Interview with Same Suki

 Same Suki Interview

Helena VennA Matuszewska

Magdalena Wieczorek

Karol Kolor Gadzało

 

1. To begin with, a little about the band itself - Same Suki - how long have you been in this lineup, how did  it start? How did it develop?

 

 

H.V.M.: Same Suki is a confluence of many events. It started with Magda and Helena meeting and the need to create their own music inspired by traditional folk melodies and the desire to sing their own feminine lyrics. For me, there were the first steps in creating any kind of band. As in any relationship with a long tenure (it's been 12 years of Same Suki) something changes, something stays. Some leave, others come. In the beginning there were five of us girls, as we invited drummer Patrycja, cellist Justyna and ethnic multi-instrumentalist Marta. Our musical paths at some point diverged, and Magda and Helena were permanently joined by Karol - a double bassist, a blacksmith, a sensitive soul, a man with a big, open heart. We like to laugh that he is the biggest Suki (bitch in Polish) of us all. Now Same Suki is a trio, and in this lineup we are playing with each other for the 3rd year.

 

 

M.W.: The new Same Suki began with the arrival of Karol to the band, whose punk ydouble bass playing simply captivated us. Thanks to his masculine energy, we found in ourselves a readiness to let our delicate pieces buried in drawers see the light of day. In earlier lineup it was noisier. The old Same Suki were strongly rebellious, they expressed the need to assert themselves, to fight for their feminine rights. This is still irrelevant, but today we use calmer and minimized means of expression and our message is more mature and deeper.

 

 

Before Karol started playing with us, he was touring with us as a driver, and even then we felt that we were on the same wavelength. When the cellist left the band we thought we wanted her to be replaced by someone playing double bass. Of course, we thought it should be a woman, but we couldn't find any with whom we would play well. Then we decided to open up to guys. That's when the band started from scratch. A new space and sound was created.

 

 

 

 

2. Tell us about your experience with music - what do you do outside the band and how do you develop your own business?

 

 

 

M.W.: In the past, there was a lot of singing and playing in my family home. Every occasion like holidays or birthdays was accompanied by making music together. None of us were trained musicians then, but we simply enjoyed playing and singing together. Everyone played what they could play and the way they knew how. The repertoire ranged from folk music to popular music, jazz standards to opera arias. As a child I imbibed this atmosphere. Then I went to music school, where I grew to dislike playing instruments. Instead, I discovered a passion for singing, which is now my profession and which I love and practice all my life. In addition to playing in the Suki themselves, I am a vocal coach on a daily basis, teaching others how to develop their voices in a healthy way and infecting them with the passion for singing. I also constantly develop myself by taking part in workshops and scientific conferences on voice work. I also have other projects. I am also a full-time mom of a rambunctious 10-year-old and two crazy kitties :)

 

H.V.M.: Each of us, in addition to the Same Suki themselves, creates and is active in several other projects and musical ensembles or does completely different things. Karol is a blacksmith, Helena runs the Skansen Spa with massage and sweat lodging. But we are mainly rooted in musical activities in many spaces - teaching, creating music for others, such as for theatre, conducting workshops, performing with other musicians by invitation. What we create outside of Suki often inspires us to make more creative spurts in our ensemble. It's good to be eclectic in life as well. I think that's what brought us together.

 

 

 

K.K.G.: I've been playing since I was 13 years old. At first in punk lineups and then slowly I went towards jazz .By day I am a blacksmith, I make white weapons and metalwork. I have my forge near Lublin. I am the father of Filip.

 

 

 

3. In your music, one can strongly feel the ethnic/folk shtick - both in the structure itself, lyrics and inspirations - how do you yourselves see this and how do you transfer these inspirations to what you create?

 

 

 

M.W.: I know a lot of folk melodies from home, but there was also a time in my life when I listened to source ethnomusicological recordings. It was from the beginning of Same Suki that they were the starting point, the inspiration. With that said, we wrote our own lyrics to all of them, or gave the old lyrics new interpretations and meanings. Over time, only small quotations were left from the original folk melodies, or only elements that retained character. An important point was to base our music on the sound of folk instruments, with the Biłgoraj Suka at the forefront. This is an old Polish folk instrument, similar to the violin, but played by pressing the strings with your fingernails and holding it on your lap. It is also the Bilgoraj Suka that is responsible for the ethnic shtick.

 

Another reference to traditional music is to address current topics in our lyrics. Folk music served just such a function, accompanying people in their daily lives, commenting on current events, expressing social moods. The same happens in our music. We don't recreate old texts, but write our own about what is current for us today.

 

 

 

H.V.M.: We have always been eclectic as a band, our music cannot be pigeonholed into any particular genre or trend. We use ethnic instruments, the flagship Biłgoraj Suka is still there, and there are also złóbcoki (traditional highland fiddle), but always used in a very unconventional way. In creating songs, we are inspired by folk melodies, but this can be a very loose inspiration. We always sing our own lyrics, although there have been three songs with traditional lyrics throughout our career. They were as strong as if we had written them. ;)

 

The latest album, released in March 2023, is a change so much so that from the earlier, rebellious and strong Bitches came out a pink heart and very delicate, sexy, gentle, though invariably feisty songs. Both lyrically and musically.

 

 

 

K.K.G.: In terms of folk music, I've heard it in Komeda's compositions. I listened to a lot of Afro beat and also listened to a lot of mazurkas and once in the band Miąższ, which I co-founded, we also drew from traditional music.

 

 

 

 

 

4. What captivates me about your work is the very feminine perspective on the narratives in the lyrics and the music itself? Does what's happening in Poland at the moment in terms of politics and cultural background affect your work?

 

 

 

M.W.: Of course! It is impossible to avoid what we live in, even though we would like to be as far away from politics as possible.

 

K.K.G.: The geopolitical situation has an impact on our creativity, because it is impossible to pass by indifferently in the face of increasing censorship in culture .

 

 

 

5. How does the creative process work in the team - from beginning to end?

 

 

 

H.V.M.: Varies, we don't have one way of creative work and we like to leave ourselves a lot of freedom in this regard. Sometimes one of us brings a ready-made idea for a song, with melody, bass, choruses, form. Sometimes we bring some folk melody we've heard, which interests us, something inside us stirs, and suddenly it turns out that someone else's lyrics fit it wonderfully. And sometimes we sit down and just play with each other half the night. From such jams always comes out some outline of a song or even a finished hit.

 

 

 

M.W.: There is no single key. Sometimes a song starts with the lyrics, sometimes with the melody. Sometimes, someone heard something, sometimes they come up with it themselves. On our new album there are songs for which the inspiration, melody or lyrics were brought by each of us.

 

 

 

6. There is always a certain moment of "solidification" on an artist's path when we see what has happened so far and feel some kind of pull in a particular direction - does something like that happen to you as well?

 

 

 

H.V.M.: Of course. That's why after our two "rebellious" and strong albums, it was time for a more mature, musically calmer time. Referring to wandering grandfathers and grandfather songs, we created material that, for all its (for years unchanging) eclecticism and feistiness, is incredibly tender and delicate. It's a bit like washing off thick makeup after a long day - you can finally feel and see your face. Standing in such musical nakedness was a very important and powerful step for us.

 

 

 

7. Future plans?

 

M.W.: To play a lot of concerts :)  and continue to create and record. Maybe a UK tour :)