UKĆ – interview with Łukasz Icanraz Sarnacki

UKĆ – Polish sounding name which does not suggest much what we can expect from the content of the music. As far as I know, the name comes from artist’s nickname. Łukasz “Icanraz” Sarnacki, who after many years of being a drummer, decided to create a fully solo album. There were two ways to do it and he chose this more difficult one, namely compose and record the whole album on his own. Nobody said that it would be easy and it wasn’t, but it seems that it was definitely worth it. As a result, we got an album which breaks the stereotypes, provokes to think about certain topics presented on the album and made some fuss in the genre. I had a chance to discuss with Icanraz such topics as well some other ones.

Important note – English version of the album will be released in August 2023 by No Clean Singing.

Congratulations for great album called “Coming Out”, which is your first full solo record. You composed it on your own and recorded all the instruments. I hope that you feel full musical satisfaction, but I guess it was a big challenge for you…

It was, indeed. I have been recording albums for last 20 years, but I was always behind the drumkit. Of course, I sometimes had an impact on creative process in the bands in which I played, but I never took such a great responsibility like this time. I wanted it to be this way, so I had to take this challenge. I had it in my mind for a very long time, since around 2017. As a result, I had enough time to get used to this idea. Most of things went quite smoothly – I have been playing drums like forever, guitars since I was 10, so guitars and bass were not a problem either. There are not many keyboards on the album, but the only challenging thing was to record the vocals. I took a few lessons before the recording session in order to learn how to generate proper voice or set up your chords, etc. It helped me a lot. Looking at the final product, it seems to be a complicated process, but if you stick to the plan and realise it step by step then everything is possible. The production of the album and choosing the right sounds were important parts. Piotr Polak, the engineer who recorded my album, knew I had my own vision for everything and I would do my best to achieve it. As a result, he was the link between my ideas and the mixing table. The production and mixing stage was an endless struggle because I was constantly very accurate about every little detail. As a result, the complete process took almost the whole year – I started recording the drums on 7^th January 2021 and we finished everything on 31^st December 2021.

You issued an EP „Przemijanie” in autumn 2022, which is a few months before the full album release. Both of them were recorded during the same session. Was it your aim from the very beginning to send the first signal to the world that you are starting a new chapter and then after a while release the full album? Or was it a spontaneous decision later on?

The truth is that I was not thinking about releasing an EP at all. When I made an agreement with Zbyszek from Seven Gates of Hell for the release of “Coming Out”, he suggested that it would be a good idea to enter the market with this EP. He was quite pushing for this option with arguments that it would help to get the recognition for the band’s name instead of starting with totally clean account. Contrary to that, I was more for an option to start with a clean account. As a result, I did not say anything about myself while I was sending my music to record labels. I did not include my musical CV with lists of bands I played in etc. I wanted my music to defend itself and catch the attention of somebody who will understand and feel it. To sum up, when we made an agreement with Zbyszek, he brought the idea of an EP. The two extra tracks there „Przemijanie” and „Dlaczego?” are integral part of “Coming Out”. People who know both albums, have a full idea of what I have done so far and what I wanted to present with my music.

Both albums are very diverse stylistically. What is more, there are no 3,5 minute radio hits. When did you start to have such broad approach to music?

First of all, in my opinion, this music should be put into certain genre because it is a bit harmful. It kind of happened here as it was labelled black metal because that was the idea for it from Seven Gates of Hell. I did not feel it this way, because the content of the album is the mixture of everything that I listen to. I do listen to a lot of black metal, so it definitely had an impact on my music. On the other hand, I also listen to many other styles which also had an influence on how the album sounds. I was not thinking much about which direction I was going during the creative process. When I had an impulse for picking up the guitar and making riffs I was just doing it and let it flow any direction without any boundaries. For example, I had some moments when I was listening to a lot of PINK FLOYD, MARILLION, RIVERSIDE or STEVEN WILSON. As a result, during that time, I mostly came up with some calmer ideas which finally ended up on the album. I was just doing what I felt like doing at the very moment. I was not worrying what label it would get.

What was the reaction to both releases? For example, did you get any feedback from RIVERSIDE fans or other Prog bands who got fascinated by your music? Or the other way around, did you get any info from typical Black Metal fans who you know that are normally listening to very specific style, but your diverse music influenced them anyway?

