Dear Michal, how are you doing?

Thank you, I’m fine. I’ve been busy lately doing mixes of tracks for the new Amarok album.

The new year 2024 has just started, how did your family spend the Christmas days & Sylvester?

We spent Christmas with our family in our home town of Kielce 180km from Warsaw, where we live.  Sylvester was just at home with our daughters and dog, in Warsaw.

Your wife is also part of Amarok, please tell us how you met her and how she became a part in the band?

In the early years of Amarok, Marta started writing lyrics and has been doing it for every album since then. Everything changed when I decided to come back with Amarok in 2016 (after a long break). We started playing live. Marta recorded her percussion for the Hunt album and we understood that we wanted to play live together. So Marta quickly became another core of the Amarok.

It’s a scheme that I just found out about Amarok. The band started in 1999 and as a Polish prog and Polish heavy metal, fan started from the mid 90’s i should somehow know the band. But somehow Amarok was not in the picture…?

 I think the reason Amarok may not have reached you earlier is that it was a studio project. Amarok wasn’t touring at the time. Everything has changed since our return in 2017 through the Hunt album, when the live band was formed. We started playing gigs. Since then, we’ve been releasing albums and touring, which has probably contributed to the fact that you’re now familiar with Amarok’s music and we’re just talking. 

In 1999 You where about 22 years old. Please tell us about the Polish Progressive Rock scène in those days if you compare it with now, at the moment?

At the end of my 90s, I listened mainly to Pink Floyd and Mike Oldfield. However, I knew the Polish band Collage and Quidam or MrGil. At that time the prog rock scene was not as big in Poland as it is now. For the third album Amarok – Metanoia, I was looking for a vocalist who could sing some songs. I wasn’t singing at the time yet. Mariusz Duda was recommended to me. I heard a demo of a newly formed band called Riverside. I decided that this voice would suit the album. And so Mariusz sang a few songs at the time. After a while, I took a long break. At the same time, Riverside started to grow and now over the years, they have achieved an amazing status in the progressive rock market. I think this is one of the reasons why currently the prog-rock scene in Poland is so big. Amarok also made a comeback after years and Mariusz sang again (Hunt, 2017).  

What where some of your favorite bands back then and now Anno 2024?

As I’ve already mentioned, when it came to progressive rock in the 90s I listened mainly to Pink Floyd and Mike Oldfield, Mark Knopfler or Jeff Beck. I studied the whole discography many times. Of course, even before that, as a teenager, I was fascinated by the music of JM Jarre. In the 90s and afterwards, I got to know many new artists. I am very fond of Bjork, Massive Attack, Jon Hopkins, Moderat or Fink, so artists of a new generation, are often innovative. Lately, I haven’t listened to enough whole albums, except maybe recently to the new Depeche Mode album in its entirety 🙂 It has more to do with the fact that I do mixing, mastering and music production professionally in my studio (www.amarokstudio.pl), where I work for clients from all over the world, but also for Amarok. Although when I’m on the road, I love listening to On An Island by Gilmour or The Division Bell.

I just read on ProgArchives that you where busy already making music, recording demo’s in mid 90’s. That you would nearly release an album back then via Mieczyslaw Stoch from Ars Mundi. The Elite Prog label in Poland in the 90’s. I Met mister Stoch myself a few times in Warszawa in the end of the 90’s when he released the great Polish bands like; Collage, Quidam, Armia (Punk,Metal,Rock) band etc. Why this demo’s where not finally released on Ars Mundi?

The first three Amarok albums were originaly released by Mieczyslaw Stoch, i.e. by Ars Mundi. Of course, there are many recordings and demos unreleased from that period. Maybe one day…

In 2001 came the first album into the marked. Please tell us how the album was received by press & Prog fans in Poland?

Amarok’s debut album was received very positively. However, at the time Amarok was better known in Japan than in Poland. This was due to Mietek Stoch, who took records to Japan, and the genre was not that popular in Poland at the time. Additionally, we didn’t play concerts, which generally made it difficult to promote the album. 

After that some other albums where released; Neo Way (2002), Metanoia (2004). Then the fans had to wait about 13 years for the new album. Why took it so long to release a new full length? Hunt (2017) and a live recording from the Hunt tour in 2017.

At that time I met other artists. I worked in the recording studio of a very popular pop musician – Marek Kościkiewicz. I tried other genres at the time. In 2012, I released an album with the band Uniqplan for the major Warner Music. It was pop-rock music. We started touring. I became a vocalist. I saw that not only the studio but also the stage is what gives great joy and strength. Contact with the audience. We played at the biggest festivals in Poland, and also on popular TV shows. But after some time I felt that I wanted to come back to Amarok and play more guitar solos, and more space:)))) When I felt that, making music for the Hunt album was wonderful. Full of freedom and congruence with myself. Nobody expected Amarok to come back. There were no expectations or time pressures. A live band was then formed for the concerts. We started playing and I felt that was what I wanted to do.

Then finally another album was released. “HERO” (2021). Please tell us about the writing process, time in the studio etc…?

 In the meantime, I have released The Storm (2019), an album of music for a contemporary dance theatre performance by British choreographer James Wilton.

During the pandemic period, Konrad Zielinski and Kornel Poplawski – old friends of mine – joined the team. So together with Marta, we made a great line-up of four friends. Although the music on the Hero album was composed by me, everybody helped to achieve the final shape of the album. I decided that Amarok would become a real band. Hero album is like the second part of the trilogy started with the Hunt album. Some of the tracks were composed during composing for the Hunt. Titled song – Hero was created in Uniqplan’s period (about 2010). Other songs were created at the end of the process. I always do a compilation of everything I have. Sometimes it turns out that one part of the song I made 20 years ago is matching something that I composed yesterday. In the end, for me, it is important to make a good mix of prog-rock, folk/world music and electronica. This is what I’m looking for during the creation process. I’m also happy to play with such talented and sensitive people close to me, in our band who are looking to do the same!

Then 2 years later in 2023 the band came to The Netherlands, Het Podium, 24 November. I totally did not know about this concert even when its not to far away from my hometown. Tell us how you got in contact with Het Podium and how it was playing for Prog, Rock, Metal fans in The Netherlands? Did the band played more gigs before and after this gig in Hoogeveen?

In 2023 we played in The Netherlands at least 4, 5 or maybe even 6 times  (?). Any time it was a great experience. The audience was fantastic. Every time with awesome feedback from the audience with lots of warm words after each show. Our manager – Tomek Andree is involved in the booking process, so this is how we play in any place. Sometimes local promoters are writing to us directly. Het Podium is an awesome place to play. Definitely, we need to play there once again after the release of the new album. In 2023 we were in Hero Tour. 30 live gigs in The Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, France, French Guyane (South America) and Poland. This year we’ll start the Hope tour which will take about 2 years I guess.

Please tell us about the future plans? A new album? New concerts?

This spring there will be a premiere of our newest album, called Hope. Then we’ll start the Hope tour which will take about 2 years I guess.

Where can our readers find all the info about Amarok?

You can visit www.amarok.pl , for all info.

Do you have a last word to our readers?

In the second half of January, you will be able to listen to our newest single from the Hope album. So stay tuned! We also can’t wait to come again to The Nederlands and Hoogeveen. See you soon, I hope.