Fast Confession – Václav Noid Bárta: About nightmares, but also about the greatest love of his life
Singer Václav Noid Bárta wears his heart on his sleeve. He’s always laughing, loves to fall in love and get married, and it almost looked like he’d remain a kid forever. But in the interview of Luxury Prague Life, the musical star admits that the young boy full of big dreams has grown up. In the past few months, he’s turned his life around several times. And as they say, always search for the woman – but this one is only three years old. Noid says that it’s only thanks to his daughter Tereza that he finally understood what real life is all about.
Vašek, you’re yawning at me! It’s only five in the afternoon.
Sorry, but I didn’t get enough sleep. I just had Tereza at home and she wakes me up awfully early and wants to play. So I’m a bit sleepy.
And you have a performance coming up… we’re sitting at the Karlín Theatre. It just seems to be a part of who you are. Which parts to you play here?
I play many beautiful roles. For instance in Jesus, I have three roles – Jesus, Judas and Pilatus. The most recent role I play is Curtis in Sister Act, and I also play in Carmen… and I guess that’s it.
It seems to me that you practically live here. Do you have a sleeping bag on site?
I used to during rehearsals, when I used to sleep here. But now it occurs to me that I only play in three musicals here, that’s not very much.
What else do you do?
Recording. I spent all of January recording music for the film Pepa and the film Dukátová skála. My studio is doing well. And I’ve also started filming on camera. So I’m a cameraman and amateur director. It’s my new hobby, which I spend a lot of time on.
I just saw your video at the Tereza Sabáčková show.
Yes, I did one of those. The other one was from the Galateia project.
Where else can I see your work?
In my garden. (laughs) It’s ball season, so I attend a lot of balls. I recently had the good fortune to be able to sing It’s All Right with East 17. They were singing after me and I met then at rehearsal, so I showed them my YouTube video where we covered this song of theirs with my band, and they rather liked it. During their performance, I was dancing under the stage, and Johny handed me the microphone and I sang It’s All Right with them. It was a childhood dream come true! I was literally smiling as I fell asleep. (laughs)
You used to have a band, if I’m not mistaken.
I still do, we still travel around with it, but we don’t have a tour on right now. The gigs are occasional. We play pop-rock now, no more metal. We have a show coming up at the Motosalon in Brno. But I enjoy music as such in general. At Christmas I would like to do concerts again, maybe just with the quartet. I can’t have only one band.
You must work hard to make a living and be well off?
Have to... I like to work hard. The money that comes from it is a secondary product.
So you’re fine, and not stressed out by bills.
I think that if I only did one job, like other colleagues who rely entirely on their singing, then it wouldn’t be so easy. But because I enjoy many more things and don’t do them primarily for money, but rather for fun, then the work brings the money by itself, and I obviously don’t refuse it. (laughs)
Of course. I’m asking because I know how hard it is to be an artist.
If you have only one skill, then it must be hard. I have several. Because I have a small daughter, I am very involved in children’s projects. For instance, this autumn Madagascar will be showing again, where I play the role of King Jeliman.
Vašek, the last time I did a bit interview with you here in Karlín was about five years ago. What has changed since then?
Oh wow, so much has changed. I managed to get married and have a child. Unfortunately, in that time my family life also managed to fall apart. What can you do? Last year was a terrible year, but I have to say that it was also the best year in my life, because I understood a lot of things, realised a lot of things, learned. I started taking better care of myself, eating healthier food, I stopped drinking entire, quite smoking… and straightened some things out in my head.
Is this all because of the divorce?
You could say so. Although… I read somewhere recently that I’d quit drinking because of the divorce, but I actually quit even before the divorce. That’s disinformation. I wanted to stop drinking and start exercising of my own accord.
You make it sound as though you were an alcoholic! You didn’t have problems like that, did you?
