Bogdan Raczynski interview: “I have always been an island”

We catch up with Bogdan as he delivers his first new album for 15 years

Bogdan Raczynski has always been one of electronica’s intriguing character, ploughing his own furrow regardless of fashion. The Polish American musician has done everything from remixing the mighty Autechre to touring with Bjork, and he’s just dropped his first album of new music for 15 years.

Despite its name, ADDLE is a marked shift in style, with calmer and more melodic efforts in place of ruffneck jungle tekno madness more closely associated with the BR brand. All part of the long term plan, he says, as we quiz him on his sonic naughtiness past, present and future…

First question and probably the most obvious – why is it 15 years since you released an album?  What have you been doing in the meantime?

It took me about eight years to get over the colossal failure that was ‘alright!’. With that release I had grand visions of touring the world, playing at massive arenas and paying off all my debt. Instead, I got into more debt and have nothing to show for it but people thinking I made a happy hardcore album.

‘Addle’ marks quite a different direction for your music, possibly more melodic and less abrasive….  Is this a reflection of you being a more chilled character these days…or was there another reason?

Fuck yes it is a reflection of me being a more chilled character. My capabilities are now such that I can focus my creative energy to be blasted out in a hyper concentrated laser beam-like fashion, as opposed to some 17th century musket, haphazardly lashing out willy nilly like a stupid teenager.

Tell us about the album’s title – ‘Addle’ – and what it signifies….  And when and where were you the last time you were well and truly addled?  Were you aiming to pick up a few dyslexic Adele fans??  There must be a few thousand out there at least….

Too true!

ADDLE is exactly what it says on the tin, and it pretty much sums up my mental state a large part of the time. But especially during the seven years I was working on the album I found myself to be quite muddled, plodding, and confused.

Not that now is much better. It all seems to make less sense as time goes on. The one gem I have been able to construe from all these decades of life is that everybody is winging it; absolutely everybody. Some people like to feign that they get it, others think they get it, but there really truly are very few rules with what you can do.

Look at Brexit, Russia, the ice sheets breaking off, coral reefs bleaching; there are no rules!

Your formative years as a musician, operating within the Rephlex/Braindance™ crew seemed like very heady days from the bits I can remember, not just in terms of lifestyle but also the intense creativity going on among that tight group.  Presumably very inspiring – and how different was it working away from that support group?

With all due respect it is always easier to work with as little external input, direct or otherwise. It is more freeing when there is less interference. So although it can be very advantageous to have that instant feedback where you can be on a tour to test out some new tracks it’s actually even more exciting to make a whole album of material and not have any clue how it will go down.

At the end of the day it doesn’t really matter how it goes down. What matters is whether it gives you tingles or helps give you a mental breather when you need it. That’s actually a bit of tosh. The ideal scenario is one where I can make enough money being creative to continue being more creative. So in that sense it does matter. But in the sense that we’re all going to be dead one day and our toils and achievements will be forgotten and our music will live on, the rest doesn’t matter.

I have always been an island in the sense that the less people there are around the more at peace I am. No disrespect, of course.

That said, you’re hooked up with the mighty Planet Mu now – what is Mike like as a label boss?!!

Tough as leather! I’m to send him weekly spreadsheets with time logs to ensure that I’m maintaining the minimum quota for promoting my music thereby repaying his gargantuan debt for taking on my release.

Sometimes I wonder what I’ve stepped into. I’ve read the contracts over and over and over again, there’s just no way out!

Quoting from your press release….”he created a sample pack using pollution and recently collaborated with Polyend on a custom made banana-themed tracker…”    Erm, tell us more please!!! 

The Polyend Tracker collaboration and subsequent BANANS EP was awesome (https://polyend.com/polyend-tracker-x-bogdan-raczynski-artists-edition/). I’ve also collaborated with 4ms, Bastl, Erica Synths, Modbap, and Squarp on some sample packs, many of which were made with various ‘odd’ sources.

For example, the pollution pack for Erica Synths was made using pollution data as well as actual electromagnetic recordings which were then parsed and analyzed.

I extended and refined these concepts on some of my other collaborations and included other sources of input such as data on illegal migrants. Of course the point of all of this is to try to raise awareness to these problems.

And finally, what’s coming next in the world of Bogdan Raczynski?

ADDLE’s been done and in the bin for quite awhile now. For the last few years I’ve been working on my next album, slowly building up a mighty yellow-cased instrument controlled by my BANANS-themed Polyend Tracker.

With the bits I’ve collected from 4ms, Bastl, Erica Synths, Herbs & Stones, Modbap, Plinky, Polyend, Shakmat, Squarp, and System80 I have been crafting a very specific algorithmic sound. I will be testing it out at some upcoming gigs, assuming someone books me.

Aside from that I am fostering a livecoding community at clang.gg as well as a cat-friendly eurorack modular synth site at eurorack.cat. Join me!