Poland's Tachion-X is a newcomer to the dark music scene, although its three members have been there for over two decades, with Desdemona, Red Storm, and some other musical projects. Tachion-X is, with its somewhat unique approach towards creating music, like a fresh dark wind in the scene. Arkadiusz Wachowicz, Filip Burghard, and Szymon Swierczynski, "tired of a traditional rock band's formula and inspired by the popularity of instrumental music", came up with a new project, Tachion-X, which combines electronic music like Kraftwerk or Depeche Mode with heavy industrial sounds and cinematic vibes. The trio's debut album, 5120 (the review is HERE), presents a mixture of analogue synthesizers with acoustic and electric guitars and even string and wind instruments. Intrigued? Keep reading...

Interview with: Arkadiusz "Arek" Wachowicz, Filip Burghard, Szymon Swierczynski
Conducted and edited by: Jerneja

Jerneja: Hello, Arek, Filip and Szymon! Tachion-X is new to the dark music (electro/EBM/industrial/synth-wave) scene, but you are not. You have been there for over twenty years, collaborated with many famous artists and producers and performed at the most significant European festivals, such as Wacken Open Air, Hellfest, Polish Rock Festival, M'era Luna Festival, Brutal Assault, Castle Party Festival,... Two of you were members of the gothic/industrial metal band Desdemona and all three of the electro/industrial band Red Storm, plus you were/are individually involved in other musical projects. So, what prompted the creation of the new project, Tachion-X?
Arek: Hi Jerneja, thank you for the opportunity to talk with you and for the chance to present Tachion-X to the readers of Terra Relicta :). Indeed, the three of us have been working together for many years. Szymon and I were part of a fairly popular Polish band at the time - Desdemona. It was a fantastic adventure; we played a lot of big concerts and made appearances on mainstream TV, radio, and so on. We met many of our musical idols, played with Type O Negative, shared a smoke with Marillion, and even broke a few road rules with the legendary Paul Di'Anno. It was, undeniably, true rock & roll, with everything you read about in biographies - the sort of thing you chalk up to youthful foolishness, which eventually led to us parting ways within that band. Following the momentum of what we'd done with Desdemona, we created the Red Storm project, which you mentioned. At that point, Filip joined us. Together, we recorded two albums. The first one was produced by a guy who'd worked with Depeche Mode and Nine Inch Nails and was a founder of This Mortal Coil, which brought another unexpected adventure. The second album is still sitting on my hard drive to this day and has never seen the light of day, which I'm honestly glad about because I'd do it completely differently now. In the end, we parted ways with both projects. Since decisions to step away were usually made within this core trio of ours, we realized that if the three of us could work together, understood each other's quirks, and knew how to manage them, then, we simply had to create something new where we would all share responsibility. And that's how TACHION-X came to be.

Jerneja: Both mentioned bands are connected with Agnieszka Leśna; she was the vocalist of Desdemona, who, in 2014, together with you - Arek and Szymon - formed Red Storm, and who then embarked on her solo career as Agnis, releasing her first single in 2021. Was the end of Red Storm at the end of 2019 the result of Agnis' birth, and how come it took the three of you established musicians almost five years to return to the music scene?
Szymon: Yes, that's true. In both bands, we worked with Agnieszka, although in Desdemona, it was quite brief. Her involvement was limited to the band's last album. Our paths diverged, I believe, in November 2019. There was a disagreement that neither side could accept, and we simply decided to end the Red Storm project. About two years later, something was released under Agnieszka's name. The three of us, however, knew that we wanted to continue playing together. Slowly, step by step, something started to take shape. Arek was setting up his studio and composing songs. Once we had enough material to choose from, it all came together exactly as we wanted it to - both musically and visually.
Arek: As for the time that has passed, we simply decided we needed a well-deserved break. We had just finished recording an entire album that never saw the light of day, and almost the entire financial burden, recording, production, mixing - fell on Filip and me. For the sake of our mental health, we simply needed a break. After about a year, we got back to recording our ideas together. We had a plan, deadlines, and so on, but first, Szymon's mother, and then my mother, was diagnosed with cancer. Both of them passed away. After such extremely difficult experiences, I needed some time to process everything. Recording was the last thing on my mind at that point. The process of recording, producing, and mixing took about a year and a half, so when you add everything up, it really does come to about five years.
Filip: It's also worth mentioning that, in the meantime, the COVID pandemic broke out, which significantly hindered our work for two years. We live in different cities, and as we all remember, travelling was difficult. Another factor was that the entire music industry was in a state of uncertainty, so we simply decided not to rush anything.

