Interview with the band Tempus: fantasy music inspired by the Middle Ages

The band Tempus has been active on the Czech music scene for 17 years, winning over listeners with their unique style. Their work is an original blend of world music with a medieval touch, weaving together historical and folk motifs from around the globe. They don't tie themselves down with rules or historical accuracy, which reflects in both their music and their costumes.

The band consists of seven talented musicians: Linda Ravena (vocals, shawm, cornamuse, recorders), Lukáš Mayer (acoustic guitar, cittern, backing vocals), Dalena Morávková (recorders, backing vocals), David Zima (hurdy-gurdy, shawm, bagpipes, backing vocals), Michaela Dedíková (violin, backing vocals), Filip Smetana (drums and percussion), and Martin Kostohryz (bass guitar).

In the following interview, the band members share their musical beginnings, inspirations, and interesting concert experiences. You'll also learn what it's like to play unconventional instruments like the hurdy-gurdy or shawm, and what the connection between music, medieval atmosphere, and fantasy elements means to them.

How would you introduce the band Tempus to someone who has never heard of you?

We would describe our work as world music with a medieval touch. Our songs aren't just arrangements of medieval motifs; they often contain only the essence or a small fragment of the original theme. We soak up the energy and atmosphere of folk and historical music from all over the world and transform it into something original and uniquely our own. We don't bind ourselves to any rules, and we certainly don't care about period or historical accuracy, which is also reflected in the costumes we wear on stage.

It's very hard to describe our music in writing, so we recommend coming to one of our concerts instead. :)

You've been on the music scene for 17 years. What were the beginnings like? Who came up with the idea of making music inspired by the Middle Ages?

Tempus was founded by our singer, Linda. Back in 2001, she was captivated by the American band Blackmore's Night, who released their new album “Fires At Midnight” that same year. Linda became a huge fan. Six years later, she founded a chamber duo that started out performing in a tea house in Hodonín, playing mostly covers of that band. Even then, the duo was called Tempus. Over the years, many musicians passed through the band until it became the seven-piece group we know today. A big difference is that today, Tempus has its own unique style, sound, and plenty of original songs.

Do you play exclusively original songs, or have you tried arranging original historical compositions?

Our songs are purely original, though some are inspired by medieval traditionals. We usually rework them so that the final result barely resembles the original melody. The most period-accurate piece we occasionally play at concerts is Pastime With Good Company by the English King Henry VIII, using the original lyrics but with a contemporary arrangement.

We collaborate on lyrics with a promising young writer and poet, Kristýna Dostálovou. In 2022, Kristýna won the Hvězda inkoustu competition with her book Souboj princů, for which we recorded the title track in collaboration with her.

Music with a touch of the Middle Ages and fantasy, costumes, overall styling… Is Tempus just a band or a lifestyle?

Every band member approaches it differently. David, for instance, is an archaeologist with a close connection to history. He's also become an enthusiast for historical instrument replicas and has a nice collection of shawms, bagpipes, and flutes at home.

Lukáš spent years doing historical fencing, attending historical battle reenactments, and is interested in period clothing and armor.

Dalenka has a close bond with pagan culture, and you might occasionally run into her in the woods with other witches. :)

Linda also has a collection of historical wind instrument replicas at home and has spent years designing and sewing fantasy costumes.

On weekends when we perform, Tempus becomes a lifestyle for all of us, as we spend so much time together, often on the D1 highway. We have every possible loyalty card for local gas stations, and people might mistake us for the Kelly Family.

Shawms, cornamuses, citterns, or the hurdy-gurdy—these are the names of instruments the listener hears in your music. Is it difficult to acquire these instruments and learn to play them?

It's true that instruments like the hurdy-gurdy, shawm, cittern, or cornamuse aren't common. You won't find them in a regular music store. These instruments are usually custom-made. In the Czech Republic, there are a few makers who produce hurdy-gurdies, shawms, or bagpipes. You'd find more makers abroad, for example in Germany or France.

