Poland
myspace.com/kirkband
kIRk was formed about year 2000/2001 by three chaps. From companionship to friendship, to music. Base first, then superstructure as Marx said. The foundations were built in the city of Plock, deep inside the guts of the underground techno scene. Experimenting with any musical software Paul (Pawel Bartnik - Samosia Zofia), Lucas (Lukasz Morawski - Insp.Moore) and Karol (Karol Zduniak) could lay their hands on, quickly resulted in their first 4/4 beat. The uncompromising attitude lead them through the toughest and most aggressive recesses of electronic music. A dose of attention which they got from people like Si Begg and Mark Hawkins resulted in first pressings. Neue Heimat, Noodles Institute of Technologies and Coin Operated gave the international audience the first opportunity to hear the sounds of kIRk. Within the borders, techno scene activist known under the name of Feelaz gathered a bunch of people under one flag and formed the Extension team.
As there is strength in unity Berlins legendary Tresor and the famous Sfinks club in Sopot opened their stages to the trio. The sounds were sprawling, the news were spreading, the first articles and reviews were published, but as we know - force writes the most interesting scenarios. Day to day life put Karols musical passion on the sidetrack, he may not twirl the knobs and punch the pads no more, but he’s the honorary life member of the collective. Meanwhile, as they say in comic books, the bands way crossed the path of a young turntablist dj going by the name of Sziwa (Filip Kalinowski). His hip-hop background influenced the sound. The sound changed his attitude to scratch. He entered kIRk as the DoT.BoY and since then the synthetic kick-off flows went along with a rap vibe. The new inspirations gained an audio documentation in a form of a mini album named “Karton+”.
Despite never being released, it became a milestone on the creative way of the collective. Those tracks restated the bands assumptions and outlined their aims and perspectives. Two tracks released on the Ukrainian label Ghetto**** were the harbingers of the new sound. While the over border cooperation took place, the new friendships came along. Common interests and passion for pushing things forward rapidly linked the guys with Evel (Ewelina Bartosik) - a very talented young vocalist and OlG (Olgierd Dokalski) - the trumpeter not bowing to any rules or schemes. They both came in with bombs: “Earwig The City” sang by Evel became the first kIRk video and the “About Simple Things EP” was the first project involving “live” instrument. The EP took the best ideas of the “Karton+” and combined them with fresh concepts and new sounds. Raw beats were balanced by live and breathing trumpet. Daily stories contrasted with the heavy structure. The starting point, which in short can be called "techno", became a much wider formula. Besides the fully author kIRk material, it incorporated the Totally rekIRked Jetlag & Tinnitus Part 1 - samples taken from the whole Si Begg EP and cut into a completely new shape. This track was a digital release on Noodles, the rest was unearthed “only” on the radio waves (on Mary Anne Hobbs’ Experimental on BBC Radio One among others) and the self made demos. “Wiecej Kawy” (“More Coffe”) with Aga MC on the mic became the bands first hit and its powerfull, broken structure gave them full right to the Van Bangerz nickname.
As the kIRkers can’t sit still, after the EP part of the crew got involved in some educational work - a dubwise mixtape which take the audience deep into the music - when it comes to base, as well as history. The one who got deepest was Mr Borman (Artur Borkowski) who laid a few lines on one track and as a result of developments became the second voice of kIRk. With his tuneful flow once more the hip-hop background came to the surface. With his wordplay abilities and “keep it real” mind-set, the uncompromising attitude made a full circle.
As a sextet kIRk went live. Live as never ever before. Laptop sets were put off in the shadow by a full band show. Taking part in festivals like Warsaws Re:Wizje or supporting Coldcut during the Era Nowe Horyzonty in Wroclaw gained the crew new experiences and laid the base for the upcoming LP. Years of practice, different styles and complementary skills form like Voltron.
kIRk is not a project.
It’s a family tied by sound.