Jerneja: What about the name Tachion-X? Does it have anything to do with the tachyon (written with "y"), a hypothetical particle that travels faster than the speed of light? And "X" has so many meanings... So, what Tachion-X stands for?
Arek: This name is something that was born in Filip's mind and later modified by Szymon by adding the letter "X". We decided it perfectly reflected the state we were in at the time. We were working in the studio, recording, but we weren't really sure whether we existed as a band or were just recording without any bigger plan. Szymon stated that everything was so undefined that the "X" would complete this uncertainty, and it looks cool too. :) Of course, to make things even more complicated, we decided to write Tachyon in Polish, so it became "Tachion". :) There's also a funny anecdote tied to the name. At one point, we decided that the work we had done had to culminate in the creation of an album and the official formation of the band. We decided, that, contrary to the theory of all the physicists in the world, tachyons do exist, and we announced that on 20 September 2024. Less than two weeks after our announcement of the existence of Tachion-X, physicists from the University of Warsaw and the University of Oxford officially announced that tachyons are not just a hypothesis but that all evidence points to the fact that these particles do indeed exist. Coincidence??? :)

Jerneja: That's an interesting "coincidence" indeed. Are any of you physicists - given that you found a name for the band in physics waters?
Filip: The name was a coincidence and the result of a brainstorming session. It was precisely this ambiguity, the theoretical nature of existence, and the mystery that seemed so appealing to us that, within moments, everyone felt it was the right choice.
Szymon: And the name perfectly reflects our actual state during those five years. It wasn't at all obvious that we'd end up with an album or even form a band. We didn't know what would happen, how COVID would play out, or anything else. The question of whether we even existed came up so often that the name turned out to be perfect! :)

Jerneja: Tachion-X's debut album, 5120, was released on 29 November. Given that Tachion-X's music is very different from what you've been creating in your other projects – not only is it purely instrumental, but also without fixed roles of musicians, what exactly do you offer your listeners?
Arek: As for me, it was very important to offer listeners music that is truly played. Not something created entirely using presets from music production software or AI - which is now gradually happening - but music played on real acoustic instruments and real synthesizers that need to warm up, be tuned, and have their own imperfections. These imperfections add a character to the sound that plugins try to mimic. I know that, with this approach, we're in the minority nowadays, but it's precisely this niche and the emotions that were present during the recording of this album that I want to offer our listeners.
Filip: This romance, or rather, the war of worlds between electronic music and live instruments, was ultimately meant to create a picture and a world in which perfect coherence transitions into a battle for every bit of musical space. We wanted listeners to experience this fusion, as it's not often on the dark scene that synthesizers, a guitar riff, and a saxophone meet. :) So, to the question of what we want to offer our listeners, the answer would be that we offer a slightly different approach to dark music.
Szymon: We also wanted to break away from the obvious, typical song structures: verse, chorus, verse, chorus - which doesn't mean we'll never return to that again:) However, that was the concept behind this album - to create tracks that allow for reflection, as broad and free interpretation as possible, to let listeners immerse themselves in these soundscapes and melodies and discover something for themselves. I will be completely happy if a few people find their own connection to our musical world. In fact, I'm already happy and totally surprised because today, while doing some everyday household chores, I heard the track "Stain-X" - the B-side of our latest single - on commercial, traditional radio here in Poland. It was quite surprising, considering that it's not a typical "radio song" and certainly not the type of music I would expect to hear on that kind of radio :)

