His own music has morphed several times throughout the last ten years, from purely synthetic timbres and polyphonic singing with Pleśni to a perplexing fusion of rhythmically and sonically jagged compositions and bass-heavy club tracks. Just check his latest releases, the Doolska and Gusła (Human Rites) EPs.
When not presenting his music at festivals such as Unsound, Tauron Nowa Muzyka, Audioriver, Spring Break, CoCArt, and more, he composes and creates impromptu live music for interactive theatre plays, including a quadraphonic sound piece for »Jawić się.« In the club, his 13-year experience of supporting queer, anti-fascist, and underground scene results in an eclectic selection of the most forward-thinking sound offered by today’s scenes. In his series of DJ-sets and club nights, he blends unusual rhythmic patterns kicked up a notch with his improvised vocals.
CTM2022 x SHAPE mix: Avtomat by CTM Festival
CTM2022 x SHAPE mix: Avtomat by CTM Festival
01. Yona - Oblivious [Realms]
02. Marie Davidson & L’Œil Nu - Renegade Breakdown (Jessy Lanza Remix) [Ninja Tune]
03. lym. - VIÇO [BRUK]
04. Eynka - Shadow Dance [Diynamic Music]
05. Avtomat - Pokrzywka [unreleased]
06. Le Dom - Oazis (Liar Optimix) [Tessier-Ashpool]
07. Destrata - Bait & Switch [3024]
08. Octavian - Lightning (Ross from Friends Remix) [Black Butter Limited]
09. RYTERSKI - PLSTCCT [BAS]
10. athing - NNN [Sea Cucumber]
11. Dua Lipa x Le Dom - Dodge Him (Avtomat Bootleg) [unreleased]
12. Ifi Ude - Intro (Avtomat Remix) [unreleased]
13. Wasted Fates - Implosión [NAAFI]
14. Leda Stray & High Class Filter - Bengal [Symbols]
15. T.Raumschmiere - A Very Loud Lullaby (Apparat Vox Remix) [Mute]
16. Liar - Mutagen [Infinite Machine]
17. MYSTXRIVL x SOKOS - SPARK [self-release]
18. Blanc - SMY [self-release]
19. Pixelord - NFT Acid [Hyperboloid]
20. Fracture - Latee Killer [1985]
21. Technical Itch - Another Life [Over/Shadow]
22. cadeu - happy new yeah [Hyperboloid]
23. Sleepnet - Angel Blade [VISION]
24. Varius Manx x Slick Shoota - Tokyo Qualia [unreleased]
25. WE ROB RAVE - FINEST DAY [WE ROB RAVE]
26. julek ploski - Human From Nowhere [Pointless Geometry]
27. Skinny Puppy - Haze [BMG]
28. Yona - Oblivious [Realms]
borshch is a magazine for electronic music on and beyond the dancefloor. Founded in Berlin in 2017 by Mariana Berezovska and Tiago Biscaia, it’s a space to provoke open dialogues and challenge established ideas about making, listening, and dancing to music. In this short interview, Mariana Berezovska speaks to Avtomat about his artistic practice.
Mariana Berezovska: I believe we can agree that being openly queer and standing for the anti-fascist and underground scene in Poland can put one at risk when they leave their safe space. How has the role of such a scene evolved during your 10-year involvement?
Avtomat: 15 years ago, when I was starting to organise events, the term »safer space« probably hasn’t even been used yet in the context of music events, but the feeling that such a space was needed was universal in the antifascist environment I stemmed from. There was not much we could do in my hometown of Toruń (200 000 citizens) in terms of actual physical safety, as the only available independent space was a modified public toilet under the bridge, with a dancefloor the size of my bedroom, regularly raided by neo-nazi hooligans. Nothing was safe there, beginning with a cramped corridor, stairs to a single, cracked toilet bowl in the front littered with shattered glass, which posed the menace of impaling yourself on razor-sharp ceramic shards. People who felt disenfranchised flocked to it nevertheless, certain of one thing - they weren’t going to be discriminated against, whatever their health, skin colour, orientation, or gender expression. Later on, when I started throwing events at an actual club with an actual budget, it felt natural to transplant these rules to a new night, they were crucial to the vibe of mutual respect I wanted to uphold.
From today’s perspective I can see the mistakes I made - not communicating these sentiments directly enough, a lack of a more holistic approach. Today the know-how is readily available thanks to the public discussion around the subject of safer spaces and my views have also evolved. I no longer feel like we need to enclose ourselves in ghettos, I saw the benefits of including likeminded non-queers in the scene and having them educate their peers with my own eyes - the rapid evolution of how audiences are treated even in mainstream clubs throughout the last couple of years speaks for itself.
