Happy songs about sand things. Guitars, synths, pink color and a mix of indie pop, indie rock, 80s sounds and contemporary pop in an authentic package from Hradec Králové, Czech Republic. Formed in 2017, the band The Valentines consists of Honza Doležal – bass guitar / vocals, Ondřej Čepek – guitar / synth and Matěj Novotný – drums.
In 2019, The Valentines won Radio Wave’s Starter (song contest), getting an opportunity to record and make the music video for “Did My Back Hurt Your Knife?”. Furthermore, the following single “Just Us” appeared as the only song in the film A Certain Kind of Silence nominated for the Czech Lion (Czech film awards).
Fast forward to 2021, The Valentines reached the Czech national final round of the Eurovision Song Contest with “Stay or Go”, a song recorded in a bedroom and produced (just as the previous singles) by frontman Honza Doležal and Filip Vlček, who also mixed it. “Stay or Go” was mastered by Ted Jensen, with Madonna, Talking Heads, Rolling Stones, Bring Me the Horizon and many other albums under his belt.
In 2022, The Valentines played the second biggest stage of the Rock for People festival and performed as a headliner at the United Islands of Prague in 2023. They released a debut album You All Look Beautiful When You Dance in April 2024. The album contains 11 songs and widens the genre’s borders. The listener can recognise an influence of indie pop, indie rock, pop and rock’n’roll as well.
