While corresponding with Gwynbleidd’s drummer Adam Romanowski via email, we touched upon his interesting musical and personal background as well the latest effort on Black Currant Records entitled NOSTALGIA.
E.C.: How did Gwynbleidd form?
Adam Romanowski: Gwynbleidd formed by the two guitarists in the band, Maciej and Michal. They initially started writing music in 2002 and by 2004 had enough material to start thinking about inviting other people into the fold. That’s how I ended up in this band. I don’t remember exactly how they contacted me but we all met at my studio one day to just talk music and listen to their compositions and the rest is history. I was very intrigued by their music and agreed to record an EP with the guys. At that time I was also in a different band which came to a close shortly after and I became a full member of Gwynbleidd. Our bass player, Jakub, joined the band soon after and line up was completed.
E.C.: How would you describe Gwynbleidd to someone that never heard you before?
Adam Romanowski: Gwynbleidd is a metal band with lots of different influences ranging from jazz to folk music.
E.C.: How does a Gwynbleidd song get written?
Adam Romanowski: The songs are written by the two guitarists. They usually have a general idea of how the song should progress and most of the parts are written before they present it to the rest of us. As a drummer I try to add colors and connect the parts of the songs to make them feel as seamless pieces. It’s a fun and challenging process.
E.C.: Do you prefer the studio or live gigs and why?
Adam Romanowski: I definitely prefer live gigs to studio work. Playing shows is what makes a band. That’s your testing ground and that’s what separates men from boys. You get to really find out what works and what doesn’t when you play live and the feedback of your audience is priceless. I always look forward to playing shows, small or big. It’s always fun for me.
E.C.: When I’m not in Gwynbleidd, I’m…
Adam Romanowski: I work at a funeral home in Manhattan. It’s something I’ve been around ever since I came to New York from Poland in 1990. My father and my uncle also worked at a funeral home so it was kind of natural for me to fall back on this profession. I also worked in a music store and was a rep for a well known cymbal company for a while. I used to tour more frequently so holding a job at the music store was perfect. I was able to take long breaks and come back to NYC and have a job.
E.C.: What are some of the pros and cons of being a band from NYC by way of Poland?
Adam Romanowski: I can’t really think of any cons about this. We are basically New Yorkers now and being from Poland gives us a good perspective on things here and different set of influences that you can definitely hear in our music. As far as I’m concerned that might be our advantage because we sound much different then the rest of the scene here in the States or in New York.
E.C.: Who are some of your influences? Any we’d be surprised by?
Adam Romanowski: I’m influenced by a lot of things. Musically I don’t really listen to a lot of metal. I’m kind of old school. I grew up on thrash metal and all of the old 80’s metal stuff. During the 90’s I was introduced to a lot of new metal and had a chance to participate and play with a lot of new metal bands but I never got into it too much. I like a lot of old school jazz and fusion music. Some of it cannot be called the greatest music but the musicianship is superb. You might be surprised but before I got into this band I’d never listened to the band that we get compared to a lot, Opeth. I did get to share the stage with them once but I remember not being impressed much by them. It was a long time ago and since then I learned to appreciate what they are about.
E.C.: What has been your biggest challenge as a band?
Adam Romanowski: Our biggest challenge is to finalize projects in a timely manner. It seems that we always take a lot of time to write and record music. I hope our next record will be a much smoother process then before!
E.C.: Where are some of your favorite places to play?
Adam Romanowski: I like Massachusetts. Canada is a great place to play. People are very passionate about metal there. Go Canada!
E.C.: What’s on tap next for Gwynbleidd?
Adam Romanowski: We are starting to write some new material for the follow up to NOSTALGIA. We also hope to play live some more in the coming year and maybe a tour or two.
E.C.: Any final words?
Adam Romanowski: Let’s hope we can take Gwynbleidd to some new places this year and hopefully we will complete the writing of our new material so we can enter the studio and make a new, shiny CD!
For more info on Gyynbleidd, check out www.gwynbleidd.com
