Doomed Nation

Sounds For The Lost Generation

Doomed Confessionary: Martyna Hebda (MAW)


Photo by Przemyslaw Ziejka

MAW is a modern stoner/desert rock band from Crakow, Poland.

Emerging from the heart of Crakow’s vibrant music scene in 2019, MAW is a powerhouse band blending the raw energy of the ’90s Palm Desert scene with their own unique sonic footprint. Originally born from impassioned jam sessions full of loud, heavy riffs, the band quickly evolved, crafting songs that have resonated with audiences across Poland and beyond.

MAW have just released their second full-length album »The Humble Collapse« on January 10, 2025 via Argonauta Records.

Dive into the massive stoner/desert riffs of MAW, a band that masterfully blends their inspirations into something truly their own. Fans of Color Haze, Causa Sui, Down, and Alabama Thunderpussy will love the raw energy and layered depth reminiscent of Sleep, yet undeniably distinct.

MAW are Martyna Hebda (guitar), Kuba Stępień (guitar), Jacek Niewiadomski (vocals), Piotr Stępień (bass) and Szymon Piotrowski (drums).

Can you say a few words about your band?
Well we’re just a group of couple that love music overall, expecially music that has a vibe, soul and is a product of honesty.
I wanted to create a band that plays something around desert rock but without being limited to it to not get stuck in some sort of a box. I found people that had similar goals and that shared the same approach to music. It was around 2017 in Cracow, Poland. However, we finally had a stable lineup in 2018 and the rest is history that led us to this interview.

What was the biggest challenge for the band?
Finishing the newest album »The Humble Collapse«. It wasn’t even that the writing process was tough. We all know the circumstances of 2020/2021. That was the period when we were writing and recording it. Harsh, restrictive lockdowns in Poland and overall vibe of paranoia definetely affected the album. You’ll hear it, it gets monotonous at moments just to have a weird change, a shift out of nowhere. There’s melancholia, longing for old normal days, parties, gigs and it contains some weirdness to it at times. Exactly like we felt those days. Also we recorded it live in 2 days just about 3 days before I moved to the US.
Like literally I came from the studio and had to pack my whole life to two suitcases and leave. So it was crazy busy and chaotic time for me and for the band too, I guess. Then the mix/mastering process, finding the right record label seemed to take forever. Mostly due to limited communication as everybody had some life changing events, either moving somewhere else, having new member of a family etc.
And the title is referening to it, we didn’t know what’s gonna happen, will the band survive all the changes and so on. So we were feeling like the whole thing’s humbly collapsing.
So yeah, we’re happy that this one is finally out because there were days when I thought that we’re not gonna finish this motherfucker.

What can you be most proud of so far?
Both of our albums. I’m proud of them, I hope other guys are too. And also of course being able to actually finish »T.H.C.« is a huge success on it’s own as I mentioned in the previous question.

What was your biggest regret?
It’s that the album got so delayed. It should’ve been out in 2022 at latest. I think maybe for listeners the context of the music would’ve been way more palpable and readable at that time. But it is what it is. The other thing is that we cannot jam togheter as we used to due to the distances between all of us. I miss it.

What was the best concert/tour so far and why?
I think the very first gig we’ve ever played – in an underground studio. It was very private, DIY, and the place was packed beyond it’s capacity. I think it was probably illegal to do it that way but that was the important ingredient making it being hell of a fun.

What was the biggest surprise on the music scene for you?
That there’s so many great underground bands quality wise that was positive suprise and that we got a very worm reception after the first self titled record.
On the other hand I thought that the scene (Polish scene) would be more like “support for each other above all” but there are times when it ain’t like that which is sad.
There are bands or certain members that think they’re fucking Axl Rose or something. Like c’mon we’re all underground bands having roots in the most supportive and solidary scene which is Palm Desert scene. It should mean something.

