HISTORY Of PLYN-DYBBUK-ZUBY NEHTY, a Prague women’s band

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I. PLYN / THE GAS
Turn on The Gas, The Gas will turn you on In summer 1980 Hanka and Pavla performed their songs for fellow laborers on a school hop-picking brigade. In the fall Marka joined the duo, adding fist pounding piano techniques, professional vocals and dramatic persona. Hanka switched guitar for drums. The band was based on friendship, books, hitch-hiking and playful challenging boys to wrestling matches. Songs materialized in outbursts of laughter. First gigs were played at clubs Strahov 07, Euridika and alternative music festivals.

II. DYBBUK
The name was taken up after The Gas got blacklisted in 1983. In 1984 saxophonist and flautist Kateřina Nejepsová joined, guitarist Eva Trnková in 1985. Dybbuk played at festivals Vokaliza, Rockfest etc, and clubs Chmelnice, Opatov, Rokoska, etc. In 1986 their five songs were released on Panton‘s series ‘Rock Debut’. Then Eva, Kateřina and Hanka left for a professional girl band Panika and Dybbuk stopped existing.

III. ZUBY NEHTY
Pavla and Marka started Zuby nehty/ Tooth and Nail with a poet Nada Bilincová in 1987. Tomas Mika and Michal Pokorny joined on saxophones and Jan Lorenc on drums. The formation performed at Slunecnice and Lucerna.
Mira Wanek of Uz jsme doma proposed in 1991 to produce Dybbuk songs for Punc, and the original set-up (Marka Mikova, Katerina Jircikova, Pavla Slaba, Hana Repova and Eva Trnkova) decided to continue with a new repertoire. The band toured Europe, especially Germany.
The first Zuby nehty album Utíkej/Running came out in 1993, followed by the Král vysílá své vojsko/Red Rover from 1995, Dítkám/For the Children in 1997, and Loď odplouvá/The Ship is Sailing Away in 1999. The band produced a film and several videos for Czech TV, theatre soundtracks and a book for poetry for Mata. In 2000 Zuby nehty stopped rehearsing and met occasionally for recording soundtracks for Marka’s theatric productions. In 2003 Indies Records released a double CD Best of/ Rarities. Rarities include four theatre soundtracks, relics by the „dammed“ poet Naďa, and ‘up our sleeve’ - Marka and Pavla on basses and Kat on flute and sax. The group played at special occasions, e.g. the release of digitalized film Hudba Praha 85 at Archa Theatre, various benefits and festivals like Mikulov and Unijazz events.
In 2010 decision was made to start rehearsing the piled-up songs in the band members‘drawers. Romek Hanzlik’s agency AMP signed the band to regular concerts, including participation in Czech Center in New York street festival October 2, 2010.