Východiska: Pop ako zakázané ovocie

Rovnako ako u Dawida Szczesného aj príbeh Adama Byckowského má vo svojej podstate až akýsi spirituálny rozmer prerodu a hľadania, ktoré je spojené so zmenou prostredia. Pokiaľ nám Dawid Szczesný v rozhovore tvrdil, že jeho projekt Normal Echo je skôr skúškou odvahy spievať a byť sólo performér na javisku (keďže ku popovej scéne mal blízko vďaka nečakanému úspechu jeho projektu Niwea v Poľsku), u Adama Byckowského je to skôr o fluktuácií identity a vnútornej potrebe vyjadrovať sa spôsobom, ktorý by jeho dovtedajšie okolie odmietlo.

Szczesného zvukovo zaujímali 80’s vo forme coldwave, u Adama to sú „torch songs“ – 80’s popové balady plné presaturovaných túžob a nenaplnených lások. Ako svoje inšpirácie spomína Phila Collinsa, Sade, Simply Red, alebo Tinu Turner. Jeho vzťah ku 80's popu sa dá charakterizovať ako fascinácia, ktorá niekedy osciluje medzi „guilty pleasure“ a malou dávkou ostentatívnej provokácie. Adam svoj debut nahral a naspieval vo svojej izbe len s použitím laptopu, malých kláves a požičaného mikrofónu.

It's Only You vyšlo na berlínskom vydávateľstve Mansions & Millions, ktoré vydáva zvuk, ktorý je podľa Adama pre Berlín skor netypický. Okolo labelu sa sústreďujú hudobníci zameraní skôr na súčasný pop. Mansions & Millions má hudobne a personálne blízko ku montrealskemu Arbutus Records a hudobným projektom vychádzajúcim na tomto vydávateľstve ako sú TOPS, alebo Sean Nicholas Savage, s ktorými mal Adam turné.

Nakoniec, tak ako aj u Szczesného, sa hľadanie identity stáva hrou – podľa Adama žijeme v dobe, v ktorej sa ironické gestá vnímajú seriózne a prílišná serióznosť sa stáva iróniou. Rozdiel medzi iróniou a rýdzosťou sa už nedá rozoznať. „There will never be real me, it doesnt exist,“ spieva na singli Sentiment svojho debutu, ktorý si môžte vypočuť na Bandcampe.

Pop as a “forbidden fruit”

We have met Adam Byckowski, the Polish musician based in Berlin, in a small Neukölln rehearsel room. His Polish friend Dawid Szczesny played a gig there, presenting Normal Echo, his new project in which he definitively turned away from his former career as an experimental musician, aiming to delve into the territories of pop music.

Adam Byckowski aka Better Person|foto: Morr Music

Also Byckowski has moved to Berlin from Warsaw, with the ambition to work on a solo debut, one which would place him into a radically different sonic territory then he was occupying before. Three years later, the Berlin-based label Mansions & Millions released the result of his self-imposed exile – the six track EP called It’s Only You.

As with Dawid Szczesny, Byckowski’s story also contains elements of an almost spiritual transformation and a quest, which are connected to a change of environment. When Dawid told us in an interview that Normal Echo is a test of his courage to be a singer and solo performer, for Adam Byckowski it is a fluctuation of identity and a need to express himself in a way that was incompatible with his former social environment – the free improv and avantgarde music scene of Warsaw.

Szczesny was interested in the 80’s in the form of coldwave music, while for Adam it is adult pop and “torch songs” - 80’s pop full of saturated longing and unrequited love. Phil Collins, Sade, Simply Red or Tina Turner are the inspirations he names. His relationship towards 80’s pop can be best described as a fascination that sometimes oscillates towards “guilty pleasure” or a small dose of conspicuous provocation. Adam was well aware that his new sonic course might “raise some eyebrows” in his former circles in Warsaw, when he recorded his debut in his room using only a computer, a small keyboard and a borrowed microphone.

It’s Only You was released on the Berlin-based label Mansions & Millions, which focuses on a sound that is according to Adam rather untypical for Berlin, the city of techno. The musicians gravitating around the label focus rather on contemporary pop music. Mansions & Millions is musically and personally close to the Montreal-based Arbutus Records, which releases music of projects such as TOPS or Sean Nicholas Savage, with whom Adam toured under his current moniker Better Person.

In the end, as in Szczesny’s case, the search for an identity becomes a kind of performative game – as according to Adam we live in an age where ironic gestures are considered serious and one can be serious to the point of becoming ironical. The difference between irony and authenticity is gradually harder to perceive. “There will never be real me, it does not exists” he chants on Sentiment, the first single of his debut. You can listen to it on his Bandcamp.