KEXP at OFF Festival 2016

OFF Festival
01/09/2017
Darek Mazzone,
Darek with OFF Festival founder Artur Rojek

I love festivals. The gathering of tribes, the sense of discovery, the damn work that it takes to put a good one together – all of this creates a very memorable experience for everyone involved. From the audience to the staff, to the artists on stage, all feel the impact of such an experience, this is why so many festivals have proliferated through the last 20 years and the good ones just get better. The OFF Festival based in Katowice, Poland, is one of the best. Everything, from the programming to the design, and especially its inclusion of Southern Polish culture, makes it stand out in a crowded field.

Following our broad coverage from the year before, we brought a small KEXP crew in 2016 to check out the OFF Festival again. Cameraman extraordinaire Scott Holpainen and I flew in to check it out.

The journey started in hilarity since our luggage was lost in Amsterdam due to the pilgrim onslaught to meet the Pope in Krakow, Poland’s ancient capital. Our gear was safe, as we carried that on, but our various skivvies and such were MIA for the duration. We had to hit the closest retail outlet to don some Euro threads for proper interview presentation material. New fashion discoveries were had.

Scott and Darek in muted European tones

The lineup for this year’s OFF Festival was especially strong and diverse. Of course, you have many current interesting Polish bands present, and these came with some wonderful surprises, but for me, the international representation was exceptionally strong.

The bands that Artur Rojek with assistance by Jarek Szubrycht and the whole OFF Festival team booked not only represented the best from various countries but also included an intriguing range of genres and experimentation. One of the main threads that wove the OFF Festival together was a sense of courage about presenting music and art that challenged the audience. From post-classical Korean to the most current expressions of youth culture in Cairo, Egypt, the range was intoxicating.

We were able to interview and record performances from a wide range of artists:

  • Brodka: Monika Brodka is probably the biggest singer on the Polish stage today. She got started by winning the third season of Polish Pop Idol in 2004 and has released gold records that showcase her evolution to a very intriguing artist that could go global anytime.
  • Księżyc: A great example of a particular Polish/Eastern Europen style that combines electronics, improvised Jazz and Traditional Music styles with vocals that feel like they transcend time. The band was active from 90-96 and reactivated in 2014.
  • Islam Chipsy: One of the most intense bands out of the Chaabi scene in Cairo
  • Kaliber 44: Very influential Polish hip hop band
  • Kero Kero Bonito:  J-Pop sensation out of London
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  • Zimpel/Ziołek: Intriguing improvisation flowing from jazz to prog rock, electronic to soundscape.
  • The Feral Trees: An intriguing synthesis of Colorado folk tinged rock and Polish Sludge Metal.
  • Mudhoney: Without Mudhoney there would be no Grunge.
  • Bechir Attar:  Leader of the the Master Musicians Of Jajouka whose work brought to attention thousand year old musical styles that live in Rock and Jazz.
  • Daniel Spaleniak: American Gothic styling through a Polish filter.
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  • Ifi Ude: Polish/Nigerian singer is considered one of the most outstanding performers on the Polish scene today.
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  • Ata Kak: The auteur's left-field highlife-hip-house creation is one of the more joyous sounds on the interweb, 
  • Beach Slang: Based in Philly and playing some of the most interesting and strangely vulnerable indy today.
  • Jambinai: From Seoul. This post rock band won best crossover record in the 2013 Korean Music Awards.
  • Komety: a major alt band on the scene in Poland and the evolution of the very influential 90's band Partia (The Polish Smiths)
  • Odpoczno: A very cool synthesis of Polish Traditional music and alt rock.

While Polish music has evolved since the country joined the EU, I noticed a strong curiosity from the current bands about the artists that were making music in Poland in the ’90s, after the country finally jettisoned Communism. The OFF Festival booked some of these bands, and the various members were completely amazed as the audience were singing their songs back to them. These are artists who have had day jobs as teachers and accountants but are now finding themselves back on a stage they thought was left behind decades ago. The future looks extremely promising for these bands and the general Polish music scene.

We took a few days after the festival to see what was going on in the nation’s capital, Warsaw. Sub Pop co-founder Jonathan Poneman and his wife, Lenka, were there, and we were able to join a panel on how a city can activate and support their local music scene. Through this, we were able to film a few interviews and performances of some of the best of Warsaw-based artists.

We just scratched the surface of what is going on in the city. We hope to be back regularly and present you more of these amazing stories and songs

We came to the OFF Festival expecting only to capture a few things, we ended up capturing 20 bands, myriad interviews, and an amazing look into the current Polish music scene. It was an unprecedented experience and I’m so happy to be able to present so much of it here.

View of Katowice

 

OFF Festival Main Stage

 

Mudhoney!

 

Sub Pop co-founder Jonathan Poneman

 

Outdoor stage

 

In the tent

 

Festival curator Jarek Szubrych interviews Brodka

 

Don’t forget the pierogi!

 

View more photos here.

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