Matchday Magazine 01/2019 by MatchdayMag

OFFICIAL CASUALS MAGAZINE 01/2019

contents

JANUARY 2018

issue 09

EDITOR’S NOTE

/// by D.Szałankiewicz

MAN ON

Coals /// by D.Szałankiewicz

THE ART. OF MUSIC Mosaique /// by D. Szałankiewicz

THE CAPTAIN

Lev Yashin /// by K.Pogorzelski

MY TRIP

Matchday UK Trip /// by D.Szałankiewicz

MATCHDAY AWARDS Team of the Year /// by D.Szałankiewicz

PUB

Exhibitions, cinema, literature, exhibitions, fashion /// by D.Szałankiewicz

CASUAL CLASSIC Kazimierz Deyna /// by D.Szałankiewicz

LET’S TALK

Mateusz Klich /// by D.Szałankiewicz

46 80

POSTCARD Igor Gurovich // Steve Bushell /// by D.Szałankiewicz

LET’S TALK

THE ART. OF MUSIC Drugstore /// by D. Szałankiewicz

THE STANDS

brutal /// by K.Sokół

THE ART OF FOOTBALL Szymon Kula /// by D.Szałankiewicz

Playlists /// by D.Szałankiewicz

10 Pixelord /// by D.Szałankiewicz

LINEUP

THE ART OF FOOTBALL Lubo Domo /// by D.Szałankiewicz

UPCOMMING Albums, festivals, tours /// by D.Szałankiewicz

OFFICIAL CASUALS MAGAZINE

Matchday Ofﬁcial Magazine Est. 2016 editor-in-chief Dawid Szałankiewicz

layout: Kacper Sokół

cover:

editors:

Marcus Reed

Dawid Szałankiewicz Kacper Sokół Kuba Pogorzelski

ilustrations: Kacper Sokół Michelle PAM Steve Bushell Igor Gurovich

logo: Kacper Sokół

photos: Dawid Szałankiewicz Meyendorﬀ Edin Omanović Stefan Danilović Ivan Chemov Michał Jędrzejowski Lubo Domo

EDITOR’S NOTE

intro

9 issues. Over a 1000 pages.

mag

saying

hello Andrew Shim, Smoove&Turrell, Tamer Hassan, The Manor, Devlin, ARGH Kid, Boatsy, Ryan Walsh, Simon Harsent…

read

smart

look And now we celebrate our second birthday.

author

chips

somewhere

owner

handshake

I started with absolutely nothing. Well, I was living in Portugal at that time and had a vision of my own magazine, but took me a long time to learn everything from basics. That year, away from Poland and my home have been hard. You know, sometimes you need to get some perspective. First editions? I like covers. Nothing else. But still, they are important to me, like The Casual Classic column – the most important part of the magazine. First four issues? Youth, Journey, Chaos, Homecoming. That was my private trip from Portugal to Poland, new friends, goals, ideas, sins… my present situation. From the beginning, I started doing the magazine for myself, not Poles. But during those two years, I met new people, journalists, footballers, athletes, music artists from Poland and I doubted. You have no idea what this world looks like in Poland. I tried to work for the Polish Football Federation, talked with journalists, I've heard the promises… all of that it's fake. I was always focused on England, Italy or Portugal. Casual culture and Poland? No, I don't see that catching on at all. After two years, I decided to prove myself to myself. You can ﬁnd the cultural beauty of eastern Europe with reference to casual culture. So I put all my energy into that. As a result, dear reader, you get the eastern Europe history with present sins and past pain. From a rave revolution in Ukraine and Soviet art to concrete architecture in Poland and Moscow as a fashion capital. … Happy birthday for US! Cheers!

EDITOR’S NOTE // Words: Dawid Szałankiewicz // Photography: Milano Soundtrack: Flirtini - Django

PUB

exhibitions

drink

talk

art.

read

watch

listen

culture

museum

music venues

fashion

recommend

vinyl’s

outside the world

Transfer Szymon Kula Muzeum Slaskie KATOWICE, POLAND

chill

Let us see what happens when we take football and poetry. The mass of spectators vs. literature writing for a specific audience. Szymon Kula decided to answer to that question. Based on Rafał Wojaczek poems and Silesia roots, he modified football clubs badges. With their original colour, shape, and geometry, the artist used fragments of the poems to replace the original text. Wojaczek, who was the legendary Silesian poet, has been compared to Lautréamont and Rimbaud. Trapped in a mendacious political system, he was struggling with alcoholism and depression. Szymon, who went to Glasgow School of Art, transferred his work to wall murals. Locations of individual works are closely related to the history of individual teams. This gesture gains a performative and provocative tone in a social context. The idea is an attempt to redefine and creatively overhaul the visual disturbances of Silesian urban reality. The Dance, Dance, Dance Various Artists Bursa Gallery KIEV, UKRAINE Famous slogan and symbol, POOR BUT COOL, designed by Vova Vorotniov is a part of the rave revolution in Ukraine and eastern Europe. In 2017 Kiev's BURSA gallery was hosting an exhibition about that phenomenon and the techno renaissance in the countries of the former Soviet Union. Artists whose work is featured include Mishka Bochkarev, Maria Gorodeckaya, Sergei Nikitin, Ihor Okuniev, Anna Rochnova, Kirill Savchenkov, Aleksei Taruts, Vova Vorotniov, Roman Himey, and Yarema Malashchuk. The image of rave, buried in the late nineties, was recently resurrected, now far more to the east than the eastern Berlin. The exhibition takes a look at the post-Soviet dance scene as a luminous symptom of social and political processes. Toward a Concrete Utopia Various Artists Museum of Modern Art NEW YORK, USA The present exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art explores themes of urbanization of Yugoslav architecture between 1948-1980, includes more than 400 photographs from municipal archives, family collections and museums. The White Mosque in Bosnia or the town of New Belgrade, we can find here everything. Traditionally associated with a grey, cold concrete, the exhibition presents us something more than only architecture in countries of eastern Europe: Situated between the capitalist West and the socialist East, Yugoslavia's architects responded to contradictory demands and influences, developing a post war architecture both in line with and distinct from the design approaches seen elsewhere in Europe and beyond.

PUB // Words: Dawid Szałankiewicz // Illustration: Kacper Sokół Soundtrack: Noscow – You Better No One

cinema Blinded By The Lights Krzysztof Skonieczny Thriller TV SERIES, HBO GO Well, the title is sick, for a start. But Mike Skinner has absolutely nothing to do with that. Polish series is based on Jakub Żulczyk book – Ślepnąc od świateł. An eight-episode story charting seven days from the life of a cocaine dealer whose perfectly organized life begins to sink into chaos while he is forced to make the most important choices in his life. Jan Frycz as Dario? It's the role of a lifetime for a famous Polish actor. Drugs, guns, death, parties, and people disguising your reality. If you want to understand the present Warsaw's nightlife and people living here, you should see that series. This is all real. Glamorized, but real. Brother Aleksey Balabanov Criminal FILM, DVD

literature I've Seen Rock'n'roll Igor Mukhin Photo ALBUM . Before rave, it was Rock'n'Roll as the cultural phenomenon of the perestroika era. Igor Mukhin's black and white photographs document the birth of a youth subculture in the USSR. You have to know, this was a time period when Soviet youth couldn't travel to the West, being outside of the main world music scene, they felt a change coming and reacted. As Mukhin himself says: I don't show life on stage but rather everyday life and the typical moments of Soviet life – the streets, transport, home. To be honest, there actually wasn't much interest in it at the time. People were holding concerts in their homes – in shared apartments and in their basements. Puskas on Puskas Rogan Taylor Biography BOOK

A movie about an ex-soldier with a personal honour code, who enters the family crime business in St. Petersburg. I like a review, where somebody wrote about the Balabanov's picture: an intense crime drama that attempts to answer Dostoyevsky's eternal question: what does one do in a lawless society? That society and people from the early 90s, living in St. Petersburg are a great mirror to ourselves. And besides, it's 90s Russia's answer to Trainspotting. That should be enough, right?

One of the greatest players of all time. 514 goals in 529 league matches. 84 goals in 85 international matches for Hungary. The Hungarian goal machine. For me, always was and always will be an example of determination to be the one. With that book, we get a great story about a legend told mainly in his own words. Besides that, we have the opportunity to see the challenges of the everyday life of the totalitarian regime that controlled the country.

Niebieskie Chachary Cezary Grzesiuk Sport DOCUMENTARY, FESTIVALS

Uciazliwi Dominik Popek Thriller BOOK

We are back to Silesia and noisy football fans. It will be difficult to find that movie but you can watch some scenes on YouTube and it's worth it. Cezary Grzesiuk filmed the life of Ruch Chorzow fans for a decade. Many years of work gave the opportunity to photograph the closed environment of football fanatics. One of the important themes of the film is the friendship of the supporters of Atlético Madrid and Ruch Chorzow. I'm pretty sure that this picture will mess with Polish society.

Palermo, Sicily, Football and Mafia. A great idea for a story. Unfortunately, for me, it was a colossal disappointment. Guys don't get me wrong is a good book, otherwise it wouldn't be here. It's not that kind of thing you read when you're waiting in a dentist's office, most of you should be satisfied with that but if you are trying to write about Italy and football… you have to be like that focaccia I ate last time in Genova – the best one.

PUB // Words: Dawid Szałankiewicz // Illustration: Kacper Sokół Soundtrack: Noscow – You Better No One

music

fashion

Confession Ishome Electronic RUSSIA

Jacket in Musk, Shadow Project Jacket/ £1,450 Stone Island ITALY

Mirabella Kiryanova (Ishome) with her long awaited debut album stolen my heart. In 2013 when she released Confession, the album was mind-blowing. With the mix of dubstep inﬂuences, driving bass and ambient openness we get a hypnotic sound. Apparently, Ishome has decided to invoke the less is more rule and it worked out very well. If I have to recommend you ambient/electronic album of the past decade in eastern Europe – there is only one choice.

Description: - Large detachable hood with drawstring, with detachable moleskin visor on Velcro® tapes - Moleskin lining - Two hand pockets, with snap fastened ﬂaps - Two standing inner pockets, with hidden zip fastening - Engineered overstitched seams on sleeves - Ribbed elasticated hidden cuﬀ inside the sleeve - The inner fabric tape holding the two buttons for the Stone Island Shadow Project badge features the special 10 YEARS embroidery

AEIOU Sistars Pop POLAND Sophisticated mixture of hip-hop, modern R&B, funk and soul from Poland. The second album of Sistars, was released in 2005 and still is my favourite Polish album of all time. Recorded mostly in English could skyrocket to the top of the ever-popular world music charts. Even now, after 13 years the sound is so fresh. Please if you don't have time to check the whole album, type Sistars – Inspirations on YouTube. I promise you, you will ﬁnd time to listen to the rest. BLEAK OUTPUT Noon Trip Hop POLAND Let's back to '00s. Before he becomes the most famous rap producer in Poland, we get that instrumental album – Bleak Output, who has got such a vibe and climate. Samples, vinyl noises… you can fell into a kind of melancholy. It's like a trip inside yourself. I know that's all a bit cliché, but… what is important, it's a great record to listen to on rainy days, when the mind is free you will see more than music and your comfort zone.

Napa by Martine Rose Black skidoo Jacket/£750 Napapijri ITALY Description: - Black - Elastic hood drawstring - Side pockets - Back central big pocket - Side zip -100% Polyamide РУССКИЙ АНДЕГРАУНД Scarf/£20 Volchok Russia Description: - Two-sided scarf - 100% acrylic

PUB // Words: Dawid Szałankiewicz // Illustration: Kacper Sokół Soundtrack: Noscow – You Better No One

pixelord

LET’S TALK - part I future

music

russia

culture

art.

novosibirsk

abstract

alexey devyanin

bass

Do you have your favourite video game from childhood? Apollo 440 – Stop The Rock, from the soundtrack of FIFA 2000 it's like a time machine for me. I was a child that time, but playing FIFA and listening to this soundtrack, I felt like Marty McFly in Back to the Future. Why do I start like this? I had a pleasure to talk with Alexey Devyanin, international Russian star which reps a new wave of electronic sounds. It's a mix of the modern wave of rave with a futuristic sound.

dj Born in Novosibirsk, the Moscow-based producer. He has composed under various monikers over the past years: Gultskra Artikler, Hucky O'Bare, Stud and Pixelord.

artist

ambient

relax Alexey has performed at the ﬁrst ever Boiler Room in Russia, toured USA and China already.

electronic

. Once compared to Burial, is trying to build his own music World based on unrealistic dreams. We talked about the beginning, Novosibirsk and rapidly growing Russian music scene. Pixelord delivers a reﬁned, emotive melting pot of sounds that stands alone in the ever evolving world of electronic music. Tough and touching in the same breath, Alexey Devayin is at the forefront of an ever-evolving Russian scene that many consider one of most exciting musical developments in recent years. – author proﬁle.

LET'S TALK // Words: Dawid Szałankiewicz // Photography: Meyendorﬀ Soundtrack: Pixelord – Chrono Echoes

Electronic music has been getting stronger in recent years when it comes to Russia and Eastern Europe. What's the reason behind it? Our time has come! Russia has been kind of isolated during USSR and later, and also now is but with the internet it's easy to promote yourself and create what you want, share it with people around the world. The new generation is getting ready to rock the world with their music and art from Russia. And also its good that they started to grow locally and gaining a lot of fans and follower only here in Russia. Mira Ishome, Moa Pillar, Buttechno, OL, Kedr Livansky… You have a great and strong electronic/techno music scene in Russia, but is that scene united? Or everybody focuses on their own interests? I think it's not united, it's as it is, at this moment it doesn't feel the need to be united. There are few electronic groups of musicians who prefer to stick together kind of, but still, even they are not so united. We are united with my brothers and sisters from Hyperboloid records. At the same time, I support many other communities but we don't collaborate. It feels like each electronic community in Russia has its own ﬁeld where they operate and even on the internet we don't follow each other news, I sometimes miss some big albums from people you mentioned because we have our own news, our projects, in our Hyperboloid family we got things going on each day so it's hard to keep updated about

other artists. But when it all started we used to be closer, because there were fewer artists and we all didn't know how to act to be heard, we helped each other and admired each other's music more. Now there is less need to do that. Maybe it's fine. I want to mention the other ones, techno boys and girls from modern Russian electronics for you to check: Raumskaya, Summer Of Haze, Tropical Interface, A.Fruit, AL-90, Jan Amit, Bad Zu, Famitsu, Low Pulse, Zakladki, Fisky, Dirty Owl and more. How important is that competition for you? I'm only competing with myself and my inner fears and thoughts. I stopped competing others some time ago, it wasn't productive and I noticed that my ego was taking over, so I'm trying to move away from it and look as an observer to see my art and music from behind, composing it at the same time. And what makes this music identity Russian? The fact that it was made in Russia, from people who lived in Russian past, as I am. Who experienced some hard and good times in Russia, so it influenced my vision. Even local pop music from USSR and early 90s which I hated influenced myself and my music, you can't deny it. So that makes our music Russian. Also, there is political and natural circumstances which influence local music to be that way, maybe cold, maybe hard sometimes.

