Online interview with Jan Trębacz, lead vocals, of Illumandi
March 29, 2004

www.illuminandi.kdm.pl

I honestly don't even remember how I found this band on the vast internet but I did.  I contacted the band because I couldn't get over the diversity in their sound.  The band quickly responded and sent me a demo.  The demo includes 3 songs with one also in English.  These are our brothers and sisters in Christ all the way in Poland.  The mix death metal, hard core and classical to get one of the most melodic and unique hard styles I have ever encountered.  the band, Illuminandi is absolutely incredible.  Then we decided we need to get to know them better.  Their English is a bit broken but it just so happens the lead singer is an English teacher so that gave us the green light.  So here it is for the first time in the US, an exclusive interview with Illuminandi!

Dennis: Illuminandi is a very unique name and let me say after your hearing latest demo, you have a very unique sound. There is some much classical influence in your music and it has an incredible mix with the hard core vocals and style. Please explain where your name is from and how the sound of Illumandi came into existence?
Jan: "Illuminandi" is a Latin word– in the early Church people who were to be baptized were referred to in this way. In English it means "what is to be enlighted". In many cultures light is the symbol of life and wisdom. In Christianity it often symbolizes God. I think that this life is a journey – a journey through sometimes terrible darkness, but a journey towards wonderful, eternal Light.  'Unique’? Well, thank you!
The idea of forming a band that would play hard music with a Christian message was born in 1998 when I (Jan - voc., guit.) met Alek (guit.). At that time I was totally into gothic/doom and folk/metal and my guitar skills were even less satisfactory than they’re now. However, I decided that limiting oneself to playing only those genres meant wasting too many good riffs that popped into my mind but simply didn’t fit into those conventions. Alek had a different musical background – he liked some metal but was brought up mainly on punk rock and hardcore. However, I loved his compositions because they had one crucial feature - MELODY.
First Patrycja and Tonia joined us (I insisted on having the violin in the band and someone decided cello was a nice addition too, which I enthusiastically accepted). Next members to join us were Olek (Tonia’s brother, a long-haired punk who also listened to gothic metal) and Szymek (who at that time played in a reggae band and in a metalcore band). In 2000 we recorded our first demo and in 2002 our second demo after which Boolba (hardcore voc.) joined us as a permanent member. Since then Illuminandi have been:
Patrycja Pyzińska- violin, vocals
Antonina Kraszkiewicz- cello
Aleksander Kraszkiewicz- bass
Szymon Grych- drums & percussion
Aleksander Kozioł- lead & rhythm guitar
Jan Trębacz- lead vocals & growling, guitar
Bogdan ‘Boolba’ Czernia – raspy ‘hardcore’ vocals
I thought our sound would be even more diverse, e.g. with some reggae, but it turned out that most of us felt best in heavy music. So, surprisingly to my expectations (but how delightfully!!! J ) our songs sounded more metal than I thought they would. But Alek’s compositions are still largely based on hardcore, so it seems like our music really is a blend of our fascinations: gothic metal, death and heavy metal, hardcore and classical music. Only my medieval/celtic –sounding melodies can’t get through a strong wall of Olek’s opposition... LGee, he hates such stuff as well as slooow doom metal... Which is what I still love!!!  But a band is a band... Maybe one day...

Dennis: You are the first band I have ever heard being in and from Poland. In the US, there are a lot of spiritual influence by Christian bands making it into the mainstream market. Bands like P.O.D., Jars of Clay, MxPx, Mercy Me, 12 Stones, and many more are some great examples. How is the your music style accepted by non-Christians? What is the music scene for Christians like in your area of the world?
Jan: Christian metal scene is practically nonexistent here in Poland. We used to have UNDISH (excellent gothic rock/metal) and CREATION OF DEATH (death metal) but they disbanded.
However, soon after that C.O.D.’s guitarist founded another Christian band, which is currently the most popular Christian band in Poland – 2TM2,3. Since their debut about six years ago 2TM2,3 have inspired many young people to play rock for God, so that no we have quite a lot of excellent Christian NU metal or hardcore bands: 2TM2,3; ARMIA; TOTUS TUUS; ANASTASIS; PNEUMA... and many more rock or reggae groups (LEAF, ETNA). However, apart from 2TM2,3 very few make it to the mainstream market...

Dennis: The Christian culture is very confusing here at times. Many Christians teach love but don't accept those that are different and religion is running a gap and not reaching those that need to be reached. The US seems to be getting further from God than closer to Him. What is your perception of the Christian culture in the US and how does it seem to differ from that in Poland?
Jan: Well, there’s one big difference between Poland and the US: our society is REALLY homogeneous. We’re all white with very few exceptions (Gypsies or the few immigrants we have) and (at least according to statistical data) in 93% Catholic. However, that keeps changing as more and more young people reject religion and Poland will definitely become much more diverse culture-wise after our entering the European Union in May. However, even the present homogeneity doesn’t mean were not divided. People like stressing differences instead of similarities, I guess that’s a part of our human nature. We are also afraid of what we don’t know and understand. Fear evokes hatred... It’s all the same everywhere – America, ex- Yugoslavia, Israel, Germany or Poland. Only on different levels. But God is love and Christianity is about oneness in diversity, not about hating each other. We can’t help the fact that we’re different but we should learn about each other and help each other. Jesus brings peace, not war.

