BREAKING A GHOST'S HEART
An interview with KAMP!
Wow, I can't believe that this is how it all started a few weeks ago. If you don't mind, I'd love to send you a few questions over the next few days. And by now I almost feel as if I had known them for much longer already.. I'll take that as the best possible sign! They are - what we would call - Kaloogalomaniacs. Why? Well, because as you'll find out in the following KAMP! is a band that is true and passionate and intense and good. And on top of it all (hey, no kiddin', I'm serious about this!) they are probably the sweetest musicians we've been in touch with for a looong time. But now without further ado we're proud to present a band that will be here in Berlin in less than two weeks playing at NBI! Go see them if you get a chance, KAMP! is a band to remember!
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Hey Tomek! Maria Rybicka took this photo of you guys playing with paper planes. What was it that you really loved playing with most, as little boys?
We all grew up in a socialistic country. Most toys were rather old-fashioned or unattractive, but it didn't matter to us, every plastic soldier, every wooden pistol was a good impulse to play and have fun. We also made paper planes and threw them out of the window, we created sand houses and streets in a sand-pit and turned them into great cities. We played soldiers or Indians and fought against neighbourhood mates.
Of course, we often dreamed about Matchbox cars or Lego bricks, which in fact, appeared in polish toy shops in the late 80's. Sometimes our parents went abroad and brought some of them - it was a real festival of play and happiness. Besides we also appreciated intellectual entertainment like puzzles.
But the best toy ever is football. We can't part with it. It's a huge part of our relaxation before and after our gigs :)
Now, when I listened to songs like "Breaking a ghost's heart" or "Tristesse Royale" it really made me think about the teenage years in their uncompromising emotionality. Is there a particular experience you made as teenagers which later condensed in one of your songs?
Actually, our teenage years were more or less an extremly happy time, so we can't say anything about any particular traumatic experience that made our music sound so emotional.
When it comes to the titles you've mentioned, "Tristesse Royale" is actually much more about our teenage time, than all the others. We wanted to capture the feeling of beeing completely filled with the stuff you intellectually comsume, especially as a young person. The music you listen to, the books you read, the movies you enjoy and all the other things which define your lifestyle and attitude. It's also really hard to get rid of all those influences and sometimes it's like a burden you carry through the rest of your life and that's what the song is about. That's why there are so many qoutations like "life on mars" or "golden years" which refer rather to David Bowie, one of our main music heroes, than to the actual teenage years.
When it comes to "Breaking a ghost's heart", we can't really imagine how did we get so emotional and elegiac ;). But to be honest - this kind of feeling is immanent in our sensibility. These emotions are perfectly defined by classic songs such as "London calling" by The Clash or "I need your Love" by The Rapture. As you said - uncompromisingly emotional, bombastic and sublime. They give you power, they make you immortal ;). And we try to include such overwhelming sound in our music too.
Now, last but not least there is one more thing I am always curious about: The places people call their homes. Is there a particular place in your hometowns that you would always want to come back to, a bridge, a house, a tree,... something you wouldn't want to miss for anything in the world?
That's quite an easy question, but we needed a lot of time to anwser it ;) Altough we all try to act cosmopolitan and we feel quite free at the moment, we actually feel at home with our girlfriends and families - so quite a typical bourgeois cliché of a happy life ;)
We were all born in different cities, and everyone has another favourite place, but as collective and a band, we really enjoy spending our time and working in Tomek's summerhouse near Łódź. In a place, where we can't be disturbed by internet, television or any other shit. We've got a lot of space there, so we're able to collect all our music gear in one place. We can make a lot of noise even in the night time, cause there're no obsessive neighbours around, and when we get tired, we can play football, drink a couple of beers in the garden or have a walk in the forrest. Kind of a chilling experience, we really wouldn't want to miss.
Everyone, open your ears and hear how they're Breaking A Ghost's Heart. Wunderbarschön. eb
