The world has a smaller burden of talent than it supported just yesterday – Jan Kotik has left us. I first saw Jan as the ridiculously young drummer of the Mommyheads when they played Bard College in 1988 or 89. There was this 18-year-old kid setting up brake drums with his drumset, and then just playing the living daylights out of the things. When the Mommyheads went west Jan didn’t go with them – I think – and he fell out of my consciousness until Matt and Karla Schickele found him again as the last of a long (or short – can’t remember) line of drummers they were auditioning for their new project. I still remember Klem, the German drummer – but only by reputation. I even jammed with them once in an almost- quasi- audition for the role, but when Matt mentioned that Jan was jamming with them, I knew my goose was cooked. The band became Beekeeper, an indy-rock sensation that throttled the lower East Side of Manhattan in the mid- to late-90s, and even put out a couple of simply fantastic CDs. You can hear some of their stuff here. After you get over the thoroughly great songs, hone your attention on the drumming. There weren’t a lot of drummers with more feel than Jan. The beauty of a great, soulful drummer is that the simplest of 4/4 beats becomes, in his hands, a work of art like no other – a unique sonic statement alive with personality, alive and breathing, dancing around absolute tempo but certainly no slave to it. The best “feel” drummers seem to live somewhere a little behind the beat – John Bonham is the classic example – and that’s where Jan pitched his tent.
Jan’s recorded legacy, with Beekeeper and on the absolutely brilliant but hard to find first Mommyheads album (hard to find? everything can be found now, right? Try listening to some samples of Acorn here) is fantastic. But Jan live was an irresistible force of nature. Such energy and confidence and style, so incredibly sexy. My man-crush on Jan was so severe I was generally reduced to unintelligible babbling every time I had an actual chance to converse with him, and it’s too bad. Maybe I could of learned something – but in his mere presence the hope was always that some of IT would rub off.
After the sensational and tragic implosion of Beekeeper in 1998, sometime after anyway, Jan went back to his half-native Prague, got married, had kids, and I think was generally known mostly as an artist. I once coincidentally saw him mentioned on the back page of the New York Observer. I’m really sad he’s gone, and that I won’t get to see or hear his brilliant drumming again. At least not live. It’s hard to consider the loss of someone like Jan, in which so many distinct talents were so condensly concentrated, at such a young age as anything other than a tragedy. The only silver lining I can find is that I can spend a good part of the rest of the day listening to him shred.
By the way – Jan is the one on the right of Karla and Matt in the photo.
9 responses so far ↓
squirky // December 15, 2007 at 11:10 pm |
Nice tribute. I only met Jan once or twice but have admired his drumming over the years. Very sad news.
And thanks for the link to a download of “Acorn” – I’ve been searching for that album for years, after my much played cassette wore out!
Squidocto // December 19, 2007 at 4:50 pm |
Oh I miss him so much — and I hadn’t even seen him for years. I guess his passing forced me to realize how much I missed him.
jonny chan // December 22, 2007 at 2:43 pm |
i am a friend of tom and jan we are having a memorial show for him at magnetic field in brooklyn …feel free to contact me if interested in attending. jonny chan
martin // December 25, 2007 at 3:27 pm |
hi,my name is martin,am from prag…..yes,sad.anyway,i played in last jan’s band called the ritchie success.we miss him,we miss him,we miss him.organizing jan’s birtday party show in prag in february…..
check http://www.myspace.com/ritchiesuccess
Gabrielle // February 6, 2008 at 1:01 pm |
I just found out and am just stunned. I knew Jan at a very formative age– from 6-8th grade–and in a very small progressive school for 7th-8th grade. He was oh so funny. And I was happy to run into him a couple times about 7-10 years ago, I think at Bee Keeper shows, and he seemed like he’d grown up into a very sweet and creative person.
The Woodward Park (Junior High) group will be so sad to hear the news, if they’ve not already.
dave cohen // February 7, 2008 at 1:52 am |
Ian took me all around prague. We saw the statue of the president (his grandpa) and he looked just like ian. Saw his artwork in prague museum. He was a totally great guy. I’m adams dad from the mommyheads. Knew ian very well. Always a truly great person. Miss ya ian.
shnootre // February 7, 2008 at 10:45 am |
Great to hear from so many of Jan’s friends here – I’m sorry for being the bearer of sad news to some of you. I myself didn’t know Jan so well – more kind of idolized him from afar. But it’s so good to read so many great things about him. To be sure, he is deeply missed.
Dave Powell // September 18, 2008 at 12:26 am |
I knew Jan from highschool (‘86-’89) but had not seen him since the mid ’90s. I just now learned of his passing. Such an amazing and sweet guy…
belated wishes of love and strength to his friends and family.
..miss you Jan…my loss for not staying in touch…THANK YOU for the glimpse of a world with expanded possibilities…you were and are my drummer hero.
For what it’s worth below a fragment of something I was writing for a book…
“…With SOS (Youth Against Racism) we did a bunch of benefits for various activist groups at CBs, Tin Pan Alley and various schools and lofts. The band that most consistently played shows for us was called The Mommyheads, two of whom, Adam and Jan, were music majors at LaGuardia. They weren’t a punk band, but they were great and way ahead of most of us in terms of musical ability and ideas: XTC and Captain Beefheart were influences. Quirky, tight, fun, great to dance to. I saw the Mommyheads play more than any other band during this period. They were the first band I knew personally that put out their own record, a 7” called “Magumbo Meatpie”, which they somehow managed to get sold in the school store along with the notebooks and pencils! The drummer Jan was from Czech Republic and a total virtuoso, an amazing drummer. At Mommyheads shows when I was not shaking my ass near the front of the stage or scamming on girls or getting wasted or preparing to make a speech about racism, I was somewhere close to Jan watching him do amazing things on drums…”
Sue Havens // February 9, 2009 at 10:27 pm |
I was so so so lucky to be in Jan’s class at Cooper. He once nailed his sandwich to the wal as a “drawing” . He made me laugh til I couldn’t take it. Tears streaming down. I remember a spontaneous photo session (he was my favorite subject) He threw on this bathing cap and wouldn’t stop posing like some sort of straight faced bug during the school outdoor luncheon. He kept that straight face and just kept on leaping around. He was one of the most lovely, subtle, sweet, funny, brilliant friends I have known. And I have never enjoyed seeing a drummer so much, he was amazing. I miss you Jan.