Niceland

(1) Niceland is an indie rock band from Prague, Czech Republic. After winning a Coca-Cola Popstar contest, formerly solo artist Michal Motycka (aka Niceland), decided to hire a permanent live band which eventually evolved into a regular 4-piece combo, responsible for arranging and writing songs based on Michal's extraordinary musical ideas. Even though, Michal still performs solo shows now and then, Niceland has recently became more of a band than a solo project. Niceland is a prolific indie pop artist influenced by a bit of rock and country and bands like Placebo, R.E.M., the Cure and solo artists such as Johnny Cash and Linda Perry. The current line up consists of: Michal Motycka - lead vocal, acoustic guitar Tomas Koula - lead guitar, backing vocals Premysl Cernik - bass, lead vocal (when drunk) Michal Budinsky - drums, lead vocal (when drunk) and here is how it all started up... (Official Sony BMG biography) The most exciting moment of this year´s semifinals of the prestigious authors´ music contest „Coca-Cola PopStar“ (CCPS) had come quite unexpectedly right at its beginning. The very first of ten semifinalists - for the first time in the history of the contest - one single "man in black" - came on a stage, played a few songs and ...won. Well, at least for the day, because there was still one round ahead: a final concert in front of the public. When this happened, it verified the power of pure melody and emotions which (amplified by a unique voice and personality) NICELAND delivers in his songs and performances. After the announcement of the results it was clear that 364 more or less --oud and multi-member bands participating in this year´s edition of the contest were "beaten" by a single, alien-looking guy with an acoustic guitar. And another surprising moment came right after his victory (the first prize of the contest is an exclusive contract with SONY BMG) - it turned out that the performance at the CCPS final concert was actually NICELAND´s first public performance ever! It was back in July 2007 and if the story wouldn´t already be enough of the proof of saying "the best way to learn how to swim is to be thrown to the water" , then this is: November 2007 „sent“ NICELAND on an acoustic tour with one of the most respected Czech music bands Krystof (5 times Czech Music Awards winners) as their exclusive guest. The tour itself was named one of the best Czech music projects of 2007. NICELAND´s performance built him a great fanbase and a lot of positive buzz, making his upcoming album one of the most anticipated Czech debuts of 2008. By the way - the first prize of the contest – the contract to make the record…well the record was actually around the whole time - although not introduced to the world, there were more than 40 songs ready in Mr. NICELAND´s drawer to choose from for his debut album. Recorded during the tour and finished in January 2008, produced by one of the most respected Czech producers and guitarists Yarda Helesic (a double Czech Music Award winner) NICELAND´s album „Little Black Book“ is ready to be released in March 2008. „NICELAND is perhaps the most unique songwriter that has appeared on the Czech music scene in the last few years.“ (Rock Pop) „He has both charisma and strong songs… one of the best Czech newcomers.“ (Filter) „Among 364 competing BANDS the finals of the CCPS competition was won by ONE GUY with the guitar acting and singing as though from a different world. (REPORT ) (2) Niceland, formerly Iceland, was a post-punk Icelandic group established in 1983 by Jaz Coleman from Killing Joke and the Icelandic band Þeyr. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.