Gods Elements – BIOGRAPHY

The story called GODS ELEMENTS began to be written in the spring of 2020. The band was founded by the drummer, lyricist and producer Petr Kotora and the guitar player and songwriter Radek Kroc. Two other musicians, one of the most popular singers on the Czech music scene, Petr Kolář, and the bass guitar player Vratislav Moraveck, who emigrated to the USA years ago, completed the first line-up. These four musicians of Czech origin aimed to put together a band to reach out not only to fans in the Czech Republic, but also abroad. GODS ELEMENTS began working together on original material which was supposed to appear on their first studio album. At the same time, the entire world was struggling with the Covid pandemic. After mutual agreement and thorough consideration of all circumstances, two of the band members, Petr Kolář and Vratislav Moraveck, decided to leave the band. As a memory of this first era of GODS ELEMENTS, two music videos for the songs Boneman and Virus (Rolling Dice) remain.

Czech rock musicians rarely succeed outside the borders of their home country. The same thing may be considered in terms of establishing collaborations with world-famous musicians. Petr Kotora and Radek Kroc decided to break these barriers. The year 2022 was a period of fundamental changes for the two musicians. The two of them feel privileged and honored that they fortunately began working with two incredibly gifted musicians who accepted the offer to record an album together. The band confirmed one of the best and most respected bass players in the world, Billy Sheehan, as an official member of GODS ELEMENTS. Billy Sheehan is known mainly for his contribution to the highly successful band Mr. Big, but also as a member of Talas, Sons of Apollo and The Winery Dogs. During his career, Petr Kotora collaborated with a number of well-known icons such as Iron Maiden and Rammstein, so it was not a problem for him to contact Billy Sheehan directly. Billy was so impressed by the GODS ELEMENTS‘ work that he immediately accepted the offer.

Finding a singer was no easy task. Several performers from the USA and even one from India were interested in the position. But when Petr Kotora and Radek Kroc suddenly discovered a singer who in every way fulfilled all the expectations of the two founding members of the band, the decision was made without any hesitation. The line-up was completed by the talented British singer, musician and songwriter Jesse Smith who is also the front man of the successful projects The Classic Rock Show and Led Zeppelin Symphonic.

The band is currently concentrating on finishing material for their debut album. All the songs were written in Petr Kotora’s home studio. It was necessary for the overall songwriting and recording process to be adapted to the circumstances resulting from the Covid pandemic. Petr Kotora and Radek Kroc decided to use this unfavorable period of time in the most positive way. Both musicians locked themselves in the studio, where they worked together on the new songs.

A planned meeting and recording session with Billy Sheehan unfortunately could not take place due to the lockdown. Billy recorded his parts in his studio in the United States. He was given the basics of all the tracks without vocal lines. His band mates were truly amazed by the precision typical of him, and the way he perfectly expressed and enhanced the feeling of individual songs. When the instrumental part of the songs was completely finished, it was possible for the singer Jesse Smith to visit the studio near Pilsen, and there he really nailed it. He brilliantly sang the five songs released so far. In each of them, he presented himself in a slightly different way and showed his wide vocal range as well as a highly distinctive voice.

The base of the GODS ELEMENTS repertoire is melodic hard rock, but the band’s work cannot be unequivocally categorized only to this genre. From the five songs released so far, the variety stemming from the rich experience of these four diverse personalities of the music world is evident. An important part of the whole concept is the skillful weaving of three elements: the band name, the

music and the lyrics of each song. Everything is interconnected and together it forms a meaningful whole. The life stories and personal experiences of the band members were the inspiration for the lyrics. At the same time, the lyrics are universal and open to the imagination of the listeners, and can also correspond to their life stories and personal experiences. For example, the lyrics to the song Born were written by Petr Kotora for his recently born son. In general, the song talks about the strongest biological bond, which is the connection between parent and child. The coronavirus pandemic was also a big inspiration in this respect. It was the time that fundamentally influenced and changed the lives of many people around the world. The main motivation of the musicians was to give music fans something positive and uplifting that would transcend their ordinary lives and would also enrich them intellectually and spiritually.

The American-Czech-English band GODS ELEMENTS sent the world a taste of upcoming album in the form of five tracks and one official music video. The band released their first single Time, featuring the tracks Born and One More Time, shortly before the end of 2022. The song One More Time was also released as the first official music video. A few weeks later, on January 23, 2023, the first EP called Time II, saw light of day with total of three songs: One Way, Sorry and Angels. The five songs will appear on the band’s first studio effort with a total of ten musically sophisticated and genre-varied songs. The release of the album is scheduled for the second half of 2023.

GODS ELEMENTS is not just a studio project, but a fully-fledged band that plans live performances at open air festivals and concert tours in various countries around the world. However, specific plans depend on the circumstances, as all the members are actively involved in other projects. Hopefully, the band will perform live during the 2024 concert season at the latest.