Hello Rafal Mirocha how are you doing?

Thank you I’am great. Thanks for taking some time with me.

Please tell us where you Live?

I live in Katowice and I’m the only band member living in this area as most of my best mates live in Poznan.

Flapjack and Dynamind have a longtime friendship. You played a lot of concerts and festivals together?

Yes I was originally a member of a band called Dynamind  and that’s how I actually met the guys from Flapjack. And I believe in ’94 or ’95 we had a Long tour throughout Poland with the band called Acid Drinkers with two original members Litza and Slimak who also created a new band called Flapjack.

If you think back about the 90’s what you still have in mind if you think back about this time in history concerning the Polish rock/ metal scène. About you guys touring around in a bus playing with the greatest in the Polish scène; like Acid Drinkers, Illusion, Blenders, Tuff Enuf etc and with Dog Eat Dog, Paradise Lost etc?

Additionally both Dynamind and Flapjack had opportunity to be an opening acts for Biohazard as they just released the” state of the world address” album. As you can imagine it was a huge experience for us and we quickly got along. And just the following year we had an opportunity to have a tour with Flapjack throughout Poland. Then at some point I was asked to Record two songs on the second Flapjack’s album called Fairplay end we’ve been friends ever since.

Yeah thanks for reminding me, we as a very young band back then had a privilege to play gigs with many bands from the States for example Life of agony, Pro-Pain and couple of others.

Why the band started to mix elements of Rap, hardcore, Nu- Metal in the music?

From the beginning flapjack had a very strong thrash metal background but since a pretty young guy with a nickname Guzik took the opportunity to be a singer he introduced a lot of new ideas to his metal bandmates. Since Guzik was a huge hip-hop head but also a fan off bands like Deftones and many new alternatives to the mainstream Flapjack received it’s ultimate shape. 

After 3 albums; Ruthless Kick, Fairplay and Juicy Planet Earth the band stopped? What was the reason for it? After many years we hear again something from Flapjack. In 2012 you guys released an album called; Keep your heads down. Please tell us how that came into being?

Flapjack released 3 albums Ruthless Kick, FairPlay and Juicy Planet Earth. The third album was the most progressive one and Litza only partially participated in its creative process as he decided to leave the band for new music ideas. As you mentioned the band was not really active for more than 10 years and till around 2012 new album “Keep your heads down” was released. Flapjack in partially new line up played some shows. Then in January 2021 tragic news reached everyone that Guzik passed away leaving everyone in shock.

Then you guys in Flapjack, to started the engine again and in remembrance of him you started some shows with the tittle; Tribute To Guzik. Please tell us about it?How the Flapjack fans reacted to this concerts; Tribute To Guzik?

In 2022 two original members Litza and Jahnz came up with an idea to play couple of shows as Flapjack – Tribute to Guzik to pay respects. They invited original drummer Slimak and la ong time bass player Mihau. As for the vocal parts Kroto from the band Hope was invited and I was also asked to participate as long time participant and friend of the band. The reception from the public was exceeding our expectation and it appeared that after many years there’s a huge group of people who have huge sentiment for Flapjack. 

I was at one of these shows in Poznan, Poland where you played with LaNinia. It was a ‘Hell’ of a show. The crowd went crazy and it was really a great evening celebrating Music all together.

I’m  very happy that you had a chance to see the show. We tried to do our best professionally but also physically. It’s really rewarding when you see how people react and participate screaming their hearts out and enjoying the mosh pit. 

Then it’s 2023 and  a new album was just released, called Sugar Free. Please tell us about it?

After some more gigs we came to the conclusion that maybe there’s more  to it and we can create like a new song or an EP but all in all at some point we decided to make a new album. For the first time in my life I had an opportunity to create music in top notch studio without any pressure with people who were really open minded and willing to both create but also listen to each other. This would not be possible without Litza as he gave us all a positive push and professional space to create and record. That’s how Sugar Free came to life.

Is there anything you guys want to share with your fans. I mean lyrically. Do you guys have a message to the world right now…?

We do not have any particular strong message with this album but as we can see the world now is a little bit like a lollipop on the cover sweet an tastes great but inside there’s something that might hurt you if you’re not careful. Most songs refer to our every day issues not always in a very serious way. 

The opening song ‘Veterans’ is a tribute to all people who stayed with Flapjack for many years and are still with us enjoying the music. So basically we want to put a huge thanks to our supporters as now e call them Veterans.

Will there be a international distribution for the new album?

We haven’t thought so far about any possibility of foreign distribution as for now we are really amazed how the album is received by press and fans and very happy that people come to see us live.

Do you play a lot of shows at the moment? 

We are just starting our Sugar Free Tour which will consists of many gigs (usually Fridays and Saturdays) for the next 4 months now. 

What are some of your own favorite bands?

I was raised on Slayer and Metallica but when I lived in New York City for 2 years I had a chance to witness the premiere of Rage against the Machine and also enjoyed the New York Hardcore scene and the NY Hip- Hop scene which had a huge impact on my future music inspirations.

Do you have a last word to the readers?

Last but not least thank you for your attention, Any effort to promote our music  is really appreciated.