LET'S TALK // Words: Dawid Szałankiewicz // Photography: Meyendorﬀ Soundtrack: Pixelord – Chrono Echoes

So what about inspirations, you are compared to Burial. Do you focus yourself on the British music scene or maybe more local artists? I was once compared to Burial when I released Placed LP because it has few tracks with voice samples and some loft synth with hectic rhythms. That's what I think. But then my music changed all the time, each year, even each month sometimes. Now it's not really Burialish. I've listened to a lot of British music, and I do now all the time, Burial was one of the influenced, but I think I gathered lots of elements from different places, including loft video games music from childhood, and some trance elements from the 90s, and some IDM beats from Warp Records. So now I just do what I feel, I stopped to stick to one genre, I used to do it maybe some time ago, but felt it's impossible. Now I even released some ambient tape, which is few tracks with no beats at all that I never included in an album, it was good to release it and I felt people accept it too. So I can do whatever, as I'm not attached to any label or contract, or audience, I can change my sound completely without any bad effects.

When I talk with artists, I'm always curious about their roots. Could you tell me something about your childhood? Like best memories from your hometown. My roots come from Siberia, Novosibirsk city, where I grew up. There I learned to listen to music and play video games, and chat over the internet. We had some chat group over Soulseek music sharing client, exchanging some rare music which sounded alien, that's how I loved all this kind of sound, something noncurrent, something that makes you wonder wtf is that, how they made it? And before that, I was chilling with Nintendo games and VHS movies a lot at home. I didn't like to play outside with my friends, mostly it was at home. Those where great moments. Are you interested in football? Do you support any team or go to games? This year I was watching the World Cup, but that's just because it was held in Russia, usually I'm not interested in football, I'm more into boxing or MMA. There is any connection between football and music in Russia? There is a connection with certain types of music, some hard step, trance or some really simple club music. Fans like to listen to the hard stuﬀ.

LET'S TALK // Words: Dawid Szałankiewicz // Photography: Meyendorﬀ Soundtrack: Pixelord – Chrono Echoes

What about fashion? Which brands and what kind of style we can see at the parties in Russian clubs? This time Russians like old school stuff on some types of raves, like retro Adidas and stuff like this, from the 90s. But I think it goes away too. People are open to any kind of things but I don't know what is really Russian or local besides that 90s Adidas thing. Maybe it's yet to come. I know not much about fashion. Ok, let's change the subject and focus on your music. It's a mix of different genres like futuristic bass, garage, electronic or even grime. But how would you describe yourself as an artist and your music? I would describe myself as a musical futurist. The music which is trying to be from the future, inspired by the future that maybe never happens. This time I focused on robots and AI when I was making my new album. I tried to make it sound less human, there were no voices like in a garage, there were more 4x4 beats this time, more hypnotic patterns over that beat and more industrial hash sounds. My music is for everyone who feels the moment, here and now but likes to dream about the future. Your alter ego – Gulkstra Artikler. What's the story behind that? That's a long story but I'll try to explain you. I started making music from this project and released vinyl's on bigger labels from Gultskra, then after some years, I started Pixelord. Just to make some more dance floor kind of beats. Gultskra still exists, when I feel to make some other type of music I collect in Gultskra folder and then release somewhere as an album. The new one comes out in 2019 I guess. This project is focused on total freedom from forms or genres, usually its abstract, ambient or experimental in a way. Not for clubs or concerts, more like a discovery in sound.

As you mentioned, you are also co-founder of the Hyperboloid record label. Can you describe how it happened? It all started with my friend Dmitry Garin, he opened the label and tried to release CDs but it wasn't so good. So I joined later and we pushed it with new type of music, starting from my Pixelord projects and then going through footwork juke music, beats, idm, trance, all kinds of stuﬀ. With the help of my other friend Sergey Saburov we established the label to a bigger one and now we have about 20 regular artists, regular gigs in Moscow and Russia, release vinyl's and tapes, all kinds of things, radio shows, tours. The label thing was spontaneous, we just did what we liked and released ourselves and our friends. Now it's a thing, seems like a real one of the biggest projects in our lives. Could you recommend us some music venues, clubs and festivals in Russia? Check out Боль or Faces and Laces festival. When it comes to venuses - Aglomerat, Powerhouse, Pluton. In the end, what do you mean by a future, as a representative of the futuristic sound? Future is our ego dreams, it's what never exists. We only live in the present moment, but we like to dream about the future, those dreams transform into music in my case.

So what's the role of abstract in music and art? Oh, it's very important. You can ﬁnd something new experimenting with sound or art, you can crash boundaries and invent new types of arts. That makes art and music evolve, otherwise we would stay the same and didn't invent new forms to express ourselves. If you play modern music to people who lived in the 60s they would say its abstract for instance. But we think it's just normal current music.

LET'S TALK // Words: Dawid Szałankiewicz // Photography: Meyendorﬀ Soundtrack: Pixelord – Chrono Echoes

MAN ON // Words: Dawid Szałankiewicz // Illustration: Michelle PAM Soundtrack: Coals – RAVE03'

coals

MAN ON

gliwice

ledziny

music

poland

ambient

pop

katarzyna kowalczyk

future

culture

sound

dreams

łukasz rozmysłowski.

Katarzyna Kowalczyk (1994) and Łukasz Rozmysłowski (1995). Young duo from Silesia. Her smooth voice with his melancholic compositions create a certain intimacy and hypnotic sound. I had the pleasure of listening to them live and meeting them last year. Their gigs are like an Acid Trip. They will probably booth laugh hearing that, but you feel pleasant and the world can seem beautiful, life can seem wonderful, human interactions can seem deep and meaningful. I read a lot of books about Poland in the 90's and 00's to bring back memories and to create a picture in words. They are both from Silesia and their name is not a coincidence. Coal mines are synonymous of hard work for Silesians. From that bus stop where they met for the first time to the biggest Polish scenes. They have done a great job. Homework EP was the first step, but the KEXP live session in 2015 was the most important moment to their careers and turning point. You can find a lot of mainstream bands with a similar style. However, in contrast to them, Coals found and kept their own music language. Well, we're not 'sad kids from Scandinavia' anymore. We're making a record about our childhood. We want to sneak some of the aesthetics of VHS tapes into our work. 2017. Tamagotchi LP. Debut album. It's like being stuck in a 90s rave night memory, walking along the Załęże district in Katowice, dreaming about glass houses. A dream is a key word here and an important element of the album. You will understand that record when you try to dream, try to be a child again. They are younger than me, but only two years, so I can say we remember the same time, we represent the same generation. Maybe we have/had other dreams, but we look at the same world. We try to do everything by our own. The clue is to catch the eye of the listener as well as the ear.

9 / 10

Besides the music, visual aspects, such as fog, darkness, strobe lights… are an important component in the creation of the band and live gigs. And it's not random. They have the knowledge and skills necessary to create artistic, live performances and video clips. My favourite video is RAVE03', best way to see in 4 minutes, the picture of the 90s in Poland. And I'm confused as what happens next, what we should expect? Oh, wait… let me dream about it. When I was talking to them, after the gig. I said to them one thing: Next time, I hope to see you at Glastonbury. Cheers!

MAN ON // Words: Dawid Szałankiewicz // Illustration: Michelle PAM Soundtrack: Coals – RAVE03'

CASUAL CLASSIC kaz

kaka kazik

general east

colt

dodge

chrome

kazimierz deyna

football

diamonds

party girls signet blue saphire

poker

I’m feeling supersonic, give me gin and tonic Mavericks - decent series I saw on Netflix recently. It’s so good to hear and see people like Frank Worthington. Of course, I didn’t get a chance to watch him live, but English Elvis Presley who plays football? Fucking madness. And I don’t mean just the adrenaline you have when you fight with your lads against ob., I mean entertainment and show. But there was a one huge problem - in England they couldn’t take advantage of them, and finally killed it. Because how many footballers of that kind play in the Premier League today? Maybe Troy Deeney as one. And the same goes on with our world in every aspect. People are trying to get rid of crazy, mad people with style. Their own style. If I’d have to describe you our society in one word... that’d be a copy. Sometimes I like to say abstract jokes, something totally sense- and meaningless. Fuck the logic. But if you’re thinking that I’m just stupid – I’m not. Things that I share with people are not stupid, they are different. It’s the same with our mavericks people usually simplydon’t understand them. It’s the first thing that make them special – uniqueness. The second one - the perspective. All depends on your perspective, doesn’t it? Gazza and Elvis, both sitting by a pool surrounded by beautiful women. I see that picture as a one of Dali paintings and would love to be a part of it. At the same point, I’m writing this very shit while sitting on a bus. I’m going back from the north of Poland to the south, where I live. I had some meetings, had to discuss plans worth millions. Because as you probably don’t know... I’m not a journalist. Just trying to live my life as I want. I design bridges and at my free time release that magazine to put smile on my face. But let’s back to that bus. It’s a shitty bus, because there wasn’t any other connection and I had to be at my office next day morning. So, I’m fucking tired, all day work, it’s almost 11 PM and people sitting next to me... For example two drunk guys with a girl, looking like hobos and behave even worse. They opened beers at the back and the smell was terrible. When it comes to the mental aspects, they are at the same level – drunk. But Gazza was wearing Prada and had top models next to him by a swimming pool. Those fucking guys behind me are just poor and dirty bastards.

CASUAL CLASSIC // Words: Dawid Szałankiewicz // Illustration: Kacper Sokół Soundtrack: Oasis - Supersonic

The problem is, Deyna’s on a diﬀerent wavelength. He’s tuned to Radio Four, and the others are on Radio Luxembourg.

come from Poland. I like my country but hate people. As 99% of our society. We had a lot of mavericks in our history. The problem is that most of them are described as insane, some however being put on a pedestal and you have to treat them like a god. If you ask people who is Kaz, some of them will say that he is our best football player in history, some of them will try to describe you how good player he was. Top lad with skills in general. The legendary Kazimierz Deyna. But when I start to read about him at some British or American media... I see other picture. What make you a special one? I don’t know, ask Jose. But I know that when Prince Rainier of Monaco asks you to join his club, especially at that time, you got to mean something. And Kaz was unique. He quickly stole the spotlight with his brilliant style. Poles booed him at Silesian Stadium when he scored an important goal for the national team. Noel Gallagher, when asked by Polish journalist about Kaz, started to mention his goals and assists one by one from the time he played in City and it was obvious he had a lot of respect for Deyna. When Legia played with St. Etienne, the manager didn’t know a single thing about the rival. We had a communism in Poland, you see, the news and information from behind an Iron Courtain was banned. So before the game polish writers and actors - Gustaw Holubek, Stanisław Dygat and Tadeusz Konwicki – significant figures of Warsaw art scene, known for visiting France some time earlier, came to the locker room with a bunch of old French sport newspapers to translate the articles to the manager and players and give them at least basic information about St. Etienne. What I was trying to say - when you are a maverick, people see you differently. But it doesn’t matter to you. You are a maverick, so you don’t give a fuck about people. Only thing that matter is your own opinion and ambitions. It’s quite funny, but even here we have an example that present world and society is against such people. Due to social media and comntemporary trends you need to honour and follow someone’s opinion to make money and be famous. Your fans, manager, agent or... just make a choice, take sides.

I would like to carry on with this magazine like we wouldn’t exist. It’s not easy of course - as you noticed we don’t use Facebook, don’t own a webpage, just Instagram and Twitter. But we don’t use them as we should or people usually do - almost 2 years and 40 tweets. Have we made the right choice? Yes. Why? Because we don’t care about the world and news, When I have my coffee morning, I would like to take the magazine and read my memories. Maybe if we wouldn’t need to promote preorders and be active online, we could definitely dissappear from social media. The deal was done after who knows how many litres of vodka, dry biscuits and black coffees, starting at maybe nine in the morning. But even English people and their league were not ready for Kaz. It was the same time when other mavericks like Frank were running things but as Kaz couldn’t fit in. Btw. it was funny that new City player admitted to worship Sir Bobby Charlton when he was young. I love my vision of the magazine and the way we do that. But we don’t fit as well. Our fans would like to have us on Facebook, we should promote some stupid memes or retweet flashy tweets. I read a lot of foreign press - most of them are British but I found a new, eastern Europe magazine as well recently (top papper). So, what’s a point to duplicate? Or discuss between ourselves on Twitter? I meet with my friends and we discuss thing we don’t always agree on while drinking a beer at the same time. You don’t need to have an opinion, say something controversial, you don’t do this from your own initiative. You can drink like Kaz or go to casino, meet the most beautiful girls and what’s the point to put yourself in that stupid position. Unless, someone challenges you. And if you want to have respect, you need to prove that you have balls. Kaz could play shit at City, but when he scored it was something big. Like in 1979 when they played against Brian Clough’s Nottingham Forest. The biggest English team that time. Hey Boatsy, do you remember that day? October 13th 1979? Kaz scored the only goal and they won 1-0.

CASUAL CLASSIC // Words: Dawid Szałankiewicz // Illustration: Kacper Sokół Soundtrack: Oasis - Supersonic

I don’t need Malcolm Allison to tell me I am a great player. Pele told me I am a great player. But sometimes we try to make ourselves being heard, create a scene. We try to be cocky and conﬁdent as fuck, showing that we don’t care on social media. People have no respect for authority now, but luckily we don’t have them at all. That’s the trick.

I’ve recently read an article about the depression and mental health. I think it was the Guardian, I’m not sure. But I remember one crucial point: The author said jogging was her best choice and decision he made recent years. She forgot about problems and the anxiety was gone, but not forever. Do you know what she said was the biggest gamechanger? It’s not about the jogging, that very example may not work for most of people - for others it may be eating two apples a day or whatever you want. But the main change was done that very day few years earlier when she went from depression and fear to the state of having a releief and passion and thus ﬁnding a new hope.

But what if there is no trick? And that’s the least we can do, I guess. Most of the poles see Kaz as a very modest man. Of course they are right, kind of. Being in the USA he had this ring all the time - silver, blue sapphire and diamonds. He drove a white Dodge Colt with big chrome grill. Spended all day in casino playing poker. Deyna was arrested for drunk driving on three times between 1984 and 1987. Two years before he died in a car crash in San Diego. If you are a maverick, a special one, you have a lot of good memories and you enjoy your life at the highest level. But it costs you a lot and ambitions can create a monster. That monster is right behind you. Usually quiet, not asking for attention. Just doing his job – digging a big, empty hole inside your soul.

Being a maverick, a special one, can burn a man like a ﬁre burns dry stick. Kaz was a great player and man. He was a tue maverick. On the one hand – I admire him. On the other – I’m scared. The hole seems to be growing' every day. And one day, the magazine may not be enough. But I hope. Still.

Kaz playing football, me writing this text, or you doing whatever you like, - we all can fill that hole inside us. But I'M. telling you -that comfortable feeling of safeness you’ll feel will be an illusion. And like Kaz, when he stopped to play, died just two years after - same thing may happen to all of us. The difference between that kind of people and regular one is that regulars are asking for attention, they don’t have ambitions, they have specific goals or plans. They want to have millions of followers, sell custom things, be rich and famous. And all of that is fake.

I only wonder what made Kaz loosing rest of his hope...

The ambition I’m talking about, it’s real.

There are not many players in the City side who can read my passes. The problem with the forward players is that sometimes, when a good pass is made, they are lost and not sure what to do.