I thought that the EP will somehow specify the reaction of the metal fans in Poland, but it did not get much attention. There was much more „action” when the full album came out. It is hard to answer the question, because I do not know the exact interests of the people who give me some feedback. For sure, there are opinions on both extreme ends – those very positive and negative. It is probably because the album is very broad stylistically and not everybody was ready for such variety of colours and tastes there. Krzysztof Sadowski who hosts a local radio program called “Na Granicy Cienia” recently devoted quite a lot of time to my album. I was listening to him in the same radio in the 90s and he still mostly focuses on Prog Rock artists. He was saying a lot of good things about my music, so I can clearly say that I recorded an album which will be suitable to more diverse audiences that I first thought. It’s great that the music can break the conventions and unite people.

Thanks to such contradictive opinions the album might get an even bigger marketing kick, because both good and bad opinions spread fast and can catch the attention of the people.

That is right. I think that when the art does not stir any emotions, whatever they are, it means that it is simply dull and void.

As for the lyrics, you start quite strongly from the very beginning. First track “Królu Dnia…” and it’s continuation at the end of the album “…Głupcze Życia” have quite accusing tone. They seem to be autobiographical…

Yes, there is a very dramatic message in there and it was written during very difficult times which struck my family. I do not want to go into details because those things are slowly getting sorted out. However, there was the time when I felt I could not cope with this. I had the need to turn those thoughts and feelings into words. I had no idea how those things will get solved, so I wanted to leave some strong message aimed at specific person. Now I can ask myself if it was necessary. During that time a few years ago – around October 2020, I definitely needed that and I know that I would have exploded if I had not recorded that this way.

So I assume it was the need to flush those emotions from yourself, right? Did not you have a feeling that you might scratch those wounds open again?

Yes, it is quite hard to play those songs during the rehearsals. I try really hard to turn off my emotions and separate from the message of the songs. When I was recording the vocals to those tracks, Piotr Polak – my sound engineer, suddenly stopped the session because he saw that I was behaving strangely. I fell down on the ground a moment later. This was because those words and events I wrote about were still actual, so everything was still alive in me and I could not bear it. Good thing is that thanks to those difficult and dark moments I went through I created really honest and strong lyrics.

On the other hand, despite dark content which dominate the album, we can also find some sparks of hope. For example the track called “Przemijanie”.

I wrote this lyric on the day when I met my only living grandparent for the first time after over 30 years. My mother organised this and the emotions were quite intense. It made me write some part of the lyric, because the rest was written much earlier. Words for all the songs are printed on the leaflet and have dates and names of places where and when each fragment was created. I wanted to make some kind of a diary and assign them to dates and places where each experience took place. There are no void contents – they are facts which were part of my life. This meeting with my grandpa had such an impact on me that I wanted to devote it some part on the album. I do not have a big family and it turned out that there is still a person who is kind of forgotten and missing for so many years. He is still alive, drew some positive conclusions and has good intentions. It was such a warm and positive meeting. I always had great relationship with both my grandmothers and the other grandfather, but somehow this first grandfather led his life in such a way that he disappeared from our life long time ago. You know… is it really so difficult to give a person a second chance?

Beautifully said…

Definitely not black metal style, hahaha…

Yeah, it was supposed to be another question. Everybody usually has two sides of personality and when it comes to musicians it is the one which we see on the scene vs the one which you have on regular day. You just revealed this second one and somehow broke black metal conventions…

In my opinion, this album is too personal for me to pretend to be someone I am not. Why should I do it? I recently saw a silly comment below one of my videos – “Ha, I bet he goes to the supermarket for shopping everyday…” F..k, why should I not? Aren’t you doing it?

As for the concerts, you have confirmed two shows so far – Frozen Sun Fest and Rockowisko Zwierzyniec in June and July. I hope that this is not all and you will organise some more still this year.

I do not have any other confirmed dates yet. This is partly because the summer festivals get confirmed quite early, so the time I confirmed those two the other fests were booked. After I agreed to make a debut show on Frozen Sun Fest, I thought that it would be great to play some more as we are already preparing the whole band and the production. Unfortunately, I only managed to catch Rockowisko Zwierzyniec. I would love to make an autumn tour around clubs in Poland, but I will see how it goes. It is my aim to do some more touring with UKĆ, because it is a big investment to get prepared for the shows with whole band. It doesn’t matter if you will play two or twenty two shows – the cost of preparations is the same.

