Marius Duda's Lunatic Soul

A Conversation with Bill Kopp

The Polish post-progressive quartet Riverside has established a loyal following in their native country and across Europe. They've made critical and commercial inroad in the USA as well. The group released their live DVD Reality Dream in 2009; that release documented the group's successful tour. Amidst all that activity, bassist/vocalist Mariusz Duda embarked on a solo side project in 2008, releasing the album Lunatic Soul (though it's essentially a Duda solo album, it's credited to Lunatic Soul as well). In November 210 Duda released a follow-up/companion album, Lunatic Soul II. I recently got an opportunity to discuss the project with Duda; that conversation follows. -- bk.

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Bill Kopp: There's a very cinematic quality to the music, almost like a soundtrack without a film. It's very emotionally evocative. Was it your goal to vividly convey moods even in the wordless parts, like the opening track "The In-between Kingdom"?

Mariusz Duda: Yes. I wanted to create a cinematic story. Because, to be honest, I was inspired by many movies during the creation of Lunatic Soul and Lunatic Soul II. I'm inspired mostly by movies, film and books more than music right now! I have been soaked in music in the past, and now I'm just using everything that I've learned so far. These days, when I try to compose something, when I try to create a new album, usually the visuals come first in my head. And later, the sounds come.

BK: Where did the original idea for this project come from? Was it a general concept, or did you write a song and then decide to structure a complete album around it?

The white album (Lunatic Soul II) is the second part of the whole story. The black one is the first part.

In Riverside, when we're playing music, I've always wanted to create some mixture with the music we play, and some music with some Oriental moods. Some folk moods, something like that, but in a dark way. And I always wanted to create a separate project for that, which would be mine -- all mine -- and very personal. Because this is the music that I really feel.

So I waited for a good moment; when we finished the Reality Dream DVD with Riverside was that kind of moment when we had a break. So then I created the first album. And I remember that this whole subject -- about death and the journey in the underworld -- happened when a person very close to me had a near-death experience. We had been talking a lot about it, about this tunnel and the light that people see. And I read some books about it, also. And I thought, "Okay, let's do that type of story."

And from the beginning I had this idea for the black and white albums. So it wasn't like that white came about because the black one was a success or something; no, I had the idea for a double album divided by a period of time. Lunatic Soul II is the second and last part of it.

BK: The final lyrics on the album are "Now I'm the soul banished to everlasting wanderings." That seems to hold out the possibility that listeners might yet get to experience some of those wanderings. So is Part Two the end, or might we see a trilogy, or more volumes, in the future?

There will be a part three, but with a different album cover, a different title, and a different subject! Because these first two parts of my, let's say, solo work were connected with this underworld theme. I of course would like to develop myself as an individual artist all the time, so in [addition to] Riverside, I would like to do some things only on my own. So I think these everlasting wanderings of music will be a permanent state for me. I hope. I can't live without it, and I'm not going to say, "Thank you, bye-bye." These two albums are just the beginning of something.

BK: So there's room for both Riverside and solo work in your life?

Definitely. Especially since Lunatic Soul is -- so far -- a studio project. I'm trying to do this only when we have a break with Riverside. Everything depends on the schedule. So if I am planning things early, I can make it happen without problems.

Since this is the follow-up to Part One, do you think it's necessary to hear both parts in sequence for a full appreciation of the work, or do the two parts stand equally well on their own?

I think they can stand on their separate weight. But of course to understand it much better, it's always nice to hear the whole story. Because some things are connected. What I think was the biggest challenge for me was the fact that the dark album made use of darker sounds, and the white album is, you know, what I'd call whiter one. Higher levels. It's nice to have this contrast. But of course I always wanted to create this album in a way that you could hear it without knowing when it was the beginning.

BK: There's obviously a lighter texture to the Lunatic Soul music than is generally found on Riverside's albums. It seems to come from a different place emotionally. When you started out in music, what sort of styles did you initially work in?