CASUAL CLASSIC // Words: Dawid Szałankiewicz // Illustration: Kacper Sokół Soundtrack: Oasis - Supersonic

THE ART OF MUSIC - part I

drugstore

belgrade

здраво како си?

serbia

music

culture

east

venue

Let's be honest if you want to talk about the Eastern Europe, you have to know our best music venues. You need to look beyond Berghain and Berlin. There is Cxema in Kiev, Luzztro (Warsaw) or Bassiani (Tibilisi). Don't forget about the history of Arma17 (Moscow). But I had the pleasure to ask two people from two other biggest clubs on the Eastern Europe music map. Are you ready? I hope. Enjoy.

dragana dobric

Dragana Dobrić. Belgrade, Serbia.

party

freedom

chill

relax

Art director of one of the city's biggest and most ambitious underground clubs – Drugstore. Drugstore is DIY cultural venue in Belgrade, set in the space of the former slaughterhouse, with brutal interiors and intense industrial atmosphere. It all started in 2012 as a crazy unpretentious adventure by a group of like-minded enthusiasts, who wanted to make a place where art and fun will entangle. It was built out of scratch, investing nothing more than great energy and goodwill, which remained the defying logic from the day one. Since it's reopening in this new space in 2014, it's been a melting pot of the city's sub-cultural life, hosting a great number of names from diﬀerent corners of the international underground music scene, ranging from contemporary techno acts to indie bands and cutting edge experimental projects – both prominent and obscure. It is also an oasis for local artists and trans-disciplinary art events. The new era of Belgrade's night life is on. It's Logic is forever twisted into a crazy loop of partying. Welcome to the temple of joy. Underground night club is an understatement. – drugstorebeograd.com

TAOM // Words: Dawid Szałankiewicz // Photography: Edin Omanović and Stefan Danilović Soundtrack: Monoloc - Lowa

What kind of town is Belgrade? The ﬁrst thing that pops into your head. I'd say modest, exciting and creative. Belgrade is the only true metropolis in the Balkans, right? Last time I checked Athens was in the game too. What do you think? I read somewhere that back to the 90s, in terms of urban culture, London felt a lot closer to people of Belgrade than Moscow. It that true? Well, this is something we only heard about but you can still sense in that generation's open-mindedness. Yeah, Belgrade was a center of a unique scene back in the eighties that radiated all the way to and was inspired by London a lot. So that was a nice ﬂirt everyone remembers with great joy.

Belgrade's history is intense. Can we say that electronic/techno music (DJ's?) had the power to inﬂuence young people at that time? Partying is everything most young people wanted to do in the nineties during riots, bombings and full-on war. The programme was good back then and still is good which means there is continuity in the work of DJs so, yes, DJs seem to have the power to inspire. Belgrade nightlife has developed in recent years and often draws comparisons with Berlin. Journalists are just lazy to investigate it on their own so they surf on that new Berlin phrase which means something to the certain audience and might help in a tourism/marketing kind of way but really isn't true. Both cities have a strong history of partying. In Berlin that is way more structured ofc. Belgrade's nightlife never left its DIY phase (with an exception of super commercial events that occur regularly) which has its own charm and gives a diﬀerent sense of freedom. No face control, no nothing control here.

TAOM // Words: Dawid Szałankiewicz // Photography: Edin Omanović and Stefan Danilović Soundtrack: Monoloc - Lowa

We had Ukraine's underground rave revolution two or three years ago (Cxema is a good example). How would you compare that to recent Serbian events and new trends? We don't compare. It seems Ukraine has a great audience which helps clubs in hosting massive parties. That scene seems very exciting.

Can we say that Belgrade's nightlife is the best what eastern Europe has to oﬀer now? Can you challenge Berlin, your biggest rival? Berlin is really not a rival in any way. Many super creative people from Belgrade work in Berlin. If you want to put nightlife in a competition, let's say RAVE WARS, we can challenge anything which doesn't mean any win will come out of it.

I was talking to some London DJ's the other day and as you know, they have their own problems. It's diﬃcult for new venues to operate past midnight and people don't want loud noise and crowds of youth around. So, does this mean we should look to eastern Europe for the future club scene and nightlife? That sort of law enforcement is also happening in Belgrade in residential zones so moving Drugstore to an industrial zone was a good move. You are more than welcome here if your club closes too early. If you catch a ﬂight around midnight you'll be here just in time for the best fun. And do you have your own problems in Serbia? What are the biggest challenges? Paying bills and rent. Making something out of nothing for the thousandth time.

TAOM // Words: Dawid Szałankiewicz // Photography: Edin Omanović and Stefan Danilović Soundtrack: Monoloc - Lowa

Let's talk about your club, the Drugstore. It was the biggest slaughterhouse in the Balkans right? What's the story behind your place? Why did you choose that place? The architecture of this ex-slaughterhouse is very distinctive. You'd fall in love too if you were looking for a place for your new club. And now to answer your previous question – the biggest challenge, when we first saw this space, was thinking super ahead - how to make a programme good enough to fill that 1000+ capacity every weekend. And your name? It's a long story. Drugstore started as an initiative of Danilo who approached us, the current owners, and proposed a collaboration. We needed a place to start bigger parties since we already run a night bar back in the days. Name was already there. Your line-ups. As we know already, you are Serbian techno temple. But do you invest in local acts and artists or more likely to guest acts? Everything you see done here is done thanks to and in collaboration with brave and fierce local DJs and promoters. Without them we wouldn't exist. Every party that has guests from abroad also has a local line-up. Many names had their debuts at Drugstore.

Drugstore was opened in 2012. After 6 years, what was your proudest and greatest moment? We are still open with the most ambitious line-ups so far and have managed to expand and include fashion shows, theatre, host other big clubs from Europe, exhibitions etc. in our programme. Do you have your favour ite per for mances/ concerts/acts? Some funny stories? So many to remember but once again let's say: Toresch, Ra bih Beaini, Flor ian Kupfer, Neil Lands tr umm, Svengalisghost, Carlos Souﬀront, Intergalactic Gary, JTC, Derek Plaslaiko, Elena Colombi, Antigone, CAWD SLAYDAZ… But let's put our own, Drugstore resident DJ, 33.10.3402, and his incredible sets from a very unique Rave Zone on top of this list. Lately, I've been enjoying YES parties run by Stevie Whisper and Vitanov since we share similar taste in music. There's also Kӣr, Drugstore's resident Live act, who hosts RUNO, nights dedicated to contemporary folk music, and the new Putnik party series. In the end, what're your plans and what we do expect from eastern Europe nightlife future? Should we forget about London and Berlin and start to think about Belgrade, Tbilisi, Kiev, and Warsaw? No, we shouldn't forget about London and Berlin and yes, if thinking about travelling, deﬁnitely put all of the cities you listed above on your map. Welcome to Belgrade!

TAOM // Words: Dawid Szałankiewicz // Photography: Edin Omanović and Stefan Danilović Soundtrack: Monoloc - Lowa

THE ART OF MUSIC - part II

mosaique

st. petersburg

Привет. Как ты дорогая?

russia

art.

music

culture

east

nightlife

venue

It's time for the second part mate. We have to move to dark, empty and cold St. Petersburg. But don't afraid, we are not alone. Somebody will come and help us. So turn your speakers on and go with us to Russia. Alex Moralez. St. Petersburg, Russia.

alex moralez

curator Mosaique Art Curator.

party

freedom

chill

rave

A unique atmosphere, deep sound, dark interior and great people. Best known club in Russia and East. And what's important – mean more than music. You will ﬁnd here a space for various kinds of art and express yourself.

. All of that in the former horse stables of Peter the Great - the founder of the city of St. Petersburg. I was more than happy to talk with Alex and try to understand post-soviet wave of new trends and subcultures. And trust me - it's not what you think… …what I thought. клубное пространство, расположившееся в центре Петербурга. Идея сочетания различных форм искусства для создания единой среды.

TAOM // Words: Dawid Szałankiewicz // Photography: Ivan Chernov Soundtrack: Moa Piller – Monastery Theme

I love watching photographs from Russian cities suborns and I think that St. Petersburg is the best example of that. So do you have your favourite part of the city and why? Vasilevsky Island, Primorsky or Parnas suborn? Each district is unique and different one to another. I personally like the area around Gulf of Finland and the suburbs of St. Petersburg. It is historically unique: Pushkin, Pavlovsk, Tsarskoye Selo, Peterhof. As well as the centre town it's full of historical facades, monuments and an impressive pieces of architecture. Some of these areas are like the suburbs of Paris right? You wouldn't want to end up there after dark. Full of people like the gopnik. If we are talking about criminal situation in some special areas, I think there are such areas in any big city in the world. Doesn't mean that every remote area is infested by gopniks. Sometimes in such areas it is much safer at night than in the city centre. In general, you can be safe with the right people at the right place. Quoting Fyodor Dostoevsky: This is a city of half-crazy people... there are few places where you'll find so many gloomy, harsh and strange influences on the soul of a man as in St Petersburg. What do you love and hate most about St. Petersburg and its people? Dostoevsky was right in some way, but he didn't write about the city how it is nowadays. It's a big city, but not like in mega polis, it doesn't make you so much busy, gives your brain more free time to think/do strange three-dimensional or opposite lower things. Here still some traditions are kept, but at the same time some people are suffering from depression, envy, alcoholism and lack of money. At the same time while living here - you have more free time for creativity , music and art realization, than for example in Moscow. Many people do not use this time and begin to envy those who succeed in creative processes and not so lazy. This factor is annoying. And... I think some mysterious historical processes also influences on the atmosphere in St. Petersburg. So what about the club scene in St. Petersburg, two years ago I was reading about two main sub-cultures: Techno culture represents and The Witch House (Ведмин Дом, Vedmin Dom). What about them and also, could you describe the present club scene and subcultures in St. Petersburg for us? At the moment, the most popular in the city: indie youth punk/rock scene (yard bands and DIY clubs); the techno

scene with a dirtier sound (dark/industrial/ebm/techno) and modern rap (open clubs and playgrounds open up). Witch house is almost dead: teenagers grew up and began to listen to other music. How did it change in the past years? At the time we opened the Mosaique club, there were just two dance clubs in the city and was a period not any dance festival exist. Now there are about 15 clubs and about 5 big festivals with international line ups. In fact we gave an impulse for development of the modern dance scene in our city, since we were innovative at that time we started. Some of our visitors became DJs, and some looking at our experience opened their own places two years later. Everything has changed and continues to change... People just wanted to express yourselves through something, and music is still the best tool for it. You think so, too? For many people music is an expression of freedom, of individuality, a rush of time, get-together and socializing. For us, music is a big layer of daily work, in which we are professionals, but still with a love to the music. The club is 4 years old now and we are standing strong on our feet. Clubs like Bassiani, Drugstore and much more, there is a new music and culture wave in East Europe. But I think it's also a lot of responsibility. It could be tricky. Many of these people were born after the USSR collapsed, and as members of the first truly post-Soviet generation, they will play a big part in shaping their countries' identities in years to come. What do you think about it? If we talk about the post-Soviet time and the collapse of the USSR, then everything started from the beginning of the 90s. From the first techno clubs and the first raves in Russia, organized by a group of people, they call themselves new artists , personalities like Timur Novikov, the Haas brothers and some others. It was the time, which was the pioneering for local dance scene and it shows and brings the perspectives for rave and dark scenes in the post-Soviet times. All the movement, everything started in a squat on Fontanka river, 145 in St. Petersburg. After it was followed by big waves of techno / rave popularity throughout the entire socialist camp. Clubs like Bassiani and Drugstore are more like followers of the already existing global, East European and European club scene, rather than influenced by the post-Soviet and social camps.

TAOM // Words: Dawid Szałankiewicz // Photography: Ivan Chernov Soundtrack: Moa Piller – Monastery Theme

What's your opinion about the drug policy and drugs in the clubs? I have a negative attitude towards drugs and all prohibited substances. It can change the mind, the person, the personality in a bad way, especially if it is an unprepared mind of a youngster and can affect his psychological and physical state in the future. If you love music - you shouldn't need something else to truly love it. That should be as a rule and should be understandable by everyone who goes to the club. And what is your biggest challenge or problem, what would you like to change? The main problem is the lack of time and energy for everything. But when you have a good team, where each member is trying to help each other, when you have a good feedback, when everything you are doing is worth it. Ok, so let's talk about your club – Mosaique. What are you looking at when you built a line-up? We can find more local artists or guest acts? Parties are completely different, as well as we are a regular club with parties each Friday and Saturday, sometimes on Sundays. We invite foreign artists and main local heroes. We try to develop new trends for music before other Russian cities also set up an evening concerts with an experimental world music, working with an independent bookings like Grains of Sand booking and Arcto Promo. Sometimes we are doing art lectures too, because for us the club is not just a dance format. This is more than just a discotheque... Your Sound system? Possibly the most significant part of the music club, right? For 4 years we have been using the horn acoustics of the company Turbosound: 4 subbass (2x18 ''), 2 midbass and 4 satellites. It is well built for us at the moment and sounds great in our a little complicated room with a domed vault. And what about your place where you are based. It looks really great and you have the monumental avant-garde light installations. Thank you. Historically this place was the former horse stables of Peter the Great - the founder of the city of St. Petersburg. In Soviet times, here was the main city taxi park: taxis were stored here and there was their washing. The tile on the walls remains about that time and you can touch it if you want)...As for the light installation, wall installations too, it's all designed and made by our team. We, our self-come up with a design, and each new season we make a new look. Soon will be a new impressive one.

Do you remember any funny moments from some past nights? We have something funny happened all the time. Specific situations it's hard to remember. I could say lots of funny stories during the Football World Cup this summer... Please tell us more about these stories from the last World Cup and what do you think about football and music connections. What about the local football scene and our fans. To the club sometimes came guys, which are passionate about football and their teams. We let them in, because they also love dance music, like ordinary party-goers. They do not create conflict situations, rather even the opposite. Many of them love mental techno, hardcore and gabber. Sometimes in the club you can hear this music. Situations with the World Cup were usually almost all fun - because there was a lot of draft beer all around. In general, I personally did not observe any conflicts. A couple of times I saw how the fans of the German national team went to drink beer after a party with fans of our national team. Music brings people together. What about a fashion? What people dress and what we can see inside your club? A guide on how to dress. You can be trendy dressed or modern casual sport style or dressed like a shake-rag punk, or someone who speaks and thinks well. We also welcome those who are well educated in music and etiquette... So what do you have planned for the next years? Plans are to change the light installation for the next season, then holding 2 big parties until May, continuing with experimental concerts and regular nights on Fridays and Saturdays. What do you think a St. Petersburg nightlife will look like in the future? I think there will be fewer clubs and nightlife events than there are now. The most honest market players will remain.

TAOM // Words: Dawid Szałankiewicz // Photography: Ivan Chernov Soundtrack: Moa Piller – Monastery Theme

LET’S TALK // Words: Dawid Szałankiewicz // Illustration: Michelle PAM Tags: Mateusz Klich //Soundtrack: WWO – Promienie

clichy

LET’S TALK - part II poland

graﬃti

art.

music

street

leeds

mateusz klich

The other day I had the pleasure to meet and had breakfast with a long and interesting chat with Leeds United current season’s best player so far. And of course the fans favourite.

culture

football

We had met at Le Pain Quotidien in Leeds. Water, scrambled eggs with a salmon and mushrooms served by Polish chefs without use of milk. And coﬀee, of course. You probably saw his goals, assists, and Leeds on the top. He is working with Bielsa and was called up to Poland’s national team squad again. So it looks like we had to talk about football… but of course we didn’t. Let’s be serious, we are Matchday. There’s always more than this… ok, usually.

rap

hip hop

travel So, I would like to introduce you to the other side of Mateusz Klich.

talk

Graﬃti, Street Art, Tags, Trains, Rap, Hip Hop. That wasn’t an interview, just a simple chat, a little discussion… Asking about the favourites albums, showing and sharing of music playlists on Spotify, so come and sit down with us - scrambled eggs as well, or just a cup of coﬀee?

