INTERVIEW
Hey Václav, good to be speaking you and asking some questions for the magazine. First can you tell us about about your own background?
We started the company together with Ondřej and we played in a band together but also went to art school together. So basically the background is art and music. The good thing about art school was that I had a lot of time to learn how to do electronics and programing and from doing video-synthesizers and mechanical installations I shifted to making synthesizer, because I really needed to focus my energy towards music.
What made you start designing modules and launch the company BASTL?
At first we started a project called Standuino (est. 2011) which was focused on the local history of DIY movement in contrast with the global trends that came with the maker movement. The name itself connected the Arduino (prototyping platform) and a name of our hero Standa Filip - a local guy that was making synths, drum machines, theremins and electric guitars since late 70s. With the Standuino project we have been doing workshops, art exhibitions and concerts all around Europe, but at the workshops we were building synths anyway. So at first the idea was to make workshops and art but then we came to the point: “Hey! we are actually making synths and people want to buy them?!” we decided to start from scratch and make a real company - Bastl Instruments.