by Anka Zielińska

Fairground of Tears aka Piotr Śledziński’s sound can be categorised by darker, industrial and more heavy, noisy techno. The artist is a curator of London’s premier and forward-thinking event series Exiled and a resident of the Noise Orchestra. Not bound by any specific style, Fairground of Tears puts out a great mixture of dense industrial textures and atmosphere. His broad experience and hunt for expression have their reflection in his productions released so far on Theory of Yesterday, Instruments of Discipline, Medieval Heresies, Brvtalist Sound Recordings, Dream Baby Dream Records, Sinister Desires, and Khoinix.

We talk to Piotr on the occasion of the upcoming release of his latest EP „Death + Life" on House of Reptile Records. In the label’s Neocortex Series 005 Fairground of Tears delivers a powerful series of industrial, EBM-infused tracks that are sure to set any dance floor on fire with its dark, unstoppable waves. Maedon, The Undertaker’s Tapes and label boss Angel Attack complete the release with 3 unique remixes.

Where did the Fairground of Tears project come from? What are your musical roots? How did you start making music?

My roots go back to the Polish times and Płock, where I come from. Płock is best known for the heavily politicized Oli refinery Orlen and the non-politicized Audioriver festival, and it was where my adventure with music began. It was my student days, my first clubbings. Back then, the Polish scene was almost non-existent, especially compared to its current scale. In Poland, techno parties were a bit of an abstraction. It was dominated by house, a bit of electronica, and flowing trance. I remember it very fondly, although with some amusement, but I think it was what eventually influenced the melodic nature of my subsequent productions.

After graduation, I moved to London and since then I've been mainly involved in the London scene. And so it has been for almost 20 years now. In London - you know - I was in awe of all the clubs - starting with the commercial, big ones like Fabric, or Ministry of Sound. These were mainly house parties, sometimes techno, though still a bit of a lighter and deep genre back then. Then there was a period of fascination with electronica, organic, flowing sounds that twist your head. I was fascinated by labels like Border Community, K7! or Warp.

About two years after arriving there, a friend invited me to his studio for an afterparty. At that time I still had absolutely no idea about production. He showed me a few machines, including a pink Korg Electribe ESX-1. A week later, at the weekend, I went shopping with my then-girlfriend and now wife Ola. I looked - and there was this Korg in a second-hand shop! I immediately thought: Fate! I said to Ola: This is something I would like to have. Can I buy it, honey? She said yes, and with that one machine, it all started.

My first productions were obviously ridiculous and clumsy, but you have to start somewhere. For the first two years, everything went into a drawer, but after some time I created a project called Ne Plus Ultra, which oscillated around electro-organic sounds, ambient and drone, scores. It had a very cinematic vibe. It was a very cool period and a very good learning experience. But after four years I felt that it wasn't leading me anywhere. I felt burnt out and didn't know what to do with myself next. I had some smaller and bigger releases, but without any solid response.

It was 2017, and at the time we were partying a lot, but at the same time, I was having a lot of personal issues. Deep inside, as a person, I was in a very dark place, and on the outside, I was getting on this party roller coaster. That split translated into the Fairground of Tears project. On the one hand, life was like this 'fairground'-you jump from one ride to another, you party here and there, everything looks beautiful and life is seemingly going on, but inside there were a lot of tears. Then I decided to do something new and break away from Ne Plus Ultra, I started to build on the two opposite poles - the positive feelings that the parties were bringing but also the very dark mood I had inside of me at that time. This project became a bridge between my past and future worlds. Although I tried to distance myself far and away from the sound of the Ne Plus Ultra, I still remembered what a joy it was to compose melodies. There were still elements that I really like in music. I had to translate that somehow and start building on what I had learned, something completely new. I started combining how an organic sound can be translated into a more industrial sound and do something interesting and original.

This is something that definitely distinguishes your music - this melodicity. It is interesting how you jump between two extreme poles - from ambient to very radical industrial music, very often bordering on noise.

It was this jittery period in my life that gave me the jump. Within two years we switched from these more electronic, IDM events to more dynamic, dark, heavy music. We started going to other parties: BLANC, KAOS, and raves in abandoned warehouses like HTBX. It was a completely different story, different energy. Maybe that's what I needed. When you feel burnt out in your own little hermetic world, it's good to give yourself new impulses. I rediscovered heavier sounds.

