POLMUZ

The combination of the touching roughness of old electronics with a folk trance is the most accurate summary of the Polmuz band's performance, made by the New Tradition Festival's jury in 2018. In the competition organized by Polish Radio, Polmuz won the first prize and a special prize. As the musicians themselves emphasize, they try to recreate the old trance of folk music, which arose from everyday life and various rituals and ritual forms in their playing. The musicians of that time did not use instruments to create folk music. They just made their music.

Since the beginning of its activity, Polmuz has been using its creative material about hundred-year-old folk music recordings from southern Wielkopolska – Śrem, Poznań and the surrounding area. They were made purely mechanically (that is – without electric current) on shellac plates. It took a lot of work to digitize these works. Trance, circular structure, and a hefty dose of madness are how they tell about their first impressions after hearing them. If they didn't know where they came from, they would have fired without hesitation: India! The recordings were made at dances – you can hear the voices of people playing and the clatter of shoes while jumping.

Primordial improvisation, ritual trance and brutal narration constitute a futuristic vision of Polish folk music. The musicians included old analogue synthesizers, modern instruments and electronics in their performances. It's our rock and roll mixed with tradition – the performers explain. Their debut release entitled "Drzewiej" consists of two albums containing the same songs in different versions. Polmuz has performed at the Off Festival, Malta Festival, Solidarity of Arts and Ethno Port, and the Agnieszka Osiecka Concert Studio and the National Institute Audiovisual Warsaw.