ONE OF THE MOST STREAMED SONGS THE PAST YEAR WAS BASSIST KINGA GLYK’S REMARKABLE RENDITION OF “TEARS IN HEAVEN”, GETTING OVER 3.2 MILLION HITS.
THAT PIECE OF ART DEFINITELY PUT HER ON THE MUSICAL MAP, AND FOR A FOLLOWUP SHE HAS RELEASED AN IMPRESSIVE ALBUM, HER FIRST IN FOUR YEARS, ENTITLED, REAL LIFE, RECORDED IN MICHAEL LEAGUE’S STUDIO IN SPAIN. THE ALBUM IS A FUNKY FUSION DELIGHT, BRINGING IN IDEAS FROM VINTAGE BANDS LIKE RETURN TO FOREVER AND WEATHER REPORT, WITH LOTS OF KEYBOARDS WEAVING IN AND OUT.
IT’S RARE THAT SUCH A YOUNG JAZZ ARTIST CAN MAKE AN IMPRESSIVE IMPACT, BUT THAT IS THE ADVANTAGE OF THIS AGE OF SOCIAL MEDIA.
JUST AS MS. GLYK WAS ABOUT TO START TOURING TO SUPPORT THE ALBUM, SHE GOT SIDELINED BY A MOTORCYCLE ACCIDENT, DELAYING HER TRIP TO THE US, BUT ALLOWING US TO GET TO KNOW HER.
WHERE ARE YOU RIGHT NOW?
I’m in Poland in my childhood room. When I was a kid, I was living in this house
HOW DID YOU FIRST GET INTRODUCED TO JAZZ? WAS IT FROM YOUR DAD?
I’m very happy that he was a musician and that he taught me many things. We performed together when I was twelve years old. He’d take me on the stage and showed me everything.
It’s a unique experience to be able to perform so early in life with my family.
WHO CHOSE THE BASS FOR YOU TO PLAY?
I chose it; I was in love with the bass from the very beginning. No one showed it to me, I just loved the low sounds and the combination of melody and rhythm together
DID YOUR FATHER GIVE YOU ANY SPECIFIC ADVICE REGARDING MUSIC OR YOUR CAREER?
The one I always remember is that no matter how many people we play for, we always give 100% of what we can do for the audience. We don’t go onto the stage differently if it’s a big audience; it’s about the connection with people and giving 100% in order to honor them.
It’s a special experience to play for just one person in the room, and being able to connect with them through the music.
Also, music is something more than just the player knows. It’s important to tell a story through the song your producing.
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“no matter how many people we play for, we always give 100% of what we can do for the audience. We don’t go onto the stage differently if it’s a big audience; it’s about the connection with people and giving 100% in order to honor them”
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DID YOU MAKE A CONSCIOUS DECISION TO PLAY JAZZ AS OPPOSED TO ROCK MUSIC?
It wasn’t conscious, it was more that my dad was a jazz musician. He showed me how cool it is to improvise. I think that now my music is a bit far from ‘mainstream’ jazz, as it’s a combination of different styles of music. But the jazz feel has been very familiar to me from the very beginning.
WAS THERE A BASS PLAYER THAT INSPIRED YOU THE MOST?
First was Jaco Pastorius.
I remember watching him on You Tube and thinking “this is very special”. It was spiritual as well, and strong. He seemed super convinced about what he wanted to leave with people. It was inspiring to see that.
I also really liked Nils-Henning-Osted-Pederson. He played double bass; it was the same feeling for me. It was very deep, and it seemed like he cared about the meaning of what he was playing
These days, I really like MonoNeon. He’s a bass player that has created his own world . He even wears clothes that are cool for everybody. Some people don’t understand him, but I’m a big fan of his. He’s a very colorful guy.
WAS THERE A REASON YOU CHOSE ELECTRIC BASS OVER UPRIGHT?
I always from the beginning wanted to play electric bass
The double bass in a different instrument; you have to spend a lot of time with it.
There are some musicians that play upright that don’t sound as good on the electric bass, and vice versa. I wanted to make sure I could play electric bass
HOW ABOUT PLAYING FRETLESS BASS?
I would love to play fretless!
I think it is a singing instrument! But again, it is something that you have to spend a lot of time with, and I’d have to record and entire album with it and be super-convinced that I was supposed to be with this instrument.
