Wiktor Fejkiel, Interia Muzyka: The FAMA Festival is an iconic and legendary place on the map of Poland – a quite unique meeting space, mainly for debutants and searching artists who are just taking their first steps in the industry. How do you feel about playing on this stage, from the perspective of a band that already has extensive experience and an established position on the market?
Daniel Moszczyński, Bibobit: – It’s a beautiful feeling when someone sees you in such a style and invites you to this festival. From the beginning of its creation, we chose an unconventional path. There were no calculations involved – we just wanted to create and play things that we would like to listen to. Without too much analysis, we entered the world of sounds we love, and the invitation to FAMA is probably a natural consequence of those choices. This is a truly great honor for us. I must admit that over the years I have admired many bands playing in Świnoujście and I thought to myself: “damn, maybe one day the time will come for us too” (laughter). Well, that moment has come, which is great.
Do you feel that this characteristic seaside atmosphere of FAMA will allow you to take a deep, nomen omen, breath (laughter)?
– I believe so. We are a band whose members are scattered all over Poland, so we relatively rarely have the opportunity to just be together. FAMA gives us a unique space to meet each other. We gathered for rehearsals to prepare new songs for this concert – including extensive brass sections – which will be played in Świnoujście for the first time. We also had dinner together and just spent time together. Straight from rehearsals, we pack into the car and go to the seaside. Tomorrow, after the morning rehearsal, we will have a dozen or so hours off – time for a walk to the seaside and celebrating our common band life outside the stage and recording studio.
Soon it will be a year since the premiere of your third album “Wdech”. Are you planning to celebrate this “first anniversary”?
– We have a surprise! In the context of “Wdech”, we recorded a lot of material outdoors – live sessions and performances in unconventional places. Not all of them found their way online, so on the anniversary of the album’s release, we want to take it out of the drawer and give the listeners something extra. At the same time, we are already thinking hard about the next album – we are about halfway there. The drums and most of the keyboards are already recorded, as well as most of the vocals, and Bartek Pietsch is currently refining the bass parts. We plan to start mixing around October and November, so it is possible that new material from Bibobit will appear on the airwaves next year.
Looking back on the past year, would you admit that “Wdech” is your most important album to date? I’m not asking if he was the best, because that’s always a subjective matter, but do you feel that he was crucial for you?
– This is certainly an important step forward. I look at albums as the closing of certain stages, and “Wdech” was the moment when a clear point was made. I like him very much. We spent hours working on this material – I myself spent a lot of time on the lyrics, making sure that each word had its place. And I’m actually quite critical of my own work and I don’t release things that my inner critic has doubts about. This album is also highly refined visually – from the cover, through music videos, to live sessions. It reflects the path we have traveled and the maturity we have reached. I’m also glad that we released it on vinyl, because it has a lot of sentimental value for me.
After playing so many concerts with this material, do you feel that these songs have taken on a new life?
– When creating music in the studio or at the computer, we never know exactly how a given piece will perform in front of the audience. Some compositions surprised me with an extremely positive reaction. There are also songs that sound great on the album, but require adequate space during concerts. With short festival performances lasting less than an hour, it’s hard to fit everything in. For example, I like the song ” Moje Czas” very much, but when we play “Pytania???”, it’s hard to find a place for it in the setlist due to the dynamics of the concert. It’s similar with the song “Lęk” – it works great for longer performances, but during a festival performance we have to select the material more carefully.
Now let’s look at your work a little more broadly. The album “Wdech” is perfect proof of the unique combination of funk, jazz, electronics and hip-hop – it is an album that is incredibly difficult to define by genre, which is probably its best showcase (laughter). How does this music, full of ambiguity, work live?
– Forgive my lack of modesty, but it seems to me that Bibobit in its concert version has the greatest impact – I conclude this from people’s reactions. A lot of people come across us at festivals completely by accident, having no idea that we exist, and after the concert they come up and say: “Listen, I don’t know what you’re actually playing and it’s hard for me to classify it, but the way you do it appeals to me incredibly.” Or someone admits that they don’t like jazz or hip-hop, but this version sounds fascinating to them (laughter).
Which seems to be quite typical reactions when listening to bands that are not afraid to improvise live…
– By entering the stage, we give ourselves great freedom and allow for the risk that is inherent in this improvisation. We like to feel this uncertainty and sometimes we consciously trick each other. The listener feels subcutaneously that something unique is happening – that this is not a typical template: verse, chorus, bridge and double chorus. We simply open a can and out of it come things that no one has ever thought about before. We are not afraid to take a turn into the unknown and rock this boat hard, even if it were to capsize for a moment.