LET’S TALK // Words: Dawid Szałankiewicz // Illustration: Michelle PAM Tags: Mateusz Klich //Soundtrack: WWO – Promienie

Even here we met Polish people. Exactly. It’s so easy to speak Polish in Leeds. There is a lot of us here. We have even a Polish chef in our club kitchen. I tell him to make żurek or pierogi sometimes, but there is no way. He has to follow a specific diet programme. But I’m used to an English breakfast. Preparing for this interview, I read the last interviews with you and everyone asked about three subjects, Bielsa, Leeds United and the national team. At some point, I had to refuse interviews. I did not want to answer the same questions again and again. On the one hand, I can understand this because it's the interviewers job. On the other- if I were a journalist I would try to avoid repeating questions from previous conversations. But that’s not how it works. It is what it is. You travel a lot, right? Yeah, I was in Greece recently. It was a really good trip. We had one day with shitty weather, but the rest was fine. I used to fly to Dubai during winter break, or Ibiza for my summer holidays. You visited many countries during your career. How would you rate them, when it comes to fans? Moving to Leeds I met the best English crowd, for sure the best in the Championship. In the stands you can find a lot of similarities with the Netherlands. It is a bit different in Germany. Many people enjoys the atmosphere, but it’s slightly different from what I have noticed here. Any specific away game in your mind? We have recently played with Blackburn. 8,000 fans from Leeds. Madness. England, Germany, the Netherlands, how’d you compare those countries? Yeah, we lived in Germany, the Netherlands, now England. It's nice to have a chance to compare the culture and traditions of these countries. We live very well in England, Leeds is a great city, there is nothing to complain about, but the best time we spent in the Netherlands. I have even come up with an idea to move and live in the Netherlands after I retire. Have you picked a city yet? I do not have the special one. But I will surely say that Amsterdam is definitely not a city to live. Too many people, too many tourists, the city is so vibrant and alive. Coming to the weekend is cool but nothing more. Let's say a city like Utrecht is good.

And how it looks like in the UK? I was in Manchester and it’s practically the same city as Leeds. If you’d cover my eyes and, then showed me both cities without saying which one is which… I would say it's one and the same town, they are almost identical but I somehow like Leeds more. However when I have the weekend oﬀ, I like to go to London. *

How about music? Rap and rap. Do you go to any concerts in Leeds? It's difficult, because of my free time. I've tried to go to a concert twice already- one time for Paluch and the other for KęKę. But we have so many games and we are so busy these days, and you have to know the gigs did not took place in Leeds - it was Doncaster so far away from here. Do you listen to music from the UK? No, I'm rather following the Polish scene. Although in England you can’t escape from music and especially artists like Big Shaq. How many views does Mans Not Hot have, 300 million? Correct. Two plus two is four, minus one that's three, quick maths. He is a legend. I love the last opening sequence at BRIT Awards. Ok, let’s talk about the Polish scene. What did you listen to on the way to the interview? Wojtek Sokół – Teraz pieniądz w cenie. Classic, but what about a new school? Young Igi for example. I have recently opened up for a new school. But I prefer classics…Fu – Raptowne Realia, do you remember that time? Of course. Poznan or Warsaw? Rychu Peja – Na legalu, the classic album that I always respect, but I have to choose Warsaw. I like listening to Sokół, or Eldoka once. Ever since I could think, I have liked aggressive, street rap like Dixon37, Bez Cenzury… And Firma, especially when I was a kid in Cracow. Or Quebonafide, sometimes I like listening to his tracks, and I like his image, the whole stuff around him. And it makes me always laugh when people point a finger at him because he is making a lot of money.

LET’S TALK // Words: Dawid Szałankiewicz // Illustration: Michelle PAM Tags: Mateusz Klich //Soundtrack: WWO – Promienie

KLICHY’S

TOP

WWO MOGĘ WSZYSTKO

PAKTOFONIKA CHWILE ULOTNE

PAKTOFONIKA JESTEM BOGIEM

PEJA & SLUMS ATTACK RANDORI

TABASKO WYCHOWANI W POLSCE

PEJA & SLUMS ATTACK GŁUCHA NOC

KILLAZ GROUP JESTEM SZEJKIEM

KASTA PERYFERIE

PEZET #1

10.

11.

12.

PIĘĆ DWA DĘBIEC KONFRONTACJE

WWO KAŻDY PONAD KAŻDYM

PIĘĆ DWA DĘBIEC TO MY

13.

14.

15.

O.S.T.R. KOCHANA POLSKO

WWO ŻYCIE DEPCZE WYOBRAŹNIĘ

PEJA & SLUMS ATTACK JEST JEDNA RZECZ

LET’S TALK // Words: Dawid Szałankiewicz // Illustration: Michelle PAM Tags: Mateusz Klich //Soundtrack: WWO – Promienie

Who is a DJ in the club, who is playing music in the locker room? There are two people, our equipment trainer, and the second one is our strength and conditioning coach. Always British rap and grime, I’m guessing Skepta and more stuff like this. But still wouldn't make a difference for me. And before the game, what do you listen to? I have my special playlist on Spotify, which I listen to before the match. Solar and Białas, when I want to wake up - VNM. Once I remember I was listening to WWO – Mogę Wszystko all the time, before every game. O.S.T.R., - after the match. Pięc Dwa Dębiec – To My… I didn’t find out the real meaning of the verse: Jak nie zgodnie z prawem, to lewą stroną jade, after 15 years of listening to this track. *

Once, I was a kid, I wanted to draw graﬃti and tags. I wanted to get into a well-known and very good crew in Tarnow. At my primary school we were painting in our notebooks or on the walls of the bathroom as well with a couple of friends. But I left Tarnow quickly, so… There is still one of my tags under the bridge. Even today I like to paint something in my notebook, but I always wanted to do it on walls, to get a little adrenaline. I remember once we were painting on the train. And I was painting the door from the compartment. Inside it was only me, my man and some student. We thought he was asleep, but suddenly he woke up and started yelling. A moment later, the conductor came. And I was just going to the juniors' match. I threw my bag to my friend and said I would jump out of the train right away. But, man, there was no chance. They caught me and beat me. They locked me in the toilet and beat me. I had to wash it all after. Well, as a result, I was late for a junior match. When I came to the dressing room, everyone laughs at me.

So what about your current team, any best mates? I do not have one. Generally, I live well with everyone at the club. We like to joke with Barry Douglas, he also speaks a little Polish, so it’s funny. And you have no problem with his accent? No, it's not that bad. Of course, Scots have a heavy accent, but you can’t beat the player who recently joined us from Liverpool. When he says something faster, you don’t even stand a chance to understand. The same with Kalvin Phillips, I told him a hundred times to talk to me slowly. I always thought I spoke English well, and I lived in the Netherlands, where you can always communicate in that language, but in England, it is not always as easy as it seems. Then on the other hand, in Germany, the first thing you have to learn is the language. From the very beginning, it was made clear to me. I came to the first training, first day… Felix Magath walked up to me and said something in German, I was so surprised he asked me if I understood, and of course I replayed… Nothing. So I needed to deal with this. *

I hope this season you will be promoted to the Premier League. But what about last seasons, why did you stuck in Championship? There are probably three ways to promote to the Premier League: a Huddersﬁeld’s way, when you buy a lot of unknown and cheap players from Europe, and somehow it happens to works out. The second one, a Wolverhampton’s way - you buy yourself a promotion, but you must have balls to do this and a lot of money. The last one, a Cardiﬀ’s way - you hire an experienced British manager and play a typical old-school English football.

The same with skateboarding. I’ve tried once, but I almost broke my leg, so I gave up. Fortunately, I decided to focus on football. *

How are your friendships from that time? I have literally one friend from Tarnow, with whom I keep in touch all the time. But it's diﬃcult, because I'm back there maybe once or twice a year. The same in Krakow, I have one friend from school only.

LET’S TALK // Words: Dawid Szałankiewicz // Illustration: Michelle PAM Tags: Mateusz Klich //Soundtrack: WWO – Promienie

THE STANDS

béton brut „Butal - /’bru:.el / - adjective 1. ruthless and cruel, completely without feelings; 2. harsh and severe; 3. direct or insensitive in manner or speech, not consideing someone’s feelings.” There’s rather no possible way of looking at word brutal without a pejorative meaning. Are the brutalist structure therefore designed without feelings? Definitely not. Butalism is an architectural trend often associated with French master Le Corbusier - author of famous Unité d’Habitation apartments, who came up with the name as béton brut - raw concrete. It was however both United Kingdom and Easten Block behind the Iron Curtain where brutalism cought up the most significantly, mostly due to same reasons. Both zones, deeply in economic recession, seeked for rather low-cost design, simple materials (prefferably concrete only) and quick construction for large housing or public-use buildings. Brutalism, with its „function over form” assumption seemed as perfect, meeting with all above requirements. Brutalism is characterised by raw, harsh, seemingly unfinished structures or surfaces; use of raw concrete and steel, sometimes with stones or glass, but always in a way to visualise the „as found” nature of the materials as well as open and clear display of building’s structure. Brutalist buildings are bold, massive and geometric, often stocky and pudgy, sometimes excessed to steep sizes on pourpose. Br u t a li s m, w i t h i t s d o m i n a t i n g, overwhelming bunker-like form gained also wide appreceation by Soviets, well adjusting to communist mentality. Sadly a lot of brutalist stadiums does not exist already - the design, while impressive, was not favourable for any major modernisations or renovations. A lot of those concrete behemoths were demolished completly, to make place for a new generation of mignon stands.

rheinstadion

THE STANDS // Words: Kacper Sokół // Illustration: Kacper Sokół Soundtrack: Черное Кино - Найтмен

düsseldorf germany 1974 55.000

netherdale galashiels scotland 1963 2.000

THE STANDS // Words: Kacper Sokół // Illustration: Kacper Sokół Soundtrack: Черное Кино - Найтмен

THE CAPTAIN // Words: Kuba Pogorzelski // Illustration: Kacper Sokół Soundtrack: GSPD - Дура

lev yashin

THE CAPTAIN

russia

football

sport

dinamo moscow

black panther

crazy

octopus

goalie

When you spend your whole life in the Soviet Union and you see the atrocities of World War II on your own, nothing can break you down.

nationality

What kind of a goalkeeper is the one who is not tormented by the goal he has allowed? He must be tormented! And if he is calm, that means the end. No matter what he had in the past, he has no future - Lev Yashin.

ﬁfa

soviet union

yashin

Russian goalkeeper recognized by FIFA as the best player of the century on his ﬁeld position. Recipe for success? He has something in common with many British footballers, who can be associated from the previous articles from series The Captain: Before a game I smoked a cigarette to calm my nerves and sunk a nice vodka to tone my muscles. - Lev Yashin.

THE CAPTAIN // Words: Kuba Pogorzelski // Illustration: Kacper Sokół Soundtrack: GSPD - Дура

he great skills presented in the international arena by the goalkeeper, who became famous not only for his unique outfits, like black goalkeeper's clothing and black peaked cap but also for unparalleled physical fitness, made him obtain the nickname Black Panther. He was also called the Black Spider or Black Octopus. In the history of world football, he also signed up as the progenitor of today's goalkeeper game model. The style, which nowadays is associated with Manuel Neuer, was the first to put into practice by the Dinamo Moscow's goalkeeper. He was the first, who used his ability to play with his feet and the right setting on the field. He often played the role of the last defender, stopping the rivals attacks on the foreground. Something new those times was also the renewals by him with accurate throws and knocking out the ball, instead of a usual habit to catch it all times. Lev was born in 1929 in the capital of the Soviet Union, Moscow. The scale of persecution of the NKVD military police affected not only the security service itself, where the Great Purge occurred but also millions of citizens, who were suffering, among other things, from the terrifying Great Famine in Ukraine. The nightmares of the scale of Soviet terror captures the film Child 44 with Tom Hardy in the lead role, based on the book written by Tom Rob Smith. In such conditions, the future best goalkeeper grew up, who in 1941 was mobilized to the army. At the age of 13, he was trained as a fitter, while in 1949 he was noticed by Dinamo Moscow - a club where he played throughout his entire career. He was not limited to football at first, because until the age of 23, Yashin, then a reserve goalkeeper, played at the same time in a hockey team, where he won the first trophy in his career - Soviet Cup. This shape was influenced by the political decisions about the lack of professional sport in the Land of Soviets, which give an opportunity for practicing many disciplines in one club. His club trophies gained in football are five USSR Championships and three USSR Cups. When he was 18, he almost lost the chance to become an athlete. As he admitted in his autobiography, he had a nervous breakdown: Was it depression? I don't know. The fatigue accumulated over the years began to make itself felt and something in me suddenly broke. At that time I felt nothing except emptiness.

Finally, at the age of 24, after leaving the club by an experienced goalkeeper, Alexey Chomich, Lev became player of the first team. He became a Dinamo's key figure and a year later he appeared in the national team of the USSR when he also achieved international successes. Sborna's first success was the Olympic Games in Melbourne, where the USSR players won gold medals, after defeating Yugoslavia in the final 1: 0. Two years later, Yashin was a goalkeeper during the World Cup, where he and his teammates were eliminated from the competition after defeat in the quarterfinals against Sweden. Another victory was winning the European Cup of Nations - games that were the first European Championships. For political reasons, many national teams refused to play, and the USSR in the final tournament defeated the already nonexistent countries, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia. After the World Cup in 1962, Yashin was criticized in his country. In the group match against Colombia, he released 4 goals, including one after a direct corner kick, which remains the only such case in the World Cup history. He was also blamed for the collapse in the quarterfinals against Uruguay when Sborna ended his participation in the tournament. Walery Urin, a friend of Yashin, said in an interview with Sports Review:

„

The fans came to his apartment and threatened him, demanded him to leave the national team. Lev strongly took on this criticism. People did not know the truth. They thought he lost his form.

THE CAPTAIN // Words: Kuba Pogorzelski // Illustration: Kacper Sokół Soundtrack: GSPD - Дура

Hard moments mobilized the Black Panther and in 1963 sensationally received the Golden Ball. He became the only goalkeeper in history who had this honour. He was ahead of, among others, Eusebio and Denis Law. The magazine France Football wrote then, justifying its choice: He revolutionized the role of goalkeeper like no other before him, by always being ready to act as an extra defender. The famous match played at Wembley between England and the rest of the world team certainly had an impact on the choice of the Russian as the winner of the Golden Ball. The meeting was arranged on the occasion of the centenary of the ﬁrst football federation. The Russian goalkeeper stole all the spectacle with his excellent saves when he outshined stars like Bobby Moore, Bobby Charlton, Denis Law, Eusebio, Raymond Kopa or Alfredo di Stefano.

many great, confident players off. I knew I had to strike a perfect shot. Another key factor in the assessment of his genius and his honours was considered to be the best goalkeeper of the century awarded by FIFA. In the table, he overtook such legends as Gordon Banks, Dino Zoff or Peter Shilton. The story of a boy, who from a youthful nervous breakdown, became the best 20th-century goalkeeper who found himself on the poster promoting the World Championships in Russia, is a ready script for the movie. Maybe Tom Hardy could play a Yashin's role?