Your line-up is not officially revealed yet. Can you do it now and list your band members? Secondly, will it be your debut with guitar and behind the microphone or you plan to stay behind the drums?

The line-up is not a secret, but I did not reveal it yet, because there was no serious occasion to do it. We are playing a “live session” in Dobra 12 Studio in Białystok and there will be my full line-up there. We are going to play 2 tracks live and you will have a chance to see it live. Anyway, I can tell you who will play with me, no problem with that. On the contrary, they are such great people that I want to advertise them. Paweł “Mrówa” Staniszczak will play drums – he is the man I work with and my soulmate. He is also the drummer in Death Metal band called ENFEEBLEMENT and he is brilliant at it. I am really glad that he agreed to play the drum parts I recorded on this album. Łukasz “Bielem” Bielemuk from Death Metal band CINIS will play the guitar. I played with him in a band called ABUSED MAJESTY so we know each other for years and he is a great player. Mateusz “Vayha” Demianiuk is playing bass and we had a chance to be in a rock’n’roll band called PIGFACE BEAUTY. We recorded great first album, but other members of the band did not care about it and we could not move on. He is my soulmate and we work together in my private music school called Rockalizacja by Mapex. The success of this project owes Mateusz a lot. I will play the guitar and sing.

It will be your live debut in this role, right?

That is right, new beginning for me and great challenge. I feel outstanding with that, because I will finally do something different after playing behind the drums for so many years.

You will get a new perspective, because you may not “feel” the audience so much while playing drums…

It is very exciting for me to be in such new position. Of course, it does not mean that I put the drums aside for good. I love playing this instrument and will never give it up. UKĆ is the project with such a personal content that I had to be the one who passes those messages from the scene.

You are also a session musician. You run a website in which you offer your services for studio recordings and live tours, also in crisis situations. Did you have any situations like this and as a result saved the session or a tour in the last possible moment? I bet you have some nice stories to tell.

When it comes to recording sessions, fortunately, I did not have any typical last moment emergency. However I made some recordings of full albums without any previous rehearsals which I did within one day – max 10 working hours. I get materials for the recording called “pilots” in various forms. They are sometimes guitar tracks recorded in great quality and with good proportions and arrangements. On the other hand, I also get a total mess and you have to deal with it somehow. When you are in the studio, you sometimes get last moment update for some tracks and you have to adapt to it. I happens like that and I have to be used to that. When it comes to live shows, I had an interesting case when I joined the band called VIRGIN SNATCH for the first tour together. I was supposed to play this tour only, but finally stayed in the band for two more years haha… I had enough time to get prepared on my own in my place in Białystok, however playing alone with recordings is not the same as with the whole band live. I came to Kraków for the rehearsal one day before we were supposed to hit the road. We practiced for one hour, which was our whole set, and they say – “Ok, let’s get packed for the road”. We played a packed show in Poznań with FRONTSIDE and DECAPITATED the next day. I am able to do such things without any problems mainly because of my past experience. I just know how to get prepared for such actions and handle the responsibility. The studio or live shows do not scare me so much that I get paralysed. Of course, I feel some tension and adrenaline but I know how to deal with it.

You recently recorded two great records as a session musician. Second VOIDFIRE album “W Cienie” and new ZØRORMR “The Monolith”. I know that you do not have much influence on that, but is there any chance that those bands will play live one day?

There was an idea to make ZØRORMR a live band, but I do not remember what happened that it was not finalised. I know that it is a closed case now, but you can always get the first-hand information from Fabian Filiks who is even more talkative than me hahaha… On the other hand, VOIDFIRE had some proporsals for live shows, but the pandemic started and it was not realised. We were going to play shows with the band called ORDER which has former MAYHEM members from their first line-up. Then we were supposed to get new dates, but it probably did not happen either at least not with VOIDFIRE and me in it…

I ask that because you do not play in any active live band except CORRUPTION at the moment. Do you miss that or it was a conscious choice?

