AMAROK

The Polish cosmic proggers have transformed themselves from a studio project to a live act with name support.

Polish art-proggers Amarok are a band that has been reborn not once but twice. Originally formed in Warsaw in 1999 by guitarist, multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Michał Wojtas and guitarist Bartosz Jackowski, the band released three albums before calling it a day in 2003. And then, after a 12-year break, Amarok were resurrected by Wojtas with a new line-up that saw him team up with his wife Marta and a desire to finally play live while enlisting the help of some familiar names in the studio.

“In 2016, I decided to on the direction that I wanted to go – to play with Marta and that was fantastic,” says Wojtas. “I asked Camel’s Colin Bass and Mariusz Duda from Riverside to sing on the //Hunt// album, but playing live, we discovered that we needed faster, heavier instrumentation, so we invited other people to play live with us. It’s a different experience from being in the studio. We felt that we needed something more and we wanted to combine different genres and different instruments as well.”

With their evolving line-up finally fleshed out by the inclusion of drummer Konrad Zieliński and multi-instrumentalist Kornel Popławski, Amarok have taken to live performance with a zeal and enthusiasm that’s been reciprocated in kind.

“It’s an amazing experience and so good to observe our audience which is growing every year,” beams Wojtas. “It’s absolutely fantastic.”

“The audience feedback has been wonderful and it’s good to connect with them during the performance,” adds Marta. “The last three shows were incredible and we want more! We’re getting new ideas for the show.”

Such has been there upward trajectory that high profile shows have included prestigious opening slots for Riverside and Nick Mason’s Saucerful Of Secrets among others.

“It was outstanding to meet Nick,” says Wojtas.

“It was such a pleasure to observe someone with such huge energy,” agrees Marta. “I’d love to have that kind of energy and now I know how much I need on stage.”

Already reaching a wider international audience with their new album, //Hope//, Amorak know they’re making an impact.

“The feedback from our fans is that they feel the power and they think about the messages in the songs, which are of hope. We think that hope is an important thing.”

— JM