Majka Jeżowska celebrates its 45th anniversary during its second day Polsat Hit Festival. At the Forest Opera we will hear the greatest hits and… the latest duet with Malik Montana. Listen to the entire conversation:
Oliwia Kopcik: First of all, I can't help but ask where you get this energy on stage.
Majka Jeżowska: – From space (laughter). Of course, I'm driven by music and my fantastic band, which stands behind me and gives me such musical support that even when I'm tired, I can't even pretend during rehearsal, I just give it one hundred percent. I've been playing with the band for 10 years and this is also our little internal anniversary. Sometimes I wonder if this energy comes from the feeling that I am needed and liked, that I look at people who smile when I sing. It's kind of a gift that I can share my music and that someone likes it.
Your songs, which have already gained cult status, were theoretically created for children, but it seems to me that they are for both young and old ones, which was best demonstrated by the concert at Woodstock.
– Exactly! And I'm very happy that more and more people notice it and don't see me as a babysitter, but as a singer who has created an extraordinary repertoire. Because these songs were actually written with children in mind, but I was always responsible for the music, and the lyrics were written for me by the most outstanding people in Poland – Agnieszka Osiecka, Jacek Cygan, Jerzy Bielunas, Justyna Holm, Jacek Skubikowski. They wrote custom texts for me. For example, I said: “Listen, I play concerts for children, I miss a song about how we have to take care of our planet.” Because children need to be taught through play, through songs. For example, “My planet” is an ecological song, it is sung at ecological festivals by adults.
And it is extraordinary that this repertoire, which for many years was considered children's songs, through concerts with my rock band, shows that these are very universal songs and for everyone who cares about valuable lyrics that say something. Not only about myself, about love, about the pain after a breakup, but about some humanitarian things. And my songs are like that.
At Woodstock, to be honest, looking at the audience – there were almost a hundred thousand adults – I was shocked that they remembered the words. And they too were shocked that they remembered! Some collective identity of these people was unlocked, they remembered their childhood. Then they wrote to me: “Ms. Majko, I didn't know that I knew all your songs.” This is an intergenerational relay race. I hope that at my anniversary concert today during the Polsat Hit Festival it will be similar – that the audience will sing all the songs with me.
Today we will hear you in a few duets, and I would like to ask about another collaboration – with Swiernalis, who in my opinion is very underrated on the Polish scene.
– ABOUT! Paweł Swiernalis was at my concert at Woodstock! Then he shyly got around to writing to me on Instagram, offering me a rework, i.e. a song he had already recorded and wanted to re-release as a duet. And I liked this song very much. I'm a very open person, musicians also know that if I like something, I don't care about whether it's right for me, whether it's right for me or whether it won't spoil my image, I just go for it. I think that Paweł is a great artist, he writes great, unique texts, of course he is underestimated, like most artists who have something to say in a slightly different way than commercial ones. That's why I support him so much. Maybe at the next concert I can invite him as a guest!
We just got a duet with Malik Montana, can we count on some new stuff in the near future?
– Yes Yes! This is such a signal to the audience. Thanks to this duet with Malik Montana, I have the impression that I am being discovered by young people, the so-called Malik Army, who say: “Oh my, what a combination, Mrs. Majka is cool, how cool she sounds.” I'm slowly getting rid of the label of a children's lady, and I haven't written songs for children for a long time, and I don't perform for children. This duet is a signal to the audience that there will be new songs, new collaborations, not only with rappers.
I had a great time working with Malik Montana, he invited me to his studio, we spent many hours polishing the lyrics, because we know it's a pop song, so you have to be careful with the words, make sure the words are pop, make them his, but you have to avoid certain words that can't be found in a pop song (laughter). But it was great to work with, a very nice, wonderful guy. I am very glad that this cooperation took place, and today we will premiere this song, which is already causing a sensation on the Internet.