galaxyhunter

Galaxy Hunter

Galaxy Hunter - his real name is Zbigniew Danielewicz - a composer and lyrics writer, a self-taught musician who has already recorded his first album named "Lane Of My life". In 2006 Zibi met Marek Kolodynski - www.spacesoundrecords.com. On a request received from Marek Kolodynski, a remix of Bad Boys Blue’s song was created and it was "For Your Love" song, which will probably be published soon together with the other songs from 80's. Afterwards, thank to a cooperation done by Zibi and Monika, a remix of Starfighter (Space Project band) was recorded. The album with this remix called "Beyond Imagination" was published in 2006 in England (www.centaurimusic.com). Then, on a special request the first space song came to life and its name was "Children Of Planet Earth". It's quite a new style for Zbigniew - meaning Space Music or Spacesynth, Synthesizer Dance.

Galaxy Hunter - it's a nickname figured out for the particular music genre. Marek chose Galaxy Hunter’s name out of several nicknames proposed by Zibi. The nick sounds a little bit aggressive and has got a character that fits to the genre. The Galaxy Hunter's music it's not only an typical Space Sound. It's much more meaning a plenty of interesting stories presented in a form of lyrics on which Zibi puts some significant weight. A diversity of subjects cannot be found on any of records from Space music. Nobody has done it that way before. It was a main objective of Galaxy Hunter to create something new basing on sounds and style from unforgettable 80's. The reference point for all these songs is Space but you can hear lots of elements either from Italo Disco, Euro disco or in other words from such performers like D. Bohlen, M. Cretu, or even Tess (Fancy). Some classic motives are mixed with up-to-date sounds, songs are much more dynamic and each synthesizer solo makes just sense.

Working on the first album lasted only about three months. It is necessary to mention that a remix of "We Came From Space" will be published by Iventi Records with Marcello and Feratho’s cooperation (www.iventi.net). On the very 12" maxi-single there will be also a remix of "We Came From Space" done by Dutchmen and Italians. Not to mention a remix of "Black Celebration" which will be also a part of the compilation.

Man can say that "We Came From Space" by Galaxy Hunter it is the first Italo disco song created by Poles. But this is only a beginning of a cooperation between Galaxy Hunter and Space Sounds Records. Besides the "Black Celebration" remix there will be another remix presented but this time it will be "Behind The Wheel" song (hit-song by Depeche Mode). The two remixes that sound really great will be published on Synthesizer Tribute to Depeche Mode on which there will be a variety of Space music stars. It will be on the market soon.

We would like to thank all the people supporting Galaxy Hunter including a radio-station top80.pl, guys who put some effort to make review of the material and who proposed constructive corrections of the sound. Special thanks to Marek Kolodynski who let it all happen. The same appreciation is for Monika Novak who gave us such divine voice in all Galaxy Hunter's songs.

Monika Novak (Galaxy Hunter) Monika Novak - a vocalist given with a voice of an extraordinary timbre, as well as a possibility to move across different music genres. She sings with a great feeling through entire vocal trade. Her voice is an excellent supplement for an instrumental parts f the album "We Came From Space". Monika sings the most crucial parts of the songs meaning choruses that will fall into memory of listeners for sure. We hope you are going to appreciate her talent so it will generate next records on which Monika will show what she is capable of.

We invite labels and publishers to cooperate. Next album in Space Music style is on its way. There will be more hit songs on it with Monika's voice and Galaxy Hunter's music.

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Interview with Galaxy Hunter

Hello Galaxy Hunter and welcome to Spacesound Records. We would like to shed some light on the individuals who make the music we all love. What better way than hearing it from the artists themselves.

Zbigniew Welcome to Spacesound!

1. Can you tell us a little about yourself and what do you do?

I am a composer and lyrics writer mainly. I do some arrangements for my music as well as I do some mixing of entire material created for Galaxy Hunter project. Generally there is no subject regarding music or graphics that I did not touch. I can prepare 2D and 3D graphics, record vocals, take and edit some photos if required. In real life to make a living I work for an international concern that produced home appliances in Poland.

2. How did you get involved in music and do you have a music background?

I am involved quite a long time in music industry as a performer but shorter time as a composer. My memories are still in the 80’ies when I was 17-year-old guy. Then I first got in touch with some electronic instruments like keyboard and sequencers. When I was younger I passed exams to the music school but then I was not able to start my music education because of some distance barriers. My destiny was to be a musician anyway. Music education is sometimes a source of some limitations, improper or rather standard thinking about compositions (canons or so). I have never been regretting that I haven’t got such a basic background. I rather regret that I did not have a time to learn playing one instrument with a kind of perfection.

3. Besides spacesynth what other hobbies do you have?

Well, Spacesynth is not my hobby. It’s a hard work. Creative but tiring quite a bit. Especially when you have got to do almost everything on your own (music, lyrics, artwork, mixing, recording, etc.). My hobby is 3D graphics. Though I have got much time I always return to creating 3D world with a special commitment. There are so many aspects in creating virtual reality that one life is not enough to embrace them.