Dennis: What bands have influenced your music and also what bands are you currently listening too?
Jan: I am influenced by everything I listen to and I’m a music maniac... I wouldn’t be able to live without music! For the last few days I’ve been thoroughly enjoying INTO ETERNITY’s "Buried in Oblivion", ORPHANED LAND’s "Mabool" and PENUMBRA’s "Seclusion".
But some of my favourite bands and albums are:
Amorphis "Tales from the Thousand Lakes" and "Elegy", Extol "Undeceived", Within Temptation "Enter", Haggard, Virgin Black, In Flames, Ensiferum, In the Woods, Blind Guardian "Twilight in Middle Earth", Lacuna Coil, Sepultura, Dream Theater, Spiral Architect, Orphaned Land, P.O.D, Blindside... I could go on for ages!!! I also like progressive rock, early music (Medieval and Renaissance), Celtic music, some reggae, some Christian funky/pop/rock stuff.

Dennis: In the US there is a push by record labels to place "Parental Advisory" stickers on cds. It seems to sell for albums when their is controversy around them. A lot of discussion goes on in our site dealing with the issue of secular music. Our stance towards Christian teens has always been that they must weigh whether the music is a positive or negative influence in their life. What are your thoughts on the influence of secular music on Christian teens?
Jan: I know form my own experience that music is a powerful thing and it can either help people in their lives or be a destructive force. I myself struggled quite a lot with some bands whose music I loved but who dabbled in the occult. After a long search and many discussions I decided to give them up and I trashed some Cd’s and tapes. Why? Because, by pure logic, if I believe our lyrics can help people by making them them open up (at least a bit) to God, I believe that invocations to demons (e.g. Therion) can harm them!!! I also think lyrics that promote, encourage violence and evil shouldn’t be reached for. That’s it.
But we shouldn’t go too far I think. I mean some people think Christians should only listen to Christian bands – I disagree. There are bands who have wise, positive lyrics and they don’t refer to God. There are also some bands who don’t have serious lyrics – they’re meant just as an addition to music, something to reinforce the right mood. That’s all ok for me. Christian or not, we’re all humans and we all sometimes want to have fun and music is also about fun, not just serious matters. But ultimately everybody has to decide for himself.

Dennis: It is so awesome that clear around the world we are able to have fellowship with other brothers and sisters in Christ! The cool thing is someday we will be able to meet and if not here then in heaven. I went through a long journey or sex, alcohol and drug use before I turned to God. What brought you to Christ?
Jan: The search for the meaning of my life.
I’ve been brought up as Catholic, but religion was for me more a set of laws to obey than comfort. Theoretically I knew Jesus was my friend but really I felt he was a scrupulous judge... This was wearing me off. So I thought it all shouldn’t be that way and that I had to either give up God or get to know him really well. But I realized that without God my life wouldn’t have any point, suffering would be senseless, sacrifice ridiculous... The Catholic Church in Poland is extremely popular and this is why you can go to Church every Sunday and still feel anonymous and I felt I needed people to share my questions with. But the Catholic Church here is also extremely rich- there are different communities within it. So when I went to university I joined a community of students who met twice a week on prayer and sharing. This is where I met a wise priest and devoted, but also happy people who helped me to answer some of my questions.
I’m on my way to God all the time, I keep searching, thinking... I’m still not sure of so many things, but I know I’m not alone in life as God is on my side!!!

Dennis: What does Illuminandi hope to show in their music and lyrics?
Jan: Well, speaking for myself, I’d like to create good music which would not only give people pleasure but also hope. I’d like our music to help others, not to depress them! It’d be great to inspire them to look for God because he’s, first of all, a LOVING and CARING father.

Dennis:  Your demo is absolutely incredible!  When will you be doing a full album?
Jan: We don’t know yet. We’re working slowly on the new songs, but there’s no really need to hurry as we are neither signed nor have money for the studio.  If nothing changes, we’d might do it next summer... But nothing’s arranged yet.  At the moment we have 13 songs ready, which means 6 songs that weren’t included on our demos. But we have plenty of ideas for new compositions – the sketches of at least other 3 songs are done.

Dennis: This is your chance to post anything you want. Tell us your favorite food, car or promote your merchandise and website. This is for you to do and say anything.
Jan: Thank you for your interest in our music! I know the words of our songs are mostly in Polish which you can’t understand, but I hope the music will speak to your hearts and will bring you delight, joy and hope!!! If we ever record an LP at least some songs will be in English. At the moment you can download our music at www.illuminandi.kdm.pl (click on the flag in the bottom right corner for the English version). Take care and lets rock for Jesus! He brings freedom!