Swada (producer)
Swada | |
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Swada in February 2025 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Wiktor Szczygieł |
| Genres | |
| Occupation |
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Wiktor Szczygieł, known professionally as Swada (stylised as Sw@da), is a Polish record producer, creating on samplers, synthesizers and sequencers,[1] who records music from the border of electronics and folk, and describes his work as "Podlachian bounce".[2][3]
Career
Szczygieł described the Swada project as "an attempt to hear what would have happened if young people in Belarusian villages near Hajnówka had access to MPC samplers and TR-808 machines in 1989".[4] He also emphasized that the essence of the project is "not only a compilation of folk inspirations from seemingly distant parts of the world, but also finding a plane for the functioning of traditional music as the core of underground-bass tracks".[1]
In 2019, Swada created a music project with rappers Maciej "MC Dzidek" Dzitkowski and Nika "Niczos" Jurczuk and vocalist Wioletta Bociuk.[1] In the same year, he received a distinction at the 22nd Polish Radio Folk Music Festival "Nowa Tradycja" for "a bold clash of distant musical and cultural phenomena".[4] In 2021, together with Karolina Cicha, he created music for an exhibition prepared by the institution Xylopolis Center for Wood Art and Science,[5] and for the studio album recorded together entitled Sad (2022), he received a nomination for the Fryderyk award in the category of roots music album of the year.[6]
On 29 November 2024, Swada released an album entitled #InDaWoods, which he recorded with Nika "Niczos" Jurczuk.[3] They promoted the album with the single "Lusterka", with which in January 2025 they were announced as finalists of Wielki finał polskich kwalifikacji, the Polish national final for the Eurovision Song Contest 2025,[7] placing second in the final on 14 February 2025.[8]
On 11 February 2025, the Ministry of Information of the Republic of Belarus labelled Szczygieł's Instagram account as "extremist" and disabled access to it in the country.[9][10]
Discography
Studio albums
| Title | Details |
|---|---|
| Sad |
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| #InDaWoods |
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References
- ^ a b c "Projekt SWADA" [Project SWADA] (in Polish). Polish Radio. 2019-04-17. Retrieved 2025-01-19.
- ^ Śleszyńska, Monika (2025-01-17). "Swada i Niczos: polsko-kolumbijski mix i podlaski śpiew w polskim finale Eurowizji" [Swada and Niczos: Polish-Colombian mix and Podlachian singing in the Polish Eurovision final]. bialystok.tvp.pl (in Polish). TVP3 Białystok. Retrieved 2025-01-19.
- ^ a b Tykarska, Aleksandra (2024-12-13). "Podlasie Bounce i sięganie do korzeni. Sw@da i Niczos prezentują #INDAWOODS" [Podlachia Bounce and reaching for the roots. Sw@da and Niczos present #INDAWOODS]. jedynka.polskieradio.pl (in Polish). Polish Radio. Retrieved 2025-01-19.
- ^ a b "Projekt SWADA – wizja innej historii" [SWADA Project – a vision of a different history] (in Polish). Polish Radio. 2019-05-23. Retrieved 2025-01-19.
- ^ Buharewicz, Joanna (2021-09-13). "Wiktor Szczygieł: Muzyka Podlasia umyka definicjom" [Wiktor Szczygieł: The music of Podlachia eludes definitions]. xylopolis.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 2025-01-19.
- ^ "Fryderyk 2023". fryderyki.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 2025-01-19.
- ^ "Eurowizja 2025: Przedstawiamy 10 Finalistów!" [Eurovision 2025: Introducing the 10 finalists!]. eurowizja.tvp.pl (in Polish). TVP. 2025-01-14. Retrieved 2025-01-14.
- ^ Milarski, Jakub (2025-02-14). "Eurowizja 2025: Justyna Steczkowska reprezentantką Polski!" [Eurovision 2025: Justyna Steczkowska to represent Poland!]. Eurowizja.org (in Polish). Retrieved 2025-02-14.
- ^ "Polski zespół muzyczny podpadł Łukaszence. Trafił na listę „ekstremistów"" [A Polish music band has fallen foul of Lukashenko. It ended up on the list of "extremists"] (in Polish). TVP Info. 2025-02-11. Retrieved 2025-02-14.
- ^ Kopcik, Oliwia (2025-02-12). "Polski duet rozwścieczył Łukaszenkę. Trafił na listę „ekstremistów"" [The Polish duo enraged Lukashenko. It ended up on the list of "extremists"] (in Polish). Interia. Retrieved 2025-02-14.