The Myslovitz Chronology
| 1992 1993 1994 1995 |
1996 1997 1998 1999 |
2000 2001 2002 2003 |
2004 2005 |
| 1992 |
| In 1992, a fresh-faced new band emerged from the Mysłowice Youth Center called The Freshmen
(named after the movie The Freshman, starring Marlon Brando and
Matthew Broderick). The act was founded by two university students: Artur
Rojek (on vocals and guitars) and Wojtek Powaga (on guitars). The original
line-up also included Marcin "Bongo" Porczek on drums and Rafał "Prince"
Cieślik (who earned his nickname for being a big Prince fan) on bass. Unfortunately for the latter two, The Freshmen didn't play any gigs with that lineup. By the time they did start performing, Porczek and Cieślik were replaced by Wojtek and Jacek Kuderski (formerly the rhythm section for Der Kinder Trager). The group played its first concert as the opening act for General Stillwell (another group from Mysłowice), at the "Olimp" Club of the University of Physical Education in Katowice. |
| 1993 |
During a live performance in Jaworzno, the band met amateur photographer Jacek Kowalczyk,
who was a big fan of music like The Velvet Underground and David Bowie. He took a liking to The Freshmen, as well, and asked to do a photoshoot with them. It was the group's first-ever photoshoot, and it actually led to their very first recording session in the Estrada śląska Entertainment storehouse. The recordings were produced and
engineered by a fellow called Żaba ["Frog" in English], the leader of a new beat act called Nowy Horyzont.
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| 1994 |
| The Freshmen's first demo was sent to the Youth Band Festival Garaż '94
[Garage '94], held in Częstochowa between April and May. They finished in
second place at the festival. The prize? A recording session at the
studios of Radio Łódź! The boys weren't meant to have this prize, actually. Maciek Pilarczyk, then-music manager of Radio Łódź explains: "They were so magical and psychedelic that their music literally made my flesh creep! They were absolutely meant to be awarded first place and given a guitar amp as their prize. Second place, however, meant rewarding the band with a recording session at the studios of my Radio Łódź, so as a jury member I did force second place for them in order to have that session recorded there. The guys were very disappointed at that because they really wanted to win their first prize, but now - I think - they are no longer angry at me for such a nasty trick." The session began in June, and Robert Ochnio (well known for having produced the bands such as Reds and Tubylcy Betonu) became their producer. They recorded "Funny Hill", "Mówisz, że", "Słowa" [words] and "Ultra Fiolet" during this session. In December, The Freshman was qualified to enter the prestigious festival "Mokotów Music Autumn" in Warsaw, and they won again, defeating groups such as Atmosphere and Happy Pills. The band changed its name to Myslovitz (after their hometown) at this time, but weren't known by it for some time after winning the "Mokotów" festival. They eventually signed a contract with MJM Music Poland. The contract obligated them to record and release three albums on MJM. |
| 1995 |
| In the summer, the
group finished recording its debut album Myslovitz at Radio
Łódź studios, with Manchester-born Ian Harris as producer. In his own
words, Harris was a psychologist by profession who had never worked as a
shrink. Instead, he had made a name for himself as the man responsible for the live
sounds of Joy Division, UK Subs, New Order and The Exploited. He had been
living in France for a dozen years or so, cooperating with an experimental
band named Sysigambis. Myslovitz was released on October the 10th, being promoted by its title song "Myslovitz" - according to the band's "M x3" theory. The album was soon appreciated by critics as the most interesting album of 1995, and the leading rock magazines in Poland described Myslovitz as the most promising Polish band of the year (the Brum magazine granted them the "Best Debut of the Year" award, Tylko Rock magazine recognized them as "The Best Hope of the Year", they were nominated at the Dance Music Awards for the "Pop and Rock Debuts" category, and the country-wide RMF FM Radio awarded them the special award "The Unappreciated '95"). |
| 1996 |
| In June, the band's
second album Sun Machine was released by Sony Music
Poland/Columbia. Many of the album's tracks were unreleased selections from
the past, but the new tracks -- "Peggy Brown", "Blue Velvet", Z twarzą
Marilyn Monroe" [with the face of Marilyn Monroe], and "Funny Hill" --
were a big hit on the radio. The album also included a cover of Czerwone
Gitary's "Historia jednej znajomości" [The story of a certain
acquaintance], which was the theme for the film Matka swojej matki
[A mother for her own mother], starring Krystyna Jada. Sun Machine's atmospherics set it apart from the previous album... and there was also the addition of new guitarist Przemesław Myszor! His influence was definitely heard with the release of the new album. Previously, Przemo had been playing in other Mysłowice-based groups, October's Children most notably. 1996 bought one more surprise to the band -- a nomination for "Best Debut of the Year" for the Frederyk Awards! The release of Sun Machine placed Myslovitz among the best music-makers on the Polish music market. A little tidbit of information is that, years later, Artur Rojek said that "Sun Machine" was his least favorite album. The reason being that many of the tracks were just leftovers from their Freshmen days, and that it did not reflect their talent at the time. |
| 1997 |
This year, the band's
third album, Z rozmyślań przy śniadaniu ["Of breakfast
meditations"...but I think of it as "Thinking while eating breakfast"!] was released.
