Emil Miko

* 1961

  • "Once, by accident, I came to a wedding - of my 'kirvo' or whoever. A cimbalom band was playing there - my family. But our bass player had gotten drunk and so nobody played the bass. Věra Bílá's father was the first violinist there, and he invited me to take the bass and play with them.' There was a double bass in the corner, so I took it without ever playing it, and I began playing. They had given each other a look. I started to like that instrument so much that I then went home and got a double bass for myself."

  • "For what I can remember that the Roma said, my parents came to Czechia in 1946, after the war. First, it was the grandfather of my future wife Andrejšiš, then Tomáš and Karol - all of them deceased by now - they came to look for work. They took a liking to this place, this city, this post-war system which enabled them to go to town and buy whatever they liked. They got jobs, they got apartments, and so they settled down."

  • "We never performed much in Czechia but we were in thirty countries: America, Israel, Turkey, Greece - we played all around the world. Even at places where no one else had played. We had a concert in Hollywood Bowl, which is a scene which hosted the Beatles and where only the biggest stars play. Elton John and the like. We managed to play there. Once in Prague, Karel Gott told us he heard we played there. We said: 'Yes, we did.' He replied: 'You know what, guys, that has been my dream - to at least set foot in Hollywood Bowl. Hats off to you.'"

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    Rokycany, 20.06.2017

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Karel Gott told us: hats off to you guys!

21462762_1387665441354042_8041240601913212023_n.jp (historic)
Emil Miko
photo: rodinné

Emil Miko, singer and bass guitarist of the band Kale, was born on 12 July 1961 in Rokycany, western Bohemia. He comes from the first Czech-born generation of Roma children. Both of his parents grew up in eastern Slovakia. Along with many others, his grandparents decided to live a new life at another place. They made use of a work and accommodation opportunity, leaving in 1946 for Czechia and carrying their musical instruments along. Emil’s interest in music began in his early years. He was a devoted listener of a cimbalom band which rehearsed at his grandma’s. He was under the influence of several genres: traditional Roma music, the Beatles, and Stevie Wonder’s funk. He began playing the guitar with his friends in the park. In 1978, he became a member of a cimbalom band, playing the double bass. Lacking a formal musical training, he was advised by Karol Giňa, father of the singer Věra Bílá. In 1982 and 1983, his daughters Stáňa and Denisa were born. He had left the band after eight years. In 1986, he founded a new band based on guitars and double bass with Věra Bílá and his cousins. After the Velvet Revolution, Zuzana Navarová motivated him to establish the band Kale, featuring again Věra Bílá as a lead singer. At that time Emil Miko exchanged double bass for a bass guitar. Following the release of their first CD in 1995, the band became a hit. They had toured numerous countries all around the world. Emil considers the concert at Hollywood Bowl as their greatest success. In 2005, Věra Bílá left the band. At present, Emil Miko focuses on writing.