Błoto

Bloto (The Mire) is a band that came into being accidentally, yet naturally, like a puddle after a rainy day. It all started in the summer of 2018 when the Wrocław-based EABS sextet had a day off between concerts in Brzeg Dolny, Łódź and Sopot. On the way to TriCity, the lineup in the car was getting smaller and smaller. Marek Pędziwiatr aka Latarnik (keyboards / synthesizers), Paweł Stachowiak aka Wuja HZG (bass), Marcin Rak aka Cancer G (drums), Olaf Węgier aka OlafSaxx (tenor saxophone) and Maciek Jakimiuk (sound engineer) stayed in the car.

It was Friday afternoon when the band were passing Gdansk. Somewhere on the way to Wejherowo one of the guys mentioned that there is a nice recording studio nearby... An evening off, a well-tuned rhythm section on the road, harmonious as can be, and a great deal of creative potential within the members of the Błoto band forming at that very moment stirred up common enthusiasm. However, the studio that the band was passing was not really available at short notice. Fortunately, the burning desire to record something new did not stop the group. It was Grzegorz Skawinski of the legendary polish synth-pop group Kombi who eventually hosted the band in his superbly equipped Maska studio that Friday evening. This is where Błoto was born. Two years on from these events, the band continue to collaborate and release new albums.

After the surprising success of their debut album, the dust has yet to settle. Pandemic disrupted all promotional plans, so the band didn't get an opportunity to promote and tour the first album well, and despite the immediate sale of their entire record stock, the band decided not to re-press again. Following the blow, Błoto, known for improvising in difficult conditions, released their second album of 2020, entitled ‘Kwiatostan’ on Astigmatic Records in collaboration with the Jassmine club in Warsaw.

In early 2021, the reality around us continued to provide inspiration for the team to create. That is why the Błoto quartet, having another point of attachment, only needed a small impulse to enter the studio. The reason for the next musical meeting turned out to be Program Two of the Polish Radio, which came out with the initiative of inviting the band to "Domówka z Dwójką". This was the starting point for Kwasy i zasady (Acids and Bases). The third full-fledged Mud album. The team has always operated in the sphere of metaphors close to nature. It is similar this time, but Mud has gone deeper into "chemical compounds" called acids and bases. In the end, the theme of the album cleverly avoids the direct meaning of these words, playing with convention again. A set of improvised beats refers to interpersonal relationships, which nowadays often have an extreme, corrosive and explosive nature, so we need a framework that will allow us to counteract them.

Błoto’s bold 2020 debut brought forth three albums in just twelve months. This prolific creative burst, followed by an ongoing tour and involvement in other projects, meant that fans had to wait over three years for the next release. During this time, new ideas took shape, and the vision for their fourth LP crystallized. The idea for the album had been simmering within the band since the release of Kwasy i zasady and finally took shape in late January 2023 at Warsaw's Studio Pasterka, under the careful guidance of Piotr Zabrodzki. It was by far the most fruitful session in the group's history, with ideas flowing in abundance. The chosen tracks not only resulted in two well-received singles, “Szlam / Ścieki” and “Bakteria”.

Finally the time of Grzybnia (Mycelium) has come. The seemingly chemical title of the album Kwasy i zasady (Acids and Bases) ultimately referred to interpersonal relationships, describing traits that prevent harmony. The album embodied the polarization of societies in the 21st century. The metaphor of Grzybnia (Mycelium) goes a step further. It emphasizes the importance of cooperation as a fundamental skill that can yield various results (fruits, fungi)—both good and bad. Above all, it underscores the power of collective action beyond divisions.

Grzybnia laid the foundation. It emphasized the importance of collaboration and the collective spirit—just as mycelium builds connections between plants in the forest. Since its release, not much has changed around us. Societies still fall short of functioning like mycelium. If anything, the global situation has worsened. The idea behind Grzybnia was to present an alternative to egoism and individualism. Yet today, it seems even harder to find common ground. We build more and more walls—first within our own families, then in increasingly polarized social bubbles, and ultimately at political levels. Perhaps those political forces are what trickle down and rupture our social bonds? This is where Grzyby comes in. What can the fruiting bodies of fungi teach us? They are in constant communication, using the mycelium’s vast underground network—the “internet of the forest.” Dialogue, negotiation, and communication should be the antidotes to polarization.

Anticipation for new Błoto releases reached a fever pitch. Vinyl collectors quickly snapped up all copies of the singles Szlam / Ścieki and Bakteria, the latter featuring a guest appearance by DāM-FunK. In less than six months, nearly all copies of Grzybnia were sold out—setting a record pace for Astigmatic Records. In the meantime, the album was nominated for a Fryderyk Award in the Alternative Music category. Though Grzybnia didn’t take home the prize, Błoto did win a Fryderyk for their track “Godzina W”, featured on the WAWA album dedicated to the Warsaw Uprising. It’s been an electrifying time for the band, filled with shows across Poland and abroad.