Episode 26: Live From Warsawza

We're back from Warsaw, Poland, where we recorded this episode live at the 24th edition of Unsound Festival. Our guests are the Polish composer Piotr Kurek, visual artist Wilhelm Sasnal, and Unsound co-founder Mat Shulz, who joined us to discuss a piece commissioned for this year's festival titled WARSAWZA. It's a wide-ranging and fascinating conversation involving David Bowie, the Polish state folk ballet, the nature of music influence and interpretation, and more.

As the story goes, in 1976, David Bowie wandered off a train in Warsaw and was captivated by a record of local folk music, which he would go on to reinterpret with Brian Eno on the Low track “Warsawza.” Fifty years later, Unsound commissioned Kurek and Sasnal to again reinterpret the original folk song through music and visuals, accompanied by the Slask Song & Dance Ensemble, who made its original recording. As it turns out, the story of "Warsawza" itself has now become a piece of local legend, and there was much to unpack.

On one hand, Unsound's WARSAWZA reclaims a Polish song that Bowie tended to describe more like a hazy, distant dream than actual source material for his composition, raising questions about crediting, co-optation and the creative process. On the other hand, today’s music business has become litigious to the point of misunderstanding how artistic ideas are created and exchanged. We were intrigued by where this work fits into those conversations, and making connections to how contemporary AI products invisibilize lineages and boost ahistoricism. Across an hour with Kurek, Sasnal and Shulz we reflected on all of the above, and took questions from the crowd too. Hope you enjoy this conversation as much as we did, and thanks again to Unsound for having us. Below are some links to Polish music referenced in the intro, too.

Piotr Kurek: https://piotrkurek.bandcamp.com

Slask Song & Dance Ensemble: https://www.youtube.com/ZESPOLSLASKOFFICIAL

Traditional Polish village music archives on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@muzykaodnaleziona

Radical Polish Ansambl: https://radicalpolishansambl.bandcamp.com/album/nierozpoznana-wie-2

Tercet Imperial: https://instantclassic.bandcamp.com/album/prymat