Your new release "Death + Life" is your second collaboration with the House of Reptile Records, although the first stand-alone EP. Tell us how your collaboration came about.

Last year I took part in a vinyl release on House of Reptile that also featured a bunch of very cool artists including Rommek, Polanski, Halv Drøm, Restive Plaggona, label Boss Angel Attack and Tullia Benedicta to name a few.

I've known Andrew (Polanski), who is the A&R for House of Reptile since 2016. We've done events together, I've played several times at his BLANC event-including its final edition, where we played together with Rapha (Angel Attack).

The guys asked if I had any tracks in progress and if I wanted to release something solo on their label, so I sent them four that I had ready and we made an EP out of it. In addition to five original tracks, "Death + Life " also features five remixes done by great producers: Maedon, Undertaker's Tapes, and Angel Attack. I feel connected to and admire each of these people.

As in your previous EP "Execution" released on IOD, there are again very powerful references. "Execution" was a very strong concept depicting the process of a convicted person being on death row, up until the execution. It was a project in which the listener identifies with either the victim or the oppressor. On "Death + Life" you touch again on very fundamental and radical topics. Where did you get such a strong inspiration from? The fact that you like extremes is already apparent.

Not really extremes as such, I am by nature a very gentle and chilled-out person. My perception of reality is visual and auditory and I quite often like to imagine a soundtrack to what I see or experience in my life.
This time I don't have such a holistic concept. Each of the four tracks represents a different excerpt, a different observation.

“Death + Life” represents the time when my colleague from work fell ill with cancer. He was very lonely and had no support. I took over his duties at work and took care of him. I travelled to keep him company, and often took him somewhere so he wouldn't sit alone at home. We drove around London, I took him out to dinner or for a walk to pass the time. And then I would come home, to my recently born daughter Iga, who is on the complete opposite spectrum, just beginning her journey. My friend passed away this year. And this piece is a reflection of just these extreme experiences, it was created from the collision of these two worlds- the beginning and the end of life. It is melodic, and has an element of hope, although it is sad at the same time. This is probably the main difference between my recent releases. "Execution" was a very dark story of doom, on "Death + Life" there is a bright element. I really like the version of this composition interpreted by Angel Attack, which broke the classic 4x4. That's why I chose it for today's premiere.

"Preacher" is one of my older tracks from a few years ago when we had an accumulation of US police brutality against the African-American community when the murder of George Floyd occurred.
As a snare, I used the sound of whip swishing and flogging, which of course refers directly to slavery and the suffering of this community. I used Martin Luther King's voice from his speech against the Vietnam War, about the American government exploiting dark-skinned people as cannon fodder. In a nutshell, it is a piece about racism. Maedon's brilliantly cut and looped vocals of Martin Luther King add power to his message.

“Trap” is the oldest track about a dead-end situation, which was a reflection on the moment of despair in my life I mentioned earlier when I didn't know which way to go when my thoughts and feelings kept me stuck and I felt trapped.

“Your Life is a Lie” is a tribute of compassion to the LGBTQA community, stemming from the sad observation and private conversations that many of its representatives are disowned by their families, misunderstood and have to live a lie for a long period of their lives, hiding themselves to protect themselves. These repeated stories heard by me so often, simply break my heart and fuel my fury toward the world that forces them to hide.

Can we expect more new music from you in the near future?

I don't make music with a specific deadline or thinking of putting it out as more EPs. I make track after track and put them all in a drawer. I make music based on emotions, I don't sit down to my equipment thinking I'm going to make a techno track now. I allow myself to jam a little, to experiment, to a free flow. Only after I gather some material in the drawer, do I try to compose a whole from it. I have already made a selection of projects to finally get down to making an album. What will come out of it I don't know yet.

Fairground of Tears

“Death + Life”

House of Reptile Records

Release date: October 11, 2022

Tracklist:

1.Death + Life

2. The Preacher

3. Trap

4. Your Life is a Lie

5. Death + Life (Angel Attack Remix)

6. The Preacher (Maedon Remix)

7. Trap (Undertaker's Tapes Remix)

Pre-order link:

https://houseofreptile.bandcamp.com/album/death-life