Wojtek Pilichowski profile picture

Wojtek Pilichowski

Wojtek Pilichowski

About Me


:: auto-bio ::
I was born in Warsaw and grew up in the infamous Grochów district. It might sound like a cliché, but music was my form of escape. I wanted to study drums in a High School of Music but they didn't take in people like me too eagerly. I thought that I didn't fit the stereotype of 'the musician' - a sensitive artist - generally everything which I wasn't, with my slang and background. However, a friend of mine had a bass guitar to sell. I was instantly hooked and started saving up for the instrument. It seemed to take ages but I finally managed to earn enough money to buy a bass. The first five years of my education on the bass were pretty strange. I couldn't watch video lessons, because only two people out of all that I knew actually had a VHS! My first bass tutoring came from Tony Oppenheim's "Slap It!". The irony of it all is that I never had any proper musical education yet now I'm an author of three bass tutoring schoolbooks.
In 1991, I went abroad to earn some money. I worked as a stage technician in Italy. Then I promised myself never to work on the black market again. I took up a job as a security guard in a cafe in Warsaw. One day I received a phone call from one of the most famous guitarists in Poland, a man who sold over 6 million records in total - Jan Borysewicz. He was starting a project named Jan Bo and was holding auditions for bassists. I was overjoyed to hear that I got the gig after my first rehearsal with the band. I was also pretty lucky, considering that a few days later, a bomb went off in the cafe I used to work in.
After a year of work with Borysewicz I was able to pay off all my debts and buy my first car. I soon began working with various stars of the Polish music market. In 1993, I took my first trip to the States. I was able to see the live shows of the people I could only see on video tape in the past (and I came up with the conclusion that these are not gods in any way but normal guys who have to brush their teeth in the morning just like me and a great deal of other people). Since then I've recorded about a hundred records, five of which were my solo albums and one under a nickname Dyplom.
Nowadays, I'm working with the most popular musicians in Poland - big stars such as Kasia Kowalska, Woobie Doobie, Jan Bo, and my own project TTr2.
:: turning the globe ::
Wojtek Pilichowski's performances abroad include: European Bass Days:
* Holland (Njimengen) 2003,
* Germany European Bass Day, Viersen, 2004
* Germany (Frankfurt, Ingolstadt) 2004
* Italia, Rimini
* Euro Bass Days in Verona: 2003, 2004
"The Bass Days have been a very inspiring experience for me. I got to play next to stars and bassists from all over the world. These were extremely amazing events!"
* London Guitar Show 2004, 2005
* NAMM Show 2005 in Los Angeles, USA
Additionaly, Wojtek often performs abroad (quite often in the States) supporting pop stars such as Kasia Kowalska or the Borysewicz & Kukiz duo.
:: bows wows ::
Wojtek Pilichowski is honored by many prestigious Polish awards, including:
* Playbox award (a prize awarded by all prime radio stations in the country) for Best Bassist in the following years: 1996, 1997, 1998, 2001
* "Gitara i Bas" ["Guitar and Bass"] magazine poll (the winner is chosen by the readers of the magazine) for Best Bassist: 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003
for Best Rhythm Section:
* 2001 (with drummer Michal Dabrówka)
* 2003 (with drummer Tomasz Losowski)
:: nowadays ::
Wojtek is busy giving concerts with the following bands:
* pop singer Kasia Kowalska's band (alongside Wojtek Olszak, Jurek Runowski, Michal Grymuza and Michal Dabrówka)
* TTR2 (with Marek Raduli and Tomasz Losowski and we are the meanest motherfuckers in polish jazz)
Wojtek annually gives approximately 120 concerts.

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 1/4/2007
Band Website: pilichowski.pl
Band Members:
Influences:


Sounds Like:
Wojtek Pilichowski "Wojtek Pilichowski" (1994 Bogdan Studio)
In 1994 I made my first solo record, titled just "Wojtek Pilichowski". It was not long after was invited to a bass trio with Krzysztof Scieranski and Tomek 'Kciuk' Jaworski, who were already famous bassists while I was just starting out... I assumed that having a solo record would be absolutely essential at the time. I made up my mind, collected the ideas, Bogdan Zydok financed the making and I went into the studio to record it. The whole process took two weeks. Still... I consider my debut the most cohesive album I've made.

Wojtek Pilichowski "Granat" (1996 PolyGram)
I signed up to my first big label, PolyGram, and was completely over the moon when I saw how large the funds for the making of this record were. With this money I could invite many guest musicians, from a string quartet and horn section to Polish music stars I worked or had been working with. One of these guest stars was Zbigniew Holdys, a man who is said to have 'helped beat Communism with his music'. Two videos promoted the album - "Samotna Gwiazda" and "Idol". The record sold over 8,000 copies, which was a pretty big number for a 'jazz' recording. It also received a nomination for the most important award in the Polish music industry - "Fryderyk" (in the Jazz Record category).
Wojtek Pilichowski / Pilich Und Funk "Lodolamacz" (1998 Universal)
"Lodolamacz" marked the beginning of my hip-hop fascination. I wanted to capture some of that culture on my record. However, being a session musician, I found it pretty hard to reach the environment - it was still underground. Anyway, "Message in a bottle", my own version of The Police's song, became a Power Play in RMF FM (one of the prime music stations in Poland), and climbed the radio charts to somewhat high positions. "Lodolamacz" was produced by Wojtek Olszak, and nominated for "Fryderyk" in the Hip Hop Record category.

Wojtek Pilichowski "TT" (2001 Pomaton EMI)
My next record saw the breaking off of my contract with PolyGram. I singed up to Pomaton Emi, and titled my next album "Pi". This time I managed to reach the hip-hop underground and fuse the two worlds of jazz and hip hop together. The best illustration is the track "CTA", a jazz standard with a funk arrangement, featuring guest rappers. I invited a lot of popular Polish artists I had been working with, and produced the album myself. The promo single was a track with vocals, "Twoje 4 Strony". However, with "Pi" I decided to end my relationship with big labels once and for all - for instance, it was embarrassing for me to see an advertisement for my record in a teeny bopper magazine ("Popcorn").

Pilichowski Band "Jazzga Live" (2004 Fonografika)
A concert of Wojtek and his band recorded in the January of 2004 in Lódz's Jazz-ga club. "Jazzga Live" was released under an independent label (Fonografika) and produced by me. It was recorded live during a concert in the Jazzga Club in Lódz - hence the title. Usually, when I left the studio and then listened to the final tracks on the albums, I would always think at some point 'hey, that could be improved'! So, "Jazzga Live" contains 'upgraded' versions of my earlier songs. The album is fully instrumental.
Wojtek Pilichowski "Definition of Bass" (2005 Axel Springer Polska)
"Definition of Bass" is very special - more of an experiment than any other record I've made. I always say that this is far from an "ordinary guy's album". It is very... danceable, very funky, with strong disco beats. In 1998, when I was recording 'Lodolamacz', the hip-hop culture was the 'new thing'. Now, however, things have moved on and hip-hop would not be an experiment anymore. The paradox is that it's probably the most stylistically consistent album I have ever recorded (perhaps along with my debut "Wojtek Pilichowski"). While making this album I didn't think of impressing my fellow musicians or the industry - it's a record for the people. I did not have to worry about the sales either, because as a bonus insert in a magazine it could be bought in any newsagents in the country, and it had a certain circulation of 50,000 copies.
Record Label: unsigned
Type of Label: None