Individual awards were also a prelude to the most successful World Cup in the Lev career. In 1966, USSR was a step away from winning a bronze medal, but their dreams at the end of the match for the third place were dispelled by the Portuguese Jose Augusto Torres. During the tournament four years later, Yashin was just a substitute. The athlete called the Black Panther admitted years later, that during the World Cup he played his best matches in his career. Despite the interest of Real Madrid, the communist regime did not let him go to the best club in the world. Apart from the transfer ban, players from USSR were strictly controlled by the services. He played his last match in 1971 when the audience of 100,000 admires Yashin in a farewell demonstration match. Bobby Charlton, Giacinto Facchetti, Wlodzimierz Lubanski and Gerd Muller performed on the pitch at the time. The hero of the event spent 50 minutes on the pitch and kept a clean sheet. In his whole career, he made this 480 times in 812 performances. If we add 150 saved penalties (the record is 11 defences in the season!), it is not surprising that Lev Yashin is a true legend. The famous Eusebio recalled shots from the eleventh meter against Yashin: He was the greatest goalkeeper in history, and he was easily the greatest at saving penalties. Taking a penalty against Yashin wasn't like taking one against anybody else. Just seeing him being in between the posts put

THE CAPTAIN // Words: Kuba Pogorzelski // Illustration: Kacper Sokół Soundtrack: GSPD - Дура

THE ART OF FOOTBALL - part I

szymon kula

silesia

people

It's been the weekend from hell. A lot of work mate. Trust me. Next day. Monday 9 am. Sitting at my desk. Message from Kacper:

culture

Check it out.

childhood

art.

glasgow

trainer

football

Football art exhibition in Muzeum Slaskie, Katowice, Poland. Young Polish artist decided to transfer some poems inside the football clubs budges, ﬁnally making murals on walls around Silesia streets. You just made my day mate.

rafał wojaczek

poems

zidane

graﬃti

murals

When I saw his works, I thought: Forget about BANDS FC, we have our own peace of football art. Similar idea, but better execution. And I'm guessing no one in Poland even know about that event. They should do pins with these budges, I'm sure football fans from Silesia could kill for it. Who's the author of this idea?

katowice

. Szymon Kula. '94. Proud Silesian from Katowice. Graduate of the University of Fine Arts in Poznan and the Glasgow School of Art. Investigating memories deeply rooted in a private experience, Szymon Kula simultaneously appropriates alternative histories and identities into his personal mythology. Exploring the potential of painting, he carefully observes its peripheries, transforming and recycling traditional conventions, iconographies and motifs. Usually working in series and multiples he challenges the orthodox strategies of display presenting canvases alongside object, sound, video or performance. Constructing narratives that often correspond to the site speciﬁc environment Kula is fascinated by the past and by the potential future that can be coded in the structure of the painting. The tension between the illusionism and the actual physicality of the artwork manifests itself through the application of various techniques and materials which contribute to the visual as well as conceptual aspects of the work. In this way the status of his projects is permanently suspended between the spheres of aesthetics and functionality. - Szymon Kula, Statement.

TAOF // Words: Dawid Szałankiewicz // Photography: Michał Jędrzejowski Soundtrack: Ffrancis - Remove

Silesia. What does really mean to You? It's one of the questions I keep coming back to, trying to understand my roots or identity. I think the more I travel and the longer I spend away from Silesia the easier it gets to pin down its definition. Silesia means the texture of concrete of the ugly monument in the park I've climbed as a kid, it means the unique smell of coal in the air burning together with an old plywood and other rubbish, it means the dialect that I understand perfectly but was never able to speak myself. Silesia also means to me all the buildings and like the spaceship looking spodek which once seemed massive and were gradually becoming smaller and smaller in my eyes as I was growing up; the architecture I used to think of as boring and unattractive and now I regard as inspiring and somehow beautiful. It definitely means a lot of things to me but more than anything I think it means a place which I have nostalgia for no matter how much I would try to deny it. Wojciech Kilar said once: I have only good words to say about Silesia. It's beautiful, but this beauty is very specific. I think the beauty of Silesia lays in its roughness and authenticity. I personally see it in a weird combination of nature and urban sphere. Silesia feels simultaneously very much like a city and a province. There is something very amusing about all the industrial infrastructure almost brutally planted amongst Silesian fields and hills. I would say the beauty of Silesia is all about its pragmatism and some form of minimalism, there are no decorative elements everything has got its function. And people from Silesia? I would describe Silesians as very proud and thick-skinned but at the same time capable of sporadic but very intense emotional gestures. It's a really interesting social group as it's been affected by different cultures. Proximity to the border is always a factor that results with an interesting mixtures of social, ethnical and behavioural features. Silesia in these terms was mainly under the influence of German pragmatism and order as well as a Czech humour and eccentricity which meets with polish exaggerated yet admirable in some ways stubbornness and patriotism. Your childhood. I'm guessing, was filled with excitement, right? That's right I had a really exciting childhood. I'm not going to be original in this matter as my experience fits perfectly in the cliché of the early 90's reality. I spent most of my time after school at the backyard kicking a fake replica of

Adidas Mundial edition soccer ball. Of course like everyone I wanted to become a football star, I just realized at some point that I'm also quite good at copying football team logos and drawing caricatures of my friend's favorite players so this passion gradually took over my sport ambitions. I struggled a lot to fit art and sport in one bag as I was equally interested in both but now I feel like I managed to strike the right balance. If it's about music, strangely I wasn't really affected by hip-hop movement which I guess had a significant impact and meaning for a lot of teenagers from my generation. I was more so going through a stage of fascination with old school and quirky rock music like King Crimson, Jethro Tull or Camel. Btw. did you see BLOK documentary? I've not seen it yet, but I heard of it and was meaning to watch it for a while. The next stop was Glasgow, it's a big change, isn't? There was a tiny step in between Katowice and Glasgow Poznan where I first studied and which already seemed like a bit of a contrast from Silesia, but essentially moving to Glasgow felt like a real difference. On the other hand I must say that the image of what it will be like I've built in my head was quite accurate. I was feeding myself with a lot of British and Scottish culture including books, films and I was following UK's art scene but I'd never been on the island before apart from Southern Ireland, which gave me a bit of a taste but not quite. I wouldn't go as far as cultural shock but I definitely felt a bit out of place in the best possible way though - it was just what I needed at this point. Scotland and Silesia. Could you compare them? There are more similarities then I used to think or expect. Dialect is an obvious one, Silesian slang is maybe not as prominent as Scottish but I heard people from Warsaw having a hard time understanding while asking locals for simple directions. It's funny but paradoxically I find north of UK in general similar to the south of Poland - things like for example shared industrial heritage or similar hilly landscape. Scotland has got a landscape and architecture that's hard to beat but I will risk and say that if it's about industrial vibe Silesia is a serious competition. I think both Scotland and Silesia are in a lot of ways not easy places to live which makes people strong and resilient, this kind of environment in my view produces great artists as well, as it's got tension which triggers creativity. At the same time it wouldn't be fair to say that there's no major differences between the two - like for example the fact that Scottish people are very outgoing and chatty while Silesians come across as rather introvert and almost shy.

TAOF // Words: Dawid Szałankiewicz // Photography: Michał Jędrzejowski Soundtrack: Ffrancis - Remove

What part of Polish culture British need to catch up with? I think the British are very varied when it comes to their understanding of Poland, I've met some who had no idea about Poland whatsoever apart from how to use basic polish swear words and some who made me feel like I need to revise my own knowledge about the history and contemporary situation in Poland. I definitely think there's a lot of art in Poland that deserves more exposure in UK and is still only locally recognized, but it's just a matter of time. Polish avant-garde as well as underground and counter culture movements are a strong card in our deck for sure, our culture weirdly always tends to benefit from suppression and slows down in the state of normalcy. I think DIY approach is something we've have taken to another level and we have something to teach British in this field. Guerrilla actions and independent projects are something Polish naturally thrive from and that's what stands out looking back at our history of art as well as at the young generation of artists. Last year, I spent a week in Glasgow. And I have to say… I loved this city. King Tut's Wah Wah Hut is still the best music club for me. Do you have your favourite place in Glasgow? Yeah Glasgow is definitely a unique place, and it's got a character that seduces a lot of people. What I like about it is that it stimulates binary emotions, you can either love it or hate it but it's impossible to be neutral. Of course Glasgow has a strong offer when it comes to music clubs, even though some people think it has its best years behind. I really enjoyed gigs at The Vic which is a student's club by the Art School and that's where I went to the most times. What's cool about Glasgow is that it's quite easy to much different moods and tastes, if you're looking for the best techno party there's the legendary Sub club, if you feel like something a bit more easy but artsy you'd go to The Old Hairdressers or Stereo, if you want something more scruffy and less hipster then you go to the Laurieston Pub where you can simply drink a pint among some locals and play a song from an old jukebox. How well do you remember your Glasgow School Of Art lessons and time spent there? I have to say it's been a very intense an action packed time for me so there's probably a lot of things that skipped my mind and I wish I'd remember them better. Generally speaking the approach to teaching and studying at the Glasgow School of Art was very different to what I was familiar with. The timetable was very loose and we were

given a lot of independence and freedom which felt liberating after very intense and disciplined studies in Poznań. The main core of the course were tutorials I had with local and visiting tutors monthly. Apart from that I spent most of my time working independently in the studio and discussing ideas with other students which was one of the most important elements of the whole experience for me. Because a lot of things seemed new and fascinating for me the whole course went really fast and in some way I feel like I've only had time to process all these experiences afterwards. The source of your inspiration. Glasgow, Silesia? Particular person? I find travelling a very stimulating element and I always try to respond to the surrounding of particular place I find myself in when looking for ideas. It can sound simple but when I'm in Glasgow I find it most natural to respond to the Glaswegian environment, similarly if I'm back in Silesia I can't help but refer to the local context. Of course there are things I am always looking out for wherever I am. In one way or another I consider myself a painter and I notice things such as new combinations of colours and patterns or unexpected composition of shapes and figures. These can be camouflaged in a cityscape or landscape, in tacky advertisements or in the kind of clothes people wear, it can be a medieval painting I see in the museum or a football logo as long as it triggers some kind of personal reflection in my mind or bring a remote memory back. How would you characterize yourself as an artist? I guess I have partially answered that question above, but if I were to dwell on that further I'm trying to do as much as I can not to fit the stereotype of what it means to be an artist if a definition like that even exists. There's probably as many characteristics of being an artist as there are artists which doesn't mean it's impossible to be clear about what it entails. I consider myself a maker, I manually shape/craft objects hoping that they can communicate what I cannot express in any better way. It's just a different form of storytelling whether it takes shape of a painting, mural or installation. I approach being an artist in quite a sporty, physical way, for example by working on a big scale where I'm using my whole body rather than just a wrist to hold a pencil, or devoting myself to an artistic exercise that I perform every day following a form of routine or a training programmer you could say.

TAOF // Words: Dawid Szałankiewicz // Photography: Michał Jędrzejowski Soundtrack: Ffrancis - Remove

All right, let's get to your present exhibition – TRANSFER. How did you get that idea? The idea behind the TRANSFER project comes from observation of the Silesian cityscape. I have always been drawn to the football graffiti's with their vulgarity but at the same time a sense of consequence and mission. When I started thinking about it I realized that in Katowice itself it's almost hard to find a building without a single football inscription on it. Very often, logos of opposing clubs cover each other in multiple layers turning the whole thing into an abstract composition. In response to the open call announced by Muzeum Śląskie I wanted to bring people's attention to this element which whether we want it or not is part of the panorama we are looking at every day. Respecting the style and convention of the logos I replaced the names of football clubs with fragments of the poems by Rafał Wojaczek. On the basis of this surprisingly matching combination I made a series of murals in various spots in Katowice. The idea was to make people react by simply reconsidering this overlooked fragment of the urban landscape or even better by responding to it directly with a spray can or a brush. How important is football for you? Which football club do you support? Did you use to go to football with your dad, any memories from the past or present time? As I said before, there was a time in my life when I almost couldn't see much apart from football, it was a long time ago though. Sadly I can't even remember when was the last time I had a chance to play a casual match. I still enjoy watching a football game from time to time, especially if it's a bigger tournament like world cup or champions league. I've never supported any team, I support individual players, again I won't be original if I say Zidane is an undisputed favorite of mine. I've never been to a match with my dad, but I remember the first pair of soccer cleats I got as a present from my granddad - interestingly I can't quite remember the colour but I can still almost sense the characteristic smell of rubber soles.

taken out of context. My favorite quote which I've used in one of the murals is Lubie być obcy pod twoim oknem. And why murals? What do you think about graffiti, tags, they are also close to the football culture in Poland. It was a time when we had a strong graffiti scene. Murals and graffiti's have always been interesting to me as a painter, I was thinking about working in this way myself for a while and TRANSFER was a perfect opportunity to do so. What is a massive advantage of working with painting in a public space if it's graffiti, mural, fresco or any other form is that it reaches an incomparably bigger and more diverse audience then a painting hanging on the gallery wall. Of course this comes at a price, murals or graffiti's are way more vulnerable and there's rarely a guarantee that they will survive years in the initial form, which I find as an advantage rather than disadvantage. We definitely have a great tradition of graffiti in Poland, and Silesia had one of the strongest scenes. Working on TRANSFER project made me want to learn more about its history and make more murals myself. In the end, could you name football as an art? I think anything can be a form of art, I don't see why football can't be one of these forms, moreover I think football has been made into an art already a few times. A good example is a film by a famous Glaswegian video artist Douglas Gordon titled Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait - might not be an easy one to watch but it worth giving it a try.

Rafał Wojaczek, why did you decide to choose his poems? Your favourite quote? I've chosen Wojaczek cause his poetry reﬂects the atmosphere and the scenery of Silesian streets really well as the author himself was born and grew up in Mikołów near Katowice. I was interested in life and work of Wojaczek before and when I got the idea with the murals I thought it's a perfect match. The language he uses is very poetic but at the same time it hits the point immediately which was important to me when working with short fragments of text

TAOF // Words: Dawid Szałankiewicz // Photography: Michał Jędrzejowski Soundtrack: Ffrancis - Remove

lubo domo

THE ART. OF FOOTBALLpart II lyubomir

domozetski

The communist architecture has killed opportunities and creativity. Grey and cold concrete was the deﬁnition of the Eastern Bloc. Tauzen // Katowice…

soﬁa

CSKA

sport

Zaspa // Gdansk… Manhattan // Wroclaw…

art.

bulgaria

photography

football

shoot

I love watching photographs from Russian cities suburbs, I mean their architecture. Let’s say - St. Petersburg - there’s something more than just urban blocks in vast housing areas - you also ﬁnd some old stadiums full of the spirit from the past and people’s passion. *

france

stands

fans

We have good examples like Sofia in Bulgaria - somewhere between that land of concrete there’s a war constantly going on between two clubs: CSKA Sofia and Levski Sofia. One man comes inside with a camera to tell that story as part of the group. Carefully, don’t be blinded my friends: it’s not about the words themselves, rather try to watch close because like he said: A picture's worth a thousand words. He is a self-taught photojournalist, into photography since his teenage years. Born in Bulgaria but for more than a decade based in the French city of Lyon – Lyubomir Domozetski. Red is the Gods' colour, so CSKA SOFIA was the only option.

