Marek Bilinski – one of the best known Polish composers, pioneer of electronic music in Poland, instrumentalist working with state-of-the-art and more classical keyboard instruments. (www.bilinski.pl)
I TRY TO WORK WITH PEOPLE WHO ARE BETTER THAN ME, THE ONES WHO CAN TEACH ME SOMETHING AND OFFER SOMETHING OF INTEREST TO ME. WORKING WITH AVERAGE PEOPLE IS A SIGN OF WEAKNESS. THIS GETS YOU NOWHERE. AT THE END OF THE DAY IT’S NOT ABOUT WRESTLING TO SHOW WHO IS BETTER, BUT RATHER ABOUT A DIALOGUE OF THOUGHTS. I DON’T NECESSARILY MEAN PEOPLE FROM MY INDUSTRY, BUT THEY HAVE TO BE GOOD AT WHAT THEY DO.
Even though we represent quite opposite worlds, we’ve discovered that they are actually very close. Let’s hope that this conversation will be inspiring in showing how music may intertwine with the world of business.
WO: You have knowledge, skills and education. Are you still able to take advice from experts? Is that a source of inspiration for you or rather an obstacle? Maybe in the past, when you performed with Bank* it was different, and next, throughout your solo career spanning for some decades now you’ve changed your approach and now you think otherwise. You know, you notice much more that you did before, and because you see more, you naturally shut yourself away to new things. How do you manage this?
MB: I try to work with people who are better than me, the ones who can teach me something and offer something of interest to me. Working with average people is a sign of weakness. This gets you nowhere. At the end of the day it’s not about wrestling to show who is better, but rather about a dialogue of thoughts. I don’t necessarily mean people from my industry, but they have to be good at what they do. I’ve learned from many who were better than me. We talked, I watched them working in the studio, saw them in action…
WO: In other words, this form of mastery is reached thanks to openness?
MB: Yes. Openness and creativity are important. You cannot shut yourself out, and above all you cannot consider yourself to be the best, the know-it-all. It’s a pitfall.
WO: You can be good, but never good enough. You should be open – openness is absolutely necessary, just like being humble and simply listening to others.
MB: Yes, humbleness is the thing. I’m still learning it… Humbleness towards yourself and towards others. Humbleness also comes from failures that you’ve experienced in your life. They build it. There will always be someone better, in every environment and everywhere we are. Therefore, you should always keep some distance to yourself, to your work. I think it’s difficult but necessary.
This is the transcript of a long evening chat made with support of Ksawery Dzitko (https://www.linkedin.com/in/ksawery-dzitko-3150532/)
*Bank – Polish rock band active in the 1980s. Marek Biliński was a member of the band in 1980-1983, and played on keyboard instruments
Interview with Marek Biliński (part 2)
YOU NEED COURAGE TO CHANGE THINGS. IF CIRCUMSTANCES ARE FINE, YOU’D THINK “WHY CHANGE ANYTHING?”.
WO: When we see global developments, this next technology revolution and innovative working methods, we realize that there is a need for some space to exchange knowledge based on an open network of professionals from different fields, from more than just one sector of activity. Your music is inspired by different styles, and is not limited to those stemming from electronic music. When I listen to your work I hear various inspirations. How do you work to create it?
MB: Above all, you have to be open-minded. This comes first. You need to be absorptive to everything that is happening around you. I got interested in music and it became my passion. At the beginning, I performed because I thought that everyone played an instrument, just like they read and wrote. I come from a family where there was always an instrument for my father to perform.
WO: So it was a natural reflex for you? For you, playing an instrument was just like bathing, brushing the teeth or shopping?
MB: Exactly. I thought that everyone plays an instrument and listens to music. And then my father started to teach me how to play the piano, which also came naturally.
WO: You said that music is your passion. It reminds me of the words of Confucius: “Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life”. It’s extremely creative as you don’t need to focus on getting up in the morning and finding the motivation. You simply do what you enjoy doing.
MB: In my case the desire to do what I like prevailed over dividing my life between work and relaxation. At some point of my professional life I started to arrange things at work for it not to be a struggle… If something was burdensome professionally, I gave it up, I quit. For instance the band Bank. It was popular all over Poland for two, three years. We had several hundred concerts in a year. And then I realized that it was enough. I knew that I simply would not move forward. There would be more concerts, new records… but it was not it…. I made an informed decision.
WO: So it’s some kind of testing; you probe into what you like and what you dislike. Because you are engaged and able to have your own opinion, you keep searching. Is it openness in searching and courage to make a change?
MB: You need courage to change things. If circumstances are fine, you’d think ‘Why change anything?’ It’s great, money’s flowing in, I have my stability, but that’s not what my life is about. There are some higher values. I believe that what is material should be subordinate to the immaterial and spiritual. Only then you start to feel really happy and see some sense. If you only chase the material, wishing to reach higher and higher and win more and more awards, you’ll be caught in emptiness. You need to have it in the back of your mind…
WO: How did you identify those things that you did not want do to? You look and see that everyone’s going in one direction, and you’re simply not buying it, you swim a bit against the tide. How do you know that despite swimming against the tide, you still come up with something interesting? For instance, what made you realize that you needed to quit Bank?
