ABOUT US
The band Żywiołak is the non-accidental result of a meeting between two people passionate about music generally defined as heavy-folk, hard-folk or folk-metal.
Robert Jaworski was leader of the band ich troLe from Turek/Lódż. In just under a year of existence, it managed to shake up the little world of the Polish folk scene with its folk-metal attitude. He is an ardent aficionado of medieval instruments, good old rock’n’roll, and folk art. Initially, he attempted to offer his take on the Slavonic musical heritage by playing with Kapela Ze Wsi Warszawa (aka Warsaw Village Band). He later formed his own band ich troLe, which was active for two years and finally allowed him to record his first composition inspired by Slavonic mythology. On his musical journey one day, he came across a kindred spirit in the form of Robert Wasilewski.
Robert Wasilewski was the founder and guitarist of the legendary band Open Folk, and one of the few folk musicians inspired directly by rock/metal bands like Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd and Black Sabbath. With Open Folk, he made his first brave attempts to realise ideas for folk music based on Slavonic mythology and classic rock. But these were just humble beginnings.
This time the obstacles were few. Two artists with the same name formed a band whose music would be driven by the theme of “folk demonology”. For contemporary Poles, this concept was abstract to say the least, and had definitely never been explored by any other bands on the Polish folk scene.
Pre-Christian beliefs that persist in myths are very attractive artistic material which has been used almost the whole world over, not just by musicians. With their interest in folklore and archaeology, and encouraged by the media’s increasingly favourable view of native Slavonic culture, the duo decided to reanimate the mythical creatures of homespun legends and folk-tales.
Many centuries of Christian tradition have degraded these characters to the role of “devils” and “forces of evil”. Today, ethnographical and anthropological research has proven that we can find evidence of pre-Christian rituals being practiced in Poland right up until the 18th century, and even a few remnants as late as the outbreak of World War II.
Folk customs provide an insight into the distant past. Painting Easter-eggs, saying farewell to Winter by drowning straw effigies, not shaking hands across a threshold, or touching (unpainted) wood are among the many examples of “pagan” rites that still survive today. This whole “folk dimension” became Żywiołak’s main source of inspiration.
A lot of time has passed since that memorable encounter in January 2005. While still defining their style, the duet Open troL was joined by vocalists Izabela Byra (known previously from the group Detonacja) and Anna Piotrowska (an irrepressible singer from, amongst others, Gości z Nizin).
At first, percussionist Michał Thorn from the metal band Sphere was in charge of the rhythm section, but was then replaced by Maciej Łabudzki (also the frontman for Otwock-based reggae/rock collective Mistik Madżonga). The branching and winding paths of these musicians all converged in Warsaw one day, and the consequences of their collaboration brought a new dimension to the Polish folk scene. From June 2007, the band’s percussion duties were taken over by a man of many musical faces – Maciej Dymek, and in summer 2008, the pregnant Izabela Byra was replaced by Monika Sadkowska (a singer and extremely promising actress of the Polish independent stage).
The word Żywiołak has no exact meaning, and does not describe any particular mythical character. It is more of a play on several words drawn from contemporary Slavonic-themed literature. This is a word more likely to be found in the bestiaries of Polish role-playing games or the poetry of Bolesław Leśmian and poets of the new generation – the author of numerous lyrics used in Żywiołak’s material is the Zgorzelec-based “multi-artist” Grzegorz Żak (e-mail szwagier@wiadro.com).
The Band:
The word Żywiołak is intended to conjure up the energy of the music we play…
Żywiołak is a figment of our Slavonic imaginations.
Żywiołak is the music of the elementals…
The Music:
Żywiołak’s music is a product of such styles as folk, punk, rock/metal, acoustic trance-techno or drum’n’bass. It also contains overtones of dub, hypnotic chillout or ambient, and is based on the sounds of reconstructed ancient instruments, modern technical wizardry, and both archaic and contemporary vocal techniques.
The Band:
We suggest it is best described as “Polish neo-folk music” ;-)