4. What other music interests you?

I started my music adventure with a new romantic genre in 1985-86. I hope I will end up with the one someday. I rather like to focus on compositions than performances. I like melodies with some harmony included but not too complicated. I find first A-HA’s album as the perfect one, not to mention Alphaville’s Forever Young and Afternoons in Utopia. It’s a pity that A-HA went more into strictly live music. They created extremely powerful arrangements back in 80ties and 90ties. They also created albums that were so catchy that all songs included in a track list were falling into my memory for a long time. Now composers create at most two or three hit songs for an album. The rest is just fillers.

5. Do you compose any other music besides spacesynth, if yes, what might that be?

Along the way I created also dance music as well as pop ballads. We have released some of the songs on “Lane of my life” album with Monika Novak. The other ones are still waiting for the better times.

6. How did you find spacesynth or when did you first come in contact with this genre of music?

When I was younger I listened to KOTO compositions and we all know the mile stones for the genre like Jabdah, Dragon’s Legend, Visitors. I was able to refer to the songs by creating “Kill the Dragon” and “Escape from Shanghai” songs on my brand new album “We came from space”. And I must tell you that Galaxy Hunter really came from Space, the very specific genre. I was just awaken from a very deep dream.

7. What draws you to spacesynth and why do you like this music.

Well, when Marek Kolodynski asked me to think about creating some song as a start-up one I did not realize that I will be able to make entire album within three months. That was a real surprise for me. The spacesynth doesn’t limit me with creating songs because I do not need extra perfect new sounds. It is much easier to get back with sounds or patches than to go further and hit walls with your own head to get a chance to release a CD album.

I do like space because of simplicity and a special atmosphere, the ambience referring to the outer space and what is most important unlimited combinations of subjects that I can describe in my lyrics.

8. Is there anything that you dislike about this genre?

I really do not like creating solos played with synths that have got no sense for a song. I think some artists do not care about the fact that a solo is sometimes as much important as vocal and it can’t be just few sounds put together. Also I really would like to have more songs with a vocoder effect that I can understand. I do not really need lyrics that are so modified that I can’t read them.

9. Are there any group or artist(s) that have influenced you?

There are a few like Alphaville, A-HA, OMD, Duran Duran, Modern Talking but also 2 Unlimited, Aqua, Top One and some others. But all of them were crucial for me as performers of great hit songs. For spacesynth or just instrumental music I really feel that KOTO and J.M. Jarre are still my idols.

10. I guess this question follows on from the next but do you have a favorite artist and why?

My favourite one is still Alphaville. They were an icon of electronic music back in 80ties for me. I was fascinated with sounds that were unreachable those times. Imagine me playing Sounds Like a Melody with a synth called B11 (a Polish monster). I played the song thousands of times, not to mention Big in Japan or Victory of Love. I learned English on their lyrics trying to listen to an old cassette player and Summer in Berlin track. I wish I had Internet then. Now life is much easier. Together with my friend Krzysztof Krawczewski we played live the songs when we were at high school. I think that in our circle only me and him really understood the music created by Alphaville and in fact is it was complicated enough for the others sometimes but it was carrying an important message to the young people then. They are still our favorite artists I believe.

11. Do you have a favorite spacesynth album and why?

I am not really an expert in Spacesynth music, really. There is of course an album called Masterpieces with songs by KOTO and then produced by Michiel van der Kuy back in 1989. There are plenty of great solos and some vocals that inspired me to write and record lyrics for my “We came from space” album.

12. Would you be interested in working in a duet or with other artists if yes who would that be?

Well, I am working in duo with Monika Novak as a matter of course. She’s the brighter side of my music. I really put some effort to let her get to the top. She deserves it. Sometimes I feel like I am too weak for that but I am keep on going the track. There are not too many producers in Poland that promote new talents. There are many that promote themselves only. That’s not my style.

Dieter Bohlen is probably the second person I would like to cooperate with. I learned from him a lot. He gave me a message that there is a way of creating unlimited amount of melodic songs that there is no limit for that except our own minds.

13. Do you like Italo Disco?

Italo Disco means not too much for me as a term but where is a limit that we either can call music italo disco or not. I do not care about it. If there is a great composition it can be performed with many styles. The funny thing is that a great encyclopedia on Internet gives some examples of Italo disco performers and they are Savage, Ken Laszlo, Modern Talking, Bad Boys Blue, C.C.Catch, Fancy, Valerie Dore, Haddaway, No Mercy. I listened to their songs, I played them and sang live, I really enjoyed their music. I am then Italo disco fan for sure.

14. A few Spacesynth artists have come from the Demo scene, were you ever part of that, if yes what was your artistic name and do you think there is any advantage to Demo artists?

