Fast confession - DJ Lucca: I ran from gunfire!

Everybody knows you’re a famous DJ at home and abroad. You play in Ibiza, you started in Spain. Where are all the places you’ve been?

I think I’ve been to every country in Europe. Well, not Russia, but I have been to Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia. Overseas I’ve been to Brazil – I had two tours. Columbia was my first tour outside of Europe. I was twenty-three years old and it was very adventurous. Sometimes, when I look back at it, I’m amazed that I survived alive and in good health.

Are you hinting at something specific?

I went there just after the revolution, the only mobile phones were the huge ones with a retractable antenna, there was no signal so I couldn’t even call to say I’m fine. I was practically cut off. I was there for 14 days, and didn’t even live a hotel, but at somebody’s house. I played during the weekends and during the week we took trips with the promoters. I remember gunfire breaking out near one of the thermal pools where we were at night, so we had to jump into the car and leave. We were checked by soldiers, so it was pretty adventurous.

Have you had similar adventures elsewhere?

That was probably the most. Then there was Brazil, but I was a pro by then. I stayed at a hotel via the agency. But it was no exception being there with people I didn’t know, so it was pretty uncertain too. But nothing happened and it was great to discover how people have fun and how they live in foreign countries.

How does it work, to start travelling abroad as a DJ? At the start it probably wasn’t your only source of income.

You have to be with an agency that has good contacts, and the agency looks for gigs. In order to be with an agency, you have to play good music and have a reputation.

But you have to build a reputation. You don’t get it from the start. How did you start?

It’s been almost fifteen years. Times were different, it was easier to succeed, there weren’t that many DJs. I got help from German DJ Carl Cox, who invited to Ibiza several times. That’s a dream I never believed would come true. He played in Brno in 2003 and I had released my first track, so I gave it to him and he played it that same night at the event, which blew me away. And this is how it started. When German DJ Chris Liebing heard me, he brought me into his agency, which was managed by his wife. Thanks to him, I started playing a lot in Germany, Holland and at large good festivals and clubs.

Do you remember your first remuneration?

I’m not sure. It might have been zero. At the time, I was still driving an old, red used Felicia to Olomouc. 

So you played for free?

I’m not sure anymore. It was that time in Roxy in 1999 and I played the first hour as the forerunner. I don’t even remember if I got paid. I was terribly anxious at the time and I thought I would run away, that’s how nervous I was. We were still playing decks then. Now we play from a computer. 

Do you get stage fright?

I used to then, yes. Now I can cope with it, because of my age and experience. But a little bit of stage fright is good and necessary. You perform better.

Has it ever happened that the stage fright was so intense that it had a negative impact on your performance?

It has. Luckily, nobody noticed. I had a hard time mixing, equalising. I was terribly upset, because I wanted everything to be perfect. The main factor is the ease and energy you put into it.

You have two children… How often do you play now? 

With one kid it was still okay, but with two I only pay three, maximally for times a month, and in the country. I rarely accept offers abroad, because it is always a trip for at least two days. My husband works during the day, and he also has concerts even on the weekends, so we would not see each other at all as a family on weekends, and that’s not an option. It wouldn’t work, and I don’t want that because family means everything.

It’s Michal’s fourth marriage. Why is it working for him with you? Do you think it’s because you both do music? 

I don’t know if it’s because of music, or maybe because we both know how the environment work, we understand it. But in my opinion it has no major impact.

Do your personalities complement each other or are you opposites that attract?

I think we are opposites that attract but also complement each other. I can draw from him and I think he can draw from me, but I can’t speak on his behalf. (laughs) But I feel that each of us inspires the other. We are different in terms of personality.

You allegedly don’t sleep in the same bed so that you can get some proper sleep. This is unthinkable for many women. Do you compensate somehow?

We definitely compensate. When we didn’t have children, we slept in one bed, but then the children came and with the breastfeeding and children creaming, the other partner never got any sleep. So we created a second bedroom and agreed to take turns, so that at least one of us was well rested. One was always with the baby and it ended up staying that way. When I come back from a set, I can’t imagine laying down next to him at four or five in the morning. The sleep would be poor. My biorhythm is slightly disturbed by the fifteen years of playing. What’s more, if I don’t sleep seven or more hours, I can’t handle it. If Michal doesn’t get enough sleep, he can cope. I can’t. If we slept together, somebody would constantly be wiggling around and wheezing next to me, and I like peace and solitude for sleeping in bed. But we embrace every day.

You’ve been married for five years and together for?

Wait, wait (thinks for a long time, counts how old the children are)… we’ve been together for about eight years or so in total.

You don’t believe in anniversaries?

No, no. We are pretty nonchalant about it. We don’t celebrate our anniversary or the day we met. Every now and again we remember it, but we don’t go for dinner or give gifts or anything like that. We have a lot of work and the kids… When the kids were in preschool, we travelled all the time, so there was no room for this. If we want, we enjoy a nice day, evening or weekend, and it doesn’t have to be because of an anniversary.

When you do “get rid” of the kids, what do you prefer doing?

We prefer to lay in bed and sleep.

So no agenda, just lazing around?

Definitely lazing around. Our children are lively enough, so there is no risk of laying down with them and watching a movie or reading. So that’s a rarity for us.

Do you think your children are already showing some musical talent?

I don’t know. Michal keeps track of that. He bought them drums and keyboards.

Drums? I thought only a suicidal parent would buy those!

Míša sometimes drums on them, takes my microphone and raps, and the smaller one plays along that they have a band… but it’s hard to say. They sing normally. In today’s era of iPads, I tend to encourage them to do sports, to have plenty of exercise and do sports. Michal guides them towards art. At school, they’ve said that František is very good at drawing, so there is the possibility that he will develop artistically.

Let me go back to Ibiza. What’s it like? It’s a dream for many people.

Ibiza is one party after another, the world’s best DJs. When Carl invited me there, I was absolutely euphoric. Some five thousand people used to go to Space club, which closed down last year, every night to see Carl. He’s a god. 

Byt se zahradou na Praze 8 - 145m, Praha 8

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In your career, you’ve given countless interviews. Is there a topic that nobody has ever asked you about and that you’d like to talk about?

Hmm…I don’t know… (laughs) I know! Before playing, I always go pee because then I play for two hours. I guess I don’t have to explain what it’s like when I drink water throughout those two hours. A few times, it has happened that after an hour of the set, I really needed to go pee. This can be unpleasant. Sometimes there is a bathroom nearby, but sometimes you have to cross the entire venue, so there have been occasions when I thought I would burst. (laughs)

God forbid if you meet a fan on the way to the toilet and they want to take a picture.

(laughs) That too, but there have been times when I could no longer concentrate on playing and longed for it to be over. Then I was angry at myself for feeling that way. So I guess that it. But it’s kind of silly, isn’t it?

No! Do you have a goal that is still ahead of you, that you haven’t reached?

I would definitely like to play with Carl at a major event again, but I won’t tear my head off if it doesn’t happen. I’ve already experienced it, it was amazing and if it ever happens again, I will be thrilled. But it’s very hard now. The competition is huge – young DJs who have no children and give their career one hundred percent. I would have to work on myself, but I can’t now with children. Maybe in ten years (laughs).