Hello. - Hello. How are you feeling after this performance? I'm overwhelmed and I don't know what to think yet. It's just... yeah. Too much? - Yes, yes, yes. It was your second time performing with the whole band, right? Yes, yes, yes. - Are you happy with the result? Are you happy with your performance? Well, I think it's a little bit different from what I usually perform and what maybe people know me from. But I have a lot of fun and I think it's something very special. That's why also I was glad that you decided and agreed to perform this because I think it will never happen again with this setup. So it's already filmed and it will last forever a little bit. Yeah exactly, it's totally unique. - Yes. I read in an interview that you were not really into live streams before but during the pandemic you got into it because of you filmed with Arte and Blogotech. What's the most exciting or what's the most interesting part of the live stream for you? I think people can get really close because you are surrounded with cameras or maybe just a phone or maybe it's some other device but usually it's very close so they can really have insight and it's a very rare moment I think for the audience and they can also see like sweating or some mistakes or some laughs or some connection with other musicians and—well they have a very close insight simply. It's interesting and also live stream is about—live. Yes exactly, recording as well. You take great attention in the recording and I also read that for you the recording part is also a creative process. I mean it's also a creation. But in the musical world the record part is sometimes known as something technical and you say a sound engineer, you don't say a sound artist or something more creative. I wanted to ask what's your part of the sound recording? Are you taking care of that or like how do you handle that? Yeah I... Really since a couple of years, I'm really—what you said— taking recording as a creative process and very often,
I'm just improvising a lot and also somehow listening what microphones can tell me or suggest me, and afterwards actually following what I can hear because usually it's also about the instrument they have and the space that I'm in and very often it's very different from my plan and what I planned for the recording session, what I had in mind, and I'm simply usually trying to follow what is there and what, for example, microphone we can use or the position. Sometimes it can be weird, sometimes the piano doesn't sound good in a really good hall and then you need to figure out what to do very quickly and I think this is the only way somehow not to waste your time. But very often the result is fantastic and afterwards, of course, there is also a very fascinating process for me. So producing music and processing all these recordings and sometimes clashing them and overlapping and checking different things and... Usually I just try to improvise also—during recording session and even afterwards. And now after this recording, do you think that you will change something in the mix or you will leave it? Oh I don't know. I'll just listen—well I never know actually how the concert go or how the live stream go because what I have in my in-ears—it's something that it's comfortable for me and it made me perform in a good way and in rhythm and everything to remember about everything. But the older it gets the more relaxed I get, I think, about the mixes and I'm more open and I'm not so over controlling I think. Because I also see perspective of other people, how they see me and how how they interpreted my music. Music is about of course, sound, notes but it's also, I think, at least equally about silence. How is your relationship with silence? It's very important. Somehow, I mean music somehow always comes from silence and I love this transition when—especially today—there was a moment that everyone was waiting to start and there was such an amazing silence and there's such a huge crowd and they were just waiting. They were very excited and I think these are just this amazing moment of connection as well, that we become a part of something bigger and we are one whole when we breathe in the same time and maybe our, you know, pressure and the heart beats is going a little bit slower. And I think this is magic and I always say, it's never a game, like just artists or just audience, it's always a game together. I also saw a lot of questions for you in the online audience. I'm asking one of them now question from Jadzic Mzelski: Did you prepare this particular show in a different way than you usually do it in order for it to be more Cercle-like? I mean... Somehow yes, of course, because first of all we thought about what could fit here and about whole holographic music and also I had to prepare the remix which was actually a lot challenging but in the end I'm quite happy about it and I fell in love in lyrics of the song—I told, I think, somebody before. I really loved it, so congratulations to WhoMadeWho because it's such a great song. But in general, first thing, also what you suggested, it's a bigger setup for me, for this concert and yeah. First thought was maybe strings. But I think I'm now a little bit more into these instruments than strings, so it was maybe something more contemporary for me or, you know, something more connected with me now. I understand. You talked about Abu Simbel, so when we asked you this really particular thing of remixing an electronic music track, we told you I think that you can select any track from the Cercle Records tracks. Why did you select this particular one? I just listened to everything and I chose the song that I liked the most, and there was a vibe that somehow, you know, I can follow. And I love this vibe. I love this song. So it was quite easy. The lyrics, maybe? I always think also what I can add to this music, how I can not ruin it—some of the tracks are just... I don't have so much ideas of how I could contribute and with this one I said, okay—well I don't know yet, but I would love to try. You definitely didn't ruin it. It's a beautiful edit, remix. I can feel that you're really perfectionist, I mean you really know what you want and what you don't want. Well you told me that now, when you're getting older you just relax a bit more—but I wanted to ask you, how do you combine this kind of perfectionism? I don't know if you feel perfectionist, first. We had a talk yesterday with my friend and we, I think I'm a little bit more like controlling person than perfectionist, because I also don't have so much patience very often. But there is, yeah yeah. I have quite a direct image. I think you have something similar! - Yes, yes. Kind of. But I wanted to ask you, how do you combine this—so maybe with the patience—and the way to create in a