KovnaFest 2024: Kristof Hahn + Yexxen + další

The second concert within the jubilee year of the festival KovnaFest 2024 takes place on November 15 from 5:00 p.m. Kristof Hahn, Yexxen and others will perform.

Kristof Hahn is a guitarist and translator. He mainly plays lap steel guitar. In the 1980s he released several singles with the bands The Legendary Golden Vampires and The Nirvana Devils. In 1989 and 1991, he released two EPs with his own project Justice Hahn - the first featured drummer Thomas Wydler and the second produced by American musician Alex Chilton. Since the late 1980s, he has been occasionally associated with the American band Swans. Together with its leader Michael Gira, he was also part of the band Angels of Light.

Petr Napravník aka Střed sveta is a visual artist and electronic music producer who currently works in Brno. The compositions of his music, collages and drawings are based on an organic principle. Individual motifs branch and multiply, gradually forming an impenetrable thicket, which, like nature, is characterized by strange indifference and monotony.

Tomáš Vtípil is a composer, producer, improviser, violinist, singer, author of texts and performances. He is most often described as a noise producer, composer of film and stage music, and performer; often collaborates with various music groups across genres (DG 307, Urband, [che]). Although this list may sound diverse, in Tomáš Vtípil's approach everything represents the discovery of inner unity.

Gonzo M is a prominent figure in the avant-garde music scene, who has earned a place as a key figure in the Berlin music scene. With his masterful skill on guitar, trumpet and a rare and engaging combination of theremin and Wah-Wah pedal, Gonzo M creates sonic experiences that are both fascinating and groundbreaking. Steeped in the psychedelic and experimental heritage of Krautrock, his compositions evolve through a specific genre he created and called Gump. For this particular concert, Gonzo M will be supported by Mada Dudi, whose extensive experience at the Volksbühne Berlin will bring a theatrical element to the performance. Ted Law will be on drums and Bo Keijmel on bass, both original members of the band, who will provide a strong and cohesive rhythm section.

Flush Buttons is a duo consisting of Antonín Kropáček (drums) and David Tichý (synthesizers). The two musicians have been performing together for some time in the band Chief Bromden, but occasionally return to their original noise-improv duo Flush Buttons. Their vast, ever-evolving soundscapes and frenzied drumming performances stem primarily from the time when they drew inspiration from the concerts of B4 and Vložte kočku in Nové Bor and acquired their first synthesizers and cymbals. The influences that shaped the Flush Buttons concerts changed slightly over time, adding noise boxes from Petr Válek and rich experience from bands like Manon meurt, Ghost of You and Shallow. Audiences can find themselves immersed in dance grooves, epic post-rock gradations, free-jazz frenzy or even Lightning Bolt-like noise attacks.

Yexxen is Sofia Salvo (baritone saxophone), Bobby Glew (drums and vocals), Guido Kohn (bass with effects) and Clair Nico (lap steel and vocals). This is a new project led by four noise and improvisation enthusiasts. They presented themselves for the first time at the last year of the Al'arme festival (2024) and their performance will offer a "loud frequency bath".

REK is an instrumental noise rock duo from České Budějovice. The members, who are longtime friends, played together in several bands before forming REK in 2019. The following year, they released their debut EP, 90210. In 2022, they followed up with a second EP, KX 250. Rek are known for their loud, distorted bass sound and chaotic drumming that has drawn them comparisons to bands like Lightning Bolt, Hella and Zeus.

DJ Window Cleaner is Jozef Mrva Jr., a visual artist and musician who will take care of the after-party of the festival. He plays an eclectic mix of post-club, trance, grime, weird pop edits and trance anthems.

Line-up:

• 2.30pm – doors
• 15:00 – conference
• 17:15 – film performance Return
• 17:45 – projection
• 19:00 – IHIH
• 19:45 – Center of the World
• 20:30 – Tomáš Vtípil
• 21:15 – REK
• 22:00 – Kristof Hahn
• 23:00 – Yexxen
• 0:00 – Gonzo M & Mada Dudi
• 0:45 – Flush Buttons
• 1:30 - DJ Window Cleaner