Robert Piotrowicz is a sound artist, composer and improviser. He works in the modern electro-acoustic music field. Piotrowicz is an instrumentalist whose key tools are modular-synth and guitar. He's an experienced improviser, working with the world's premier artists. Composer, author of many solo projects (recordings, performances), interdisciplinary projects (scores for theatre plays, literary and radio projects) and abstract sound installations. He has participated in many art events around the globe. Musica Genera label/festival cofounder and curator, and - since 1999 - many other contemporary sound-art festivals and projects in Poland and abroad.
Listening to your music, I am repeatedly cognizant of some sort of narrative unfolding, stories within stories. Is there a storyline to your music? Or am I simply over-analyzing?Thank you for your careful listening. There’s something built around an idea for creating a piece. Very often, I find the title - or a general word or expression - for a composition even before making my first move musically. In very formal pieces, sometimes I find some kind of background, this can be easily said of all my pieces with “Clinamen” in the title. There is a certain narration of energy, but with no story itself, a dynamic development of music. Space-shifting and purely audio phenomena have the possibility to be more than a sound with no story and explanation in a general sense. There’s so much drama in the sound - and I do not mean traditional musical forms - but usually it’s accomplished with instruments we have used for other arts. We need to consider it with another attitude.
You’ve been organizing the Musica Genera festival for a number of years now. What was the genesis of the festival?Basically, Anna Zaradny and me started with electro-acoustic improvisation, then moved to encompass all contemporary disciplines of sound, including installations, performances and so on. We focused on creating a place where artists can work within their own space and situations. We always curate this project with dedication to both sides, the creator and the recipient. For it’s an intense communication, always with no compromise on the art side…no easy way out.
Have you performed in Tokyo before? What are you looking forward to coming (coming back?) to Japan?I did two Tokyo concerts – along with Anna Zaradny - in 2009. It’s very nice to be back, almost exactly two years later. SuperDeluxe is a great place with good sound and vibe that I think gives an opportunity for live music to be realized. I’m really looking forward to playing again, my live music has changed, I think. It’s in constant development, so for the audience and myself, I hope it will be new experience. Moreover, I am also performing on November 4th, together with grindcore legends Brutal Truth. And it will be great to visit Tokyo again and play some pachinko.
This is a rather perfunctory question… but what were your earliest influences as a musician?Yes, it kind of is, as I’ve come a long way to get where I‘m at now. I started in my school big band, playing drums at 12. Then I was into punk when I was 14, which evolved into hardcore, metal, and experimental avant-rock transformed into improvisation. In the late 90s I seriously started to change my attitude and radically moved to experimental music. Since that time, I am more or less in a similar aesthetic. Maybe I am much more interested now in composition (also with acoustic instruments) and studio work as a way of developing form and sound. I also work on installations and projects connected to literature or film. And generally there are a lot of non-musical influences… way too many to mention.
What can we expect from the EMFP with Dizzy Kinetics and Anna Zaradny on November 3rd? All the artists represent very different approaches to creating music. Dizzy Kinetics are a long working duo. Marek Choloniewski and Lukasz Szalankiewicz have different backgrounds, which makes the project a singular and vivid combination of electronic music. Anna Zaradny is a very unique sound and visual artist, her audio works and performances are rich and intense, a purely abstract experience. She has a very unique way of organizing repetition and quasi-rhythms. Do not miss this very special evening.
Interview by Frank Spignese (October, 2011)See and hear Robert Piotrowicz at SuperDeluxe:
EMFP: Exploratory Music From Poland Live: Dizzy Kinetics (Zenial + Marek Choloniewski), Robert Piotrowicz, Anna Zaradny, Tomasz Krakowiak, Ultra Functor (JP), Chihei Hatakeyama (JP)Thursday, November 3rd, Open 6pm / Start 6:30pm
For event details & reservations click here >> 11/3 EMFP
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