16.11.24

Between 2020 and 2023, I decided to disrupt my album release and music style patterns. On the one hand, it was caused by all the pandemics and lockdowns, on the other, by simple fatigue (because honestly, how long can you keep recording the same old prog stuff? ;))

I had this dream to return to electronica from my youth but… without taking the easy way out. I had to make it notably different from what I was doing in Riverside and Lunatic Soul.

I just had to figure out how to make it happen.

First, I decided I would play only electronic instruments, preferably various small and quirky ones. More Korg Volca and OP1 rather than Prophet 5 or Juno 60. Second, I wouldn’t write classic compositions but record something like “streams of consciousness” and perhaps add additional tracks to them later on. (In order to push myself, I decided to set short recording time limits and deadlines. I was going to follow the “CARIARQBYCYM” rule, that is “Compose Anything, Record It and Release Quickly Before You Change Your Mind” :)) Third, I wouldn’t release any of it in classic formats – digital and cassette tapes would suffice. (Here I must admit I was shocked to find out how many of my fans still love physical formats). Fourth, I’d be selfish. This project was going to be primarily for me. I wasn’t going to cater for the habits and expectations of my audience.

I asked Hajo Müller to create the artwork. I needed it to be as simple as the minimalist electronica I created. I also wanted it to be different from the usual covers of Riverside and Lunatic Soul. I wanted “simple 2D illustrations”.

And that’s how the lockdown trilogy was created: “Lockdown Spaces”, “Claustrophobic Universe” and “Interior Drawings”. That’s how “Let’s Meet Outside” and the 27-minute composition called “Intervallum” came to be as well. And that’s how “AFR AI D” was made, too, although that album was less about “streams of consciousness” and more about… “regular songs”. Yes, I may have just realised that I recorded an album of “electronic songs” and perhaps that’s why I believe that it’s the best thing to come out of my electronica adventures.

Working on “AFR AI D” took whole 10 wild days. (By the way, I promised myself it would be the last album I’d ever record at such a crazy pace.) Big thanks to Magda and Robert Srzedniccy for helping me with recording and mixing, to Mateusz Owczarek for his beautiful guitar work, and to Robert Szydło for mastering the whole thing. It was a truly wild music adventure.

The album was released on November 17, 2023, and it’s one year old today.