And what does it look like in the recording studio when composing new materials? Where do you think the line is between bold mixing of genres and chaotic excess?
– I believe in the truth of the message and spontaneity. When we make records, a lot of things are born in the moment. Recently I worked on keyboards with Adam Lemańczyk, who didn’t even really want to know what exactly he was supposed to play. We would launch projects and he would pick up the chords very quickly or change them right away. We give each other permission that even if someone brings a ready-made idea, we do not order it to be played note by note. When everyone adds a part of themselves, their taste and emotions, the most beautiful things are born. If intuition tells us that something is scratching us inside in this positive way – we leave it. Whether or not the audience will approve of it is sort of no longer our concern. We are here to create music and we are glad that so many people can resonate with it so well.
You mentioned at the beginning of the interview that your fourth album is already on the way. So can we expect anything new from you this year?
– We will actually discover the first cards at FAMA. We plan to present at least two, and maybe even three, premiere songs. Unless something goes wrong during rehearsals and we panic, which I sincerely doubt (laughter). Around October we are going to live sessions to refine and record this material. We will probably start sharing new products at the beginning of the new year, because – as I mentioned earlier – in the fall we want to show the world “Wdech” in slightly different arrangements. However, we feel a great need to create new material and hence the rush.
Have you chosen a surprising, unusual sound direction on the upcoming album, or are you focusing on perfecting your current, characteristic style?
– It will still be the classic Bibobit. We don’t want to cheat the listeners who have been with us for many years and are waiting for what we have become famous for. However, I notice a stronger development of electronic threads. Our keyboardist, Adam Lemańczyk, invested in new instruments and when he brought them to the session, we all went crazy. So it will be a bit more electronic. On the acoustic side – on “Wdech” the transverse flute appears in several songs – now we want to highlight it even more. We have noticed that it works brilliantly in live versions, bringing a lot of softness and airiness where a full brass section can be too heavy.
I also have to ask you about the song “Wilk”, which, although it was released almost 7 years ago, is still most often mentioned in the context of your work. Did you expect at the creation stage that it would be so successful?
– It’s definitely a number that works phenomenally well at concerts. When you play a new song for the first time – I like to call it “deflowering” the song in a way – it’s the moment of truth. You have something saved in a session on your computer, you are sitting in the studio and this sound somehow turns you on, arouses emotions, scratches you inside. But until you put it in front of an audience, you never know what’s going to happen. “Wolf” has incredible power – I really like playing it, we often choose it for an encore. Its impact probably lies in its characteristic singing – easy to repeat even by someone who does not know the lyrics at all. I often hear that when the last sounds fade out, people leave the concert with this motif on their lips. Maybe this simple connection with the audience is the key to his success…
It’s no wonder that when working on “Wdech” you decided to give it a second life by inviting Kuba Badach to cooperate…
– Originally, we invited Kuba Badach to record the song “The Power of Words”. However, when I entered the studio, I prepared a demo version of “Wilk” as a plan B. You know, not every cooperation ends immediately with complete success and both parties must feel that this is exactly what it is. Initially, Kuba had some reservations about “The Power of Words”, wondering whether he would be included in this issue. I was calm, but I preferred to have an ace up my sleeve (laughter). When he came out of the control room after recording the vocals for “The Power of Words”, we all knew it was brilliant. Then the recording engineer said: “And the second number?” I said that the plan had been completed, and Kuba replied: “Come on, when will we see each other in the studio again?” I played him “Wolf” and he immediately fell into this song. Thanks to this, the song gained a new, unique incarnation, which didn’t particularly surprise me, because Kuba is a brilliant artist and we catch a great glimpse – I think so (laughter).
Finally, returning to the FAMA Festival and the young, searching artists with whom your paths will undoubtedly cross. If you could give one piece of advice to aspiring musicians who are still experimenting with their sound – what should they avoid at all costs?
– I approach being an artist as a kind of mission. If you feel it inside, you have to accept the fact that things won’t always be rosy and that your big dreams may never come true. The most important thing is to build an unwavering belief in yourself: what I really want, where I am going, why I go on stage and what I have to convey to people. If you feel that this is your calling and you will do it regardless of whether it is good or bad – you will cope. Nobody should tell you how to play or write. You do it the way your heart tells you, because at the end of the day, you are the one who gets on stage, you represent yourself and your band, and you are the one who has to defend your own lyrics and music. This is the most important thing – without a sense of this mission, you simply will not succeed.