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MANOID speaks about Warsaw, his live performances and his debut LP ‘Truth’.

MANOID returns to hafendisko this October with his debut long player ‘Truth’, comprising ten original tracks from the Polish producer and live act.

1. Hey MANOID, thanks for taking the time talk with us, we’ve been listening to your debut album ‘Truth’ and it’s a beautiful collection of tracks ranging across a variety of styles under the umbrella of electronica, for those yet to hear it could you tell us a little about the project and how it all came together?

Hey! Thanks for the invitation, I’m very pleased. My project is a personal journey. The tracks on the album were created in the last two years, mainly in very important and sometimes difficult moments of my life. I included this energy and experiences on the record so that listeners could feel them. I focused on exploring emotions and searching for my own musical “language”. ‘Truth’ Is not an easy listening type of music (maybe a time will come for such projects). It is rather engaging and dark material, but I believe that it is definitely worth trying. I definitely do not think it’s depressing (laughs). The name came from the fact that I’m open and honest with the listener and despite various styles I feel that I managed to create a coherent album.

2. The album features many collaborators such as the Cellist from Atom String Quarted, one of Poland’s top jazz groups, brass instruments recorded by Jedrzej Kupiec and vocalist Josephine Philip, are these musicians you know personally or people you sought after working with on this particular project?

Indeed, I invited wonderful musicians to work with me. Some of them are my friends and we’ve known each other for many years. But some, like the cellist from the Atom String Quartet were a result of a search for this project. While working on the album, I felt the need to go beyond my own electronic instruments so I reached for people who could do what I had in mind. I am very pleased with the results of the co-operations and I think that I met the right people at the right time. 

3. You’re from Poland, could you tell us a little about your hometown, the music scene there and whether you feel your environment has been influential on your music? What’s the music scene like there and is there any other artists you’d like to tip off?

I currently live in Warsaw. It’s a wonderful, fast-growing city. Every now and again, I am surprised by newly created places, cafes, galleries and clubs. The Polish electronic music scene is also like that. In recent years, many new faces have appeared (including me :D) and they are doing very well. For me, there are two complementary scenes: the club scene and experimental one. I feel somewhere between them. Electronic music in Poland is booming at the moment (especially the techno genre) as can be seen in the number of events, festivals, big bookings and activities of independent collectives. The Polish artists I like to listen to include Agim, Jacaszek, Marcin Czubala, Urbański and We will fail. Check them out!

4. You’ve been touring the globe recently, performing your live show in countries like South Korea, Iceland and the Netherlands. Could you share some of your experiences in these countries and what’s involved in your live performances?

In Korea, I went to a restaurant for dinner. Three couples sat inside. 

While waiting for my order I watched the surroundings. Suddenly, at one table, the girl began to cry and left the restaurant… After a while, the same happened at the second table and in a moment at the third. I stayed alone. I didn’t know what had happened, but it looked as if I had come to some ‘breakup’ restaurant. But the food was very delicious;) It’s just an anecdote, but traveling makes me get a distance from the world known to me. They open the mind and cause a lot of reflection. I hope that I will be able to visit many other great places. 

5. How did you end up working with the Hamburg label Hafendisko to release your album, did you just send the label your demo and go from there or was there a pre-existing relationship? 

I made a few tracks and I sent a demo to hafendisko. I valued this label and its artists, so a quick positive response from them made me very happy. Besides I have a family in Hamburg, which wasn’t without significance when choosing a label. Hamburg is an amazing city, which I love to visit. And after their response I went to Hamburg to meet them in person and discuss the project. I really enjoy working with people from hafendisko. Best regards to the entire crew! 

Could you share with us some of the things that have been feeding your creative mind and driving your inspiration of late, not necessarily linked to music, feel free to share some of your current favourite artists, but are there and books you’ve been reading, places you’ve visited, films you’ve seen or anything else you’ve found to be motivating you to work? 

I am not the most creative when I think about music, but when I just do it 🙂 And the more regularly I work, the more efficiently I realise my ideas. Instruments, synthesizers and samplers are a great inspiration for me! Cultural events open my head as well. For example last week I was at Warsaw Autumn – it’s an international festival of contemporary music that celebrated its 60th anniversary a year ago. In the past, during the communist period in Poland, this event was a place of meeting of Western Europe with Central and Eastern Europe, divided by an iron curtain. Besides that, I am a big fan of cinematography, the movie ‘Climax’ from Gaspar Noe is coming out now – I will definitely watch it. 

6. Will there be a tour surrounding the album and if so where can people see you? What’s next after the release of the album, any other notable projects you have planned?

After the release of the album, I am touring Poland as well as visiting Oslo, Prague and Berlin, which I am very happy about.  And yes, I’m already planning several new projects! I have lots of fresh ideas and I’m looking forward to their development. One of them is a collaboration with my friend Pysh (Einmusika, Steyoyoke) and we will present our particular vision of house music. Furthermore slow electro, ethnic and cinematic sounds are the things I’m into right now. ‘Truth’ is just a beginning! 

Listen to the album here:

MANOID’s ‘Truth’ LP is out on hafendisko 10th October (Vinyl) and 25th October (Digital) 2018.

Pre order here: https://www.beatport.com/release/truth/2391976

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