Concept album Patrycja Obara & The Tactopers

About this project

You will get our music for free. Really. 19 songs

Some people say it’s crazy. Just as recording a double debut album is. And writing 7-minute songs or not using electronic sounds in today’s electronic era. So perhaps we are insane.

But this insanity is exactly what brought us where we are with our project today. We’ve come so far without a label, without sponsors, without investors - with our own work, our own financing and with the help of people who have believed in our project. And our goal is not to record a hit album and make a million dollars out of it, but to tell an important story, touch people’s emotions, share some beauty and truth.

We have come this far and now we need your trust and support in order to complete our work.

More than 30 people have worked on this album so far. Apart from authors and musicians (regular band members and guests) the list includes a director, who assisted us during recording sessions, sound engineers, photographers and the music video team.

Now we are asking you to become a part of our project by supporting this campaign. What it means is that our album will also be yours - you will have participated in its creation. Or, in more practical terms, by donating even the smallest amount to our campaign, you become our label. So we can’t see why we should limit your access to our music in any way.

We have decided to release our album on a Creative Commons license. In practice it means that you will be able to access the digital version of the album for free. And if you create something - a theatrical play, a film, a song, an exhibition, an app, a charity event - for non-commercial purposes, you can use our music in your work free of charge - we only want you to attribute our work to us.

In a nutshell, this is the idea of free culture which we chose to follow in our work. This very idea allowed us to create our multiartistic project.

Our album will not just be a collection of 19 songs. It will be a well-designed collection of stories. 

Each of our 19 songs tella a separate story - about an emotion, an event, a moment in life. That’s why the album will be entitled “Stories”.

The songs on each of the two CDs together will tell two, more elaborate stories.

The first one, #retrospect, is a story of a Woman’s relationship with another Person – about longings, desires, hope and loss. About a sensitive Andersen’s princess, patiently waiting in the rain outside the king’s castle, in which He is - or isn’t - waiting. And about the pinch of salt that makes the caramel taste a little bit sweeter.

The second one, #andersenretold, is a story of a Woman’s relationship with herself and with social expectations - about fighting inner and outer demons, about disagreement, rebellion, reaching the very core of herself. About getting rid of crystal shoes, untying the tight corset, and about only being able to sleep at night when she learns to forgive herself. 

The two stories together form a complete image of a Human Being. Image of a Woman. And a story of love that is most difficult, because it is based on the foundation of self-appreciation. 

We are going to release the album in the form of a book, because from the very beginning the project has been rather multiartistic (or cross-art) than purely music oriented. 

What it means is that the album we want to share with you has been created by many Artists and the effect of their collaboration is several independent - though correlated - works. Here are some examples:

Sometimes somebody said something in a conversation - some charming sentence that two people then took home. Patrycja turned it into song lyrics, Felis Nana, a writer, into a short story. And you will find those stories in our book.

You will also find there stories written by other Cloud Writing authors, which are connected to our songs in various ways. 

Apart from song lyrics we will also publish their interpretations written in prose.

When shooting the video to our first single, “Impeccable”, we assumed that it should be an independent artwork - not merely an illustration of the song, but a short film. Then came the idea of the the 6-minute stop motion video directed and shot by Teo Dumski. And our biggest dream is to make a whole series of short films - maybe even 19.

We cooperate with Cloud Theater, which allows us to turn our concerts into magical events illustrated with live drawing with light, like here:

It is wonderful when somebody listens to our music. And even more wonderful when they want to play or sing our songs. That’s why we want to publish the scores of our music and supplement our book with a piano tutorial even for complete beginners.

Our dream - and one of the goals of this campaign - is to launch a website, where you will be able to listen to different varieties of our songs: complete tracks, instrumental versions and individual instruments. Just so you can use our music however you want to use it.

We have spent - and financed - four months at the recording studio. This is the amount of time we needed to record all the 19 songs using so many instruments. We started at the Dworek Białoprądnicki recording studio in Cracow, where we found a grand piano that had this lovely, soft and warm sound. It is also where we recorded most drums, double bass and cello tracks. Most other instruments have been recorded at Uniq Sound Studio in Wrocław.

We shot our first music video. The video lasts only 6 minutes but it took 15 full days of work of  people. And two cats. 

We have also had two photo sessions for the needs of our work on the album.

We have designed the piano tutorial.

Together with two other artistic groups that Patrycja cooperates with, Cloud Writing and Cloud Theater, we have been working on the multiartistic dimension of our project.

Many Artists cooperating with us have trusted and supported us incredibly - to the point that they participated in the project free of charge or for rather basic fees. We can’t say how grateful we are for this support. 

