Gravitace

Gravitace (i.e. Gravity) is the title of a new album from the duo Cermaque and Iamme Candlewick. Two strong authorial personalities teamed up and recorded a colourful album inspired by their travels across Europe. In Autumn 2015, producers Bonus, Martin Kyšperský and Kittchen worked on the gathered material which was written and recorded mainly during the travels. Quite a few guest musicians participated such as Vladimir Merta or Eliran Hasson and the overall production was done by Ondřej Ježek. He turned the individual parts into a magic whole. Duo Cermaque and Iamme Candlewick managed to incorporate their different approach to music and wrote songs in which hope is blended with understanding and reflection creating the colourful and multi-layered album Gravitace.

The album Gravitace echoes the European tour of the songwriter Iamme Candlewick (Andrea Čermák Knotková) and Jakub Čermák (Cermaque), who describes the beginning of the whole album: “In Spring 2015, we left our flat and set out for a half year journey with our one-year-old daughter in an old VW motorhome across Europe. On the road - in addition to filming a documentary, animating music videos, teaching yoga… - we were writing songs and recorded them with musicians, which we met on our travels in different parts of Europe.”  The married couple then decided to entrust the rough material to several producers, allied musicians, such as Martin Kyšperský, Bonus, Kittchen, Tom Háček, Ondřej Ježek and Marek Doubrava. Furthermore, quite a few guest musicians participated - Eliran Hason, Albin, Ondřej Jalůvka, Rémy Reber, Raisa Basinho, Jirka Bláhovec, Sabri Hilli, Aleš Pilgr and Vladimír Merta.

Both authors talk about the cooperation on this album very openly. “This album made us learn to work and create together. We are both hard-headed people with clear but not the same ideas of what we want, so it was quite a process to find a common language,” Cermaque says and Iamme Candlewick adds: “In the end, we wrote most of the songs somehow together. Even though we usually have different approaches, I think we managed to connect the best ones on the album. I think Jakub is the distinctive one. Whenever I finish one song, he’s got ten in his pocket :-) He simply spouts the words out and really gets me on how expressive and precise he can be, while I do my loops of the girlie harmonies.” Jakub Čermák however accentuates Iamme Candlewick’s input: “The final version of the album is mainly to Andrea’s merit, because she dedicated lots of her energy into finalizing the songs in cooperation with the Czech producers in diligent arrangements.”

Andrea Čermák Knotková / Iamme Candlewick (*1988) - songwriter, traveller, yogini, cultural initiator. She travelled and played across Europe, USA, India and Israel. In 2013, she released her debut I AM YOU under the pseudonym Iamme Candlewick. It was well accepted by the critiques and she was awarded the Newcomer of the year at the Next Wave festival.

Jakub Čermák / Cermaque (*1986) - poet, songwriter, film director and animator. He’s published three collections and released six albums as Cermaque or Cirkus Cermaque. During the last two years he’s been touring but also filming and animating music videos for several Czech and international artists. He got nominated for the Czech Anděl price for his music video Loďky (for the band Zrní)

Agáta Čermáková (born 6.1.2014) – their great and well-travelled daughter.