This album sounded very different from the previous two; no longer rough
and unsophisticated, Z rozmyślań przy śniadaniu was smoother
and more mature -- and fans and critics alike responded quite positively
to this! The group started to work with Tomasz Bonarowski, a very creative
and inventive sound engineer, producer and musician who
was very influential in terms of Myslovitz' new sound. The lyrics
were no longer just an accessory to the music; they became more of the
focus. In addition, the titles of the songs on the new album revealed the
band members' fascination with cinema.
In October, Monika Biss (friend of the group) launched the band's first authorized fan club: Moving Revolution! At the end of the year, Myslovitz won a lot of distinctions for their latest album; in the Tylko Rock magazine they finished in third place as "Band of the Year", Artur Rojek won ninth place as "The Best Vocalist of the Year", and Z rozmyślań przy śniadaniu was granted fifth place as "The Best Album of the Year". Radio For You awarded this album as "The Best Album of the Year". |
| 1998 |
| January saw the
release of the long-awaited original soundtrack to the movie entitled
Młode wilki 1/2 [The
Young Wolves 1/2] which included one new song by Myslovitz: "To nie był
film" [It wasn't a film]. The song (whose lyrics, written by Przemo Myszor, either contained or wsa inspired by some testimony from a serial killer) and accompanying music video ended up
being very controversial, and the track was eventually banned from being
broadcast! (At the end of the year, the group was to win a Fryderyk Award
for this music video, in the "Best Music Video of the Year" category,
ironically.)
Says the band: "It was some disastrous misunderstanding. We only wanted to show people how wrong it could be if they misinterpreted the real meaning and message expressed in certain sorts of films, like Natural Born Killers, etc." In March, Z rozmyślań przy śniadaniu was re-issued, with "To nie był film" as the bonus track. Throughout the whole year, the band did gigs and went on tours very intensively, not only within the territory of Poland, but also abroad. They participated in the Fan-Festival in Stuttgart, Germany, they played concerts in the USA (New York City) and in Sweden (Stockholm). Despite of being so busy, the boys found time to prepare a few new tracks for their next album. The demo versions had been recorded in the mountain resort of Ujsoły within two weeks. |
| 1999 |
| The band began slowing down with their touring at the beginning of the year because they had to polish up a set of new tracks, meant to be released on their upcoming album. They began work in May, in the Red Studio in
Gdańsk. The album was to be
called Miłość w czasach popkultury [Love in the Time of Pop
Culture/Love in the Pop Culture Era] and was again produced by Tomasz Bonarowski.
Production ended in June. Just before the release of Miłość w czasach popkultury, the group celebrated their fifth anniversary by playing an outdoor concert in Mysłowice, along with Robert Gawliński, Anthony Neal, Negatyw, Skankan and T-Love. The long-awaited fourth album Miłość w czasach popkultury was finally released at the end of October. Its promotional single "Długość dźwięku samotności" [later translated into "The Length of the Solitude Sound" and still later, "Sound of Solitude"], which had been released two weeks before the album premiere, became a smash hit. The band had this to say: "We didn't want to stop at just earning royalties that we were getting on the sales of our former albums; we wanted to do something totally different. We think we've managed to achieve that goal, and we're really very satisfied at this album." Indeed, it was apparent that Myslovitz was less interested in emulating the popular Britpop sound, but that didn't stop them from achieving success yet again with the new album. Miłość w czasach popkultury sold over 150,000 copies (average sales in May 2002), earning them a platinum record. The same time that year, the group Lotyń (friends of Myslovitz) released their album Grzmiąca, Barcin, Lipiany we wszystkich miejscach jestem zakochany featuring Artur Rojek as a guest vocalist.
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| 2000 |
The year 2000 began for Myslovitz quite the same way 1999 had ended, with them being on tour to promote Miłość w czasach popkultury. There was a new single out, "My" [Us], which began its career on
the radio as a foretaste of the feature film To My [It's Us]. The soundtrack to the
film became available in February and included two new Myslovitz tracks: "Książka z drogą w tytule" [The Book with a Road in its Title...
but for ages, I thought it was "the book with a dear title"!] and "Sekrety
i kłamstwa" [Secrets and Lies].
The
third single "Chłopcy" [Boys], released in May, featured Muniek Staszczyk of T-LOVE as
a guest vocalist, singing his own version.