Jerneja: The album title, 5120, is also a bit of an enigma. I googled it, but still nothing...
Arek: This was supposed to be the theme for one of the contests we had planned, but since Google didn't make it easy, it seems like that contest wouldn't have worked out for us. :) So it's wonderful that you asked and saved us from running an unsuccessful contest :) The answer requires a little introduction - we are fans of cinema and film music. The first and only premise when we started recording this album was that the music we were recording would slightly touch upon film music. When the topic of film came up, the king of cinema we love immediately appeared in our minds, and for us, that king is David Lynch. With his films in mind, I began working on the track "51.201", which at that point didn't have a title. After Filip heard the track, he picked up an acoustic guitar and played a melody that gave the entire piece a mood reminiscent of the film Twin Peaks. Then the saxophone came into play, which intensified this strange atmosphere, and we ended up with the perfect strange track to close the album. Since it strongly reminded us of the Twin Peaks vibe, we decided that the closing track should have a title related to the film. So, it was named after the number of residents in the fictional town of Twin Peaks, which is 51,201. We thought that since the album ends with a track referencing Twin Peaks and the album itself was meant to have a more cinematic feel, it would be nice to have a thematic frame related to the film. I became interested in the behind-the-scenes of the production, and it turned out that while the town of Twin Peaks does indeed exist, the number of its residents was manipulated by the producers at ABC, who decided that the real population number on the famous sign at the entrance to the town wouldn't appeal to American viewers, so they added the number "1" to increase the population. Thus, the true number of residents, which was 5,120, became 51,201 fictional residents. I thought this was the perfect story and the ideal frame for the entire album.

Jerneja: Yeah, it's probably better that you aborted the competition because it would take a fanatical cinephile to know the answer ;). But "51,201" isn't the only album track related to the movies... Are all of them - even the second revealed track, "Tonight Is The Night - Serial Killer", which deals with cancer - or only those including the movie's vocal samplers?
Filip: While working on the songs, our main goal was to give them a cinematic quality - something that stimulates the imagination and allows listeners to connect with them. The songs on the album don't always reference specific films or titles. They're more often inspired by a type or genre of film, but just as often, their creation stemmed from a mood, a moment, or sometimes a collection of emotions that needed to be expressed - sometimes after a very long time.
Arek: Of course, I could describe each track individually, but I don't think anyone would make it through that amount of content. I'd rather leave these songs to be discovered by those who want to explore them. I also don't want to spoil the pleasure of interpreting and creating your own images in your mind to accompany the music. That's the greatest power of instrumental music - you can add whatever interpretation you like; there are no limits! I can reveal something special about one of the tracks, which brought us a lot of joy. "Monochrome" is a track composed by Filip. It's special for many reasons, but the most intriguing aspect is the mystery surrounding it. In this song, you'll hear keyboard parts performed by a very, very well-known musician. We've agreed to keep his identity a secret. What we can reveal is that, besides playing on our track, his incredible talent can also be heard on albums by Billy Idol, Kiss, and Dream Theater. It's a little tidbit that will forever remain an enigma ;) He is, without a doubt, a significant part of this track.

Jerneja: All three revealed album tracks came with a video, which makes perfect sense, given Tachion-X's cinematic touch. Did you make them all by yourselves?... The video for "The Opposer" involves many people; are those your friends or hired actors? And the "Tonight Is The Night - Serial Killer" video is somehow weird - about cancer but in the figurative sense of the word, or something.
Arek: As you've noted, the music videos are an essential part of this album. The videos themselves are crafted by absolute professionals. The visuals for "The Opposer" were filmed by a filmmaker from Australia, while the second clip was created by an artist from Poland. We live in an era where distance no longer matters; you can reach out to anyone, anywhere in the world, and that's what we did, receiving back brilliantly shot visual interpretations of our music. As for the first two videos, they each tell a specific story in some way, while "Rosemary's Lullaby" puts more emphasis on the visual aesthetic and atmosphere rather than on a concrete narrative - something more along the lines of "Pursuit" by Gesaffelstein or "People Are Good" by Depeche Mode. "Tonight Is The Night - Serial Killer", the character in the video - an embodiment of cancer - is both strange and terrifying, which was precisely our intent. If this visual makes even one person feel uneasy enough to check their health, it will be an absolute success for us. All other things - like the number of streams, downloads, and other metrics - won't matter at all.
Filip: To add to what Arek said, in our music, the imagery in a video - or what the listener envisions just by listening to our music - is a kind of "text" that each person can choose for themselves. This album of ours is, in a way, interactive music.

