“I’m inspired by limitations,” says Mariusz Duda. As the mastermind of Riverside and Lunatic Soul, Duda is comfortable being a musical chameleon. But recently he’s expanded far beyond the bounds of progressive rock. He released three albums of electronica – Lockdown Spaces, Claustrophobic Universe and Interior Drawings, known collectively as the Lockdown Trilogy – in quick succession in 2020 and 2021. Now, with AFR AI D, his latest work as a solo artist, he’s giving free rein to his formative influences.
“I grew up on Tangerine Dream, Jean-Michel Jarre, Vangelis,” says Duda. “Later on, Mike Oldfield and later, later on, progressive music. My very first music as a composer was electronic music. In the Lockdown Trilogy artbook, I even put a photo of my cassette tapes that I recorded in 1992. I had 15 of them. Believe me, no one wants to listen to that these days, but for me it was just the beginning. I wanted to emphasise that this is really important music for me.”
In 2023, Duda had originally planned to devote his time and energy to writing the next Lunatic Soul album, but then he went on vacation and everything changed.
“I decided to go on a holiday with my family in April, and I took some serious rest,” he says.
“I was so happy after we came back that I had to do something with myself, so I opened the computer and boom, in six weeks I had this idea. I heard about ChatGPT, artificial intelligence. I thought, ‘This is a great idea for the album but I’m not going to use that in Riverside, because when I record another Riverside album, it will be 2025, probably everyone will have forgotten about ChatGPT, it will be nothing new. I can’t do this in Lunatic Soul because that’s more ephemeral. Artificial intelligence in there? No. But I can continue my electronic work. It fits!’”
[https://cdn.magzter.com/1625747790/1703838123/articles/CqlTq_aE91703851382530/vk9mjbrZj1703851634679.jpg]
AFR AI D embraces the limitations of electronic music – the only conventional instrumentation comes from the guitar solos performed by Riverside’s tech, Mateusz Owczarek. However, with songtitles including Taming Nightmares, Good Morning Fearmongering and Why So Serious, Cassandra?, there are shared themes with Duda’s work in Riverside.
“I always write about loneliness, about struggling with things around me, about the trial of surviving these days, about fear and anxiety,” he says. “All my albums are more like therapy, that’s why I’m trying to record so many of them. That’s why I never wanted to only be part of a band, I wanted to have my own Marvel Universe.”
While the artificial intelligence references are clear, Duda says that AI represents anything we fear and the darkness someone might face in life.
“Everyone has their own demons they’re struggling with. I’ve got my own,” he says. “We live in really uncertain times, we are afraid of many things, so I wanted to record an album about taming nightmares. I wanted to return to the darkness but at the same time I need another album that helps me to cool down.”
Duda wanted the album to address these fears while retaining a sense of optimism and human resilience.
“It’s not the end of the world and we can embrace the future,” he says. “I don’t believe in this vision from The Terminator that artificial intelligence will rule humanity. I believe we’ll die much sooner because the sun will burn out, or there will be no drinking water anymore, and then we’ll ask artificial intelligence to help. That’s why the title is Why So Serious, Cassandra? Why do we have to see these Cassandraic visions? AI will only be another tool.”
At one point, Duda considered naming the album OK AI, as a nod to Radiohead’s classic OK Computer.
“But then I realised that AFR AI D is much more me because I write about fear and anxiety all the time, and it’s stronger. It’s catchy and I can play games with the words inside of that, so I think it’s better,” he says.
Speaking of names, Duda’s solo project could have been called Eye Of The Soundscape, after the 2016 Riverside album that saw the group experimenting with electronic music, but the death of Riverside guitarist Piotr Grudzin?ski led to Duda abandoning that idea.
“Everything didn’t have a meaning anymore,” he says, ruefully.
Then, with Lockdown Spaces in 2020, the time felt right to release music under his own name.
“I was considering a project name, but then I realised Mariusz Duda would be much more well known,” he says. “I started my solo career in 2008 under the name Lunatic Soul not because I was not ready t...
“I grew up on Tangerine Dream, Jean-Michel Jarre, Vangelis,” says Duda. “Later on, Mike Oldfield and later, later on, progressive music. My very first music as a composer was electronic music. In the Lockdown Trilogy artbook, I even put a photo of my cassette tapes that I recorded in 1992. I had 15 of them. Believe me, no one wants to listen to that these days, but for me it was just the beginning. I wanted to emphasise that this is really important music for me.”
In 2023, Duda had originally planned to devote his time and energy to writing the next Lunatic Soul album, but then he went on vacation and everything changed.
“I decided to go on a holiday with my family in April, and I took some serious rest,” he says.
“I was so happy after we came back that I had to do something with myself, so I opened the computer and boom, in six weeks I had this idea. I heard about ChatGPT, artificial intelligence. I thought, ‘This is a great idea for the album but I’m not going to use that in Riverside, because when I record another Riverside album, it will be 2025, probably everyone will have forgotten about ChatGPT, it will be nothing new. I can’t do this in Lunatic Soul because that’s more ephemeral. Artificial intelligence in there? No. But I can continue my electronic work. It fits!’”
[https://cdn.magzter.com/1625747790/1703838123/articles/CqlTq_aE91703851382530/vk9mjbrZj1703851634679.jpg]
AFR AI D embraces the limitations of electronic music – the only conventional instrumentation comes from the guitar solos performed by Riverside’s tech, Mateusz Owczarek. However, with songtitles including Taming Nightmares, Good Morning Fearmongering and Why So Serious, Cassandra?, there are shared themes with Duda’s work in Riverside.
“I always write about loneliness, about struggling with things around me, about the trial of surviving these days, about fear and anxiety,” he says. “All my albums are more like therapy, that’s why I’m trying to record so many of them. That’s why I never wanted to only be part of a band, I wanted to have my own Marvel Universe.”
While the artificial intelligence references are clear, Duda says that AI represents anything we fear and the darkness someone might face in life.
“Everyone has their own demons they’re struggling with. I’ve got my own,” he says. “We live in really uncertain times, we are afraid of many things, so I wanted to record an album about taming nightmares. I wanted to return to the darkness but at the same time I need another album that helps me to cool down.”
Duda wanted the album to address these fears while retaining a sense of optimism and human resilience.
“It’s not the end of the world and we can embrace the future,” he says. “I don’t believe in this vision from The Terminator that artificial intelligence will rule humanity. I believe we’ll die much sooner because the sun will burn out, or there will be no drinking water anymore, and then we’ll ask artificial intelligence to help. That’s why the title is Why So Serious, Cassandra? Why do we have to see these Cassandraic visions? AI will only be another tool.”
At one point, Duda considered naming the album OK AI, as a nod to Radiohead’s classic OK Computer.
“But then I realised that AFR AI D is much more me because I write about fear and anxiety all the time, and it’s stronger. It’s catchy and I can play games with the words inside of that, so I think it’s better,” he says.
Speaking of names, Duda’s solo project could have been called Eye Of The Soundscape, after the 2016 Riverside album that saw the group experimenting with electronic music, but the death of Riverside guitarist Piotr Grudzin?ski led to Duda abandoning that idea.
“Everything didn’t have a meaning anymore,” he says, ruefully.
Then, with Lockdown Spaces in 2020, the time felt right to release music under his own name.
“I was considering a project name, but then I realised Mariusz Duda would be much more well known,” he says. “I started my solo career in 2008 under the name Lunatic Soul not because I was not ready t...
You're reading a preview of
Prog (Digital) - 1 Issue, Issue 146