🔎

Pavel Zajíček
Spoken Word
Contemporary
Alternative Rock
Psychedelic Rock
Poetry
Sound Poetry


Main image

After interrupting his studies at the ČVUT Faculty of Civil Engineering, he and Milan Hlavsa formed the group DG 307, named after the code for a psychiatric diagnosis. Zajíček was the band’s songwriter, reciter of poetry and front man (a role he resumed when he returned from exile and the band reformed). He worked in a number of different manual occupations and his poetry came out in samizdat form – three books mainly consisting of Zajíček’s lyrics were published in the 1970s. He is the author of around twenty collections and hundreds of song lyrics. In 1976 he was arrested along with the members of the band The Plastic People of the Universe, and after the trial on trumped-up charges he was sentenced to a year in prison. In 1980 he emigrated to Sweden, after which he lived in the United States of America. He returned to Prague in 1995. As an artist he has also contributed to the graphic design of several of his books.

1990 saw the publication of the collection DG 307 – Texty z let 1973–1980 (DG 307 – Lyrics from 1973 – 1980, Vokno, 1990), as well as three albums of the group’s music from the 1970s. There then followed the prose poems Kniha měst (Book of Cities, Sdružení na podporu vydávání časopisů, 1993), and a compilation of earlier texts from the 1990s is also contained in the book Čas je výkřik uprostřed noci (Time is a Scream in the Middle of the Night, Maťa, 1999) and the collection Zvuky sirén a zvonů (The Sounds of Sirens and Bells, Vetus via, 2001). The 500-page collection Zápisky z podzemí (Notes from the Underground, Torst 2002) charts the Czech underground from 1973 to 1980. It is an idiosyncratic literary experiment along the lines of a memoir or a diary, made up of reflections, comments, lyrics and poems as well as personal recollections, many of which were thought to have been lost or lent out amongst friends. As critic Radim Kopáč wrote in a review for the newspaper Právo, “The author’s style of writing is similar to the automatism of the surrealists: it abandons the formal qualities of the work and strives for one thing – to capture the actual movement of thought.” The book Jakoby…Svět v zrnku písku (As if… The World in a Grain of Sand, Torst, 2003) is similar in style but charts the earlier (childhood in the 1950s) and later (emigration in the 1980s) periods. This was followed by a poetry collection entitled Cesta vlakem z P. do B. / Pollockovy fleky / Odposlouchaná slova (Train Journey from P. to B. / Pollock’s Splodges / Monitored Words, Vetus via, 2007), which contains three sets of more recent texts. Within the space of just a few years the publishing house Pulchra brought out Zajíček’s older collections Roztrhanej film (Tattered Film, Pulchra, 2008), Kniha psaná chaosem (A Book Written By Chaos, Pulchra, 2009) and Kniha moří (The Book of the Seas, Pulchra, 2010). The last of these had been written by Zajíček in exile, but it had never been published as a collection. Zajíček is also the author of the short 38-page Pohádka se špatným koncem (A Fairy Tale with a Bad Ending, Vetus via, 2010), set out as a composition from a dream landscape.

The author’s most recent poetry is contained in the book Chvění (Trembling, Maťa, 2012). In 2014 Zajíček took part in the Revolver Revue project Jedna věta (One Sentence, Revolver Revue, 2015) in which he had to describe each day of the year in a single sentence.

ALBUMS


Agon Orchestra, Pavel Zajíček, DG 307
Jak Sup Letící Nad Krajinou Snu
2021, CD, guerilla records, ,
Alternative Rock
Pavel Zajíček, Miroslav Bambušek, DG 307
Pustina
2017, DVD, CD, guerilla records, ,
Experimental
Pavel Zajíček, T. S. Eliot
The Waste Land / Pustá Země
2016, CD, guerilla records, ,
Spoken Word/Contemporary
Pavel Zajíček
Hlasy - Edice Autorského Čtení
2014, CD Digipak, hlasy, z. s., ,
Spoken Word
Pavel Zajíček
Kniha Moří
2011, CD, pulchra, ,
Experimental
Pavel Zajíček
Podobenství
2011, CD, guerilla records, ,
Alternative Rock/Psychedelic Rock/Spoken Word/Poetry
Monika Načeva, Pavel Zajíček, DG 307
Prolínání (Live Fragment DG 307 29. 4. 2010 Retro Music Hall Praha)
2010, Vinyl, (monika načeva ), (pavel zajíček ), ,
Alternative Rock
DG 307
Květy Podzimu - Barvy Jara
2008, CD, la fabrika, ,
Alternative Rock
Pavel Zajíček
Kakofonie Cesty
2007, CD, guerilla records, ,
Poetry/Sound Poetry
DG 307
Live (Divadlo Na Zábradlí 17.4.2005)
2005, CD, guerilla records, ,
Alternative Rock/Poetry
DG 307
Nosferatu
2004, CD, guerilla records, ,
Alternative Rock/Psychedelic Rock
DG 307
Šepoty A Výkřiky
2002, CD, guerilla records, ,
Alternative Rock/Psychedelic Rock
Pavel Zajíček
Autorské Čtení Pavel Z. (Evangelický Kostel U Salvátora, Praha 5.6.2001)
2001, CDr, (pavel zajíček ), ,
Theme
DG 307
Artificially Flavored / Uměle Ochuceno
2001, CD, guerilla records, ,
Alternative Rock
DG 307
Koncert
1999, CD, indies records, ,
Avantgarde/Experimental/Noise
DG 307
Kniha Psaná Chaosem
1996, CD, globus international, ,
Alternative Rock/Psychedelic Rock/Experimental