What is currently in your heavy musical rotation?
Well, there are bands that I’ll never stop listening to like Sleep, Kyuss, Black Sabbath, Down, Pink Floyd, Tool, Jethro Tull, C.O.C., OM, Yawning Man, QOTSA, Fu Manchu etc. These bands are in constant rotation.
But recently I think I’ve been revisiting 70’s psychodelic/prog rock, doom, sludge and grunge the most.
Of top of my head bands like: High On Fire, Melvins, Whores., Alice In Chains and Jerry’s solo work, Screaming Trees, EyeHateGod, Crowbar, Ten Years After, Stone Temple Pilots, YOB, Acid Bath, oh and also Blood Incantation. I’ve just seen them recently in Tampa and they were just killer. I listen to a lot of music everyday so there’s a lot of it.

What was the best advice you’ve ever been given as a musician?
To keep going no matter what and make art everyday. I mean it doesn’t gotta be writing music everyday
as something that push me foward even an inch artistically is good enough. It’s just important to do it all the time.

What are your guilty pleasures?
I guess some of the things that I listen to would make me end up with “guilty” verdict among orthodox metal community haha.
However, I think of music as a emotions and vibes conduit. It just takes you somewhere, sometimes to your past, sometimes to the desert, sometimes to forests/vulcanos, sometimes into mistical non-existing world or just at the beach. Basically wherever you wanna go. There’s so many great bands and musicians that can make this time and location travel a real experience. It’s just a matter of choice where do you wanna be at any given moment.
And as I said if you feel emotions when you listen to whatever music then that’s the goal and meaning of music. There’s nothing bad in feeling emotions therefor there should be no guilt. So my “guilty pleasures” are just pleasures with no regret or guilt. Everything is good if it makes me feel the way I wanna feel.

Can you say something more about current music scene in Cracow / Poland?
In Cracow, Poland I think black metal scene is the strongest one with Mgła leading the thing.You also have bands like Odraza, Kriegsmaschine (another outlet of Mgła members), Outre or Mord’a’stigmata.So extreme forms of metal are part of Cracow. Thrash metal also have some representation with Terrordome, Extinkt, Whorehouse. There are also bands that are way more mainstream like Decapitated.
We also have couple of stoner/southern/sludge groups like Only Sons, Inverted Mind, Stonerror and we have a festival called Soulstone Gathering that is kinda related to this type of music. But I would look more into overall Polish scene for that genre with bands like Dopelord, Belzebong.
There’s quite bit of that as you can find even funeral doom bands like Postmortal but Cracow has been always like 15 musicians playing in 50 bands haha.
I don’t know the current status of Cracow’s stoner/desert/doom scene as in the last 3 years I’ve been there only once for maybe 3 days so… If it comes to Tampa Bay area, Florida where I live right now it’s the birthplace of deathmetal but there’s not that much going on in that here anymore. Of course most of legandary musicians live here till this day and play shows that are great but it’s nothing new that’s hyped if it comes to death metal. We have lot of more modern metal and punk bands but not that much if it comes to Maw type of music. Florist is a very good current band from here, OldBones, Beerwolf was cool but their main members moved to Denver, Colorado and now they’re called Kamru. But overall in the US Florida is pretty hot but not if it comes to doom/stoner related acts. For that I’d look at California, Texas, Oregon, Washington, North Carolina, Tennessee, New Orleans, Chicago etc.

Where can we see you live this year (concerts/tours)?
We’ll see, there’s nothing cooked at that moment but who knows, maybe we’ll play some live shows.

What are your plans for the future as a band?
I know that the guys in Europe are writing something so we’ll see. I hope that at some point in future we’re gonna meet all togheter and record something really cool, another chapter that we’ll be proud of.

How can people best support your band?
Bandcamp is 100% the best place and talking about us (if you think we’re worth it). Word of mouth goes a long way. I think buying physical copies, merch, attending shows and recommending a band to others are the best ways to support any underground artist. In modern digital days do things oldschool, that’s the best way.

Do you have any message for your listeners?
We really apprieciate everyone that takes time to listen to our music. I can assure that it comes from our hearts and we worked hard on every song that we’ve ever released many times fighting against crazy circumstances – “praise God, nothing is as it seems”.
See y’all soon (I hope)!

Links:
Facebook | Bandcamp | Spotify | YouTube

Bojan Bidovc // music enthusiast, promoter, misanthrop and sometimes a journalist as well

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