Doomed Confessionary: Filip, Marcin & Walter (Grief Circle)
Photo credit: Blood Libels
Grief Circle is a doom/post-metal collective from Sosnowiec, Poland. Founded during the pandemic, they are drawing inspiration from such great bands as Cult Of Luna, Amenra and Rosetta.
The band released their debut full-length album »Weightless« in October 2022 and is currently working on the second album.
Grief Circle are Filip Dąbrowski (bass), Marcin Migal (guitar), Walter Wichura (guitar), Kvass (vocals) and Jakub Hanusa (drums).
Can you say a few words about your band?
Filip: We are a group of post-metal enthusiasts spreaded all over Silesia. We got together during the pandemic times and decided to create a new band while the old one fell apart.
What was the biggest challenge for the band?
Filip: Definitely finding a new drummer and replacing the previous one. It was much harder than we expected.
Marcin: The biggest challenge that has been, and still is – trying to reach a broader audience. In my opinion, social media, which has become the main source of information, shifted from what it was originally designed for. The algorithms now flood users’ feeds with useless content from random pages, instead of posts from pages they actually follow, like event updates etc. I think this is a struggle that almost every artist can relate to today.
Walter: What’s more I would like to emphasize challenging character of dealing with the band while everyday life is not getting easier while we’re getting older. We have other projects running and it is not an easy one to put it all together.
What can you be most proud of so far?
Filip: I would say that music which is not released yet.
Walter: That we didn’t let Grief Circle go down! 😀
What was your biggest regret?
Filip: That our music was released by ourselves, not by any promoter. Which, in my opinion, did not have the reach that it could have.
What was the best concert/tour so far and why?
Filip: Tour in Czech Republic last year. It was our first tour abroad, we did it all in DIY way and the results exceeded our expectations.
Marcin: I don’t think I can pick one that I would call the best, but for me, the most memorable one was another gig we played in the Czech Republic during the Soulbonding Trip festival, which takes place in an old (and inactive, I guess) church literally in the middle of nowhere. I think that description speaks for itself 🙂
Walter: Soulbonding, Gruzilla Festival 2023 (the very first one for me with GC), Zabobony Festival in Opole last year. Thanks to being a member of this band I have already participated in some awesome events as well as I played in a few special venues. And I truly hope we haven’t said our last word yet.
What was the biggest surprise on the music scene for you?
Marcin: The biggest surprise for me has been how unpredictable and dynamic the music scene is. It taught me that things you have no impact on can crash your long prepared plans. In addition to that, realizing that being a musician is no longer enough. If you want to operate as a band, you have to do everything yourself, become your own manager, social media expert, and much more.
Walter: That we still have some good people around involved in the underground music scene in Poland. Endangered species but aren’t dead yet.
What is currently in your heavy musical rotation?
Filip: Alcest, Black Bile, Dymna Lotva, Hangman’s Chair.
Marcin: The Stooges, All Them Witches, Bossk.
Walter: Melvins, Whores, Sumac and Chat Pile recently.
What was the best advice you’ve ever been given as a musician?
Filip: If you want to achieve something, no one’s gonna do it for you.
Walter: I cannot choose the one between “your band is as good as its last performance” and “do your job and don’t care at all”.
What are your guilty pleasures?
Filip: I love Coma and I say that they are one of my favorite bands ever!
Can you say something more about current music scene in Sosnowiec / Silesia?
Filip: I Think that Polish bands are getting better and better but there are still not too many of them, especially in our state. I don’t know why, maybe because there are not enough musicians – many of our friends, even people in this band, have more than one or two groups at once. That’s one of the reasons that it was so hard to find a good drummer here, in Silesia.
Walter: I think we have too many guys not attending to local bands shows like myself and Filip.
Where can we see you live this year (concerts/tours)?
Filip: We have two only dates in June. We are currently in the process of making a second album and that’s what we’re focusing on at the moment.
Marcin: Maybe something will grow later this year, keep an eye out for new announcements 🙂
Walter: Autumn seems to be promising.
What are your plans for the future as a band?
Filip: As I said in the previous point – we would like to release the next album that we are creating right now. Then we will try to expand the band as much as we can.
Marcin: To release a new album and tour the hell out of it, we’ll see what the future brings after that.
How can people best support your band?
Filip: Of course coming to our shows, buying our merch on Bandcamp, listening to our music and last but not least – spreading the word about us.
Do you have any message for your listeners?
Filip: Follow us on our social media profiles, listen to us and stay tuned for more news from us!
Bojan Bidovc // music enthusiast, promoter, misanthrop and sometimes a journalist as well