Polanski
DJ | Producer | Label Manager
Polanski is a word which derives from the ethnic name for a Pole, or more specifically for a descendant of the Polanie, one of the original Polish tribes. It’s also the alias of Andrzej, a London-based Polish producer, DJ, founder of BLANC and co-curator of the Volt event series in the UK capital.
Familiar on the circuit of London’s techno community - a tribe in itself - Polanski has been DJing for over 20 years and sharing a plethora of sounds which he tailors accordingly to suit a particular time, place and audience. With a collection that continually evolves and a well-tuned ear and eye that adapts to any situation, Polanski has played a myriad of parties and under-the-radar gatherings across the last two decades. Bookings at Tresor, Anomalie and GEGEN in Berlin, London’s E1, Bloc., KAOS, The Glove That Fits and more have all previously appeared on his schedule, but it’s the BLANC event series (now on pause) that remain a true representation of what Polanski is all about as an artist.
Influenced by untouched sounds of nature and re-expressing them through the medium of music, Polanski explores different soundscapes by going down meandering paths of industrial to cosmic techno, acid, downtempo, IDM, broken rhythms and many more routes which don’t fall into any sonic category. Steering clear of trends or what can be deemed ‘cool’ during particular phases of electronic music, Polanski also carries this attitude via his music productions. Releases on Instruments of Discipline, House of Reptile Records and beyond are just as odd as his music taste yet manage to grip and engage in a way that’s unique to every listener.
As someone who was heavily involved in the electronic music industry and making a living off events, it’s clear that Andrzej has been through a rigmarole of emotions since the pandemic was declared. But he has turned this energy into good use rather than wallowing in self-pity. Explaining how he has adapted and adjusted to the ‘new normal’ below, he also revisits the first anniversary of BLANC in the depths of East London…
Photo: Zbigniew Kotkiewicz
Where was this photo taken and why did you choose it?
This picture was taken by Zbigniew Kotkiewicz on Friday 6 Jun 2014 at Resistance Gallery and it’s from the 1st anniversary of BLANC. It was just before I went permanently to host my event at Electrowerkz.
You can clearly see me, just about to finish playing, next to me is Chadd Curry (KAOS) and it’s not at all obvious if I am standing next to a statue or a person. But in the case of Chadd, this is generally an exchangeable feature, he is the walking artefact. Myself and Chadd have both shared this image multiple times, he called it ‘Beauty and the Beast’ - I feel it captures the essence of the night and particularly this one night.
It was quite a warm, early-summer evening, two of our friends got married on that day and they have joined us to celebrate. Chadd and I know each other from KAOS, we would normally share a lot of music in common during these early days. On this particular evening he blew my mind with his electronica-focused selection. It was such an intense experience that he started taking his clothes off in the booth and if you know him that wasn’t something he’d normally do, especially back then.
How have you been over the last few months?
Overall good, but I went through various stages of ups and downs, especially at the beginning it was pretty challenging. I had lost all of my freelance projects in a matter of a day, so apart from composing a bit and couple of online events, I haven’t really worked since March the 16th. It’s a real fuck up. I have worked so hard to get to this point, with so many big hopes for 2020, all these shows planned out and new exciting projects that just didn’t and won’t happen…
Then coming out of the lockdown I found myself connected to the people in my life in much more honest and deeper way. I don’t like taking people for granted in general, we all hold something very unique that makes us who we are and during this period I made a conscious effort to hear out everyone’s voice.
On the other hand I had hoped for a global shift in the way we think as a society…well, this didn’t really happen, did it?! I was so very angry to see stupidity of the masses, how we left the lockdown and most of people just went back to their old (bad) habits. I’ve spent a lot of time outdoors and seeing the damage to the nature that was happening in the Hackney Marshes, with people littering, throwing away their disposable masks, gloves and all other usual trash while not seeing, that on top of the pandemic we are dealing with such a severe consequence of the climate crisis.
Not many realise that we are going to suffer ten-fold in the coming years, even months all due to our anthropocentric approach to life. We put so much effort saving our ‘precious’ lives, but we care so little about the bigger picture and the place we all live in, the Earth! But rather than venting my anger I had done some volunteering work, including food sorting at a foodbank as well as trash picking with a group of friends, who like myself would have liked for this ‘new normal’ to be much kinder to our planet. It has been a time of deep thinking, slowing down the pace of life, connecting with people and the nature. But for now I just want my life back!
