Stream exclusive premieres from Kuba Sojka’s highly anticpated LP

 
Music

Listen to Kuba Sojka's new album blind and you'd be forgiven for thinking you'd unearthed a Detroit classic. The Polish producer has grasped Motor City's electronic soul to near perfection, travelling from emotional, string drenched depths to industrial snarling peaks. As such the name Multiple Faces is pretty apt – over 7 tracks Sojka offers a range of moods that show a producer as at home whispering through the headphones as he is banging out on dancefloors. It's no surprise that anticipation amongst techno heads has been running high for the forthcoming vinyl release, and we're very happy to be premiering two tracks today that illustrate the depth of the record; the wistful Forgotten Places, a nostalgic sprawl that calls to mind the monoliths of mythology, and the corrosive Instinct, a hardened banger from the Belgian school of serrated stabbing synths. We also thought we'd take time to chat to Sojka – heads get set to take note of that kit list…

 

Give us a bit of background on yourself – where are you from, where are you now?

I come from a Polish post industrial regions where once operated a number of coal mines and heavy industry. I currently live in Tychy (20 km from Katowice) and have been in music production for a few years. I've been playing instruments since childhood (piano, trumpet) and studied at music school. For 5-6 years I've run my music career under my real name, but before I produced experimental music as Psi-Acoustic. So far I have had the opportunity to work with many labels: Matrix Records (Detroit), Mathematics Recordings (Chicago), Stay Underground it Pays (Paris) and of course Dogmatik (London).

Mulitple Faces sounds like a lot of it’s been made on analogue kit – is that the case? What’s your set up?

In my studio you can find devices such as JX-305, Roland, Korg Poly800, Waldorf Blofeld, Arturia Microbrute Boss Dr660, a few other drum machines and tape recorders. I love analog technologies but of course also uses digital technologies, I think that is the best combination.

What was the first electronic record you ever heard? How did it make you feel?

I do not remember what it was exactly, I think that the earliest electronic music I had a chance to hear was Jean Michel Jarre, when I was about 5-6 years old. For sure my brain could not understand these sounds, how it was done.

There’s a lot of Detroit influence on the record, do you have any favourite Detroit tracks that were influences? 

I have a huge fondness for recording Derrick May and Carl Craig and especially the BFC project. I think that such recordings have a large influence on this album.

And what was the music of your teenage rebellion?

I passed through many stages of music, and had an adventure with rap but, ultimately, my "rebellion" finished on strong sounds of Underground Resistance

What’s the worst thing about making music?

I have no problems with it, but for someone who is a novice it's probably the lack of knowledge. But that's not a negative trait, because they can probably break the barriers and the current trends.

Who would you say has been the most influential artist of the 21st century?

I think that the most innovative artist is, of course, Jeff Mills and his whole philosophy about music, Aphex Twin is also a revolutionary but going even further, perhaps the most important step was built by Kraftwerk.

Do you DJ as well as produce?

I'm not a DJ, I don't play at all, but of course I love vinyl and I collect it. During my shows I improvise a lot by using the computer as the brain of the whole setup and external instruments such as synthesizers, drum machines, giving me the freedom to express myself. 

What was your last day job? Do you still do it?

My last day at work? in a music store, it has since focused on music production and career.

Why release the album as vinyl only?

It will also be available in a different format but you still have to wait a while

Do you have a favourite track on Mulitple Faces?

My favorite track is Soulmate, and Introvert

Anything else we should know?

Soon the track Soulmate will also appear as a video, which is being made by the very capable artist and photographer Pawell Uniatowicz "Papu Rapu". We have a very similar way of thinking about the use of both analog and digital techniques, so I suspect that the effect will be really great.


Kuba Sojka's Multiple Faces is out now via DMK. Buy here