MB: This year, CTM dedicated its theme to »Contact« and the aftermath of the physical absence [of physical content]. Being a member of the Ciężki Brokat crew and a co-founder of Radio Kapitał, how have you re-assessed the value of physical contact and ongoing exchange between creatives in Poland? Has the scene been able to embrace digital touch? Have you and your peers been able to maintain a sustainable dialogue with each other?
Avtomat: The pandemic has left all of us weaker and more unsure of tomorrow than ever. To combat this, I feel that people discovered they needed to delve deeper into their relationships with others in the scene, to transcend the often superficial contact they had with each other on a weekly basis and build more meaningful ties. For me personally this meant turning from big-room events to local, curated nights (when legal) for smaller communities, and a return to basics of sorts. It reminded me who the people are who actually come to my shows for the community, for the music, and the emotion it conveys rather than to appear in a place that’s considered successful or desirable.
I really tried delving into the digital delivery of live music and for a while I did a stream almost every week, but in all honesty it defeats the purpose of a social consumption of culture for me. It was all we had for a long while, so I actually stepped away from listening to live music for quite a long time, which in turn helped me focus on my own art. I know many places had varying degrees of success with their streams and virtual parties, but it never struck a chord with me.
I’m not in the best of places in terms of dialogue right now - for the longest time I felt like I was invincible to the perils of the pandemic as I’m naturally quite an introverted person and like spending time alone. It all caught up to me with doubled force, partly due to the fact that I dared to openly criticise pandemic raves that were going on at the worst possible moment, which in turn created a rift in the scene and turned many of my friends and acquaintances in the scene into my sworn enemies, eroding my professional relationships to this day. A year after these events I’m still getting hit with the consequences, which has made me rethink my relationship with the scene and ascertain if I still have the energy and resources to build an alternative. Sorry for being too realistic / negative, but there’s no sugar-coating this - a huge part of today’s electronic music scene is built around PR appearances, exploiting the audience’s addictions and vulnerabilities, and cherry-picking basic ideological values to suit the needs of investors.
MB: What ideas did you want to transmit, and which artists did you wish to represent when recording your mix?
Avtomat: With this mix I kind of went back to a core belief that I had held during most of my career, which got lost under the unnecessary need to become »marketable,« to be perceived as »professionalised« or »on par« with someone (a problem that a lot of other queer artists struggle with) - the belief that even club music needs to be moving and convey emotions. I’m a sucker for innovative sound design, robotic expression, impeccable mixes or hard-hitting drumwork, but all of these don’t mean much if there’s no humanity present. Without it, it’s just great handiwork and a pulse, which may be enough for an audience heavily anaesthetised to drown out their daily pains, but it’s not enough for me. I feel like emotional club music helps me face this innate pain and accept it. I sometimes jokingly call my sets or live acts »emo-club« and this mix is a pinnacle of this, as I recently went through some of the toughest times in my life.
I included some of my favourite and sometimes wildly underrated artists - the Romanian producer Liar (who has been a never-ending inspiration), some Polish queer geniuses (julek płoski and RYTERSKI), rave kings (We Rob Rave, MYSTXRIVL and SOKOS), and pop divas (a cheeky blend of my favourite song of a 90s atmospheric rock band, Varius Manx), my favourite French producer Le Dom (also blended with a pop diva). I also gave a nod to the underground Russian scene and some South American vibes. All of that framed with a song of an emergent AI personality by yona and a very dramatic track by the grandfathers of industrial, Skinny Puppy. What can I say, I’m a drama queen.
MB: Is there a specific project in mind that you want to explore during your collaboration with the SHAPE platform? Now being able to reach a wider community, what would you like to highlight from experience in your local crews and their struggle?
Avtomat: I’d love to breach a subject that I talked over with a lot of queer and femme artists - the concept of »adequacy« in the music business. The pressure we put on ourselves to be perfect, to fit a certain frame or scene, to market ourselves while simultaneously staying true to our gut feeling and taking care of a ton of superfluous stuff around our art. I have a very personal connection to the subject, as for me the overwhelming pressure both from inside and outside, and the famed »impostor syndrome« resulted in an almost four year long creative block that I barely escaped. I’d love to empower more underrepresented artists to overcome this debilitating problem.
Supported by the SHAPE platform, which is co-funded by the Creative Europe programme of the European Union. Media partner: Borshch.