No, not at all. If I’d had problems with alcohol, I would never have been able to work like I did a year ago. People with those kinds of problems don’t go to work. They just lie around… I drank like an average Czech person, weekends at the bar, wine at home occasionally, and that’s it. Everybody does it. But it started to bore me, so I decided not to drink at all. Alcohol doesn’t give you anything special. What’s more, I signed a contract with Nutrend.
What contract?
In February we signed a contract that they would transform my body, from a fatty, swollen non-athlete into a fine chap in six months. And exercise and alcohol just don’t go together. I had to stop drinking and start eating well, nothing nasty. I got used to it and it’s been a year.
I never considered you a fatty guy. You were always rather sporty.
Yes, but after Tereza was born I started turning into a couch potato. I had “beerceps”. (laughs)
Well you look good in any case. I assume the post-divorce blues are gone.
Yes. It’s extremely hard but it happened. We have a good relationship, for which I’m grateful. Everything has settled down. I recently took Tereza to the zoo. Gabina picked her up there and we all had pizza together. We strive to ensure she has both parents. I think it’s great that Gabina has found a new boyfriend, Petr. Everything has been great since she met him.
You have a girlfriend too, I’ve seen her.
Yes, but I don’t talk about it
But I noticed that she looks just like Gabina or Eliška. Find a blonde for once! (laughs)
Sure… I’m happy with this. I won’t tell you more. I won’t say anything more about my private life.
Fine. So let’s talk about sports.
I do Thai boxing and fitness. I lost 27 cm around the waist, and managed to transform my body into a semi-sporty shape, but now I want more. I want it to have a purpose, an objective. In two years, I worked my way from a couch potato into a guy suitable for competition, so I thought I might actually try it next year. Not body building, but what’s called physique. Like the guys on the beach. Even if I were to finish last, I want to try and look good enough to even be allowed to compete. (laughs)
One has to have goals.
That’s what life is about. You have to set the bar and then reach for the top, step by step. Otherwise you’d be sad and bored.
What is your career goal?
I’ve thought about that a lot. Something specific like winning an award or wanting my YouTube videos to have a specific number of views isn’t a goal for me. It’s short-sighted and doesn’t last. My goal is for Tereza, once she is fifteen, or eighteen, to be totally proud when somebody says my name – to be able to say “yes, that’s my dad”. So that’s my long-term goal. It’s extremely motivating and I enjoy it.
Tell me more about Tereza. Three and a half is already a pretty fun age, isn’t it?
Oh, she’s a sweetheart. She’s such a darling, always singing, dancing, doing parodies. She already argues with me, and then cuddles. She’s an amazing child.
Would you like more?
I have to admit I don’t know how to think about that yet. But life is long, and there are sure to be more, but I just can’t think about it yet.
What about your free time, where do you like going?
I go to the Alps every year, to Berchtesgaden, where I stay at a little bed and breakfast and then I spend all week with my survival backpack trekking the forests, national parks, glaciers, and it’s so beautiful… I will go there again, and alone again. I take my headphones, listen to soundtracks and go. On the way I cook pine tea, then I eat a tin or some pate and I just walk around all day. Then I return to the hotel, fall asleep and do it again in the morning.
What does this give you?
It clears my head in an incredible way, total relaxation. You’re there alone with your head, with your thoughts.
What did you figure out last time?
That I am completely mature now, that I’m a big boy. Just five years ago, I couldn’t even imagine ending up somewhere along, for instance in Canada. Now I can. I am an independent, adult individual that can do anything I choose to do.
Who last delighted you the most and how?
Tereza Sabáčková, by allowing my video to be played at her show in Žofín. I know that several artists were trying to get in with their projects. She refused a lot of them and took a risk with me without knowing how it would turn out. I thank her for that, it really made me happy.
Everybody there adored you, the hosts divulged that you were the hero of the day that installed a light bulb..
I was awfully embarrassed. (laughs)
Vašek, I really perceive you as a smiley, easy-going guy. Do you have any haters at all?
Of course. But nobody will tell me to my face, they don’t have the guts for that. But there are plenty on the internet.