TAOF // Words: Dawid Szałankiewicz // Photography: Lubo Domo Soundtrack: Scriptonite - HTPC

TAOF // Words: Dawid SzaĹ&#x201A;ankiewicz // Photography: Lubo Domo Soundtrack: Scriptonite - HTPC

You are living in France now, but you were born in Sofia, right? Yes I am from Bulgaria and I have been living in France for more than 10 years now. I wasn't born in Sofia, I was born in a small town in the South West of the country. And I have never lived in Sofia. My childhood in Bulgaria was a happy one, because we only needed a ball and a field to be happy. We played football every day, many hours per day. Going to school talking about football. Football was part of the everyday life. I used to listen to lots of different music while growing up, but I guess the likes of Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Queen, U2, Robbie Williams etc. were the main music I listened to. The only art I was every interested was the cinema, used to go to the movies very often. Compared to France, what kind of country is Bulgaria now? Could you compare Sofia to some French city? It is difficult to compare France and Bulgaria, both are very different in terms of spending power and way of life. The mentality is also very different. Both are similar as both are European countries and all countries in Europe have something in common. But apart from that, it's completely different. Sofia is a big city, yet you can't really compare it to any French city. It has 4 major football teams, unlike in France – you only have one team per city. It is closer to the southern cities in France than to cities like Paris and Lyon. And why CSKA Sofia? CSKA Sofia and Levski Sofia were the major teams in Bulgaria, so if you come from a small town where your local team is not popular, you support one of the big guys. My whole family are CSKA supporters, so it was only right that I follow the tradition. Plus I never really recognised myself in what Levski represented. And also of course, the colour, Red is the Gods' colour, so CSKA was the only option. Do you remember your first away game and the wildest one? The wildest away game was in when CSKA played AS Roma in the Europa league in 2009. We were 6000 at Stadio Olimpico, it was pure madness, hundreds of busses came from Bulgaria, we were the only ones making the noise in the stadium it was amazing. Locally in Bulgaria the wildest game would be away at Litex Lovech in the early 2000s, we were 4000 in a stadium which holds 7000 seats. Fair to say we were at home. Some crazy stuff went in the away end too, with fights against the police and all that. We ended up 1-1 that game.

What about the police, how it looks like in Bulgaria? Police can be rough in Bulgaria, but if you're respectful, it will be okay. You have to provoke them for them to respond. But they are present at every game as security. Things that happened with CSKA in the last years, tell us about the Bulgarian society more? Or it's only poor club management and incompetent owners? What did you think about that, when you had to play in the 3rd division? And fans, how did they react? We went to the 3rd division as part of a suspension for not being able to cover our debts. For me it was a fair decision, and I was happy that we could play with youngsters, we went on to win the Cup that season it was crazy. After that some more stuff happened as CSKA Sofia stopped to exist, it went bankruptcy, so they created a new PLC and acquired the licence to play in the Bulgarian 1st division from a small team and merged with Litex Lovech, who went to the 3rd division themselves. The owner of Litex Lovech is now the owner of CSKA Sofia. It is a very complicated story... I think the fans were supporting the team when it was in the 3rd division. But when they merged and went back to the 1st division, some of the fans stopped following the team as they felt it's not the real CSKA. I know that a lot of things happened in CSKA Sofia, but do you remember something special, maybe funny in the last years? A special thing in the past years was in 2013-2014, CSKA played six times against Levski and won six times. It was the year of Levski's 100th Anniversary, so it was a very special occasion. So how was your journey from CSKA Sofia supporter to sports photography? I really went into photography when I was in France, I started exploring more interesting stuff, bought a few nice cameras down the years. But when I always took a camera during my CSKA games, a disposal camera. I always enjoyed capturing the atmosphere in the stands. Do you remember your first photography or project? Please tell us about that. Yes my first project was during the EURO 2016, I photographed the atmosphere around the stadiums during some of the games I had the chance to go and see.

TAOF // Words: Dawid Szałankiewicz // Photography: Lubo Domo Soundtrack: Scriptonite - HTPC

TAOF // Words: Dawid SzaĹ&#x201A;ankiewicz // Photography: Lubo Domo Soundtrack: Scriptonite - HTPC

I love watching photographs from Russian cities suborns, it's architecture with a soul for me. Do you know that kind of place in Sofia? Could you recommend us something? I think you could go anywhere in Sofia you would find the s a m e t y p e o f a r c h i t e c t u r e, e s p e c i a l l y i n t h e neighbourhoods where the communist architecture is very present. You did some photos during CSKA Sofia games. What was the biggest problem and challenge for you in these types of works? And how do you compare them to these from France? During the CSKA Sofia game I had the chance to photograph, my main aim was to show the passion in the stands. As the players and the football quality itself isn't on a very high level, the colours and the passion in the stands are always present and I wanted to show the world that. It was easy for me, as I was once part of that stand so I knew exactly what I was looking for. How did the fans feel about your presence with the camera? The fans were quite welcoming and I didn't have any problem with that. They also enjoy when there are photos representing the stands and showing the quality of the CSKA fans.

Why it's like that, why less people go to the stadiums? Because the quality is so poor, football is not developing, and there are no good structures to play football. So that affects the quality, so people are less interested in going. You can find less than 100 people in some games from the 1st division. Your favourite form of support and why? Chants, flags, banners, flares, smokes…? My favourite form of support are the chants, through 90 minutes. that's the best way to support your team and show them that you are there. Besides Balgarska Armia stadium, which one you could recommend us? Maybe other stadiums in Sofia, they are all old, and not very beautiful. But maybe it can be nice to go and see them. Slavia Sofia, Lokomotiv Sofia. Overall, going to the football game in Bulgaria is like… Right now going to a football game in Bulgaria, can be boring. You have to choose your game so you can enjoy it. But it's definitely worth to go there sometime. So, in the end. Can we name a football as a form of an art? Yes football is an art, and it's a way of life.

Do you think that the camera is the best form to tell stories? For me, yes I thing telling a story with a camera is a great way, it has great storytelling in it. A picture's worth a thousand words. Main rules at the terrace in Bulgaria? Never give up and always support your team with your voice, ﬂares, scarfs and everything you can. People have always that wrong stereotype of football fans. So how would you describe present Bulgarian fans behaviour and compare them to the 90s? What's changed? What's changed in Bulgaria compared to the 90s is that less people go to the stadiums. The behaviour has also changed a little bit, but not much. A lot of people are still scared to go to the stadium. But people try to be more respectful maybe. I can't really tell, as I haven't been there for a long time now.

TAOF // Words: Dawid Szałankiewicz // Photography: Lubo Domo Soundtrack: Scriptonite - HTPC

my trip This is England.

MY TRIP // Words: Dawid Szałankiewicz // Photography: Dawid Soundtrack: Puma Blue – Blood Loss LP

Chapter I

leeds away Well, I like to leave Poland. Don’t misunderstand me. I fucking hate it, but I love Poland.

Boatsy. The Legend. One of the founder members of The Forest Executive Crew. I had the pleasure to interviewed him for our 03/2018 Issue and I couldn't wait till I meet him in England. It was a cold and cloudy morning at the East Midlands Airport – classic English weather. And you can be surprised but my first question I asked him was: What's your dog's name? because after he picked me up at the airport I saw an adorable beagle inside his car. I know, this has nothing to do with football and casual culture. But it's life, so get used. The plan was simple that day. I was just going to see Leeds United – Nottingham Forest game, with Forest fans and Boatsy friends. Unfortunately without Gary. - Man, my mate has 40th birthday today, I have to go to the party. It happens only once in a lifetime. You know what I mean. - The rest of the trip for both of us was casual and we talked about the present situation on stadiums or TV rights. And mate, he knew that he will not be present that day at the Ellen Road, but he was so excited talking how many fans will go to see Forest away. - It will be a huge game. You are lucky mate! - Later we started to talk about Nottingham - I mean the city and club as well as Gary's family. His son was on a trip to the USA lately. I was so chilled that I forgot about one little detail when I asked: - Have you been there with him?. I just saw a smile and Gary said to me: - No chance mate, I can't go to the USA because of my past. We've arrived at his friend's house in Nottingham. Lovely home with great people. The television was on when I entered, Mark – a wonderful person – was watching something about Notts County, the local rival. I just said 'hello' and he instantly offered me a coffee - so the three of us sat down started to talk about football. After only a few hours I learned more about English football than through last month in Poland. I also had the pleasure of meeting Mark's wife and daughter, who studies in Manchester. And you must know that they are very fond of their children. – But if it's going to the casual culture and music, they are not in – said Mark to me. – Oh wait, I think I will have something for you. Just come with me. – And after a while, we were next to his garage and he was showing me a huge Liam Gallagher poster from his last tour. – I have nothing to do with that. I can give you if you want it. Finally, we hit the road. We went by car with Mark and his wife Liz, listening to the radio and talking all the way through, Well - as it happens - coincidentally it was the new podcast featuring Pep Guardiola as a guest. – I love Manchester, really. I am fine with that rain, it's not a problem. It's a whole thing with clouds. I miss some sun and blue sky. It's always grey. – Marks just agrees. – I live in central Manchester. I always do this. When I was in Munich, Barcelona… I choose the city centre every time. It's the only way to feel the city, people and culture. – Man, as I was listening to that podcast I thought to myself that even as a huge fan of Manchester United I kind of like that guy. The media and their high level, nice people, a culture I love and shitty weather… Except the last one there's nothing like this in Poland. Ok, we got to Leeds about 2 pm. As always Mark was helpful and assisted me finding my hotel. We met in the pub a moment later. It was Old White Hart Beeston – near the Elland Road. – He is from Poland! And after the game, he will meet and interview Mateusz Klich! – Mark said to a Leeds supporter when we had drinks together. – Really? Wait a moment! – one of them said and after a while he started to take his jacket off. He was wearing Klich's jersey under it. – He is our best player. The Player of The Season, you will see! We love him. I have seen a debate in one programme and our club legend said the same, that he is our best player and a huge footballer. You have to respect Clichy!

MY TRIP // Words: Dawid Szałankiewicz // Photography: Dawid Soundtrack: Puma Blue – Blood Loss LP

After a few beers, we went off to Elland Road. I was still with Mark and his wife, while some of their lads joined us. Of course Forest and Leeds United supporters as well. It was my first time there. Before the game boys took me to see Don Ravie's and Billy Bremner's statue. – Do you want a photo with the greatest manager? – one of the guys asked his friend's kid. And I saw how the boy looked at him and said no chance, as he was a Forest supporter. And then everyone laughed loudly. I know where I was that day, I know the history of the hooligans of that region and infamous English Disease, but trust me, they're really nice people, full of passion and devotion to the team and local identity. I have to say that Forest's supporters are top - I was surprised by noise level the fans made outside the gates, while waiting for entrance. With Aitor Karanka chant we were more than proud and confident before the kickoff. The stand was seething with passion as it was all full of lads insanely dedicated to Forest. From the very beginning I knew that we won't even sit for a moment. Youngest were loudest, and I have to admit it sometimes looked funny. But you have to know one thing – they always respect the older members of the firm. One of the younger fellows was screaming something to home fans and showing them an famous gesture during the moment of silence before kick-off whistle. An old lad look at him and it was just enough to stop him. The game itself was decent, but trust me - the whole thing was on the stands. It was madness. After 45 minutes I had a time to take a pint with Mark and Liz and take a brief look how the lads look like more precisely. Well it didn't surprise me: Stone Island, Fred Perry, Barbour, and Adidas Originals all around… and I mean all of them look smart.

MY TRIP // Words: Dawid Szałankiewicz // Photography: Dawid Soundtrack: Puma Blue – Blood Loss LP

The final score: 1-1. After the game I had to say goodbye to Mark and Liz. I'll always be grateful for their help - it was my very first day and I felt like I have a family already. But it was not the end of course - I had a gig at Belgrave Music Hall later that day. George FitzGerald was playing that night. I was tired after the journey and of course exhausted after the game, but I enjoyed the night and beer. Remember – stay hydrated! So, I was able to see chiledl people, waiting and behave proper. As the gig begun, we all danced and lived our lives. Of course you could spot a bunch of young girls recording the performance with their phones, but there was a number of older guys looking like they were straight out of the 80s, all of them having a good time. When it comes to music, George did a splendid job. Recently I've been listening to a lot of house and electro music just to broaden my musical horizons and I have to admit I was truly entertained by what I saw that night. It's difficult to find the right balance and flow but he was perfect that day. What about the place? Nothing special to be honest. I mean it was decent, with a good sound system, lights effects, and had its atmosphere, but it was kind of place you forgot the other day. In other words- it had everything, except the soul.

MY TRIP // Words: Dawid Szałankiewicz // Photography: Dawid Soundtrack: Puma Blue – Blood Loss LP

Chapter II

glory glory On the sixth day God created MANchester. And you will not ﬁnd football here.

I woke up at 6 am, took a walk around the neighbourhood and by noon I caught the train to Manchester. You have to know – I fucking love that city and of course Manchester United is my club. It's all that matters for me since my childhood days and I have really no idea why. As always – my hotel was my first stop. I was surprised I paid a very reasonable price and got a cosy, clean and quiet place, with canal and old bridges just around the corner, so immersion into the Manchester's unique atmosphere was basically effortless. I didn't have a lot of time, so I left my stuff and headed straight to Old Trafford. Before that, I have met my polish friend who lives and works in Manchester. Thanks to him I got the ticket to see the home game against Everton. We had a few beers and I took an underground to Old Trafford. I was alone during the road and it was almost mystical. I love that club and stadium, it's difficult to explain, but I feel deeply devoted to United. And here I have to stop for a while. The rest of the day was… disappointing… maybe expect the final result. The stand – boring. Asian tourists all around me. Fucking Pogba with his penalty. It's pointless to describe the game and fans. I should make a pause here just to respect Boatsy, Mark, Forest fans, and the whole previous day. It's a big club of course, I will love it. But that day I didn't found football there and culture I admire so much, with only one exception - when I was inside the underground wagon on my way back to hotel after the game at some point I looked down just to see my brown Adidas Tobacco next to core black Tobacco, burgundy Hamburg and gold Originals Spezial. The next day I went to The Bishop Blaize. I had an awesome breakfast and great coffee, because what more do you need to start a day? Later on I felt ready to see Old Trafford again. It was standard and classic stadium & museum tour. It was my second time I knew that I will be surrounded by Asian tourists again, flashing lights and snapping instastories all the time, but fuck that - it's always nice to see new trophies and the stadium from inside. For you it will be boring so let's move on. We are Matchday Magazine, not fucking Manchester guide. On my first day when I was talking with Boatsy, he said a few words about Karen, who is working in the media. – She is my friend, you could make an interview. I was not ready for that, but obviously I had to use my chance. After a minute I had some sort of idea of what I want to speak about with her. Being United fans is not easy these days. Two days before I wrote this text we had to say goodbye to Jose. I will always support him, and I blame both players and Ed for last months results, not the manager. But when we had Moyes, Van Gal, and Mourinho… the media were brutal and rough. It was the same with the English National Team - an attack on Sterling and other players, but shortly after, just because outstanding results at the World Cup in Russia, media begun loving them again. Like Ryan Walsh (the British featherweight champion) said to me one day during the interview – It's part of the culture in our country to build people up and then tear them down. So, using United as an example I decided to talk with Karen about the British media and their meaning. I visited Media City UK - a place next to Old Trafford where BBC, ITV and other main broadcasters have their headquarters. I only had to pass that beautiful bridge…

MY TRIP // Words: Dawid Szałankiewicz // Photography: Dawid Soundtrack: Puma Blue – Blood Loss LP

Let's start with the British sports media condition. It's more critical to focus on the Premier League and how they manage the league. But it's not only the football, in general British press is putting people on the pedestal and a moment later they can destroy you. So, they suffer after the World Cup, a little bit. Gareth Southgate did it OK for the team during the tournament, created a team of new young players, which you have to like. But as I said it's a little bit different than when it comes to the Premier League. Let's talk about the critical aspect and press attacks. Like when Raheem Sterling did his tattoo. I think he was naive to do this tattoo. You're a footballer, you are expected to be an example. And this positive message he was thinking he's giving- it was so naive. Some people should advise him to do this differently. I appreciated the whole story behind that but it influence people, and what these kids see is a gun, and I don't agree it was a good decision. Yeah, right. But one of the tabloids changed his words I never take a gun to I never take a gun again. I think it's more about the calibre of journalists, not the trends to do that. But bad publicity sells better to be fair. And it's all about the sell numbers and adverts because now people read most of the news online. But people know the good journalists in this country and the cheap ones. English players earn a lot. When Raheem bought a house for his mom, they attacked him. When the national team was expelled from World Cup, they were pointing out how much did their watches cost. When you have a lot of money you will spend a lot of money. But the reason why press picks them so much is the feeling that it's an element of robbing. Many people work hard every day, pay a lot to see the game live. We are not the richest country in the World, neither the poorest, I appreciate that. But you have some poor people with tough lives, who goes to food banks and you see players who spend cash for toys like that. Of course, when he bought that house for his mom, it was wonderful, it was so positive message, he showed his true character of human being. What was the reason that media changed the direction, during and after the last World Cup? Besides the results. I think they had a lot of problems with themselves. It was a really bad time for the British press. Scandals with tapes closed some of them, and most people were against them, they wanted to go to the courts. So it was many carriers on the line.