Whether it's difficult to learn these instruments is hard to say. If you can play the recorder, for example, it's easier to learn the shawm. Any skilled guitarist can learn the cittern without much trouble. The hurdy-gurdy is more complicated, as it's a very specific instrument. David is preparing an article about the hurdy-gurdy for our website.

Would your music differ from what someone might hear in, say, the 12th century?

Yes, it would, because Tempus is not a medieval band. A medieval band usually plays on replicas of historical instruments, wears period costumes, and tries to show the audience as faithfully as possible what music might have sounded like in the 12th century. Since no audio recordings have survived and sheet music is very sparse and simple, it's not an easy task. Contemporary interpretations of medieval traditionals can often differ significantly in tempo, arrangement, or instrumentation.

In Tempus, we do have replicas of period instruments, but we also use modern ones like a large drum kit, bass guitar, or an electro-acoustic hurdy-gurdy. Simply put, as Lukáš often says, Tempus is basically a rock band with shawms.

I personally never listened to your style of music, but that changed with the band Percival and the release of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. Have you noticed an increased interest in connection with this game?

Some of us discovered The Witcher through the game. By the time the game was released, Tempus had long been an established band creating its own music with a defined direction. Although we like this fantasy world, it hasn't influenced our work. However, over the last few years, we've noticed the Witcher community starting to take notice of us, and we often play at themed events like Con Morhen.

We can boast that we played with the band Percival in a sold-out club in Bratislava in 2022.

Do you have any musical role models here or abroad? Which bands would you recommend to someone who enjoys this style?

You could say that every member of Tempus has different musical tastes. It might not seem like it, but some listen to techno, others to folk, and others to metal. A common musical role model can't be clearly defined. However, there are bands in our style that we feel close to and can recommend. We like Trobar de Morte from Spain or Cesair from the Netherlands, for example.

Your music probably can't be played in normal civilian clothes. Who prepares your costumes and how do you choose them?

That's true; the audience can see us in civilian clothes at most during soundchecks. And that's exactly when they film us the most, so if we appear on social media on stage without costumes, it's a soundcheck. If we manage to catch the fan in question, their phone might end up with the band until the end of our concert season. :)

The costumes are mostly designed and sometimes sewn by our Linda. Always with consideration for how big everyone's belly is. We try to hide flaws and highlight assets, so our hurdy-gurdy player David was issued a tunic with a deep V-neck so there's something to look at.

Can you recall an interesting concert experience or a “funny story from the road”?

We have plenty of interesting experiences and stories, but we'll share one from this year's concert season.

This year, we played a concert in Aš, which is really far from Brno. We were facing at least a four-hour drive. At the very first gas station, everyone was hungry, so we used our loyalty cards, collected some points, and treated ourselves to hot dogs (our traditional dish). It was one of the gas stations on the D1, and since we were in a hurry, our bassist Martin gave the order to go. He quickly jumped into the band van, and before the others could get in, he was already starting the engine. Linda was sitting in the front for once. As soon as she heard Martin starting the engine, she quickly closed the door. At that moment, a crazy scream rang out. It was Lukáš, who started acting up terribly. Before Linda realized what was happening, she thought he was just pretending to have his fingers caught in the door. He's quite the joker, after all. It was all the worse to realize that this time it wasn't a joke. He carried on for about an hour, but then he got tired of it. Thanks to this accident, we got several kilos of ice for free at the gas stations! Lukáš eventually bravely played the whole concert, and Linda earned some serious respect in the band, as we're all now afraid for our fingers.

Where can we listen to you in the near future?

We played the last concerts of this year at the Medieval Rock Night festival in Brno and Prague with the bands Strigôň, Lichočar, and Barbar Bards. Our concert season usually starts during April and May. We already have a few very interesting events lined up, so follow our social media or website so you don't miss anything!

Web: www.tempus.cz

FB: https://www.facebook.com/tempuscz

IG: https://www.instagram.com/tempus.cz/

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/2S7g0vH7IebB2eaXRfHL29

author Karel Krajča