MB: I think you can call it a voice from inside.
WO: Some sort of intuition? Listening to your inner ‘self’?
MB: I’ve always had that feeling that I am a tool which is somehow guided, and guided in a way that I liked. I feel it that way…
Intereview with Marek Biliński (part 3)
FAILING IS PART OF THE ROAD TO SUCCESS. IT’S OBVIOUS THAT THE HIGHER YOU CLIMB, THE HARDER AND MORE PAINFUL THE FALL WILL BE.
WO: I remember the words of Nelson Mandela. He said that he never lost – he either won or learned. You need some grand philosophy and worldly wisdom for that.
MB: And huge courage to say that. Failing is part of the road to success. It’s obvious that the higher you climb, the harder and more painful the fall will be.
WO: Let’s talk about successes and failures, and about the skill and wisdom you gain from failures. How do you perceive yourself and others? Are you open to feedback from those who say ‘Well, we didn’t make it. We failed. It needs to be done differently’? Most likely you experience some emotions, not always good ones, maybe madness, maybe dislike? Making choices means that mistakes will happen. It’s absolutely human, natural, and you need to come to terms with that. How do you handle failures?
MB: In failures time heals all wounds. After some time you should look at what is left, what needs to be done and what can be repaired.
WO: Is there anyone who can help in getting through such moments productively? Our loved ones? The band? In business we call them a coach or a mentor. Sometimes it is your line manager who’d assume the role of your professional friend. How is it in the music industry? Who do you look up to? Do you look inside or oustide?
MB: There are extroverts and introverts. Most probably I’m an introvert: everything happens in my mind – my creative process, my thoughts and considerations. I talk to my wife, but it’s rather her teaching me how to communicate with people around. Unfortunately, I’m not the one to take initiative… It’s not that simple…
WO: We’re back to openness again…
MB: My wife once told me that I’m truly open when I’m on the stage and have my audience in front of me. It’s a different relationship, though… and it’s all because my music comes into being in my mind. Before the new track comes out, there is a lengthy technology process ahead. And everything starts here… in my mind.
WO: I think that in your work, as in the work of the manager, spending time with yourself is crucial. You need to sit down and think, and have the courage to say that you don’t need the band any more. To what extent do you agree with that? Nowadays, we are aggressively told that creativity requires collaborative effort. Personally, I am a stronger believer in collaboration. At the same time I’m an advocate of the ‘Just sit and think’ approach. After all, my own brain is a pretty good sparring partner.
MB: As for ‘just sit and think’ method, in my case it doesn’t necessarily have to be about work. For instance, I can think of a book I’m just reading. This is a form of exercise for grey matter to help you avoid automatism. One more example. I have constant problems with the sound and the tone. These are my mind riddles to be solved. That’s the tone I have but I want to get something else, I want to improve something. I’m constantly looking for some solutions. Before I touch the keyboard or my devices, I have to carefully consider what to do.
WO: Are these the only factors? We’re talking about the sources of inspiration. To what extent things like travel, landscapes, local cuisine, scents or habits are able to impact or inspire you to create something unique, strange or different? Is it simply the background used for reflection?
MB: In my view, it’s a cliché when you hear someone saying that they’d eaten some shrimps and came up with a piece of art… Travelling does have an impact, but only up to a point. In my youth I travelled the world. Now, when I think about it, everything tells me that I made the right choice. I feel best where I am now and I’ll always keep coming back here.
WO: You said that ‘Ideas appear when I feel safe’. How do you manage to use all of them to get something that you’re really satisfied with? How does this selection process look like?
MB: Imagination has no limits and it always goes beyond the ready-made product formed into a sound or a phrase. Imagination is about the resistance of the inanimate. Instruments, devices have their limitations, and they are inanimate. They were devised by ingenious people but their thought and talent were constrained by the capabilities and durability of the material. Everything that we devise is technology-constrained,
in particular in my field, in electronic music. Each harmonious structure that I compose, initially very broad and spacious, starts to narrow. You need hundreds of hours of searching before a sound, a tone, a phrase is created.
WO: You’ve touched upon the issue consistency – a topic very close to my heart. It seems to me that the corporate world, the recipients and clients, all look for consistency. And it is not easily achievable within any organization. It sounds very attractive but is hard to achieve; for that you need to look further and check – a bit with a bird’s eye view – whether everything fits into a whole.
MB: The worst thing in all of this is subjectivism. You need to be objective, since it’s not up to me to decide whether the final outcome is fine. As a whole, it should meet global standards. In order to achieve this you should follow the standards of international production from various genres of music, listen to them carefully and pick the one that you want to get closer to. There are never two tracks in the world that would sound the same, and each piece should be approached individually. The best global producers say that they approach each track as if they were recording, mixing or mastering it for the first time…
Recorded in December 2016.
Passion2Value The concept of conversations and projects based on the combination of passions and values from various fields. By working in a specific setting, exercising or developing your passions, e.g. in sports or music, based on broader knowledge and skills from other disciplines, you can learn something as an academic discipline. You can create valuable things and enjoy yourself, at the same time.
