One of the main musical concepts behind the Lunatic Soul project is… the absence of electric guitar. Yes, that’s right – everything that might sound like an electric guitar on Lunatic Soul albums is either a modified bass, a keyboard, or… a piccolo bass. And here, let me give you an example of how beautifully a piccolo bass can imitate a guitar. An excerpt from the track “Vyraj”, recorded at Studio Serakos in Warsaw.

Both the black and white piccolo basses are the work of Polish luthier Jacek Kobylski, known as “Nexus”.

And here’s a short bass playthrough of one of my favourite fragments from Lunatic Soul’s “Through Shaded Woods”. There are all those trance folk-dance moments in the second part of “Summoning Dance”, which I love to pick on the bass. I have to admit that I’ve always been into such stuff, very likely inspired by early Mike Oldfield or Hedningarna.

For those interested, the bass guitar in this clip is the Polish Nexus Jazz Style.

As the release of the new Lunatic Soul is coming closer, I thought I’d share with you my favourite moments from the lunatic world. For starters, get ready for some clips featuring various bass riffs I had the pleasure of recording in the Serakos studio in Warsaw.

The first one – this week!

photo by Radek Zawadzki

It has already been confirmed!
THE NEW LUNATIC SOUL RELEASE WILL BE A DOUBLE ALBUM!

It will contain almost 1.5 hours of new music!

Mariusz Duda: “I decided I wanted to record the first double album in my career. A proper one, with entirely new material and a story told in two 45-minute parts. I wanted the classic double vinyl to have four sides filled to the brim with music. I wasn’t sure I would be able make it; after all, the last thing I wanted was to throw in some “time fillers” between proper compositions. But now I know that each track will have its own character and structure. Anyway, I have been working on this album for a few years now, releasing other stuff on the way (laughs), so I’ve had enough time to select ideas.”
More details soon!

Photo by Oskar Szramka.