Interviews: Muzozoic

On this new occasion, we have had the opportunity to interview the Instrumental Jazz Rock band Muzozoic from Poland. Check out the interview and follow the band on their FACEBOOK PAGE.

1. Where did you get the idea for the band name, you plan it or come out just like that?

When we started to play as a new band, we didn't care about the band name at all :) Then, before the first gig, we chose the name Grzyby (eng. Mushrooms) - it was a reference, hint, allusion to other older (from 70, 80's) Polish jazz-rock progressive-rock bands "Krzak" (eng. bush, shrub) and "Mech" (eng. moss)... So our name was a complement to that "forest trio" ;) Then we started to think about some new, more serious, international, and "our own" name. Lucas, as a philologist, proposed a few names (also Jazock and Fuzock, which later became album titles). We choose the name Muzozoic because of our reminiscences on MUsic and old ages, our "retro style", excavations of our hidden, musical ideas.

2. Why did you want to play this genre?

It is a straight result of our love and inspiration by jazz, jazz-rock, progressive rock, and symphonic music (mainly bassist Tomasz Maryniak)... Also, it is a genre, which requires musical, technical, and filling skills development. It is very important for us as human characters, our nature...

3. Did you know each other before the band was formed?

Yes, sure, mainly Tomasz and Konrad, because they are brothers. I have known boys for more than 20 years when they have invited me to Helikopter - our first, rock band.

4. Each band member's favorite band?

Lukas: when I was 13 years old, I heard the first album of Mahavishnu Orchestra. The door opened...That moment was a symbolic "the end" of my earlier interests (rock, metal), and simultaneously the beginning of my exploration of absolutely new, unknown, and fascinating musical spaces. Then I started to seek other jazz-rock bands from the '70s and I found, for example, Return To Forever, Brand X, Zappa, King Crimson, polish Extra Ball, SBB, Michal Urbaniak, Czechoslovak Jazz Q, Fermata, Macedonian Den za Den... Seventies jazz-rock is an infinite musical searching area... I love it and I'll stay there.

Tomasz: Esbjorn Svensson Trio - I'm very sad they never will play, Forq, Jaga Jazzist. I like music which makes our friends from Lodz: Marek Kądziela, Wojtek Stanisz, Irek Wojtczak, and others. Sometimes I just like to listen to The Police! 

Konrad - Masters of electric guitar: Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, The Aristocrats.

5. Who or what inspires you to write songs?

Lukas: My inspirations come from dreams, from some kind of "flashes", sitting and playing "something" on guitar, and also from everyday sounds, like conversations, birds singing, sounds of city or nature...

Tomasz: Colors, shapes, moods, climate, weather, sensations... Or a mathematical calculation. Then composing is like solving a logical puzzle.

6. Where was your last gig?

Our last gig was before the 2020 year. Lockdown broke our concert plans, so after a few months we started recording the LP "Fuzock:". Before that, we played concerts at jazz and rock clubs in Poland.

7. Where would you like to act?

We would like to act in places, where people love jazz, jazz-rock, progressive rock, and other similar styles. There, were audience understood our phrases, allusions, and quotes. Or just there, where people want to go deep into our visions... We want to share our music with as large an audience as possible!

8. Whom would you like to feature with?

Many great bands play in a style similar to ours: Forq, Hippo, Snarky Puppy, and GoGo Penguin. But we would love to play with Jaga Jazzist. This is a great Norwegian group that performs well on large stages and in intimate clubs. I think that their music combined with ours would give listeners a lot of satisfaction and good energy. Besides, Jaga Jazzist is a large orchestra, so there will be plenty of room for the three of us on the stage that will accommodate them!

9. Have any of you ever suffered from stage fright? Any tips for beginners on how to beat that?

Stage fright in this job is normal. Mike Oldfield needed special therapy to deal with it! There is no one perfect way to deal with stage fright. Some people are helped by meditation, others by exercise or a cup of tea. Tamed stage fright allows you to mobilize yourself and concentrate on the music before the concert. You just have to get used to it and maybe even like it. My stage fright disappears as soon as I play the first note! Tip for beginners? The more fun you have playing together, the more fun your audience will have, and minor flaws don't matter!

10. What bands have inspired you the most?

Our previous album "Jazock?" begins with a motif played on warr guitar in a style reminiscent of King Crimson. It was our nod to the great masters. We are inspired by musical styles rather than specific artists. So, next to the "crimson sounds", there were swing, rock, jazz, progressive, and even a bit of reggae in "Counting-out Rhyme" and heavy metal in the song "Mastodon"! "Fuzock:" featured oberek dance elements - Polish folk dance and samba, sounds of nature, whole-tone scale, and brass - to which we were inspired by the band Brass Against.

11. What do you think of your fans?

It's nice that they find something for themselves in our music. I think they are sensitive and intelligent people, because instrumental music requires imagination and abstract thinking from the listener, and on the other hand, they love rock energy.

12. What do you think of our site?

You are doing a very good thing. You promote interesting, valuable, and diverse music and allow lesser-known artists to become widely known. I really like the fact that you don't recognize borders and you have artists from all over the world. As Muzozoic, we are happy to be part of this big international family.

13. Something to add?

Thank You!