Nevertheless, due to the size of the project, we have invested more than 20 000 zł in it so far. Some of it we earned playing gigs but most of it was our own savings. We don’t really expect a high financial return on this investment, as it is not a commercial project. And we don’t want it to be a commercial one. 

Freedom of artistic expression matters more to us than the harsh laws of the market. It matters more to us to make music that will be a source of real, deep value to 100 people than to make something that 100 000 people will barely like. Maybe we are insane. But it is this insanity that has brought us this far. Now, whether - and when - we get to the finish line, depends on you. By supporting our project you technically become our Publishers. Our Label.

We need the money we are collecting in this campaign for mixing and mastering our songs. Because there are so many of them, it will cost about 10 000 zł.

The rest of the money will be spent on designing and printing the books as well as pressing CDs. We want the book to be an independent artwork as well, thus it will be handmade and its advanced architectonic form will be nothing like you are used to seeing on bookshelves.

If we collect 130% of the assumed amount, we will shoot a music video for "Mommy & Daddy Left", which you so often request.

If we collect 150% of the assumed amount, we will launch a website with our music (also instrumental versions for singers and individual tracks for those of you learning to play instruments or willing to use our music in your own artistic projects). Of course for free.

If we collect more than 150% of the assumed amount, we will spend each zloty on making music videos. Maybe we will make 19 of them? Or dream is to shoot a 19-episode music video series. We know nobody does that. But we’ve heard that we are insane. We have the scripts, the people and the equipment. All we need to get down to work is the money.

Every person supporting the project financially, practically co-creates it. We are grateful for whatever kind of support we receive and we would like to thank you in many ways. The first way is the prize package you choose when declaring the amount you would like to support us with. Apart from that we will list your name in our book (unless you don’t want that - we will fully respect it) and invite you to the CD-premiere gig.

If everything goes according to plan, we are going to launch the album this autumn. The alternative premiere date is spring 2018. If we manage to collect the necessary amount, we would like to launch the website and start shooting the second music video around the same time. 

We play from the bottom of our hearts to get to the bottom of your hearts. Personally. Honestly. Intimately. We stand before the audience with our souls stripped bare.

The sound and the word are an inseparable whole in our music - a whole that sometimes surprises with form, with harmony, with its message, because when making it we don’t strictly follow the formal rules of composition (though it is not our goal to reject them either - we just write with our hearts). A whole which only has one purpose: to tell a story that will take the listener on a journey towards the emotions that they hide deep inside. Emotions that are difficult to talk about, yet necessary and beautiful - because they are inevitably human. 

The Tactopers’ music (quoting our fans: “in between everything”) is a story of what we all know so well - of lost chances and unfulfilled loves. Of everyday longings and fears. Of monsters that come out of the closet at night so we can find comfort in their arms. Of being a contemporary woman in the midst of archaic social expectations. Of being a contemporary man towards an archaic understanding of femininity. Of being a human being brought up on Andersen’s tales, where silent princesses marry spoiled princess, or perhaps sometimes die for love. Our music is an objection. It is a quest for truth. A step on the pathway to our deepest self. It is also a voice of hope, warm distance and serene conviction that things are possible. And worth trying. 

There are six of us. Or seven. Or maybe thirty. We have assumed from the very beginning that everyone who plays with us, who creates, co-creates, around-creates with us, is a Tactoper. But the core of the band are:

To say that she is the founder of the band is not to say anything A visionaire. She has gone a long way through academia, social sciences and international talks. She has then challenged education and created a music school from its very core. When she was 15, she wrote that she had made her first right decision in her mother’s womb: she had decided she would be born female. Then she gave her feminism a personality that even men like. It is said that she picks one big dream in her life, makes it come true and then picks another one. Effectively and consequently has she been surrounding herself with people who want to walk by her side and create with her. She writes lyrics so emotionally rich that they leave even the most demanding auhors and poetry lovers in awe. English philologist, manager, boss, composer, maestra and pure health.

Due to an incredible coincidence she came to us from Melbourne, Australia, to stay with us and to accompany us whatever we do. Sensitive, kind and loving, there is nothing she wants more than affection and warmth. She is on stage when we play a gig. She is at the studio when we are recording. She helps Patrycja with song lyrics (she whispered the one about monsters straight into her ear). And she does all these things to remind us that inside each of us there is this Inner Child who needs a lot of love - the child we should care about. And that when we look into the mirror, it is this Child whose eyes we look into. But inside each of us there is also this Inner Critic who judges, criticises and raises the bar to the point of impossible expectations - to us and to the Child. But the Child is patiently waiting, sadly cuddling her four little fleece teddy-bears. 