HAVE YOU EVER THOUGHT OF GOING WITH FIVE OR SIX STRINGS?
I never wanted to play five string bass, because I have spent all this time with four, and now have to switch to five! (chuckles)
YOU ARE FROM POLAND, WHICH IS NOT PARTICULARLY ASSOCIATED WITH A THRIVING JAZZ SCENE. WAS IT DIFFICULT FINDING A NETWORK OF JAZZ MUSICIANS IN POLAND?
Everybody knows everybody
Also because of my dad, I got to know many musicians here. I got my career started playing with his friends.
He was playing with me and my friends, and then his friends liked and started playing my music; I started to be more responsible for my band and started to play in different countries.
That was because I did a cover of a song (“Tears in Heaven”) that got millions of views, and people from different countries started to reach out to us. This built a bigger audience in both Poland and abroad
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“To be honest, I’m still trying to find my sound”
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WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO DO A VERSION OF ERIC CLAPTON’S “TEARS IN HEAVEN”?
I had a teacher when I was 13-14, and he showed me this song. I remember wanting badly to play it.
My hand was struggling to hold the chords. So, a few years later I just went back to it thinking “now I’m ready to press onto the right chords for the song”. I sat down and again tried to do a cover of it. It’s wisely made how you can play with four strings of the chord and still end up with it being recognizable.
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“I just went back to it thinking “now I’m ready to press onto the right chords for the song”
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YOU’RE 24 YEARS OLD. HOW DO YOU GO ABOUT CREATING YOUR OWN SOUND ON THE ELECTRIC BASS?
To be honest, I’m still trying to find my sound.
I used to like the sound of the Fender bass, and how it was bright and how you could clearly hear the strings.
But I’m still trying to figure out a sound that I would feel soothing and connected to. I’m looking for a more mature and softer sound.
When you want to play melodies and you want the audience to hear the bass, it’s easier when it’s brighter.
But I think I want to play in a balance in order to reach the ears and still find something both bright and soft.
YOUR RECENT ALBUM REMINDED ME A LOT OF HERBIE HANCOCK’S HEADHUNTERS AND WEATHER REPORT. BUT IT ALSO HAD THIS WEIRD INSTRUMENT, THE IROPHONE. WHAT WAS THE REASON FOR BRINGING THAT IN KASE BENJAMIN? AND YOU BROUGHT IN A LOT OF KEYBOARDS AS WELL. WHAT IS YOUR THOUGHT PROCESS BEHIND ALL OF THIS?
I think the EWI and keyboards are becoming more popular again
When I discovered it, I didn’t know much about it, and then heard an album with Michael Brecker playing it. I loved that it had so many varieties of sounds. I loved it because it’s still electronical , but you still have to blow into it, so it is not so easy to put emotions through it.
I was interested in playing with Casey Benjamin who was a master of this instrument. He’s a strong soul with it.
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“I’m still trying to figure out a sound that I would feel soothing and connected to. I’m looking for a more mature and softer sound”
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WHAT DID PRODUCER MICHAEL LEAGUE, THE LEADER OF SNARKY PUPPY, BRING INTO THE EQUATION?
He brought in wisdom! (laughs)
He found the best solutions in the songs; what are the strongest parts of the songs. What is valuable? What should we improve?
My process of creating is quite long. I compose a lot in my room with my bass with no one advising me.
So with him, it was the first time I could be in a room with someone with a lot of his own ideas and go through them with someone and talk about my own ideas. It was helpful to have him.
It was good to have someone who liked my ideas and believed in them. It’s a special experience.
HOW ARE YOUR CONCERTS DIFFERENT FROM THE RECORDINGS?
The emotions are different.
In the studio, people are more focused on creating certain moments. But they are more muted because we are in a room where there is no audience to create the emotion that the audience gives you
In concert, the solos can be longer and more crazy, because you can feel the energy of people being excited by you, and your creating of a special atmosphere. You can make everybody cry because its such a unique moment
It’s super-special when you can feel that the people are part of what we do.
Without the audience, it’s really hard to create music, because you lose a lot of inspiration.
