The band, led by lyricist Lucia Piussi, in Bratislava.photo: Courtesy Živé Kvety
Živé Kvety (Live Flowers) is a band of four men and one women searching for directness, openness and simplicity in music; living in Bratislava, they count Lou Reed, Neil Young and Bob Dylan as their musical inspirations; they perform soft rock and ballads; and they will hold a concert at Dom Kultúry Lúky on Friday, March 30.
The band was formed in 1992, when guitarist and composer Peter Bálik met lead-singer and lyricist Lucia Piussi. "He came to one of my performances. We met and started to realise our musical plans we only dreamed about," said Piussi, also an actress at Bratislava's Stoka theatre.
The band's easy-going songs tell simple and frank stories about love and life in Bratislava. Their self-titled debut album was released in 1999, with songs created mainly during their free time.
Since then, the band's repertoire has slightly changed.
"The stories we tell through our new songs are not so intimate as they were before. They are more direct, completely drawn from our personal lives. They are about us," said Piussi, "even though, it's often purposely sung as if it were about someone else."
The music has also changed, embracing a style closer to rock, which the band says better reflects their "rock 'n' roll intentions". The music and honest lyrics help the band create what they call is an "unmasked and pure approach" to the audience.
"However, we don't want the result to be a cheap song. We would like to liven up traditional folk songs, to adjust them to today's life style," Piussi concluded.
The event starts at 19:00 on March 30 at Dom Kultúry Lúky (Lúky Culture House) on Vígľašská 1 in Petržalka. Živé Kvety will be joined by the group Med (Honey). Tickets cost 50 Sk and can be bought at the door. Tel: 6382 3930.
By Zuzana Habšudová
