Wieloryb interview: ‘No Flag’ brings EBM without borders
Wieloryb
(Interview by Karo Kratochwil) For many listeners, Wieloryb is one of the projects that proved Polish extreme electronics can hit with the same force and invention as anything coming out of Belgium or Germany. Formed in 1994 in the Trójmiasto area and first associated with EBM, the project quickly developed its own dialect – raw, physical, and confrontational – captured early on in releases like ‘1’, later reissued by Requiem Records and rediscovered by a new generation.
With ‘No Flag’ (Requiem Records), Wieloryb steps further into a hybrid zone where hardware-driven rhythm and industrial pressure meet generative processes and AI-assisted systems. The point is not to replace human intent, but to stress-test it – turning technology into a field of tension, and identity into a question mark rather than a banner. Below is a conversation with Paweł Kmiecik, the mind behind Wieloryb, about the early days of Wieloryb, rhythm as pressure, visuals as parallel language, and what “no flag” means in a world eager to label everything.
Wieloryb interview
(S+) You formed Wieloryb in 1994 in Trójmiasto and were quickly seen as one of the first Polish representatives of EBM. When you look back at the early days of ‘1’, ‘2’ and ‘3’, what do you feel you were reacting to—musically and socially—and how do you hear that material now, after the Requiem Records reissues gave it a second life?
Paweł: My strongest emotional attachment is to the Wieloryb album “1”, because it was created during an extremely intense period. It was a constant struggle. With equipment that was almost impossible to access. With unstable early electronic technology. And with a complete lack of understanding from the local scene.
At that time, punk rock dominated in Poland. Guitars, sweat, direct confrontation. We came with computers, drum machines and electronic generators. For many people, this was unacceptable. “The machines play instead of you” was something we heard constantly. We were outsiders. In that sense, it is very similar to how artists working with AI are sometimes perceived today.
Out of that tension we coined a slogan that defined us and deliberately provoked the scene: “We can’t play any instruments, and we are the best at it.” It was not a joke. It was a rejection of the idea that music must be validated by traditional instrumental virtuosity.
Today, I hear the Wieloryb album “1” as a document of raw intention. No strategy, no career thinking, just emotion and resistance. The Requiem Records reissues gave this material a second life and confirmed that what was once seen as a limitation was actually the foundation of Wieloryb’s identity.
(S+) Your sound has always balanced industrial grit with a very physical sense of rhythm. How did your approach to rhythm and texture evolve from those first releases to the new Wieloryb release ‘No Flag’?
Paweł: At the beginning, rhythm was almost disciplinary. Rigid, repetitive, functional. Over time, rhythm became physical rather than dance-oriented. I stopped thinking about groove and started thinking about pressure.
Technically, this evolution came from deeper work with hardware drum machines, analog generators and layered rhythmic structures, combined later with digital and generative processes. Conceptually, rhythm stopped being a backbone and became a field of tension. On No Flag, the music does not move forward smoothly. It pushes, resists and presses against the listener’s body.
(S+) ‘No Flag’ is described as a manifesto and as a world without flags, divisions, or clear borders between human and machine. What does “no flag” mean to you personally?
Paweł: “No Flag” is a refusal of simplified identities. National, political, cultural or technological. A flag is a shortcut, and shortcuts are dangerous.
This album is not about choosing sides. It is about stepping outside predefined frameworks. The border between human and machine is no longer a conflict for me. It is a condition. Emotionally, No Flag comes from exhaustion with narratives. Politically, it is a conscious refusal to be easily classified.
(S+) You treat AI and generative algorithms as something closer to a catalyst than a gimmick. How does that collaboration look in practice?
Paweł: First of all, AI does not replace traditional instruments in my work. Hardware synthesizers, electronic generators and drum machines remain the core sound sources. AI enters the process as an external intelligence that proposes structures, relationships and unexpected variations.
I allow algorithms to suggest forms, rhythms or textures at certain stages, usually early or mid-process. But meaning, selection and emotional weight are always human decisions. The machine can propose form, but it has no memory, no fear, no intention. That line is never crossed.
(S+) There is always a fear that AI flattens individuality. How do you prevent that?
Paweł: By never using AI in a neutral or “default” way. Systems are restricted, misused, forced into errors. I am interested in moments where algorithms fail or behave unpredictably.
Those errors are often kept. Glitches, instabilities, awkward transitions. Paradoxically, these moments feel more human than polished perfection. Identity is not produced by AI. Identity is the filter through which AI is allowed to speak.
(S+) The visual side of Wieloryb feels tightly connected to the sound. How do you design that dialogue?
Paweł: Sound and image are parallel processes. One does not illustrate the other. Sometimes a visual concept triggers sound. Sometimes finished tracks demand a specific visual logic.
Generativity plays a similar role in both domains. What matters is not style, but tension. The visuals and the music share the same energetic state rather than the same aesthetic vocabulary.
(S+) On ‘No Flag’ you create dense clusters of sound that hit both physically and emotionally. What are you listening for when building these structures?
Paweł: I listen to the body, not to meters. Of course I work consciously with frequencies, sub-bass and psychoacoustics, but the final decision is instinctive.
A track is finished when it becomes uncomfortable. When it applies pressure. No Flag was designed to be physically demanding, not aggressive, but uncompromising.
(S+) Wieloryb has always experimented with technology. What do you see as the next step in the human–machine dialogue?
Paweł: I am interested in autonomous systems that react to space, time and audience in real time. Not as a gimmick, but as a living component of performance.
For me, rhythmic noise is not a genre. It is a language. Technology is not a goal, but a medium for testing the limits of perception and control.
(S+) Finally, where will we be able to experience ‘No Flag’ live?
Paweł: This material works best in liminal spaces. Between club and gallery. Between concert and audiovisual installation. Places where the audience is not sure whether to dance or to observe.
It is not about the number of shows. It is about context. No Flag needs space to breathe and to apply pressure at the same time.
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