Phantom, or Bartosz, is a young producer from Warsaw, Poland, who has been showcasing his efforts off his latest 4-track release on Silverback Recordings entitled “EP2”. You can hear a variety of sounds in this mammoth sized release with genres like Grime and UK Funky. My favorite tune off this release is certainly “Gothic“. The track distinguishes itself from the others because it holds a mellow sound, yet still has that dirty dancing vibe. The forthcoming EP has already gained support by some big names in the industry like Canblaster, Brenmar, Roundtable Knights, Teki Latex and many others. Take a look at what they had to say about the release.
Canblaster: “I really like Ceremony, the piano reminds me of some video games I used to play”
Brenmar: “Yo!!! I LOVE Gothic!!!”
Round Table knights: “Thanks so much for this! Really love the A1 [Ceremony]! Yeahhh”
Dubbel Dutch: “Gothic is the jam! Really diggin it”
The EP is out on 12” vinyl and is quickly approaching its release date on January, 16th. Till then, you can stream the full release down below. As an added bonus, take a peep at my interview with the young man. I had the opportunity of discussing a variety of things and found him to be one of the coolest people I’ve ever had the chance to chat with.
THE PHANTOM – EP2 PREVIEW by Silverback Recordings
First off, what was ‘life’ before turning to music? Tell us about yourself !
I’m making music for some time now. At first it used to be cut & paste mastermixes & bastard pop, but things have slowly changed about 2-3 years ago. Apart from that, I did my Master’s thesis on ‘ritual humour’ in Tudor England this year.
Being from Poland, what is the electronic dance music scene like? Is the scene still growing or is it a well established one?
It’s still growing but getting really strong these days. The tech/house scene is doing great, with new labels started by both Catz n Dogz (Pets Recordings) and Marcin Czubala (Your Mama’s Friend). There’s a fair amount of arguably new producers establishing their names this year – Kuba Sojka (make sure you check out his long-awaited album on Mathematics), Viadrina (Discobelle, Klasse) or Chmara/Winter (Pets). The ‘bass-oriented’ scene fell a bit behind with actual releases, yet I’m really feeling all the new Sentel dubs, Umba, Zeppy Zep and the impressive roster of Concrete Cut Records, with Deam as my favourite pick.
Has the city of Warsaw inspired your music?
Yes, definitely. Since I moved to Warsaw about 2 years ago, my range of influences slightly changed. I used to hate it, but fell in love after a while. I adore its lonely mix of skyscrapers, commercial buildings and communist architecture, especially at 3AM. The Devil Mix of ‘Arctic’ (and partially its video – see www.guadalu.pe) is the perfect example of a direct inspiration with such night-gazing. I’m not really a fan of adding stories to my music, but Warsaw definitely helps making it sharp and gives it this lonely feel.
Tell us about your second EP on Silverback Recordings? It has already landed support by some big names like Canblaster, French Fries, Brenmar and Dubbel Dutch. What was the influence behind this record?
Yes, been lucky enough to gather support from a few already. The EP is coming out mid January as a 12″, cut by the one and only Sam at Precise Mastering, with a full colour sleeve by the multi-talented Zeppy Zep aka Michal Bedkowski, who also happens to be a graphic designer. As for the influences – it’s rather a collection of moods than a concept feature. They’re ranging from some early grime concepts (‘Gothic’), Tangerine Dream (‘Late Night Sex’ – a bonus track), a play on commercial 90’s house a la MTV’s The Grind (‘Ceremony’), UK Funky and Ken Ishii (‘Voyeur’) or Mr. Fingers x Prince (‘Colossus’). All delivered within the context of certain production tropes.
THE PHANTOM – OCKHAM’S RAZOR (Pets Recordings) by The Phantom
How often are you in the studio? and on the topic of studios, what are you using?
Just a pair of ears and a laptop. I don’t use any hardware really, so I’m ‘in the studio’ on a daily basis.
Who would you collaborate with if you could (top 3)?
I’m not that good collaborator to be honest.
What do you listen to in your spare time?
Apart from lots of stripped-down house – Polish Jazz, lo-fi tapes, 80’s film soundtracks (‘Manhunter’, ‘The Keep’, Carpenter films), drone, kraut rock and dystopian 3 AM pop (take Madonna’s ‘The Look of Love’ for example). Also, I recently recorded this CD mix that sums up some of my folk-prog-pop collection http://www.mixcloud.com/junoucast/junoucast-29-bartosz-kruczynski-music-to-dream-by/ .
Do you have any other hobbies apart from music?
I watch a lot of films. Some of my recent favourites are Mario Bava’s ‘Cani arrabbiati’ (aka ‘Rabid Dogs’) and ‘Searching for the Wrong-Eyed Jesus’ documentary. I think my ‘best of’ would, however, consist of a bit more surreal selection like ‘El Topo’, ‘The Color of Pomegranate’ or ‘Pafnucio Santo’. Apart from films – not many hobbies, I’m a fan of architectural photography to some extent (hence the ‘Arctic’ video idea). I also run a Tumblr on Polish music & contemporary art – http://allthatpolishjazz.tumblr.com/.
Has your sound changed since your initial efforts?
As for the sound itself and its aesthetics – not really. I always keep the production arguably raw, dry, a bit demo-ish and put focus on melody rather than beats. My music used to be classified as Funky, but since my second release (a remix for Supra1, Trouble & Bass 12″) was a 140 bpm breakbeat/grime/jazz track, my range of styles stays more or less the same.
THE PHANTOM – ARCTIC (VOCAL MIX) (Senseless Records) by The Phantom
How do you think EDM will evolve in the coming years?
I’m not sure there is any evolution in terms of the actual sound (apart from the compression and the focus on sub levels). What makes EDM exciting these days is the evolution of the context and the results of adapting genres within your own environment much quicker than in the pre-Internet era. I mean, Girl Unit and US commercial rap & r n b, Addison Groove and footwork, even Bok Bok & L-Vis being influenced by the Trouble & Bass sound in their early days, while the latter trying to develop their own take on darker UK garage. While I’m writing this – I’m listening to Gant-Man’s Baile Funk influenced juke.
Do you like to cook?
I love it! Especially with my girlfriend. While she could be a chef already, I’m getting better and better.
Drink of choice?
Red wine, dry. It’s depressing how often clubs don’t have any wine at all.
THE PHANTOM – CONNECT THE DOTS (Senseless Records) by The Phantom
Funniest/ Weirdest experience since your introduction to the EDM world?
Excluding all the party stories. Erm… was taking photos with Zeppy Zep and his girlfriend in front of the locked Fool’s Gold headquarters in Brooklyn, which was basically right next to our hotel. Suddenly Nick Catchdubs (Fool’s Gold boss) appeared with the keys in his hand, opened the door and handed us some giveaways on the label. This was quite surreal.
Lastly, thank you for your time. Do you have any final words to your fans?
Always a pleasure. Final words – ‘Don’t Drive Drunk‘.
Also enjoy a free download of his latest track “Late Night Sex” !
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