I grew up on electronic music. My first instrument was keyboards. So I listened to a lot of things by Mike Oldfield, Vangelis, Jean Michel Jarre, Tangerine Dream. Later I found a lot of music with keyboards: progressive rock, and the music connected with that in some way. And later when I started to play on a lot of instruments, I liked to find music of contrasts. I liked the bands that played mellow and the hard stuff. Long and short tracks. Because that's very colorful. So I always wanted to play that "color music" with Riverside.

But I always had the feeling that it would be nice to do something quite sad, you know. Something very personal that you could just take into the corner of the room and just hide with. So I think this music, the Lunatic Soul music, is like the corners of the colors; they're more black-and-white.

Everything started for me with keyboards. And on Lunatic Soul I decided that I only wanted to use instruments that I could play myself. That's why there's no electric guitar, which is the biggest difference between this and Riverside.

BK: In the press release the words "trance" and "Oriental" are used to describe the music. While I don't disagree, I think that those words suggest something that's not necessarily strong on melody. And I do think that there are compelling melodies on the record. "Wanderings" is almost pop song. Did you have melody as a conscious goal when crafting the album?

Yes, all the time. I pay a lot of attention to the melodies. For me, you don't have to be a very good instrumentalist. It's a bigger goal when someone can compose simply great tracks, good songs. And even when you compose a long track, you should remember to have something that is catchy. I'm not talking about all pop song choruses, but something which can stay with you forever. Or even just for the normal day, so you can take it in the shower and whistle it. I think this is very important, so I pay a lot of attention to it.

Another big difference from Riverside is that Lunatic Soul is based more on the drums, the groove, or the trance. But I try always to remember that everything about this should be melody, should be music. Otherwise it will stay only groove and music, and nothing more.

BK: "Limbo" reminds me a great deal of the Residents' more recent work, specifically their 2006 album The River of Crime. What other artists do you listen to?

I listened to music on vinyls in the old days. And I'm of the tape generation. But now I'm listening to a lot of old rock, all the sixties-seventies things. Also things connected with soundscapes. Those bands that I mentioned -- Tangerine Dream, Genesis, all those classic things -- and then on the other hand, some things which are quite fresh and new, like some French ambient and space-rock music. Human Network, Carbon Based Lifeforms...those kinds of strange-named bands. I like things very much that have a good melody; it doesn't matter if it's a pop song or a hard metal thing. I try to be open to many ideas; I think, "Maybe later I'll use this in one of my parts."

BK: The photos in the gallery suggest a number of moods: loneliness, angst, regret. Do you think there's a specific mood that pervades the record? Or do you want to leave that determination to each listener?

First of all, a very important thing: I just used those black and white colors because the concept was based on information that Slavic and Germanic peoples worshipped -- long ago -- so-called black and white gods of destiny. Therefore, those two colors were present at funerals. In the white album, the booklet art is in grey color, because this is the color of solitude, sadness. I wanted to use those colors only, because of this main subject.

When you're looking at those pictures, the artwork, there is information about the [path] of the main character. In the black album, he had just died, and spends the whole record trying just to reach the light in that tunnel. The white album starts in the moment where the first part ends, and he's reached the light. There's some kind of journey, so on this album's artwork there's lots of white color. But everything changes later, and he's just trying to go back to the darkness. So all those photos show that change toward darker and darker.

BK: Do you have any plans to perform any of this music live onstage?

This question is all the time on the Riverside discussion board, and when I have interviews. I think that sooner or later it should happen. For now, this is a studio project because of the logistic stuff. And I have to be okay with my band and with my time. I don't want to say that it will be a studio project forever, though. When the time will come, I will try to do something with that. I will try to gather the best people and go on a tour with the music. Maybe after the third album...maybe after a fourth. But in the future, definitely.

BK: s there anything else we've missed in our conversation? Anything else you'd like to mention?

I would like to be more connected with our fans in the U.S. I have to admit, we'd like to come on a tour in the United States. It's hard, and we usually only play one, two shows in a year there. I know we have a lot of fans of Lunatic Soul and of Riverside there.

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