APPEARANCES +


DG 307
V Katedrálách Ticha (Koncert Z Roku 1994) = In The Cathedrals Of Silence (Live Concert 1994)
2011, CD, guerilla records, ,
Alternative Rock/Psychedelic Rock
The Plastic People Of The Universe
Magical Nights
2010, 3x Vinyl, munster records, ,
Alternative Rock/Jazz-Rock/Avantgarde/Experimental
The Plastic People Of The Universe
Hovězí Porážka
2010, CD Digipak, levné knihy, ,
Alternative Rock/Garage Rock/Avantgarde/New Wave
DG 307
Veřejná Zkouška 07032009 / Public Rehearsal Praha - New York
2009, CDr, ears & wind records, ,
Alternative Rock/Psychedelic Rock
DG 307
Magický Město Vyhořelo (Koncert V Klubu Jilská 15/10/1994)
2008, CD, guerilla records, ,
Alternative Rock
Various
The World Of Blasmusik Umpah-Pah Musik
2007, 2x CD, zyx music, ,
Volksmusik/Guggenmusik
The Plastic People Of The Universe
Do Lesíčka Na Čekanou
2006, 2x CD, guerilla records, ,
Alternative Rock
Fiction
Fiction
2005, CD, popron music, levné knihy kma, kuře v hodinkách, ,
Alternative Rock/Indie Rock
The Plastic People Of The Universe
Egon Bondys Happy Hearts Club Banned
2004, CD, kissing spell, ,
Alternative Rock/Psychedelic Rock/Avantgarde
The Plastic People Of The Universe, Agon Orchestra
Pašijové Hry / Passion Play
2004, CD, knihy hana s.r.o., ,
Alternative Rock/Prog Rock
DG 307
Historie Hysterie
2004, CD, CD, All Media, guerilla records, ,
Industrial/Avantgarde/Alternative Rock/Psychedelic Rock
Various
The Best Of Czech Underground
2003, CD, popron music, popron music, ,
Alternative Rock
Milan Hlavsa
Než Je Dnes Člověku 50 - Poslední Dekáda
2001, CD, CD, All Media, globus music, globus music, ,
Alternative Rock/Psychedelic Rock
The Plastic People Of The Universe
Kolejnice Duní
2000, CD, globus music, ,
Alternative Rock/Avantgarde
Various
10 Let Globusu Aneb Underground V Kostce
2000, 2x CD, globus music, ,
Alternative Rock/Punk/Acoustic
The Plastic People Of The Universe
Ach To Státu Hanobení
2000, CD, globus music, ,
Alternative Rock/Avantgarde
DG 307
Siluety
1998, CD, clavis, ,
Alternative Rock/Psychedelic Rock/Experimental
Půlnoc, Elliott Sharp, Gary Lucas
Live In New York
1996, CD, globus international, ,
Alternative Rock
DG 307
Koncert Tvář Jako Botticelliho Anděl
1995, Cassette, klub u svatého jiljí c.o., ,
Experimental
DG 307
DG 307
1993, 3x CD, Box Set, globus international, globus international, globus international, ,
Industrial/Psychedelic Rock/Avantgarde
DG 307
Dar Stínům
1993, CD, globus international, ,
Industrial/Psychedelic Rock/Avantgarde
DG 307
Uměle Ochuceno = Artificially Flavored
1992, CD, Újezd, ,
Alternative Rock
Půl Tváře
Destiny
1991, Vinyl, globus international, ,
Alternative Rock
Půlnoc
City Of Hysteria
1991, CD, arista, ,
Alternative Rock
MCH Band
Es Reut Mich F...
1991, CD, globus international, ,
Alternative Rock/Post Rock/Avantgarde/Experimental
The Plastic People Of The Universe
Leading Horses
1983, Vinyl, boží mlýn productions, ,
Alternative Rock/Psychedelic Rock/Experimental
The Plastic People Of The Universe
Passion Play
1980, Vinyl, boží mlýn productions, ,
Alternative Rock/Psychedelic Rock/Avantgarde/Prog Rock