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| 2001 |
| At the beginning of the year, Artur Rojek began working on a new project with his other group Lenny Valentino, which he and friend Mietal Waluś, bassist of Negatyw, originally formed in 1998. They added three more people to the line-up: Ścianka members Jacek Lachowicz (keyboards), Arkady Kowalczyk (drums) and Maciej Cieślak (keyboards). Lenny Valentino have one album to date, Uwaga! Jedzie tramwaj! [Warning! The train is coming!], which was released later that year, in November, following the release of the single "Dom nauki wrażeń" [House of Learning the Impressions]. Just a bit of commentary here: The album was not like anything I'd previously heard. I want to say "childlike", as though the songs were sort of written in that perspective. The songs themselves were a huge departure from typical popular music, as well. Having said that, the album created a stir in the Polish music market and was valued as the most unique production in the phonographic history of Poland to date. Uwaga! Jedzie tramwaj! took home Tylko Rock Magazine's "Debut album of the year" award and a Frederyk award for "Alternative Music Album of the Year". Now, back to Myslovitz! The first few months of the year proved to be rather busy. On February 14, Myslovitz got together again and played a concert in Poznań. The next month, they were invited to perform the Trójka Polish Radio Jubilee Concert, in honor of the 1000th broadcasting of "Hit Parade". In April, Myslovitz went on their second mini-tour of the USA, which Artur wrote about. A month later, Andrzej Smolik, the keyboard player of Wilki (and also well-known for his collaboration with Kasia Nosowska, Robert Gawliński and, of course, Myslovitz) released his album, Smolik. Its promotional single "50 tysięcy 881" featured Artur Rojek, who contributed his vocals, guitar-playing, and song lyrics. Artur Rojek wasn't the only one working beyond Myslovitz; Jacek Kuderski began to work on outside projects, as well. Jacek collaborated with a group called Lotyń for their album Nowa Warszawa [New Warsaw], which ended up being released in 2004. Recording lasted from the beginning of May until the end of June. Jacek helped arrange the strings and choirs on the tracks and even lent his vocals to one song on the album, "Skowronki wiedzą że nigdy się nie dowiedzą" [The Larks Know That They'll Never Get The Chance To Know]. Whenever they had free time, Myslovitz's members met together, preparing plenty of stuff for their upcoming fifth album. Sometimes during performances, Myslovitz gave fans a treat by playing some of these yet-unreleased tracks. Additionally, they took their performances a step further by addeing multi-active slide animations projected on a big screen behind the band, which worked in synch with the lights and stage-design. The animations were all created by the Cinemanual Company, a one-man team owned and run by Krzysztof Owczarek (who previously worked with artist Kasia Nosowska). In autumn 2001, Myslovitz performed in London twice and, on the way back to Poland, stopped in Frankfurt to receive the MTV award for "Best Polish Act". |
| 2002 |
| From Feb 25 - March 30, Myslovitz spent their time in the Radio Katowice studios, recording the material for their fifth album, Korova Milky Bar (the title was inspired by Stanley Kubric's Clockwork Orange). The first two weeks were spent working with Tomasz Bonarowski, the producer, but the rest of the time was devoted to recording psychedelic improvisations which were meant to be released on the special album called Cyprinodontidae, Cychlids, and Neons [later to be called Skalary, Mieczyki i Neonki]. In March, before heading off on tour, they released a set of music videos on DVD/VHS entitled O sobie 1995-2001 [About ourselves] with a couple of interviews and bits of live performances. In May, Korova Milky Bar was released. The tracks were filled with a great deal of sound effects, thanks to Przemo and his new keyboard and Wojtek Powaga's guitar. The lyrics on the album were darker than in the past, often dealing with social problems. The first single, "Acidland" was a big hit and, together with the group's "Korova Milky Bar Club Tour", became the album's most successful promotion. One of the stops on the Club Tour was at London's "Borderline", where Myslovitz recorded the English version of "Acidland." For the next few months, the act was on tour in Europe, accompanying Simple Minds and Iggy Pop! In the summer, they performed at various festivals in Scotland, Belgium and Germany. Meanwhile, their new single "Sprzedawcy marzeń" hit the airwaves. Once the tour was over, the boys hardly took any time off before doing a tour of Poland, thus causing major overcrowding of the country's major clubs. People just couldn't get enough, it seemed. On September 8, while the National Polish Radio was open to the public, Myslovitz was handed their gold album on site. A few days later, on September 13th, when the "Hit Parade" of the Trójka Polish Radio was broadcast, Myslovitz auctioned the same gold album on the air. It was sold to the Meat Factory in Mysłowice which offered 22,000 zł (about $7,400) for it. The money was donated to the children of the miners who had died in the Wesoła coal mine accident. In the eleventh edition of the "Yach" Polish Videoclip [Music video] Festival, Myslovitz won a statuette, and their video "Acidland", produced by Anna Maliszewska and Łukasz Janowski, was granted the award for the Best Videoclip Script of the Year. On October 7, the band members won another award - it was the "Elle" magazine trophy for the "Most Stylish Music Star". In November, Myslovitz signed a contract with their new record company, Pomaton EMI. And, for the third time in a row, they were nominated for the MTV European Music Awards as the Best Polish Act 2002, and they won! The statuettes were granted during the gala that was held on the 14th of November in Barcelona, Spain. |
[info courtesy of the official site. I have put English translations of Polish text when applicable!]
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