I get a lot of proporsals to play with various bands, but I learned to say no. I did not know how to do it earlier, but now I do not have such urge to do and play everything I am requested to. I have priorities and choose the most important things and reject those which I can simply let go. CORRUPTION stopped touring intensively since the covid times, but we played a lot before that. I spent most of the weekends away from home. I did not have much time for my family and some things started to get worse. I started to feel that it was too much, so this covid break gave me a chance to take a breath. A lot of musicians were complaining, but I felt that it was doing some good for me. I could focus on some other things like: writing my music in peace and quiet; working on preproduction, taking care of my family and my music school…

What is the update with CORRUPTION then? Do you plan to issue any new album soon? I am asking, because last record “Spleen” is from the previous decade…

The new album is almost recorded, we have everything except the vocals. I recorded the drums back in 2020. The guitars and basses are also done and since then there is still an ongoing problem with the vocalist. Recently, someone has turned up, but it is hard to say if it will be finalised or not. It would be great to find someone who will later come out on stage and sing this material with us. Someone on a permanent basis…

As for the earlier question about musical diversity. CORRUPTION is completely different than most of the bands and records you’ve recorded earlier. Do you relax playing the gigs and making records with them contrary to playing blasts in other bands? Or do you get sweaty more, because you have more space to fill and need to be more inventive?

That’s it! You described it perfectly. It’s not so simple when you have seemingly less playing, but you have to do something in those gaps between beats and sounds. Your task is to understand them and fill them with something interesting. So as you’ve noticed, it’s something different to what I’ve mostly been doing so far. However, quite long time ago, I started a rock/glam band called PIGFACE BEAUTY which was much influenced by MÖTLEY CRÜE, SKID ROW or W.A.S.P. I got involved in it mainly because I really wanted to play this kind of stuff with no pressure and chilled out approach. Unfortunately, the band fell apart for some reasons. Luckily, Anioł from CORRUPTION called me during the time it happened and asked if I could play a tour with them. James Stewart, who was playing with them at that time, had a trip to Israel with VADER and he had to be replaced. And that’s how I stayed haha… I can easily tell you that everything suited me from the very beginning – both personally and musically. I just feel so well in that band all the time.

Anioł seems to be a person with constant smile on his face…

Exactly, he is a very positive person with a cool approach. It’s good to play with people who are nice and friendly.

You run your own music school. Do you have any unpolished diamonds there that you already see on the stages of Poland and the world in the future?  Or have you already released such students into the world, as you have already been in the business for several years?

You know, I’ve been running this school for 10 years now, so I’ve already put a lot of drummers out into the world, there will be hundreds of them. Of course, not all of them continue, but a very large group of former students are still playing and I follow their career all the time. The cool thing is that I have been able to put this passion into them. When a young child comes to school with no earlier experience then all is within your hands. If you guide this young person well he might catch a real passion for the instrument. Some of them even work with me as after 9-10 years of going to my school, they have been promoted from student to teacher. This is also because they know how I have taught them for so many years so now they can pass that knowledge further. It’s better than taking someone from outside. Some of my former students are doing very well and they play bigger and bigger events, sometimes even bigger than those which I have played. You have to appreciate that, because the youngsters keep up with certain innovations faster than we do.

Last question. I saw on your Facecook that you recently took part, along with Daray, in a panel discussion entitled ‘Music vs Business’. I know that we could talk for hours about that, but in a nutshell – how much ‘business’ is there in music?

You know, it depends from which side you look at this case. I can speak about the business that brings some benefits from the perspective of running a school. When I started this school and later realised that this is something thanks to which I exist then that was the moment when this school made a big step forward. It allowed me to live decently and say that I make my living from playing. If it wasn’t for running the school, I would have had to work somewhere else. Playing only the gigs wouldn’t be enough to provide for my family. I was the guest speaking from the perspective of an owner of rock-oriented music institution while Daray spoke as a musician who makes a living just from playing. We touched on various topics there, such as covid outbreak, for example. Daray said it was a very depressing moment and that even up till now he did not make up for the losses he had at the time of the pandemic. For me, on the other hand, it was like a gold mine in terms of running a business. The schools were closed and young people did not have anything to do. As a service provider, we were able to run full-time classes legally, except the six-week break. People were very motivated to do something because they were bored. So for me, it was paradoxically a very fruitful time. That’s what we mainly talked about there.

Thank you very much. Do you have any last words for Metal Centre readers?

I would like to thank you very much for the lovely conversation and the cool questions. It was a great pleasure. I hope that everybody will read to the end. I recommend to check my new album “Coming Out”.

https://www.facebook.com/ukc.comingout/

https://lukaszicanrazsarnacki.pl/en/

https://www.youtube.com/@ukcofficial40

https://ukc-comingout.bandcamp.com/