Michał’s fingers are so delicate that he never drinks the tea he orders - the mugs are simply too warm for him. He is the music foundation of the band and in a way its maker. He convinced Patrycja to come to the first rehearsal and almost tricked her into playing the first gig. His improvisations were an impulse to writing most songs on the album - and Patrycja wrote the rest because he had taught her to play the piano. Michał is a multi-instrumentalist with an enormous didactic passion - that’s why he had quit a corporate job and opened a music school. He can inspire anyone to play and he can teach anyone to play any instrument. He doesn’t believe in expressions like: “I’m not good enough”, “I don’t have an ear for music or a sense of rhythm”, “I’m not talented”, “I’m too old”. He sais he’s most eloquent when he sits at the piano. Whoever heard the stories his solo in “Let me go” tells, will indubitably agree. 

Przemek is a composer, arranger, drummer and the band’s fountain of peace. He has graduated from composition at Wrocław’s Music Academy. He is a laureate of national and international competitions for composers and performers. As a musician and a composer he cooperates with many artistic groups, such as: Cloud Theater, Capitol Music Theater in Wrocław, and the National Forum of Music. Apart from The Tactopers he plays in many bands, including SMS Blues, Karpeta Jazz Brothers, Old School Jazz Trio, Nestor Band. In our band - apart from playing the drums and other percussion instruments - he wrote most of the beautiful string arrangements and the choir parts in “Caramel”. He made the band sway and there is nothing he couldn’t play - be it ocean waves, chase or a sensual craze.

Łukasz is the main oboist of Lower Silesia Philharmonics. As he says about himself, he likes delicious food and keeps looking for the most wonderful stroika (and he has many of them, because he makes them himself). We understood that we are on the same wavelength during our first rehearsal together. Though he only had a piano demo of our song “Ana”, he played a melody that began exactly like the vocal part he had never even heard. It was Łukasz who wrote the mermaid’s song in “Mermaids no more” and largely the part of the horn, calling to war in “Mommy and Daddy left”. Cooperation with us has not always been easy for him – as beautifully as he plays, he had to learn to play ugly sounds every now and then. But he has made it - all in the name of emotional message. In our band each instrument tells a story. 

Aneta is a graduate of the Music Academy in Wrocław. Music has always been her life - starting with the piano all the way to the double bass. She finds it most pleasurable to play in ensembles - from very intimate ones, comprising only two people, to largest symphonic orchestras. Aneta knows everyone and can find a way to solve any problem. It is her that Patrycja goes to with her impossible ideas like “I need the tube in this song” or “this chorus must be played on the French horn”. Aneta’s double bass can also do everything - not only play, but also squeak, purrr or giggle like in “Impeccable”. And probably there are some seagulls trapped inside. Or at least that’s what we think after having heard what Aneta played her part in “My Everything”, which she co-wrote with Zuzia Dzienniak.

Zuzia is a celloist and graduate of the Music Academy in Wrocław. She loves playing in bands and orchestras - playing with other people is the essence of pleasure for her. She has played many classical music concerts in Poland and abroad, but she is not afraid of experimenting in music. Among others, she has played an improvised concert with Cloud Theater during one of the Sofar Sounds Wrocław editions, which probably made her the only celloist in the world who has played a duet with a 3D printer (the director calls the device Marylka). But Zuzia can find beautiful common musica language even with such an introverted performer. She is the author of the cello part in our “Violin” and co-author of the stunning string arrangement in “My Everything”.

Guest Artists on our album:

Teo Dumski – director, tambourine, daxophone

Kamil Więzowski – tube

Juliusz Tkacz – French horn

Maciej Hanusek – gongs

Marzenna Wojak, Matt Burdynowski, Kamil Dysiewicz, Teo Dumski - vokals

Anna Banasik, Dominika Brzozowska, Dominika Syrek, Alicja Wójtowicz, Kinga Pabiniak - back vocals

Inka Nowak - child’s voice

We have been hosted by Radio Wrocław Kultura i Radio RAM, where we talked about our project and played live. Radio RAM premiered our first single.

We played at the XIV Wrocławski Festiwal Form Muzycznych and on many stages in Wrocław: Scena na Dywanie at the Capitol Musical Theater, Capital of Culture Parks, Vertigo Jazz Club & Restaurant, Collosseum Jazz Caffe, Parish, Szajba, Zajezdnia, Przybij Piątaka and others.

In march 2016, when we were still a duo, we released our debut EP, “Goodbyes”. Songs from the EP, rearranged to be played by the whole band, are also included on the album currently in the making.

Bandcamp: thetactopers.bandcamp.com

YT: bit.ly/TheTactopers

FB: facebook.com/thetactopers

Instagram: instagram.com/the_tactopers

www: thetactopers.com

Media about this project