Did you enjoy the World Cup? Yeah, I have to say I'm a big football fan and a huge Manchester United supporter. So I was on the holidays, drink, watch the games on the big screen and cheer for England. But I was focused to see which player could play for United and be sure present players will back fit to the club. So when it comes to media and Manchester United. We have one, the most important person inside this war Jose huntsman Mourinho. In my opinion it is not about Mourinho. Each manager who wants to be in Manchester will have the same problem. We are the biggest team in the World with a great story. When you come here you have to be aware of that already. Of course he was in Chelsea and Real Madrid, but the pressure here is ten times bigger. And what is most important, he doesn't help himself. He has to take the responsibility, he is the manager of Manchester United. Don't you think his role is less significant now? There are no more clubs that can give you the feeling of freedom and let you decide about everything. English football has changed. When Ferguson left, David Gill left as well. And they have created a fantastic partnership. But it was not that simple. When Sir Alex came to us, the first years were difficult. It took years to build a team. Maybe it was a mistake when both of them left but you have to listen to your chairman. And Glazers, it's another controversial subject. Sons are in charge. They are in America, Ed Woodward lives in London, Mourinho keeps traveling back to London, lives in a hotel. How does it look for the Manchester United fans? And don't misunderstand me- I was happy when Jose came to us. We need that kind of arrogance. Manchester United is arrogance. It's the reason why the press hates him and why people hate Manchester. But we don't see him behind the doors. Maybe he is a different person, but for the moment it doesn't work. *** We spent over 15 minutes to decide what will be the answer to the major question of that time: Pogba or Mourinho. We also discussed the social media aspect, Karen noticed the phenomenon of 'Dr. Dre look' of modern footballers and their discipline. This subject is now a little out-of-date, so let me leave the whole thing in my mind and the recorded audio file. (I'll just say I wanted to say goodbye to Pogba while Karen saw both of them out of the team). However the most significant quote and what we both agreed on was what Fergie once said: There is no one bigger than the club. ***

MY TRIP // Words: Dawid Szałankiewicz // Photography: Dawid Soundtrack: Puma Blue – Blood Loss LP

There's Phil Jones, but it's only Phil Jones, isn't? But even City manager - Guardiola -loves Manchester, he is happy to promote Manchester as a city outside the club. We should have him! I think Sir Alex would like to get him. Apparently, he wanted Moyes. And he lost the dressing room. The same with fans. You can't say: we aspire to play like Manchester City or Liverpool. The fans were wild! Two biggest rivals. You can't say something like that. He lost them as well. We need somebody who understands the club, our values and, tradition. Somebody who was in. Maybe Eric Cantona or Laurent Blanc, who knows.

obsessed about Ronaldo. But I have no interesting about him. He left the club - thanks for coming, bye bye. In the end, how it feels to see City on the top? Getting next trophies… It could be worse. It could be Liverpool. I'll give you an example when they won the league: you can expect streets full of people, celebrate. But the truth is… they put out the bus at the tea time when everybody ﬁnishes the work and town looks busy. Like when Amazon released that TV series about City. Mourinho said: You can't buy the class. Exactly, even that time, they have talked only about United.

But are you not afraid it will be the same as with Liverpool? What you are trying to say? Will wr have to wait 26 years to win the Premier League? Who if not Mourinho can change this. With his attitude and arrogance, right? The problem is that he lost it all somewhere, You can't see his enthusiast. He was the Special One. But now, something misses and we don't know what. MUTV is celebrating 20 years now. We have an official app. We can find MU on YouTube, finally. We can play bad and don't be on the top, but we have the best media and social medias for fans. It was the first official club television and I think City has an online channel, which nobody heard of. There is Liverpool TV and Chelsea TV, but they don't matter. There are around 19 million viewers. I mean they're not subscribers but it's still a lot. And it's massive in Asia, they have access to more than 90 million people. I'm happy we have released that app. A lot of people watch the games on their phones or tablets now, not on telly. They had to try to catch the young generation. What about the TV rights? I was spealing with Boatsy about that thing two days ago and the tickets prices are so high. I don't know how it looks like for Boatsy, because he is Nottingham Forest supporter, so I don't know the price in the lower leagues. But in the Premier League, for the away ticket it's 40 pounds maximum. And when you want to visit a pub, in Manchester especially, it's 5 pounds for a beer! I was with Forest crew on the away game and next day when I saw United – Everton game… it was like a joke. Two different worlds. Ok, but every time we have a full stadium. Most of them visit Old Trafford, just because it is a Premier League ground. Some time ago ten people asked me about any spare tickets for the game against Juventus. They were mad and

MY TRIP // Words: Dawid Szałankiewicz // Photography: Dawid Soundtrack: Puma Blue – Blood Loss LP

I said goodbye to Karen (what a lovely person) and with my new knowledge I headed back extremaly, I mean extremaly fast to the city centrum. I had two hours to visit the National Football Museum. I wanted to see the Beautiful Game exhibition and check the Bands FC project. The whole idea of the museum is brilliant: every level with different exhibit. I loved that! It's like an ancient temple- a temple of football! When it comes to Stuart Roy Clarke's exhibition, it was awesome. One of the best football photos I have ever seen. Full of passion and truelly great moments as well as normal people. I have some favourites pictures but one showing that green-eyed girl with a Barbour jacket… oh boy. If football had a face and a body, if it'd be a human being… I'm sure that'd exactly this girl. I was so happy to be there that day. I thought some day I have to make an interview with Scott. Maybe next issue? BAND FC project was totally different. Only a few badges printed with poor quality… man you have to know when to say stop. I love their idea - it's brilliant. But they killed the whole point doing this on a massive scale. I was already bored after the first part, especially that I liked only like 10% of the badges.. It was madness on Twitter, everybody was talking about them, some even wanted to help and promote those guys. In my opinion they used the chance they had but killed the potential. Later I have visited museum's shop. I bought Scott's photo album, Season-zine (BIG UP FOR THE GIRLS!!!) and… three badges. *** Another day I went to the Classic Football Shirt Shop. It was sick! Some of the shirts were dope. Especially Italian ones. Sampdoria, Lazio, Napoli… The only problem – their price. I know and understand that, but I wasn't ready to pay 200 and more pounds for a shirt. And rest of the shirts, around 30-40 pounds were…. Let's say, not impressed. I found even Legia Warsaw jersey. So I went down, and next to the exit were football magazines. Glory, Soccerbible and more. I started to watch and I bought three different issues of Soccerbible. – Do you collect magazines? – asked me a staff member. – Yes, and I make one. Do you want to see? – and he was reading my magazine. A while later, he asked me: - Do you want to sell the magazine here? It looks awesome. Give me your number, let’s be in touch. ***

MY TRIP // Words: Dawid Szałankiewicz // Photography: Dawid Soundtrack: Puma Blue – Blood Loss LP

Chapter III

madchester Ooooh my boy. It's time for music.

There is football – my passion. And music – my life. I wave hello to fashion and design sometimes and thanks to this magazine – I can mix all of that. But music will always be first... I guess? Or maybe not? Being in Manchester is likebeing in Disneyland. The city is a music definitioneverywhere you have something related to music: the streets are full of music notes and there is of course one special place – Piccadilly Records. My favourite music shop and the most important place for music nerd: it's a kind of Music hub for Manchester. So without any hesitation I left my hotel the next day and went to the Northern Quarter. The first day I bought The Stone Rose single and I asked for an interview. – Yes sure, come tomorrow after 3 pm. - So I did that but unfortunately, new vinyl records arrive and the lads were busy. We didn't have time to sit and talk, but I had to grab the chance so I just tryied to stand next to Martin as he was opening the boxes with new records and had at least a small chat. A small chat… I mean over one hour long chat. We went from Sex Pistols to Oasis. Those were my best moments and best discussion about music. Man, I kept thinking about the next and next questions, just to be able to spend more time with those guys. When I left the shop later, I was so happy but at the same time a little bit concerned about one tiny problem... I was so sure it will be only a small talk… I didn't recorded anything that day.

MY TRIP // Words: Dawid Szałankiewicz // Photography: Dawid Soundtrack: Puma Blue – Blood Loss LP

One of many in Manchester's Northern Quarter. Opened in 1978. The British and world's best independent record shop – Piccadilly Records. Celebrating its 40 t h anniversary this year. A huge part of the UK's music history. *** »It's really important for us. We are here from the beginning, in Manchester. See and meet new people/customers, deliver and share music with them.« *** The place is never empty. And you will always see so many different people, who keeps coming back to the shop again and again. So what is the secret of this 40 years long success? *** »We are trying to make a nice and warm atmosphere. The most significant thing – don't judge people. We are here to help them and to respect. All people are different and when they come inside, they have to be comfortable with us and all these records. Do you hear that what's playing now? It's always something chill and relaxed, to make the place more neutral.« *** They are specialists. They have great knowledge of music, but as Martin said to me- they don't look down on people. Always helpful and never to intrude. I've spent some time there and I can confirm that for sure. Because there is nothing more important for them than their customers. *** »The average age of our customers is around 22-23 years old. But you can see everybody here. The store has regular customers as well. I work long enough here to see how some people have changed. They came to us in their youth after school and years later married with their children, trying to spred this music virus among the next generation.«

»One day Peter Doherty came to visit our shop. I like him and he is a really nice person. But you could see that something wrong is going on with him. He was walking through the records half conscious, pointing out: I want to buy this and this, and this… It was madness.« *** Founded in the same year as Factory Records, they have witnessed the most important and creative music periods in the UK's and Manchester's history. From punk rock and post-punk scene, through rave culture to Britpop. The Sex Pistols, The Smiths, The Stone Roses, Oasis, My Bloody Valentine, Slowdive… *** »I remember the post-punk scene well: been a fan ever since. I think The Smiths are the most crucial band for Manchester, for sure the most inﬂuential.« »When it comes to a subculture I think the rave one was the most powerful in this whole town.« »Personally I'm a big fan of shoegazing. Bands like My Bloody Valentine or Slowdive, they are top. I still feel their last album – Slowdive – was the best album of 2017. But when they started it was all about that Britpop explosion with Oasis and Blur. They couldn't compete with them. Maybe football is part of it... The same time, it was casual culture and around-football subcultures which dominated the generation; bands like Oasis openly talked about Manchester City supporting.« »Look at The Stone Roses- they are huge United supporters. But at the beginning, nobody knew that. It was not important at all. It was not a part of their music and work. After a years they started to talk about that openly but still stay out of sight.« *** The Stone Roses… we had a long discussion here. ***

*** Stocking a wide range of music such as funk, soul, indie, house and techno, downbeat, reggae and psychedelica, they are the best place to explore new lands. Besides the ordinary customers, Piccadilly is being visited by many famous music stars including Tim Burgess, Jonny Marr, and Paul Weller as their regulars. Martin had more stories for me. ***

»I think they runned out of material more. Their debut album was great but after that they seemed to have any ideas. It's as simple as that. It's why we haven't seen them later. And their reunion? It was unnecessary and after all a big mistake. I was so disappointed. Due to such moves you can easily destroy your legacy. And the same goes for Oasis if they'd decide to get back together. Btw. I think their conﬂict is real- they wouldn't do this just to show up. There is something bad between them.«

MY TRIP // Words: Dawid Szałankiewicz // Photography: Dawid Soundtrack: Puma Blue – Blood Loss LP

As always, I tried to talk about football. It's an important part of the culture as well as is often related to music and different subcultures. Even on that day we talked Martin was wearing the Corinthians sweatshirt. But as soon as we begun to talk,as shortly we finished this subject. *** »Oh no, I'm not a football fan. I have this sweatshirt thanks to a girl from Sao Paulo, Brazil. It was a gift.« *** Of course, it's only a small part of our chat but I hope you've got the picture of the most crucial things and you will keep looking for more and keep looking deeper. Just like when you are at the record shop to find the one album, searching next to other vinyl's. It's important to remember places like Piccadilly Records. They are making history and are an important part of the development of a culture - and it's not always easy. For instance after the financial crash of 2008 sales dipped quite a lot, but people like Martin are here to work harder and harder to make it a special place. The place looks indeed like a record shop where you can buy some music but what awaits you inside is an emotional trip and a possibility to find yourself. Besides the past, we talked about the present scene as well. I had to use the chance and ask for some new local bands to check. And if not here, where should I look for? So thanks to Martin my Spotify playlist expanded significantly. However I will keep this knowledge for myself (or maybe check the line-up column…?)

In that world, vinyls are made the same way as pancakes.

At the end of our talk, I asked Martin to pick one single for me at random. I wanted to have a small souvenir of that encounter. And I was not giving him any clues. He took this task seriously and after 10 minutes I held in my hand this great single: Horsebeach – Alone. I didn't even knew this band but when I came back to Poland and listened to this record on the gramophone… Man, I was stunned. Spectacular. 10/10. ***

If you're going to Manchester - Piccadilly Records is a must-visit. 53 Oldham Street Manchester M1 1JR England www.picadillyrecords.com mail@piccadillyrecords.com

MY TRIP // Words: Dawid Szałankiewicz // Photography: Dawid Soundtrack: Puma Blue – Blood Loss LP

Besides that gig in Leeds. I planned two more. One in Manchester and one in Nottingham. First, RAYE at Gorilla and the Bad Sounds at Escape Room on the last day. I'm not a huge fan of these artists but I wanted to try and discover something new. To take a music risk.

