Today I spoke to one of the best Stoner Doom bands from Poland ..Dopelord. We talked about the risks of getting weed in Poland, touring Europe and why a West Coast US tour has to be done! read on…
* Poland is known worldwide for its great Black metal bands but not so much its Doom bands – how did you guys get into playing doom music? What were your influences?
Piotrek: Well black metal as a genre is far more popular than doom, maybe that’s the case. I think if you’re interested in stoner/doom you should know at least few pretty good Polish bands. We started our band because we were listening to this kind of music and didn’t know any stoner-doom bands in Poland at that time. Our main influences at that time were Black Sabbath, Electric Wizard and Sleep to name the most obvious, but I remember that was the time of releasing Cough’s „Ritual Abuse” and Windhand’s demo both of which were in heavy rotation.
* Have any of you played in bands outside of doom music before Dopelord?
Piotrek: I played in one band, it was not doomy at all, more to the psychedelic side of rock (at least we wanted it to be). It was called Klingonian Beauty. That’s how I met Paweł (guit., voc.), he was looking for a band he could sing in. KB’s drummer, Arek, became Dopelord’s first drummer.
Grzesiek: Me and Paweł were in a band called Solarbabes at that time, and apart of the singer, we also shared rehearsal space with Klingonian Beauty. Also, Arek owned a pub (where we all worked at some point) which I guess was the sort of place where you could come and talk to people with similar taste in music, share ideas. I can’t really remember when and where it was that we came up with the idea for Dopelord, but my best guess is it was that place.
* The band has been going for over 7 years now – what keeps you guys going for so long?
Piotrek: Actually, band came to life in the end of 2010, so we’re six years old now hahaha, not that old, right? Anyway, what keeps us going is music. We just really enjoy every new riff, every next album, every next gig. Simple as that.
Grzesiek: We came to know each other really well over the years – there’s not really much more to it than this. We know what to expect from each other, and how not to piss each other off too often.
* The artwork on the new album is amazing? How did you get to work with Pighands? And did you have to give him an idea of what you wanted? or? how did it work?
Piotrek: We collaborated with PigHands earlier, he designed one of out shirts. He did tremendous job and I was quite certain he’s the right man for the cover art job. I just pointed Antonio some rather loose ideas, the atmosphere of the album, and he did the rest. I think that the songs and cover art work great together. It was a perfect fit.
“We try as hard as possible to make our every show the best we can, that I can promise.”
* I know you guys have done some touring of Europe before – what’s been the best show so far? and why?
Piotrek: It’s hard to point out a single show and say it was the best. How could you measure it? The biggest crowd? The best organisation? The best venue? The best performance? We try as hard as possible to make our every show the best we can, that I can promise.
* Have the band played Amsterdam before? If so any crazy stories?
Piotrek: Nope, not yet.
* I know the band play the Uk in May? Have you played the UK before? I would imagine people would love you there
Piotrek: It will be our first time in the UK. So I hope you’re right, man. We’ll be playing there with great company of Poland’s finest: Major Kong, Weedpecker and Belzebong so I think it will be quite ok.
* Has the band played any concerts in the USA before? Are you guys aware come 2018 recreational weed will be legal down the entire West Coast of the USA?
Piotrek: No, we’ve never been to the U.S. To be honest, there are enough reasons already to come and visit with a tour hahaha.
“We like both our booze and our buds”
* I think of Polish being a land more for vodka and beers than weed..do any of the band smoke and if so what is their favorite types of weed?
Grzesiek: we’re not that picky, man. We like both our booze and our buds, however, when it comes to the latter there isn’t really much of a choice.
* Is weed easy to get there? I lived in England for 10 years – when I first moved there good weed was very hard to find by the time I left the country it was much easier due to hydroponics? is if the same in Poland – or does it come from places like Spain and Portugal?
Grzesiek: Well first of all it’s illegal and unlike in the UK, where the worst case scenario is being told off by the cop, here you can actually go to jail for possession. It’s still possible to get decent weed, but as I said – not much of a choice there, and most of the times you won’t even know where it came from.
“Our spiritual needs are fulfilled by playing music”
* Poland is well known as being a Catholic country. Do any of the band practice any form of paganism? If so what path?
Piotrek: No, we don’t practice any form of any religion. Our spiritual needs are fulfilled by playing music, I guess.
* I know old movies are big influence on you guys – tell me some of your favorite movies
Piotrek: One of my all time favourite Polish movie, that you might know is „Saragossa Manuscript” by Wojciech Jerzy Has. It’s brilliant on so many levels. Funny (and sad at the same time), that the first DVD version was curated by Martin Scorsese and released abroad, not in Poland. If you have not seen it – please do, it’s a great story with great acting.
* What can we expect from Dopelord in 2017?
Piotrek: We try to focus on playing as much gigs as possible. Worth mentioning is that we will re-release all of our albums on vinyl. Hopefully this year.
* Any final words?
Piotrek: Now is not the time, though „The time is now” would make great final words hahaha.