Name: Bartosz Kruczyński aka Earth Trax

Nationality: Polish
Occupation: Producer
Current release: The new Earth Trax album Closer Now is out February 24th via Lapsus.
Recommendations: I like records that are odd enough that they feel one in a million - I really like Graeme Revell’s The Insect Musicians for example. And I would maybe pick Franco Piavoli's Voci nel tempo, which is a beautiful film.

If you enjoyed this interview with Earth Trax and would like to find out more about his music, visit him on Instagram, Facebook, twitter, and Soundcloud.



When did you start writing/producing/playing music and what or who were your early passions and influences? What was it about music and/or sound that drew you to it?

I think I was drawn to the mystery behind it. I was growing up in the 90s and my father was really into tech, so he had a reel to reel player, a turntable and eventually an Amiga. I think just the magic of watching the reels spin or seeing floppy discs lying around pushed me towards electronic music. He was very into Mike Oldfield, Vangelis, Klaus Schulze, Isao Tomita as well - so it all made sense.

At the same time my family used to spend every summer in the countryside (where my mother was born) and these two angles kind of started to merge at some point. I remember hearing The KLF’s Chill Out for the first time and it sounded oddly familiar. So I think a lot of my music stems from these early experiences.



When I listen to music, I see shapes, objects and colours. What happens in your body when you’re listening and how does it influence your approach to creativity?

I think about moods more often. How some of the sounds get in sync with my memories, how I felt about something.

Although, I occasionally use connections that are more direct - like the field recording of a train passing by I used on Baltic Beat II.



I recorded it in the very same spot I knew from my childhood holidays.

How would you describe your development as an artist in terms of interests and challenges, searching for a personal voice, as well as breakthroughs?

It was very much about finding my own feelings and exploring them. Which is a very self-centred process, but at the same time I try to consider my relationship and my place within the surroundings. If a track feels right to me and, at least some, people get the idea behind it - then I’m on the right track.

I’m not so much into making music that’s too abstract or meandering too much. And I don’t always want to mine for something deeper either. Simple ideas are okay too.

Tell me a bit about your sense of identity and how it influences both your preferences as a listener and your creativity as an artist, please.

I don’t really think much of it to be honest. I’ve never really wanted to stay completely oblivious to things happening around me, but at the same time my identity is not that important to me when making music.

What, would you say, are the key ideas behind your approach to music and art?

I keep it down to earth. I like things that are mundane and not too stylized. And I think that sometimes a more naive approach is more interesting.

For example I really enjoy albums like Selbstportrait Vol. III “Reise Durch Arcadien” by Roedelius or “See Me Ridin'” by Martin Rev.



[Read our Roedelius interview]
[Read our Roedelius interview about Ego as an Energy]
[Read our Roedelius & Tim Story interview about Collaboration]

How would you describe your views on topics like originality and innovation versus perfection and timelessness in music? Are you interested in a “music of the future” or “continuing a tradition”?

I don’t really think about “music of the future” as the “music of the future”. I mean rap music has been using the 808 for 40 years now and it’s still relevant.

Or there are certain records or tropes from older records that feel very current because of their social message and lyrics. So I like variety.

Over the course of your development, what have been your most important instruments and tools - and what are the most promising strategies for working with them?

DAWs definitely. I tried to incorporate hardware into my music multiple times, and I really like some of my synths like Moog Sub 37. But I’m definitely a software person. Although I do admit I love the analogue sound when mixing.

Marcin Cislo aka Kwazar helped me out a lot with his collection of Looptrotter, Neve and Manley gear and his knowledge.

Take us through a day in your life, from a possible morning routine through to your work, please.

I usually work on music every day, but it’s not because I force myself - I just really like it.

My routine could be working on multiple small ideas at the same time, switching between projects and coming back later to reevaluate. I really like working like this.

Could you describe your creative process on the basis of a piece, live performance or album that's particularly dear to you, please?

I enjoyed working on LP1 and LP2 (both released as Earth Trax). I used a lot of different approaches on these - sampling (which is a great fascination of mine), plugins, hardware (like the Sub 37, Elektron Digitone, TD-3).



It was mixed in the studio with Marcin, then mastered and cut by one of my favourite engineers - Beau Thomas. It was a very satisfying process.

Listening can be both a solitary and a communal activity. Likewise, creating music can be private or collaborative. Can you talk about your preferences in this regard and how these constellations influence creative results?

I’m definitely a more solitary person.

I do work with others every now and then (with Adam Brocki, Poly Chain or Jaromir Kaminski when I was in Ptaki), but it’s always either spontaneous (our most popular track with Adam is a jam we made in just under an hour or two) or focused on recording a single album (like with Jaromir or Sasha of Poly Chain).

How do your work and your creativity relate to the world and what is the role of music in society?

I like that it’s hard to detect its function. Apart from club twelve-inches or album oriented music in my collection, I have records like Georgian polyphonic singing, meditation guides, therapeutic discs, field recordings or animal sounds. So I like that it can be anything.

What can be saddening is that sometimes the original context is being lost. So I really admire journalists, writers or documentarians who help to tell the real history behind genres, movements and artists.

I’m currently reading Tim Lawrence’s Life and Death on the New York Dance Floor, 1980–1983 and I admire its complexity.

Art can be a way of dealing with the big topics in life: Life, loss, death, love, pain, and many more. In which way and on which occasions has music – both your own or that of others - contributed to your understanding of these questions?

I think of art more as a part of everyday life, but not really the main contributing factor to personal growth. And to understand certain pieces you need to go through certain things in your life, not the other way round.

How do you see the connection between music and science and what can these two fields reveal about each other?

I like when they reveal someone’s passion e.g. engineers using science to construct instruments.

It’s a great feeling when you use inventions that were manufactured with great care.

Creativity can reach many different corners of our lives. Do you feel as though writing or performing a piece of music is inherently different from something like making a great cup of coffee? What do you express through music that you couldn’t or wouldn’t in more mundane tasks?

Maybe it depends whether it’s a chore for you or something you really like. I like making coffee and I don’t mind if it’s not great.

Music is vibration in the air, captured by our eardrums. From your perspective as a creator and listener, do you have an explanation how it able to transmit such diverse and potentially deep messages?

No, and that’s the beauty of it!