International Festival Of Music Producers And Sound Designers

Andy Votel

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Born in England, Andy Votel has spent over 20 years in the music industry. He began in the era when recordings were collected, and the profession of a DJ had more to do with improvised instruments than expensive equipment from well-known brands.

The artist spent his teenage years mixing old vinyl records and cassette tapes. In his musical quest, he came to the point where he decided to open one of the most respected vinyl record companies in the world – Finders Keepers. Thus, Andy Votel has participated in over 250 album releases, getting to know every aspect of experimental pop music production.

As an international DJ, artist, designer, producer, composer and presenter, he has been discovering and promoting music that for various reasons previously went unnoticed. He crossed genres and languages ​​(including Turkish, Iranian, Spanish, Welsh, etc.). His constantly changing career went beyond the broad pop cultural circles, such as fashion, experimental, hip-hop, jazz, ambient or film culture. All his activities brought him unanimous respect of the audience.

During his career, Andy Votel presented to the world and promoted the works of such artists as Selda Bacgan, Jean-Claude Vannier and Bruno Spoerri. He founded independent labels with Demdike Stare, Jane Weaver (Pre-Cert) and Badly Drawn Boy (Twisted Nerve). He provided material for David Holmes and Gilles Peterson, presented various events with Jarvis Cocker and collaborated with countless festivals. He regularly presented radio programmes for Stuart Maconi and the BBC.

The Brit has also collaborated with Mos Def, Timbaland and Erykah Badu, remixed songs by Ian Brown, The Avalanches, Quannum and Tim Burgess, as well as composed with Gruff Rhys and Andrzej Korzyński. He has played live with such artists as Suzanne Ciani, Gaslamp Killer, Edan, Broadcast, Belle & Sebastian or Cut Chemist. Andy Votel is known for being able to take on more tasks in one day than any other workaholic could have imagined.

“Kleksploitation” is a vibrant sound and visual journey into the music of well-known composer Andrzej Korzyński, who wrote soundtracks for over 120 films, including Wajda’s “Everything for Sale” or Żuławski’s “Third Part of the Night” and “Possession”. Presented by Andy Votel, “Kleksploitation” was created in cooperation with film editor Andy Rushton and Andrzej Korzyński. The project was commissioned for the UNSOUND Festival in Krakow, and produced by the Barbican and Polish Cultural Institute in London. Votel himself describes this event as: “Reconstituted cinematic synth-pop from communist Poland’s deepest hallucinogenic hibernation period.”

Andy Votel will present a completely recontextualised version of Korzyński’s psychedelic scores for the cult “Pan Kleks” trilogy – children’s films from the 1980s based on the novel by Jan Brzechwa. These bizarre films have been adored in Poland for generations.

Andrzej Korzyński is one of the most enigmatic composers in the European cinema of the 1960s and 1970s. His unique experiments with jazz, pop, rock, orchestral and electronic music made him a collaborator of such directors as Andrzej Wajda and Andrzej Żuławski. As one of the important figures of the Polish New Wave and a key exponent of the development of Polish pop music, Korzyński and his soundtracks deserve to be listed among such greats as Ennio Morricone, François de Roubaix and John Barry.

Andrzej Korzyński was one of the first progressive pop composers to come out of the vibrant Polish beat scene. He fronted Ricercar 64 and Arp Life bands and composed for such artists as Czesław Niemen, Niebiesko-Czarni and Test. A growing passion for conceptual and jazz music lead him to writing soundtracks. Balancing between working on Polish, French and Italian films, Korzyński wrote a long series of hit songs before setting up the first Polish synthesizer orchestra and bringing funk and cosmic disco to Warsaw.

Producer and musician Andy Votel became fascinated with the work of Andrzej Korzyński during a school trip to Poland over twenty years ago. He was particularly drawn to his use of the legendary Roland TB-303 synthesizer in his progressive, psychedelic orchestral funk. Votel initiated an important project to renovate a large film catalogue of the Polish composer. So far, the British has published the unreleased, remastered compilations of twenty-two rare pieces for experimental films, political allegories, lost TV shows, sound libraries and radio, as well as the soundtrack for Andrzej Żuławski’s “Third Part of the Night”. Andy Votel has said of Andrzej Korzyński: “This man is a legend whose recognition has yet to reach its true deserve”.

Andy Votel will close 27 October (Saturday) at Wytwórnia Club with his “Kleksploitation”.

Photo: press materials Andy Votel

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