Interview with vocalist and guitarist Peter Wiwczarek | By Brandon Ringo
Polish death-wielders Vader have been active longer than I’ve been alive. Since 1983, despite numerous lineup changes, an ever-changing landscape for extreme metal, and a grueling touring and recording schedule, the band has been uncompromisingly heavy and always stuck to their guns. This year, with the release of their 10th album Tibi Et Igni, they definitely haven’t slowed down one iota.
After the release of Welcome to the Morbid Reich in 2011, it seems like you guys toured non-stop for a while and then went right back to work in the studio. At what point did you guys begin the songwriting for Tibi Et Igni?
Well, recording, touring, then recording and touring again is a natural process for a professional band. For almost two decades, Vader has not just been a hobby anymore. Our passion evolved into a profession. Of course, to be a “metal” band does not mean to be a “regular band,” especially if you live in Poland. All in all, this is our choice and our sacrifice, though. Back to the question, we started to promote Welcome to the Morbid Reich right after recordings. Our drummer Paul [Jaroszewicz] – who decided to quit before he recorded the new album in the studio – was helping us on tour in the first couple of months. We wanted to help James [Stewart] finish school and let him attend his graduations. After that, James jumped in and stayed for the next two years. This establishment made us all pretty much ready for new album. The general recording process was similar to the one from 2011. However, we were close together for a long time, so we set the groundwork for new songs a while before we entered Hertz Studios. It was way easier for James to get the style of Vader after he spent time with the whole band on and off stage, too. He knew what to expect and how to fulfill my or [guitarist] Spider [Pająk]’s expectations. He also gave a lot of his own young, natural talent and you can hear it on Tibi Et Igni. We were collecting ideas all the time, and then all were put together in the studio. Me and Spider work slightly different; however, most parts of the new songs were made in the studio. All but the first two albums were created like that, though. You may call it “an experience.” [Laughs]
You never go more than two or three years without a new release. What makes it possible for you to tour constantly and still churn out solid records every few years?
As I explained, Vader is our profession. This perfect situation lets us focus on the band only. We do not need to steal time from our supervisors or ask for vacation to play a tour. Our life is to play and create. Sounds nice and easy, right? It is nice, but definitely not easy. Living as a Metal Maniac is intense and non-defined. You have to spend months with the same people, and you have to learn how to avoid starting to hate each other. [Laughs] Not once, nor twice did I have to say “farewell” to ex-members just because they could not stand it for any longer. The atmosphere in the band needs to be clean, ya know? Vader is like a perfect commando: all are great soldiers with one experienced leader. Vader would never make any good albums without such a combination. Of course, it is not me or my colleagues who decide what about an album is good or not. Fans do it! They are our power and motivation. We never really had any extraordinary support or promotion as a band, but we always had diehard fans and friends. This is Vader’s biggest success! I wish all bands could have such great fans like our Vadermaniax. We play for the third generation of metal now, and we all are still hungry for MORE!!!
Each new release from a metal band is often dubbed their “heaviest yet!” Do you try to “out-heavy” your old music, or does a new record’s sound just develop organically?
No one can anticipate the results of a reaction. To compose is, for us, to transform our emotions. Metal is a language that we speak with. We ARE still metal music fans, too! We can’t create “a product” for others. We need to like the music to accept it – especially Vader’s music! If I call the new album the “heaviest” in Vader history, it means that I feel it. I know all of Vader’s works and how they sounded, so I have the whole view, however it is just my own feeling.
How has your approach to Vader changed over the 30 years from when you first started to Tibi Et Igni?
Experience, people, business, equipment: just a bunch of factors that you have to make decisions about. All of these have been changing and evolving for us in last three decades. When me and [guitarist] Zbyszek [Wróblewski] founded Vader in 1983, I could not even play guitar. I was a bass player. However, a few months after I started to play guitar, I created the first Vader song, “Necropolis.” Pretty much Priest influenced, not yet original, but filled with passion already. This track soon became our first hit in the local scene. That’s why I decided to add this song as a bonus to our new album. I wanna close-up old Vader and show how the band was evolving in the next decades. The other reason is Vader’s first official biography “Total War” was just released in Poland after almost six years of research and interviews. It’s a huge work by Jarek Szubrycht [he wrote the unofficial – and better – Slayer book “No Mercy”), and contains over 400 pages, and the whole story and evolution of Vader. The title is very accurate. It is hard to explain in a few lines the process and how all has been changing in 30 years. The book may help to understand it, although it can’t explain it all.
Are your lyrics more fictional stories or based on real life experiences?
Both. Our lyrics were evolving with ourselves. We never wanted to say anything straight in the face like our friends from punk rock bands did. We also never touched politics. We did not understand it and we did not want to understand it, either. We did not like the world around us, nor that “style” of life. We were teenage rebels who created our own world to escape from those grey streets of Poland in the 1980s. After 30 years, everything’s changed. Poland has changed and we are so much more experienced in life. The streets and people walking around are still far from being right. No militia on the streets, a passport in the pocket, or having a McDonalds Restaurant did not eliminate greed, stupidity, or corruption. The problem just changed its shape, but reminded us of a problem. We still have so much to scream out loud about, bro! [Laughs] And this is just a tip of the ice mountain. As I said before – we put our emotions into music and words. In Vader, we create stories that include other stories. The story you read is for you and your imagination. You’re free to interpret it. You may see demons, the apocalypse, or Hell. Of course, the real story is hidden below. Life happening around us is the biggest inspiration to me! The personal element is not explained though, I don’t need to do it, and I don’t want to do it. Let the imagination speak!
When you are experiencing writer’s block, are there records, books, or movies that inspire you?
There are too many to mention here. Almost every book, movie, or piece of art leaves a stain on my mind, which is enough reason to write a riff, a line, or the whole song. Events on TV or some discussion on the Internet may be a spark me as well. I swallow life around me and speak about it through my compositions. This is how it works for me.
Purchase Tibi Et Igni here: North America | Europe
www.vader.pl
www.facebook.com/vader
