Rockezine.com interview with Ankh on Aug 01, 2003

with Michal Pastuszka on Aug 01, 2003

Ankh is a Polish band that makes rather strange music. They have recently released their fifth studio album, and they have been together for about ten years now. Rockezine did not provide me with a planeticket to Kielce, Poland, so the interview had to be done by e-mail. I was interested in the band and its players and what it is that makes their music sound so different from other bands.
We as people are changing, therefore our music changes		In my review I said the music on ‘expect unexpected’ was a bit of a mix between Black Sabbath and the Chemical Brothers. Do you agree or do you see your music differently? It’s difficult to define the kind of music we play. When we compose the songs we don’t think about one particular kind of music. What counts is the sound that we like in that special moment, we feel it brings us a lot of satisfaction and we don’t feel the need to identify ourselves with any kind of music. We as people are changing and therefore our music changes as well. We don’t try to follow any band but at the same time we’re not desperately trying to be original by all means.
		Who came up with the band name? The name was chosen by our first drummer, Jarek Kubalski. Ankh means life and that’s how we understand it; there are many different aspects of it just like there are many different aspects of our music.
		Do you have a thing with Egypt? We don’t feel any special connection with Egypt, but we think that Ankh is a universal symbol and that’s it suits us. (Anyway, our vocalist’s and Ehnaton’s brothers-in-law were in the army together;)
		It is said that "Expect Unexpected" is much different than your other records. How would you say it`s different? It’s different because the group has changed. The previous albums were recorded with a violinist Michal Jelonek. We had five-year break and we’ve certainly changed ourselves. This album was recorded in our own studio which is also of great importance.
		Is it possible to get Ankh’s other albums in The Netherlands somehow? We cannot say that because the matters of distribution are dealt with by our label Metal Mind though we think it’s possible.
		In 1997 you had some trouble with the record label. Is your future secure at Metal Mind Records? Basically, the only problems that we have are financial difficulties ... and they are huge. Poland is a country in which intellectual rights and the artists’ rights aren`t fully protected. It has a very bad impact on Poland`s music industry (illegal copying, you know what I mean). But I hope that Metal Mind will be different. Up to now they have satisfied our expectations.
		What’s your favorite Ankh-album? Definitely “Expect Unexpected”
		How much money do you make doing this? Do you need a job on the side to have enough money to go around? Gentlemen don’t talk about money. However, the first sales results are quite optimistic.
		Do you have any thoughts as to where the next album will go, soundwise? We have some ideas but the final sound will be created during recording, which will start soon.
		What is the message in your music? It’s difficult to express that in words, you just have to listen and feel.
		How do you make music. Does it start with a guitar loop? Just improvisation? We just meet in the studio, which is in my house, and we record our ideas. Sometimes it starts with a loop, sometimes it’s just improvisation.
		What kind of music do you like? All sounds that you may call music but, basically, it must be music with a message.
		Where do you get inspiration from? From the things that concern us, things we encounter on our way.
		How much of your time is spend on making music? It depends what making music really is, where and when it is done? Is looking for inspiration making music as well?
		In the song “Escape” for instance, I see some kind of club-dance scene, like in Blade. Have you ever been approached to do music for a movie? If I ever make a movie (2034?) I`ll be sure to get you involved. In the past our music was used in the theatre and some films too. If you would like to use our music as a soundtrack it will be OK.
		I have never been to Poland, but when I see Poland in movies or otherwise it’s always raining and you see a lot of poverty. What’s life in Poland like, are these assumptions true? I think you’ve watched too many of Kieslowski’s films. For example today, the sun is shining, birds are singings, it’s green all around. But you should come and see what’s life in Poland really like. It’s an interesting country. For the past ten years there have been a lot of positive changes, also economically. Research shows that Kieslowski is indeed a well-known Polish director. Krzystof Kieslowski died seven years ago at the age of 55, his most popular movies were "Bleu", "Bialy" (White) and "Rouge".
		How does living in Poland influence your music? It’s difficult to judge because we’ve lived here all our life. But, for sure the fact that we live in Poland has an impact on our music.
		Why do you think people should buy Ankh albums? We don’t think they should, but we would like them to.
		How do you see the future of Ankh? Our lives are unpredictable, so it’s difficult to say what we`ll be doing in the future.
(Frank M. Horsthuis)