A major discovery
The project “Behind the fence” was discovered by chance in 2015, during a tour of the symbolically rented rehearsal room for our band, which plays mostly cover versions of rock classics.
Much of the concept of art rock opera was found in the bowels of an old abandoned cinema and club near a huge and very old chemical factory of Aussig city. Old notebooks, sheet music sketches, pictures were found, as well as a large number of reels with magnetic audio tapes.
The abandoned studio also included tape recorders, which required only minor technical maintenance and replacement of the drive pulleys.
Treasure of the seventies
Every night after the rehearsals, I studied the records found. It soon became clear to me that the work was strongly inspired by Western popular culture at the time. However, in this country, in Czechoslovakia in the 1970s, it was not possible to publish such a work.
The mystery is the very identity of the original authors of this story and music. For a while, my teammates and I interviewed witnesses living in the area, but we haven’t found anything specific yet.
However, the interest in searching for the memories of the witnesses was overwhelmed by the interest in the work itself.
Forgotten conceptual art rock work
At first I didn’t even know that all the fragments found come together in an extensive cycle of songs and instrumental compositions that form one whole.
At first I didn’t even know that all the fragments found come together in an extensive cycle of songs and instrumental compositions that form one whole.
My heart pounded with excitement as I realized that I had just found a forgotten conceptual art rock work. The work, forming an artistic tribute following and developing the fantastic stories of Huxley and Orwell and quoting the then current conception of this topic by the British band Pink Floyd.
The beginning of the resurrection
Gradually, the other members of our band got acquainted with the content of individual fragments of the work. Around the summer of 2016, we decided to dedicate some of our efforts to rehearsing some of “Behind the Fence” songs.
When we showed friends from other bands what we were working on, it seemed nice, but very archaic and out of date. Everyone felt that such a work would forever remain in the abyss of history, and its poetic texts could no longer appeal to listeners in the 21st century.
But the work to restore the entire project took a very long time. And suddenly, in 2021, everyone understands the content of those texts. It was as if this message of the past had suddenly come to life and materialized before us.