I have never been a part of the Demo scene. Before I had a name like DANZEE, but it wasn’t log time ago, just a year back.

15. Lets move to composing. How do you start with a new track? Do you, start by trying to compose a new melody or do you play around with chords and then try and fit a melody into that or is there perhaps another way?

Yes, there is, a hard one but very effective. I write melody, chords and lyrics all together at one time. They all must fit each other. There is no other way for me to compose a song. Writing lyrics separately is not a good way or on the other hand creating melody and lyrics with reference to some arrangement makes great limits. When I have a subject for lyrics, just a title or so it is like a waterfall, words come easy then, melodies and chords match each other without any problem.

16. Recently there has been some debate about the importance of melody in spacesynth. Do you have any opinion or thoughts on this?

I think that creating melody and lyrics for that is a must for that genre to stay alive and shoot up with the same energy like in the golden years. We need to create new spacesynth sound but with a reference to its roots.

17. Spacesynth currently has many different styles for example Protonic Storm is very futuristic and pushing boundaries on the other hand Marco Rochowski epitomizes the Golden era with his classical interpretation. Where do you think you fit?

I really do appreciate such a great company I am in. Though I did not have a chance to listen to many of their compositions I think they are really professionals and they all have a great gears. What is more important for me is a purpose, a goal. We need all more ambitious goals and some stronger support. I really would be grateful for all support from the artists on the spacesynth market, not to mention some cooperation.

18. This question is a sort of follow on. Where do you think the genre is heading? Some people have said that we should move on from the LD influence and embrace influences from other genres i.e. different drums, bass and not have to rely on melody. Others have argued that the melody is the essence of spacesynth and overhauling it would kill the uniqueness of the style and thus create just another electronic sub genre. Any thoughts?

I consider Laser Dance as majority of amount on quality (I am sorry for that). There are albums that I cannot find a single song to listen to. They are boring mostly. I only regret that they did not evolve into some more powerful and meaningful music. I really couldn’t find anything about Laser Dance to rely on and sometimes it resembles my worst nightmare which is Disco Polo style. It was a disaster that brought Polish dance scene into garbage.

19. Any thoughts on how we could improve the genre (musically and gaining more mass appeal)?

Yes, this is the point. There is no single answer. Musicians should remember that they do not create music only for themselves or critics. They should create sounds and lyrics to change people’s minds. This is only possible by creating music that paint images in minds with a sound. It shouldn’t be straightforward, simple, with no meaning. We should use a harmony, even the simple one to create great melodies. And we should be serious about it.

20. What sort of gear do you use?

Mostly I use VSTi synths, or VST effects. Recently I have got a standard Microkorg and a X50 Korg. In the past I played MV30, D20 and D70 synths by Roland. Generally I hate plugging in cables, connecting equipment cause I really do lots of modifications of the first idea of a song. For that purpose VSTi environment is the perfect one.

21. At times debate has centered on Software synths vs. hardware, do you have a preference if yes why?

Software synths came long way to be perfect. They required more powerful CPU’s and lots of RAM memory. They are still a little bit plastic comparing to real hardware but flexibility it much better. All-in-one projects in DAW software is a perfect solution for me. The only thing I consider to be inconvenient about it is the way to play them on live gigs. I will probably will have to use hardware synth for that. Soon I will have a chance to get back to my 20 year-ago hobby which was playing and singing at discos. I really am curious about what left from the enthusiasm I can still remember. Maybe there will be a chance to meet some old friends from the times when Bad Boys Blue or OMD were kings of the dance floors.

22. What’s your favorite TV show?

I really enjoy watching football matches of our national soccer team. Well, sport is actually the only TV kind a show that I have got time for.

23. Anything you would like to say to the fans of the Spacesynth Genre

The time of a rise has come. We are going to get to the top. Help us to make it. Help our publisher to release as many CD’s as possible. Then we will continue to work on our new albums. With a special commitment to your needs. I hope you will find our records interesting and pleasing. Please, visit our websites, we will inform you about everything regarded Galaxy Hunter’s progress. We all came from Space!!!

Now for something light hearted. Just give the answer to one you prefer or “Neither” if they aren’t applicable. (No explanations required!!)

1. Tea or Coffee? Coffee, recently.

2. Market or Shopping Mall? Shopping Mall.

3. Demo or Italo? New Romantic.

4. TV or Sport? TV, for sure.

5. Books or Cinema? Cinema.

6. Resort or Camping? Resort.

7. Summer or Winter? Summer.

8. Cat or Dog? Nothing.

9. Beer, wine or Spirits? Beer.

10. Blonde or Brunette ? J Brunette.

11. Sweet or savoury? Sweet and savoury.

Once again thank you for allowing us your time in answering these questions, it is very much appreciated! We hope this gives the spacesynth community a little better insight into yourself as an artist.

Thank you.

Space Sound Team
Interview Conducted By Peter D.

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