Nanook Of The North

Piotr Kaliński and Stefan Wesołowski made their debut with an improvised score to a screening of Robert J. Flaherty’s 1922 silent film Nanook of the North, which is considered the first documentary film ever made. Shot in Quebec, it depicted the everyday life of an Inuit family. In 2012 at the Sopot Film Festival Kaliński and Wesołowski performed music to a screening of this film. This one-time gig became a long-lasting collaboration between the duo. Later on, their first album was released by the renowned German Denovali Records.

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Nanook of the North, photo: Tomek Hoax

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Piotr Kaliński, born 18^th February 1984, is a DJ and a record producer. He oversees and manages the recording of electronic music projects, from ambient and techno to more dance-like hits under the pseudonym Hatti Vatti. He also collaborates with Misia Furtak on the minimalist project Francis and works together with Daniel Drumz (Daniel Szlajnda) on Janka – rhythmical dubtronica. Together with Noon (Mikołaj Bugajak), who is one of the most important hip-hop producers, he recorded the experimental album HV/Noon. The album featured various rappers, including Eldo, Małpa and the above-mentioned Misia Furtak. Between 2009 and 2015 Kaliński was also the guitarist of the punk band Gówno.

Stefan Wesołowski, born 11^th March 1985, is a violinist and a pianist. He is one of the most prominent modern classical artists in Poland. He is known for merging electronic music with acoustic. However, his solo pieces are accompanied by wind and string instruments. Wesołowski collaborates with Michał Jacaszek, another artist who fuses ambient with classical music. His soundtrack for a documentary film about Marlon Brando, Listen to Me Marlon, was nominated for a BAFTA, while his solo album Rite of the End was named best music release of the year and nominated for an award from Polityka magazine. It also won a vote by readers of Gazeta Wyborcza.

After forming a band together, Wesołowski and Kaliński were looking for inspiration for their debut album for quite some time. In the end, they recorded Nanook of the North in Olafur Arnalds studio in Reykjavík. Wesołowski explained:

We were inspired by Iceland, by its landscape and weather. The trip hit the spot – in only a week we had 80-90% of the music for the album.

The last parts of the album were recorded by Kaliński in Greenland, where he recorded local artists. Their self-titled debut album was released in March 2018. Its sound is accompanied by classical instruments. The album is quite gloomy as it merges two completely different aesthetics – Wesołowski’s classical instruments and Kaliński’s synthesisers – in unexpected ways.

The music is dreamlike and full of echoes. On the one hand, it depicts the harshness of nature, on the other it evokes melancholy, which is typical of Wesołowski’s music.

Nanook of the North have performed at OFF festival in Katowice, Up to Date in Białystok, Spring Break in Poznań, Nada in Toruń, and Nokta in Opole, as well as the New Horizons International Film Festival and other festivals in Germany and Austria. After their debut they performed in the Boiler Room series. However, Kaliński and Wesołowski do not only perform at alternative events, lately, TVP Kultura showed their collaborations with violinist Jan Kępa from Rawa Mazowiecka.

Author: Jacek Świąder.

Discography:

2018 – Nanook of the North

nanook of the north

electronic music

contemporary polish music

piano

alternative music