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“In concert, the solos can be longer and more crazy, because you can feel the energy of people being excited by you, and your creating of a special atmosphere. You can make everybody cry because its such a unique moment”
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WHEN YOU ARE IN THE AUDIENCE, WHAT DO YOU LISTE N FOR IN A BASS PLAYER, AND DO YOU HAVE A PET PEEVE>
I’m looking for a good big sound. I really care if someone is taking care of the sound
Is the bass player listening to the other members of the band?
I really admire people who you can tell are listening. They are not focused on themselves. The really want to make the music rich with the instrument, but they are not showing off how well they can play. They are playing in order to make the music richer
IS THERE ANY MUSICIAN, LIVING OR DEAD, THAT YOU WOULD PAY $1000 TO SEE PERFORM?
Victor Bailey
I really like how he composes music. I like how he creates melodies.
Through social media, there are many bass players that everyone knows, and Victor Bailey is well known in all these areas. He is widely known, and I admire him for that.
IS THERE ANYONE IN WORLD HISTORY YOU WOULD LIKE TO SIT DOWN WITH AND PICK HIS OR HER BRAIN FOR AN EVENING AND PICK HIS OR HER BRAIN
Probably someone who uses their brain differently, like Einstein
I would take someone who thinks about atmosphere, mathematics or physics. My brain thinks differently than that.
II really admire people who you can tell are listening. They are not focused on themselves. The really want to make the music rich with the instrument, but they are not showing off how well they can play. They are playing in order to make the music richer
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“I really admire people who you can tell are listening. They are not focused on themselves. The really want to make the music rich with the instrument, but they are not showing off how well they can play. They are playing in order to make the music richer”
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ARE THERE ANY BOOKS YOU’VE READ THAT YOU WOULD RECOMMEND TO OTHERS?
I am finishing The Inner Game Of Tennis . It’s a very good book about our mental health and our fear of certain moments that are often created in our brain.
Everything in the book is about tennis, but it can be converted to music and going onto the stage and ***imagining things that aren’t actually real. The brain can create fear, and you’re then not able to create, or play for others.
ARE THERE ANY PHILOSOPHIES OR RELIGIONS THAT HAVE HELPED YOU WITH YOUR MORAL COMPASS?
Jesus guides me.
It’s interesting to say that because people get very different opinions about Him.
I grew up in a Protestant family, and I get into deep conversations with my friends. We’re at the stage where you think about the spiritual things that were in your childhood. They’d say “this is important” or “this is what you should do”
I understand that. I’m not necessarily able to follow a specific religion. It’s really more being connected to God and to Who Jesus is.
It’s not about a religion. I’m opposed to rules like “you have to have a certain brain”. I think it’s more that God is the one who guides me to be Christlike.
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“I’m not necessarily able to follow a specific religion. It’s really more being connected to God and to Who Jesus is”
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DO YOU READ THE BIBLE OFTEN?
Not recently.
But I read a lot, pray a lot and question a lot. It’s very important for me to question what I believe. Not only because of what I am used to
WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU’D BE DOING IF YOU WEREN’T A MUSICIAN?
Sports and cooking. Polish food is quite good!
WHAT GIVES YOU THE MOST JOY?
Being with other people
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“It’s super-special when you can feel that the people are part of what we do”
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HAVE YOU COME TO AMERICA YET?
I was about to, but I got into an accident
My leg was broken. A car bumped into me and broke my ankle. Just when I was supposed to go the States to play for the first time for some shows promoting the album. I can’t travel yet
WHEN DO YOU THINK YOU’LL BE COMING?
I was trying for March, but I don’t know how the future looks
WHAT GOALS DO YOU HAVE?
To not stop being so curious about life, music, what I do and not be too confident about what is right and wrong.
When we have certain opinions about things we start thinking that we are right about my opinion. I want to be careful with being so certain when I tell something to someone when I think I’m “right”. I don’t want to be too confident with myself.
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“(My goal is to) not stop being so curious about life, music, what I do and not be too confident about what is right and wrong”
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WITH SUCH A COMBINATION OF A MUSICAL HEART AND A PILGRIM’S SPIRIT, KINGA GLYK MAY BE MAKING MUSIC ABOUT TEARS IN HEAVEN, BUT BY THE LOOKS OF THINGS, THEY ARE TEARS OF JOY. LET’S HOPE FOR A FULL RECOVERY SO SHE CAN COME TO AMERICA FOR SOME EXCITING EVENINGS OF CELEBRATION OF LIGHTING THE FUSION FUSE>