, when a lot of people came to the shows. Next year, the band celebrates forty years, so we will play ten anniversary concerts in the autumn, along with summer festivals, of course. We are much more selective now. We do not travel as much as we used to, and we regularly take weekends off during the month. For the band to keep working, for us not to get sick of one another and not to spend every weekend together in the van, we need to take breaks from playing. After those breaks, you look forward to getting back into the van again - to seeing the guys, playing the concert and meeting the fans. We have the advantage that we do not have any huge ambitions. We do not need to chase anything or force our way anywhere. And our message to the readers is: go to concerts and have fun!!!

Zdeněk - Skleník has said it all for us, so I agree and fully endorse everything he said :)

Almost four decades in, SPS still need no elaborate strategies, grand declarations or agency behind them. Their own van, concerts they look forward to after a break, and fans spanning three generations are enough. The era of full-length albums may be over, but not the studio: an EP featuring the latest three singles is under consideration, alongside an autumn tour with The Fialky and fortieth-anniversary concerts in 2027. Their answers embody punk's foundations: freedom, perspective, stubbornness and doing things their own way. Their message is simple: go to concerts and have fun!

Matess