Doomed Confessionary: Robert Derlatka (Oranżada)
Oranżada is a four-piece psychedelic/acid rock band hailing from Otwock, Poland. They have released five studio albums and they are on the scene for over 20 years.
Oranżada is back with a new album two years after the release of »Karma Tango«. »Salto« shows the band from a completely different angle. It’s an improvised album that was recorded live in the studio. New album »Salto« was released on March 20th, 2025 via Audio Cave.
Oranżada consists of Robert Derlatka (bass, vocals), Michał Krysztofiak (guitar, vocals), Maciej Łabudzki (congas, keyboards, flute, trumpet, vocals) and Artur Rzempołuch (drums, vocals).
Can you say a few words about your band?
The band is in many ways a natural continuation of our young relationship. We love music, we love playing together, we love losing our egos in the flow of sound. This is a part of our lives, the black and the bright side of life, close together by years, from the mid 80’s until today. We have seen many things around us and music that is a sanctuary and its sanctuary, that works and heals us. There is no goal in it, just to be and play as much as we can.
What was the biggest challenge for the band?
The biggest challenge is to write a song when we feel that we should not. We have a certain inclination to play pieces of music in a natural way, the sound emerging from improvisation is like a game with elements. Writing songs and lyrics is part of the compromise. We have to be more consistent and feel more restricted, which is not easy. On the other hand we have to be more sensitive when we play together, after 30 years in small rehearsal rooms, cars, flats and bedrooms we have to forget a lot of strange things from the past 🙂
What can you be most proud of so far?
I am proud to have done the last somersault. I felt from time to time that nobody believed in it. From the beginning I struggled with simple thoughts like microphones and wires during the session (the album is made DIY). I remember when the stand with the microphones kept falling down onto the drum plates, I was on the verge of tears. I remember the tension in the corner and watching the action, it was like a dream.
The second thing is that I met Maja, my friend who sings on the album, and I found a kind soul. There was no studio this time, but our old publisher’s room with no toilet, spiders and mice, but something magical happened during the recording. It was an April morning with a full moon, that is the key.
What was your biggest regret?
Oh, my only regret is that we will not be able to release the next album this year. We recorded and mastered a new piece 80 minutes with psychedelic music and special features and are waiting for the green light. Yes, we have spoken to Audio Cave and they have told us to hold up with it…
What was the best concert/tour so far and why?
I think of the “Inne Brzmienia” Festival in Lublin. We opened the small stages and there were maybe 150 people there, they didn’t know anything about us, it was amazing to see how they reacted and how the impulse from the stage changed the situation. From one number to the next it was warmer and better.
What was the biggest surprise on the music scene for you?
The fact that people still experience songs in the same way despite the fact that through streaming it seems that times have changed. And here it turns out that nothing has changed, people are still searching for themselves and getting to know their emotions through music, they have more of it now than they did 30 years ago when we started and it’s still sometimes harder to find each other, but that’s not the point, because music is not a closed collection of listeners and music producers etc. but a living part of our lives. I think more and more people appreciate being able to get out of the house and go to a club and meet other like-minded people they don’t know.
What is currently in your heavy musical rotation?
Paul Simon, Billy Joel, The Carpenters, Breakout.
What was the best advice you’ve ever been given as a musician?
Stop thinking about money and your career.
What are your guilty pleasures?
Sleeping untill 11 am.
Can you say something more about current music scene in Otwock?
I live next to a rehearsal room where 4 decent bends play on a cooperative basis. There are a lot of musicians who live in the city who are close to the capital because it’s only 30 minutes away. There is someone to play with and borrow a microphone from, there are two very good recording studios, clubs and a pub. And as for me, a lot of people from nearby Warsaw come to see me and we play together in a relaxed way. Some of these people we have known since the end of the 90s. There are also a lot of folk musicians and people we do not know, for example from hip-hop. Otwock has always been a rock town, from the early 80s there was a big movement of punk bands here, then along with the grunge bands there was a wave of post similar bands.
But Otwock also has a strong blues tradition, my neighbour has been organising a big 3-day festival here for years, attracting bands from all over the world. One of my favourite Polish blues bands, Breakout, played here in the 70s. I think we are living in a very vivid place. Here are 3-4 band around me in my town 50.000 people, we know each other from 90’s.
Where can we see you live this year (concerts/tours)?
5-6 gigs in Warsaw, Gdańsk, Kraków, Wrocław mainly in Poland, maybe Berlin and some other places in Germany, Czech Republic, who knows…
What are your plans for the future as a band?
I’d like us to put out a new album as soon as possible, which has been pending for a year now, I don’t know why I’m thinking about it, maybe I’ll jump on the bandcamp in a few weeks, then we’ll do some gigs and then we’ll have a plan to play for a silent movie and make some money for the recordings. And so it goes again and again and again until we run out of strength.
How can people best support your band?
Pray for our health.
Do you have any message for your listeners?
Find us and stay with us, Oranżada is not a normal band, we have to say something that has not been said yet.
Links:
Website | Facebook | Instagram | Bandcamp | Spotify | YouTube
Bojan Bidovc // music enthusiast, promoter, misanthrop and sometimes a journalist as well