IT WAS 2003, and for singer/songwriter Jana Kirschner, life
was looking good. Not only was she a top-selling artist in her
native Slovakia, a situation that continues to hold true, but she
was well supported by her immediate family, plus an extended
family of the country’s finest musicians. What more could she
possibly want? Well…
Up to this point, the success of her four Universal albums had
been mainly confined to Slovakia and the Czech Republic; she was
singing (for the most part) in her mother tongue and playing to an
audience who knew her, loved her and generally had the T-shirt.
But what about the ‘bigger pond’? If Jana was to make a splash
outside of navigated waters, and it was very much in her sights,
then the comfort zone would have to be left behind and a whole
new set of challenges faced head on.
Which is where new album ‘Shine’ comes in; 11 songs that roll like
liquid honey, all easy drift and rainy-day emotion, topped off by
vocals – English vocals – that consistently favour the personal
over the pat.
Set for release on Universal this summer, with the
title track getting the nod as lead single/video, this is also the
first album from Jana to be recorded & mixed outside of Slovakia,
in an environment that sometimes loomed large in terms of
language, weather & workload…
By the age of 21, Jana was one of Slovakia’s most noted
performers, a genuine front-cover face, and within a couple of
years, this appeal had extended to the Czech Republic, too – a
country where those older and (supposedly) wiser had assured her
that, for reasons of culture, she could never hope to break. It’s one
thing to have a talent, the ability to grab a melody and a voice that
naturally charms, but this kind of against-the-odds success
pointed to someone with a sense of belief & responsibility far
beyond their years; someone whose career could boast its fair
share of awards (Newcomer Of The Year,Artist of the year,Album of the year,The best song,Producer of the year,Best lyrics....), high-profile
appearances (Special Guesting with Elton John in Prague) and
carefully-crafted songs shot through with atmosphere & grace. In
short, someone pretty special.
JANA KIRSCHNER WAS born in the small town of Martin, about 300
km from Bratislava. It was here, aged just seven, that she took top
place in a singing competition, setting her off down a creative
path that – with the odd detour to take in a beauty pageant and
contemporary dance – finally led to a record deal and a successful
first single.
‘Don’t Cry’ was the track in question, a pure pop hit, but 17-year-old
Jana wasn’t happy. Where was the substance? The soul? She
was finding herself drawn in a different direction, and after joining
forces with a like-minded manager, a guy used to working with
‘genuine’ artists, she was able to embark on a voyage of discovery
– expanding her musical knowledge, playing with seasoned
professionals and getting a feel for the performance side of
things.
“I began to sense that I was involved with something bigger,”
reflects the singer, who would soon add guitar playing to her
burgeoning list of skills, “That I was part of a new family…”
With her ‘mission’ now officially underway, Jana was offered a
contract by Universal, and the resulting album" Jana Kirschner" (issued in 1997).
Two years later her album"In the foreign city"(issued in 1999)
saw her winning support in both Slovakia and the Czech Republic,
where ‘Modra’ (‘Blue’) became the breakthrough track at radio. The
follow-up collections (2002/2003) served to sustain her
momentum at home, and there were festival dates in Germany &
Poland to keep the international flame a-flicker, but still no plans
to turn that flicker into a blaze. It was clear that more dramatic
moves were required, plus real discipline from Jana in respect of
the material…
“I bought a computer so I could write a song every day, like a diary,
and I came up with 30 to 40 numbers for the new album. I put some
of them on a CD, which I called the ‘Pink CD’, then I gave this to my
manager’s daughter as a Christmas present; I explained that the
songs were just for her, but she couldn’t resist playing them to her
father, who went mad when he heard them and so did Universal…”
Mission still on track. Next stop: LONDON.
HAVING BUILT his reputation on records designed to ruffle the
emotions, Ross Cullum had the perfect credentials to take on a
project that had at last won its international spurs. What’s more,
he and Jana hit it off straight away, spending hours, days & weeks
locked in deep musical debate, batting names such as Bob Dylan &
Bonnie Raitt back an’ forth across the net. Only after many such
(extended) rallies did they mutually agree where the fourth
Universal album should sit…
There was never any question that Jana would sing in English (“I
find it easier to be brave with my lyrics in a language that isn’t my
own!”), or that the music should have a flavour of her culture and
her past; the hard part was deciding which of the vast choice of
songs would make most sense to record… then finding the plain &
simple truth in those. Which sounds straightforward enough, but
once in process can squeeze the emotions like a vice, as album
opener ‘Another Day’ – the only song written in London –
documents in full (‘don’t let me give up this fight until I find the
truth’). There’s no doubt, however, that the final results fully
justify the effort…
Wonderfully constructed by a host of great players, including
Robbie MacIntosh (guitar), Chris Hughes (percussion) and multiinstrumentalist
Cullum himself, ‘Shine’ is an album that speaks
from within; it doesn’t shout or raise its voice without reason, but
there’s a gentle strength to the music plus a take-it-or-leave-it
honesty to the lyrics that are hard not to succumb to – even for
those whose vital organs have been left out in the cold…
“One Sunday in the middle of Winter, Ross asked me what I
thought the whole record should feel like,” recalls Jana, fresh from
filming the ‘Shine’ video in Prague, “and I told him this. That I
would be happy if it felt like a cup of hot, delicious soup.”
Which it does.
Mission accomplished.
Contact:
INTERNATIONAL MANAGEMENT: FKM
Fraser Kennedy
Fkmanagementuk@aol.com
Len nedavno som objavil klip Shine na youtube a jednoducho sa toho neviem nabazit. Uplne genialne! Vedel som, ze ho mas natacat uz minuly rok niekedy v lete, ale nikdy som sa k nemu nedopracoval a nevidel som ho ani v nasej telke. A teda, v podstate ani nebolo kde, kedze hudobne relacie maju u nas stopku. Zase sa zamilovavam do tvojho albumu. ;-)))
Ahoj Jana. Moje kolo rádo Colorado. Ale teraz používam kolobežku. Na staré kolená. Rád chcem byť i na Tvojom koncerte. V piatok som dostal IV Led Zeppelin japonské vydanie v masívnom tvrdom kartónovom obale, čudujem sa, že nikdy predtým som ju nepočul v kuse, stále len Black Dog alebo Stairway To Heaven, pritom When The Levee Breaks je tak krásna pesnička... prajem Ti krásny londýnsky deň. Aj tam žijú ľudia? :o)