So we had a few pints more and after the gig, we decided to go hit some clubs. There was just one problem - 17 years old kids. Only one of them had 19, so we left the rest (of course after he booked a taxi home for them) and we went to the club. Little did I know I would get the love that night.

The doors were opened at 7 pm, so the concert would start around 9 pm. But I was there to see more than just that so I arrived at 7.15 to Gorilla and saw big quits. Fuck that, I will stay and wait an hour - I thought. I went to the end and four young lads were there, some funny boys around 18 years old. I was alone so we begun to talk. Five minutes later they were my mates. We came inside, they bought me few beers, were interested in the magazine… and the ﬁrst artist came on the stage - Kara Marni. She is a beautiful girl and very talented for sure. But something was missing there... It's not like you meet a girl you can talk to her for hours, just to want more and more and more… here I would like to drink a cuppa with her and after say bye.

We went to Coyote Ugly Club. It was Halloween night so it was full of pumpkins, cobwebs, and beautiful girls. We took some shots, beers, (fuck I drank too much that night) But one of the waitress… she was a beautiful redhead girl. Man, I'm telling you- top. And she was wearing The Stone Roses shirt, so I decided to bet with my mate: if she likes more Oasis I will buy him a round and if The Stone Roses – I'm getting one. Two minutes later, I was next to her, we chatted for a while, and then I asked the most important question. – Of course Oasis!

When it comes to the crowd, 90% of them were kids. Even my new mates- most of them had 17 years old. I'm 25, so still young (I hope), but I could feel the diﬀerence. It was the new generation. Ok, they have been using their phones too often, while they could simply enjoy and feel music through every second of the concert, just like two weeks ago when I was in Milano to see Skepta and Lilly Allen. Fuck this crowd. Mate it was terrible. Some of them with Gosha or fur coats, most with famous designers clothes trying to show up and hustle- even when they tried to party and enjoy the night. They took too many drugs and start to behave like animals. Next was RAYE. I like some of her songs- she has a huge potential and I think the radio likes her, what is crucial. Sometimes it's dreadful and we end up with a picture of an empty artist made to be a famous star without any personality. So I was more surprised when I saw her as bursting with energy nearly like a child inside a candy shop. Man, she was so happy being on the stage! And it was real and genuine as fuck, trust me. Thanks to her I caught some of that energy as well as the crowd and I was ready to dance, enjoy the moment and be grateful for all of that. I remember watching Jorja Smith the ﬁrst time with her Blue Lights, long before her BRITS choice award. I saw the truth that night - painful, majestic and monumental, but truth. Two years later I was in Manchester witnessing the same truth, just wearing other clothes, a child smile, and tons of sweets. But I didn't forget about my mates and beers. Stay hydrated, remember!

MY TRIP // Words: Dawid Szałankiewicz // Photography: Dawid Soundtrack: Puma Blue – Blood Loss LP

I stayed in Manchester. I was not able to visit Liverpool the next day. And I'm happy- Manchester has so much to offer. I decided to chill out a bit and just go to see cathedrals, libraries, and others. Finally, last day was coming and I had to head back to Nottingham. Unfortunately, I couldn't meet Boatsy again. So I had a good lunch, slept and rested a little bit as well. It was a busy week. Later I had the final gig. It was my last night and I wanted to spend it the proper way. I didn't know a lot about the band before. When it comes to support the first guy was sooooo bad, I haven't even remembered his name. He was trying to prove he is good too much- after 3 minutes it was pointless. Sometimes you just have to chill and slow down. After that it was time for Indoor Pets. I like that band, some indie nerds, with proper tune and identity. It was good as I expected it to be and people started to feel the night. Right, people. It was crazy. There were so many different groups. In one place some young black Jamaican girls were making their hair, next to them bunch of guys with oversized vintage shirts looking like Morrissey and some young fellows in front of the bar looking just like from Skepta video. Despite the differences in look, whole crowd had a good vibe and enjoyed the night. All together, zero aggressive emotions. Ok, it was now time for Bad Sounds. Their debut album Get Better is fucking sick. Top 5 this year for sure. But I know that just now. They had the whole idea and concept for the album and gig. They were trying to show you the world as your place but to be happy you have to start thinking right, be right… That night was the final one of my trip and it was a proper ending, with confetti, balloons and crazy lads, who are one of the best new bands next to Shame. Thanks to them, thanks to Mark, Liz, Gary, Martin, Milosz and other people I met, I did it. I got better. Cheers.

MY TRIP // Words: Dawid Szałankiewicz // Photography: Dawid Soundtrack: Puma Blue – Blood Loss LP

POSTCARD // Words: Dawid Szałankiewicz // Posters: Igor Gurovich Soundtrack: монеточка- 90

Igor Gurovich

POSTCARD

history

art.

poster

world cup

football

watch

smart

67'. Riga. Latvia. Famous Russian poster artist. The graduate of the Moscow State Stroganov Academy of Industrial and Applied Arts. Part of the creative design lab - OSTENGRUPPE. He designed the oﬃcial 2018 FIFA World Cup poster. It was a quick chat, forgive me. But we tried to show you a kind of artistic path. I mean artists, cities, people. Follow the posters.

moscow

poland

remember

artist

design

The poster isn't dead, but its function has changed. It used to be an announcement vehicle once, now it's kind of a marker of one's private territory in this-is-a-message-to-those-who're-with-us way. And we've walked this path together with the poster design world trends. You can describe any event in your own way. And telling someone's story in your own voice and manner is a work for a director, it is not exactly about the illustrations. – Igor Gurovich, from ostengruppe.com.

POSTCARD // Words: Dawid Szałankiewicz // Posters: Igor Gurovich Soundtrack: монеточка- 90

You were born in 67 in Riga. Do you have any memories of that time? I had a happy childhood in Riga. A big friendly Jewish family. Summer in a house near the sea in Jurmala. Long bicycle trips along the sea. Wonderful childhood. Why you first became interested in the art? What about football or music? I started painting with 7 years. Consciously. Travelled through the floor of Moscow to the teacher. And I loved it. The rest of the time I divided between books and football. For me music was indifferent. Next step, it was Stroganov Moscow State Academy of Arts and Industry in Moscow. Do you remember your first day? Yes, I remember my first day. Feeling like Cinderella at the first ball. How would you describe Moscow as a city? Moscow is a city of great strength. Hard, unfriendly, fast. It is difficult to live in Moscow but you can work very well. I am a big fan of Moscow. You were always close to various kind of art. Theatres, museums, film festivals, posters. So what does art in general mean to you? For me, art is a set of tools with which we can change lives. Our of course, but the lives of the people around us as well.

With that World Cup poster, you represent the style of Soviet postconstructivist posters from the 1920s and 1930s. How important it was and is for Russian culture? And what about artists like Dziga Vertov or Stenberg brother? Constructivism and post-constructivism is a real contribution of Russia to world art. Understandable world. Organic. And absolutely not in demand in Russia. I'm not talking about styling. I'm talking about the spirit, the atmosphere of the message. 60s, 70s… in Poland we had a great poster art scene (famous Polish School of Posters, artists like Jozef Mroszczak and Henryk Tomaszewski). Yes, our generation of 50-60 year olds, grew up on a Polish poster. The Poles were our idols and teachers. And ties and friendships are still strong. And to 20-year-old young students we pass on the love of a Polish poster. I think, unfortunately, now is gone in Poland. Maybe posters are dead? What is their function currently and how it changed? The poster is not dead. It has other tasks now. It does not need to inform. It becomes the language of the particular place. Finally, if you could choose only one poster which describes Russia best? Poster made by Yuri Boxer – Dick.

We are after the World Cup in Russia. What do you think about that tournament? Do you have any memories from games? Unfortunately, I broke my leg. All the time, the tournament for me, was just jumping on crutches. All I remember is that itching under a cast. You are the author of the oﬃcial poster for the World Cup in Russia, features legendary Russian goalkeeper Lev Yashin. I'm just calm about this poster. And maybe people will be surprised but I am not particularly proud. What is most important when you make a poster, and with what you begin your design? The most important thing at the beginning of the work is to understand what reaction of the viewer you want to achieve.

POSTCARD // Words: Dawid Szałankiewicz // Posters: Igor Gurovich Soundtrack: монеточка- 90

POSTCARD

Postcard from Russia

Obesity is not a joke. But neither is being denied seeing your team at a World Cup. Fans begged, stole and borrowed to get tickets and time off. Jobs were quit, relationships ended. Pensions cashed in. Heirlooms flogged. Organs sold. Sperm donated. Medical trials participated in. Proceeds were invested in hyper-inflated black market tickets as the tournament progressed and the stakes got higher, but the majority of fanatics still missed out. One loop hole which was spotted and exploited by a handful of eagle-eyed supporters, was the categorisation of morbid obesity as a disability. This meant that it was not only easier to get tickets if you met the criteria, but the seats were often in prime locations, and came with extra wide seats. Rather than step aside and allow genuine behemoths their seats at the game, Miguel and Jose from Lima saw the additional calories as an investment. Darren and Lee from Dartford cut out five-a-side on a Thursday, and doubled their bhuna intake. Andre from Nice switched from diet to full fat brie. Goran from Belgrade’s pljeskavica habit spread from lunch into breakfast, dinner and sometimes supper. Weekly calorie counts were conducted with the scrutiny of a title fight weigh-in. Fingers were crossed and prayers muttered in hope of hitting the critical density of 35 BMI in time for the application deadline. While many would-be fatsos drowned in a sea of borscht in a late attempt to top-up the calories, Miguel succeeded in adding 25kg to his paunch and made the cut. The long term efects on the body of overeating are well documented, but as long as there’s insulin…

POSTCARD // Words: Steve Bushell // Poster: Steve Bushell Soundtrack: Baddiel Skinner & Lightning Seeds- Three Lions

Upcomming albums festivals tours

U pcomming U Upppppcomming c o mm ming cc om g in g m ininngg mmmm miingg n i m g m n m i m ccoooom g m m n c i o m

cc om ming mm o c Upppppcomming U

m o i c n m m g cooom m i m n m g m i n mm m g i n m iinngg in g g

UPCOMMING // Words: Dawid Szałankiewicz // Illustration: Kacper Sokół Soundtrack: Sistars - Freedom

albums WHEN WE LAND Anteros 01.03.2019

RIPPLES Ian Brown 01.03.2019

INTERNATIONALLY UNKNOWN Rat Boy 25.01.2019

festivals SNOWBOMBING Mayrhofen, Austria 09.04.2019 - 14.04.2019

POSITIVUS FESTIVAL Salacgrīva, Latvia 19.07.2019 - 21.07.2019

MEADOWS IN THE MOUNTAINS Полковник Серафимово, Bulgaria 6.06.2019 - 09.06.2019

tours THE BLINDERS UK/EUROPE TOUR APRIL 26 – Birmingham, O2 Institute 27 – Manchester, O2 Ritz 28 – Glasgow, St Luke’s 30 – London, Scala 7 – Cologne, MTC 8 – Hamburg, Molotow Skybar 9 – Berlin, Cassiopeia

LOYLE CARNER UK/IRELAND TOUR APRIL 27 – Dublin, The Grand Social 28 – Edinburgh, The Caves 30 – Leeds, Brundenell Social Club MAY 1 – Manchester, Band On The Wall 3 – Brighton, Concorde 4 – Bristol, Trinity 7 – London, Roundhouse

AJ TRACEY UK TOUR MARCH 6 – Dublin, Academy 7 – Leeds, O2 Academy 8 – Cardiﬀ, Y Plas 9 – Bristol, Sxw 10 – Norwich, Nick Rayns Lcr 12 – Brighton, Concorde 2 14 – Newcastle, University 15 – Glasgow, O2 Academy 16 – Manchester, Albert Hall 18 – Oxford, O2 Academy 19 – Cambridge, Junction 21 – Birmingham, O2 Institute 22 – Nottingham, Rock City 23 – London, O2 Brixton Academy

UPCOMMING // Words: Dawid Szałankiewicz // Illustration: Kacper Sokół Soundtrack: Sistars - Freedom

Matchday Awards 2018

MATCHDAY AWARDS // Words: Dawid Szałankiewicz // Illustration: Kacper Sokół Soundtrack: Chadia Rodriguez - Sarebbe comodo

Male Team of The Year

Female Team of The Year

Eddie Hearn

Naomi Campbell

Very good at his job and business, the best interview of the year for GQ

Keepers need to be crazy, a little bit, the best photo shoot of the year, for GQ with Skepta

Dermot Kennedy

Lou Luttiau

This guy’s come out of nowhere and looks like he hit the jackpot, the best upcoming music artist

She is retracing Pavard’s footsteps, great and unexpected French talent, the best upcoming actress

Stormzy

Naomi Accardi

He always supports his team, never fails, the best performance of the year, BRITs ‘18

Football, it’s in her Italian blood, great tactical preparations, the best interview of the year for Season Zine

Stuart Roy Clarke

Ella Scott

The conﬁdence and stability, good eye, author of The Game - the best art exhibition of the year

A really hard worker, always stays focused, this year new Gigslutz editor in chief, the best music portal

Charlie Steen

Little Simz

The pure madness and the vanity of youth, frontman of the best band of the year - Shame

Energy, Energy and Energy, this year breakout music artist

Blondey McCoy

Ocean Lewis

He moves gracefully, an intense desire to play, the best new model of the year

Great athlete, with passion and heart, always giving something extra, the best new model of the yeart

Big Narstie

Amelia Dimoldenberg

The dominant personality, he knows how it works, the best series host

The most intelligent player ever, always serious and focus, the best series host

Mike Skinner

Jessie Ware

He is back after spring break, the best podcast host

Biggest Manchester United talent and supporter, an underestimated, the best podcast host

Capo Plaza

Rosalía

The Golden Boy Award, the biggest Italian talent, the best debut album of the year

Spanish World Class player, an individual, a diamond in the rough, the top foreign album of the year

Javier Rey

Jorja Smith

Spanish player from Noia, doesn’t compromise with rivals, the top foreign actor of the year for Fariña

The Golden Girl Award, the biggest English talent, the best debut album of the year

Moha La Squale

Lily Allen

Aggressive, pure talent from the streets, the best music videos of the year

Most beautiful goals on Twitter, top 3 album of the year, the best gig of the year I was it

manager Liam Gallagher As you were

manager Kate Moss The necessary experience, calm, measured, and graceful, she can recognize talent in others with her top agency

MATCHDAY AWARDS // Words: Dawid Szałankiewicz // Illustration: Kacper Sokół Soundtrack: Chadia Rodriguez - Sarebbe comodo

spotify #1 1. Sistars – Inspirations 2. daKooka – Обещай 3. Ishome – Sad Family 4. Buttechno – Mr Heroin 5. Noscow – You Better No One 6. Stanislav Tolkachev - Idiom 7. Nenad Markovic – Coney Island 8. Jan Nemecek – Breathe 9. Eldo – A 10. Coals – 90’s Babies 11. We Draw A – Waking Hour

spotify #2 7. My Bloody Valentine – All I Need 8. Ride – Grasshopper 9. Spiritualized – Medication 10. Mount Kimbie – T.A.M.E.D 11. Caribou – Happy Ending 1. Floating Points – For Marmish 2. Puma Blue – Close 3. Horsebeach – Alone 4. Four Tet – Plastic People 5. Phil France – Kubrick 6. Slowdive – Sugar for the Pill

LINE UP // Choice: Dawid Szałankiewicz // Illustration: Kacper Sokół