very demanding and very fast life, artist life, where you need to create fast? You are touring, you also have some maybe some pressure from your fans or maybe from your entourage. How do you combine that? It's a hardcore life. But I love it! I just love music, you know. I think I would just quit it every day because I am so rarely at home, really. And I just compose everywhere but I just love music so much that it's still, you know... Two days ago I was in Luxembourg in a summer festival and I was so happy and with my sound engineer Agata I was like: I will love this work! It's so amazing. So I think this is it. Yeah that's passion. I know that you studied piano since a long time—more than 20 years I think, right? And I also read that for you it was really a rigid education like classical music. Do you think that there are other ways to learn piano or that there should be other ways and which kind of ways should liken how would you change the way to learn piano? With all instruments, it's always the same. I think the voice's the same. I think the school is not necessary but the practice is necessary. And all the musicians that we admire or we like, they all had this practice behind. Because you need to learn how to communicate with this instrument and how it behaves. All instruments are very different and you are different, like physically and emotionally. So it takes a lot of time, simply. And there is something—I mean, you need to be flexible. It's like relationships. So you also need to learn to get, you know, along with each other and the more you know, the better you are. And then you can also express more. So I would say just practice. And schools, some are better some are not. Sometimes it's just playing in the band since you are 10. Like in Iceland, I think it's such a common thing. They don't have so much education maybe at school, but they have so much music just going on: bands and recording, so they are actually already on their path since childhood. It's funny that you speak about Iceland because you have a special relationship with this country, right? - Yes. - It fits really well with your music, I must say. It's because there is a "land" in the end, like Poland and Iceland. Oh! Yeah, maybe. Beautiful video you made in Iceland. - With a French director! With a French director, Neels Castillon. So it's a mixture: France, Iceland Poland. Exactly. Very poetic. Which poets inspires or inspired you? Or do you like poetry? - Poetry? I have... There is one —actually he's a writer, but he writes in a way like poetry and he's Polish but he was translated to quite—at least English and German, I know—and his name is Bruno Schulz. And also there is a movie based on his book "Sanatorium Under the Hourglass", I think? So this thing with the sand? And I really recommend it. It's super weird but it's fantastic and I think it was on the Martin Scorsese's list of must-see movies. So Bruno Schulz. You also have a great eye for photography, a great eye for architecture. I saw your Instagram feed. If you are not a musician, what would you be? I recently thought about it. If something will go wrong with my music, I might do photography of places I think. Because I like places in general, and atmospheres I don't have—I'm really amateur and sometimes people ask me if I have any camera, but I don't also because it's too heavy for touring. But I would love to learn it. And I think maybe I could contribute somehow. Yeah definitely. Last question from the online audience, question from Sephilip: How does she feel about your request of making some electronic music version, and what was the most difficult part in that process? - To be honest I very often get this request about electronic music or sometimes also, collaboration with hip-hop artists. Very often I'm not really satisfied because, for example, hip-hop artists want me to just play very melancholic and sensitive piano and not too much and I would love to expand somehow a little bit more. But with this one, I simply love the melody of—the melody line. And I love the lyrics because there is something very weird in these lyrics and I would love—maybe you can ask the band and tell me afterwards. Okay. Maybe they are watching us. And there is like—because it's like: "only you keeps me going through" like many difficult things, but in the end there is like: "only mothers love the son". So they're sons—or daughters or whatever. So it was so weird for me but also fantastic poetry at some point—like a bit weird connection and not usually, I think, used. So I was just so dived into this this song that I just wanted to create something and I added choruses simply and I felt it's like my contribution —because it's like a man band I think WhoMadeWho— so I just added a little bit of melancholy and just this swingy thing? I don't know, maybe R&B. You'll listen there. It will be released, also the remix. Yeah! I listened to it already. A lot of times. So you will have an opportunity to maybe comment what genre it is. But it's a lot about singing, so actually my main idea was to use voice for rhythm for like narration then actually piano I think and that was the main, like choirs and vocals. Thank you so much Hania. It was such a honor to have you. We've been waiting for that moment for a long time. We've been discussing for a long time. So I'm so happy that we finally made it. - Thank you so much. It's a huge honor. We have a little gift for you. From the location. - Okay! What is it? Actually it's a lot of gifts. - Okay, should I open it? Yes. So you have—yeah, yeah. You can. So it's a small souvenir. Oulala! That's very amazing. Yes. That's to take some notes. For my lyrics and stuff? Oh my god. This is fantastic. And also a small picture from the place. How did you manage to do it here? Oh it was very—to organize the concert? It was difficult? - Extremely difficult. We've been working for three years to get this location. - Okay. - But of course COVID happened, but yeah it was very difficult and but they still trusted us to do it so they wanted a seated concert and also a lot of restrictions. Also I want to take the opportunity to thank the Hotel Des Invalides and Museum of Army to welcome us in this very sensitive, very beautiful and symbolic location. Because, of course, it's really fragile. Also thank all our team for the great discussion and great work they did. And yeah. Very difficult but we did it! Yes. Now I cannot even imagine that we did it actually. Because we're sitting here. But we recorded it and we can watch it again. Yeah thank you so much. - Thank you so much Hania, it was such a pleasure to have you. Thank you so much guys for watching. Thank you also and congratulations to the band for this amazing live performance and we'll see you very soon, somewhere in the world. Bye bye.