As the promoter and curator of BLANC events in London, you have had to pause all upcoming events. How do you feel about the future of BLANC and London’s club culture in general?
It’s a very, very tricky one. I was already finding it hard to stick to some of my principles as promoter and curator. As much as BLANC always had a focus on showcasing the up-and-coming local and international talent, I co-run a much more ‘commercially’ focused event series Volt, where we book some of the biggest names in the scene. It’s a very tough business, with ever-so-growing artists’ fees and the demands enforced by their agents you can barely cover the expenses and local artists’ earn a fraction of the fees that we offer to the headliners.
It’s very hard to sell tickets in London for ‘underground’ events and you need to be more of a business person than a creative force. Streaming services and with them, the AI playlists kill the smaller, independent music scenes; people are just too lazy to find good music and even though playlists help to find new exciting music, we all know that the algorithm of such feature will always prioritise the already known names.
This same goes to online platforms, from ticket-selling through to blogs and pages that offer new music premieres. There is way too much hype focusing on trends and ‘instagram DJs’, people whose bodies sell their music normalises this obscene feature, effectively killing the independent culture. This just needs to end.
Techno became a real commodity and we should not forget about the political root of what dance culture was always about. Although we can only hope for a bigger focus on the local scene after we can finally go back to our ‘normal’ life. It would be great to see for the audience to adapt to a much more conscious way of how they pick what events to attend, it’s not just about the support of local scenes, people just need to realise that all the sponsored mega-events with white, hetero dudes on line-ups don’t qualify for any form of diversity. We need to see much broader selections on the line-ups, shifting the focus away from making the rich even richer and trusting the ‘new voice’ - as there is so much incredible talent in the small pockets of London’s underbelly. And as for BLANC, even though I have few dates pencilled in this year, it might be that we won’t have a regular show until 16th January 2021.
Most of your sets incorporate dark and swirling techno. Do you have the same connection with this haunting kind of sound since the pandemic started or has your taste in techno changed over the last few months?
I think I’ve only expanded on this notion but without confining myself to one particular sub-genre. I haven’t stopped buying and downloading new music during this period. It was certainly a good time for creativity and I continue receiving around 50 new demos and recommendations each month. So, my style is still divided into the very deep and hypnotic as well the broken and distorted. The latter is the sound I keep reserved for certain parties, just like BLANC, KAOS or GEGEN. Although I still play an occasional opening set and for that I prefer to be as eclectic as I can - multilayering various sounds with three CDJs.
I’ve had couple of self-released tracks that I’ve put out on my Bandcamp, similar to an EP which I am working on at the minute, they offer a little more uplifting vibes. I suppose this way I managed to express myself without carrying the burden of the situation. I had hoped for my music to bring some light in these troubled times.
Do you have a go-track or mix which helps to lift your mood on the days when you feel uncertain or down about what’s going on at the moment?
I tend not to listen to dance music at home. I obviously go through a lot of promos, but this fits within my work responsibilities.
For most of the lockdown I’ve had two go-to radio shows on NTS Radio; ‘Questing With Zakia’ and ‘Music to Ease Your Disease’. They both offer a great variety of obscure sounds from all over the world. I am hugely inspired by Krautrock, minimalism, jazz and afrobeat. But the one artist I go back to quite a lot within the realm of dance music is Rrose; they really capture the essential elements that I seek in the modern dance music.
What has been a constant source of comfort for you throughout this time?
Well, few things to be honest. Nature, cycling, cooking and…psychedelics. I grew mushrooms at the start of the lockdown and I did quite a bit of micro-dosing, this really is a powerful way of ridding of anxiety and depression. Partnered up with camaraderie of my closest people, I was able to survive without much of a negative impact on my mental health. But also I have consumed a fair bit of podcasts on conscious and subconscious mind, books on subjects such as modern anthropology - this way I can make sense of the mess we live in.
Listen to Polanski’s mix for RBL here and follow him below: