Rockezine.com interview with Satellite on Oct 10, 2003

with Wojtek Szadkowski on Oct 10, 2003


		How did the musicians of Satellite come together? Darek Lisowski (keyboard) was my old friend in another prog-rock band. Sarhan (guitar) I asked to play a solo just out of curiosity. He was known for being a great percussionist. He played great guitars on the ‘On The Run’ demo so I Invited him to play more in the studio. Mirek Gil (guitar), Robert Amirian (Voc) , Krzys Palczewski (keybrds) I know from my previous band COLLAGE. Przemek Zawadzki (bass) played on the first COLLAGE record ‘Basnie’ back in 1990. He had stopped playing since then, and I felt that he would like to do at least one more record in his life... so I called him after all those years. Piotr Zaczek is considered one of the best session musicians in Poland. All those musicians did not take part in any rehearsals, because there were no rehearsals at all. I just worked together with Darek in his home studio, to make a demo. When everything was composed and more or less arranged, I moved to more professional studios and in the final stage I asked them to play some solos in the specific parts of the songs.
		Did any of these musicians get involved in the writing proces? No. Except Darek Lisowski who composed the great and beautiful chorus chords in “On the run”. I composed a vocal line to it and this is one of my favourite moments on this album. And Zbyszek Bieniak, who composed vocal line to “Fight”. Of course Krzysiek Palczewski helped me producing the album and he was creative as far as some keybord arrangements and solos were concerned. But I composed and wrote everything.
		The cover of the cd is done by artist Mark Wilkinson, who is known for his work with Marillion and Fish. Why did you choose him for the artwork? Because I admire the cover for the first Marillion album, ‘A Script...’ great artwork. I was very impressed by it. I always wanted him to do a cover for my album.
		How did you get in contact with Mark? My webmaster Chris Kukielka just mailed him without telling me about it. Mark easily agreed to do a cover. He liked Collage music a lot so that made everything much easier I think.
		Can you tell us a bit more about the meaning of the album cover? `A Street Between Sunrise And Sunset’ is simply our common day, and how we are making our way through it. And every day is the same routine, words, gestures, rituals... But if you would be taken out of this routine even for just one millisecond, for a glimpse of an eye, you will take a deeper breath and a deeper view inside yourself, you may be a bit confused, unsure, maybe afraid of what you would see and how far away you are from your hidden inner self. The cover briefly depicts the main ideas of the album, and the album – in short - is about making choices and about duality of perception. This is a concept album. This is all about the difference in perception of the world, of possibility of a different point of view, one thing can be viewed differently by people because of their personalities, their inner sensitivity, the context they are in. It’s about losing our ideals and making a choice. I would like to remind people that the world, our everyday busy life can be beautiful – only if WE want it. We create it. This is only our choice. This is also my most personal lyrics I ever wrote... The Evening Wind – This is all about a difference in perception, a difference in attitude towards the world. One sees the negative side (rain) whereas the other can see something positive instead or can expect that something positive can be made out of the negative (rainbow); a more positive look towards the future. Now there is a rain but in the future a rainbow may appear. But you have to have got the right attitude, the will to see it, otherwise you can miss it. „You saw the rain I saw the rainbow.” Negative sides of our life are a part of our reality but one can always change it into something positive. On The Run – This is about a change and making the drastic decision crucial for the rest of one’s life – here this is about starting a new life. Of course also the change of one’s way of thinking, inner life, attitude etc... Midnight Snow – Lyrics are set around a memory, a flashback from my childhood – the very moment of the first snow falling down on the ground. And the strong urge of breaking the loneliness is revealed in the chorus. No Disgrace – very positive, dynamic song all about the cliché of a prog rock attitude, (elaborated, sophisticated, sometimes gloomy...) abut breaking it – I just wanted to write the lyrics as simple as possible, just to show that the simplest things in the world can be the most important and crucial and most enjoyable... and that it is no disgrace to smile and laugh and feel the beauty of he simplest things. Now – A song about the necessity of looking into ones heart and living close to ones heart. We should never loose our will to love and should always listen to our hearts. It’s also about the urge to release the feelings from the inside, about the necessity of expressing feelings to the world – in every second of our lives that means NOW. Fight – This song is dedicated to Tomek Beksinski my best friend and one of the most creative and popular DJs in Poland, who committed suicide. Tomek Beksinski was mainly responsible for the popularity of Marillion and all prog rock in Poland. The song has two levels: one is a history of Tomek’s personal fight-unfortunately he wasn’t strong enough and lost. But at the wider level – I try to give a hope to all those who are till fighting, who are on the edge and the message is: please stay alive, choose life. A Street... The title track – this is just all about making a decision about finding one’s own path, about understanding one’s own place in this everyday mess... about finding the strength to carry on. Children – dedicated to my great sons – what can I say... I just want them to know how much I love them and that love is a responsibility I am strong enough to carry and I always will – they can count on me always.
		Can you tell me something about the Polish prog scene at the moment, is it easy to get gigs in your homeland? There used to be a kind of prog rock scene, formed after the success of a band named COLLAGE (I was a co founder, co leader of) bands like Abraxas, Quidam, Lizard got out of the shadows then. Now those bands exist no more. Concerts? If you want to play there is always a possibility for a good band to play gigs.
		What´s the best and what is the worst thing you have read about ´A Street Between Sunrise and Sunset´, and why is that? The best thing: “If you like collage, this is like an improved version” – I am very proud of it because COLLAGE has got a very high prestige. The worst thing happens when people consider Satellite the second Collage, some continuation etc... That is a mistake and does not help in listening to the album.
		Which song on the album brings you the most satisfaction? The title track, but don’t ask me why. I just don’t know.
		What would you like to have seen different on the album? Everything, but especially the mixing of the first track.
		Which bands, would you say, were your biggest influences? In one word: The Beatles. King Crimson. Genesis. I was co founder and co leader of COLLAGE the band you may have heard of and I released 5 albums with them. I never listen to bands just to get an inspiration, in search of an inspiration... To make it more clear: Music of other bands definitely inspires me, but not consciously. I am not looking consciously for any inspiration. So everything I listened to has an impact on me. The same is with books, people, sights, travelling, films and all everyday activities and it is very hard, maybe impossible to tell what in particular inspired me most and when. More conscious influences can be found in producing music – and this is a very creative process too. So as a producer I do consciously listen to many albums. Can you tell us something about the writing process? My creative process is very simple although very mysterious. I always can feel this very moment I got something in my mind – I grab my guitar and start playing the chords and sing-almost like I already knew the song. Then I try to work on it and arrange it, sometimes expanding it with new pieces of music that were composed in another moment , but seem to be a part of this very song. This gets me to a strange conclusion and sort of a theory- that the music is floating somewhere in the air and artists are the chosen ones who posses the ability to catch them and bring them out from the inner dimension. The only problem is that In my head I hear the Big Music and when I try to play it with anything humans created and called instruments-it is always a very frustrating experience to realise that we are not capable of reconstruct the music we hear inside - so the music we hear recorded on the albums is just a poor copy of the big music we hear inside us. You never know what can influence you: this maybe a dream, a street noise a conversation, a song, a book a film – but all these inspirations are parts of our everyday life. Everything what creates a certain mood, what makes us feel emotions inside is an influence. These experiences are driven out of time. Something I experienced two years ago can influence the song I will compose on my next album. It is unpredictable. I possess some inborn qualities, some urge to compose, to express myself, to give something to the people, to share. So putting the band together was a natural consequence. I never planned to play in a band only because I dreamed to be like my favourite bands. Besides, when you look at the list of my favourites on HYPERLINK http://www.satelliteprog.com www.satelliteprog.com You will see that It would be very hard to decide what music should I play without this inner guiding voice.
		Will we be able to see Satellite on the road this year? No, satellite is just the studio project. Maybe something will change after releasing of the second album.
		If you could change one thing that would make a big difference for the success of Satellite, what would it be? Nothing. I always give people the best I could possibly achieve and create in particular moment.
		What are your future plans? No concerts. I am beginning to think about the second album. But I do not know what shape it would take. Music is my guiding light and music is unpredictable.
(Geert Oldenmenger)