The Secret of Wojciech Waglewski
This kind of a surprise was impossible to keep, one would think. Nevertheless, TOFIFEST, a festival that cannot exist without rebellious artists, did that. Wojtek Waglewski was genuinely surprised, when walking up the stage to receive an award for artistic insolence. There are but few, who have the courage to find balance between the stage and a film set. Waglewski is certainly one of such people – enthusiasts of alternative genres and filmmakers alike, the latter of which invite him to their film projects, find his music delightful.
Music has been a companion in the life of Wojtek Waglewski ever since he started studying, when a series of various artistic experiments finally led to the establishing of Voo Voo. This legendary band combing rock and folk music made its début during Jarocin Festival, in 1985. Back then, the band perfectly corresponded to the principles of the festival, which attracted musicians strongly opposing the political system of the time, who craved for freedom and enraged at the stagnation of the grey, boring, and oppressive reality of the Polish People's Republic. When remembering that moment, Waglewski commented: Zbigniew Holdys told me that I needed to go to Jarocin and kick the shit out of them. In over thirty years of their musical activity, the musicians of Voo Voo have created twenty-five albums, among which there are some certified as gold records, such as Voo Voo i Haydamaky (2009), or Dobry wieczor (2014). However, their music has remained difficult to pigeonhole, to this day. The group continues to venture into different genres, which only makes their fanbase grow bigger.
Waglewski could easily become one of the music celebrities and find fulfilment as a showman, but he does not find that interesting. He is allergic to showing off against advertising boards and hates tabloids. The only place he can fulfil himself is the stage, where can experience metaphysical contact with people, rather than put on a cheap pop show. He also hates any labels. Every time somebody calls him “the Polish Sting,” he goes crazy.
This winner of the Fryderyk Award is no stranger to cinema, too. In addition to acting episodes (-for example, in “Hijacking of Agata”, a drama directed by Marek Piwowski), composing film music plays an important role in his artistic life, and that is recognised and applauded not only by filmmakers, but also by audiences and film critics. The music composed for “Kroniki domowe,” a film directed by Leszek Wosiewicz, for which the Polish Film Academy nominated the musician for Polish Film Awards: Eagles, in 1999, clearly shows that.
Waglewski is an unpredictable man and happens not to mince his words. He is capable of speaking his mind bluntly, for example when defining television as “propaganda and soap opera bullshit,” or accusing politicians of “punching below the crotch.” He protests loudly against ignoring his friends from the artistic community by the media, because he believes that “they have sold more albums than all the celebrities advertised in public television, put together.”
The rebellious character of Wojciech Waglewski has passed on his sons, i.e. Fisz (Bartosz) and Emade (Piotr), who have been very active on the music scene as a hip-hop duo Fisz Emade Tworzywo, since 2002. The work of this ensemble has broken from the convention of trivial, cheap, and schematic mainstream music, just as their father did.
Rafal Bujalkowski
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