Jerneja: With your previous bands, you worked with a well-known producer, John Fryer, but with Tachion-X, you took the production, mixing and mastering in your hands. How come? Well, you are the owner and boss of LP Art Productions... Do you produce for other bands, too?
Arek: It's challenging to find someone who fully grasps the final effect and sound we're aiming for. The other factors are time and budget. We need many months for production, given the instruments we use. For Red Storm, I built my own studio, so it was natural that - having the studio and high-quality equipment - we'd handle all stages of the album's creation there. As for producing for other bands, Tachion-X is the second one I've worked on; the first was Red Storm's second album, which, as I mentioned, was never released. I wouldn't really call myself a producer; it's still new to me, and I'm continually learning the craft. I'm formally trained as a music manager, but I've become passionate about studio work.

Jerneja: 5120 was self-released. Was this your intention, or did you not get a good enough offer?
Szymon: Everything we do is intentional and well thought out, although, of course, we can't always perfectly control our plans ;)  We've been self-releasing since the fourth Desdemona album in 2012. By then, the music business had started changing enough for us to see fewer benefits in a record deal. Nowadays, with streaming so prevalent, a record label feels more like a promotional agency than a traditional publisher.
Arek: All the record labels featured on our albums after 2012 have mainly served as distributors rather than actual publishers. Currently, we have two distribution agreements - one with a U.S.-based company and another with one of the oldest and largest distribution companies in Poland. We've also signed with PRO to handle our copyright matters. For now, this setup meets all our needs.

Jerneja: When considering everything related to the creation and release of the album, which part do you prefer and which do you find most annoying?
Arek: Of course, the best part is working in the studio - I could spend 24 hours a day there! The least creative, most tedious, and time-consuming stage is preparing everything that distribution partners require. It's a lot of paperwork and an enormous amount of materials to put together.

Jerneja: You mentioned playing at big festivals before, including the Castle Party Festival... Are you also involved in its organization? If so, you can tell us firsthand whether this year's 31 edition will be the last at this venue, as announced some time ago.
Arek: Unfortunately, I can't say much about that. The only connection I have with CP is that we've been there multiple times as a band. From what I read on a local news site related to the festival's region, the town authorities and the organizers have come to an agreement.

Jerneja: What about Tachion-X live; do you already have performances booked, maybe at some festivals, or is there even a tour coming up?
Arek: At the moment, we are working on "translating" what we've done in the studio into live performances. We want to do it as best as we can, with a large portion played on live instruments, including drums and violin (Filip is a trained violinist, so we need to make use of that). We are putting a strong emphasis on the visual aspect, with our own lights, multimedia, and so on. I think the first concerts can be expected only next year.

Jerneja: Tachion-X, in a way, draws inspiration from Carpenter Brut and Perturbator... What music or bands inspire you or do you enjoy listening to?
Filip: In our press kit, we didn't fully clarify what we meant by referencing Carpenter Brut or Perturbator... Musically, these bands don't really inspire us; what we meant was that they are instrumental bands that showed us a path to follow as an instrumental group. Both bands made a significant impact despite being projects without a vocalist. This opened our eyes and gave us the courage to take action. As we mentioned earlier, each of us comes from slightly different musical worlds. For me, my inspirations include Queen, Genesis, Rush, King Crimson, Dream Theater, Rammstein, Peter Gabriel, Paula Cole, Hans Zimmer, John Williams, and pretty much anything mainstream because I like to stay up to date… So, when I collide musically with Arek and Szymon, it feels like I'm discovering music all over again!
Arek: I have always been deeply involved in electronic music, particularly the darker corners of the genre, from Kraftwerk to Front 242 to Depeche Mode. I also listen to a lot of classic industrial, but just like Filip, I constantly keep an eye on what's happening in pop music. I believe that nowadays, pop artists are allowing themselves much bolder experiments than most independent projects.
Szymon: For my part, I'm into heavy, extreme music on a daily basis :) Our musical passions might surprise you because you won't find anything like Slayer or Queen in Tachion-X ;).

Jerneja: And what do you like to do besides music?
Filip: Besides music, I enjoy everyday life, work, family, and friends. Over the past three years, I've been riding my road bike a lot - I can definitely call it my sporting passion.
Arek: Surprisingly, I've become the type of person who loves being at home. I truly appreciate every moment spent with my loved ones. My wife and I also have a travel mission - we travel the world wherever we can.
Szymon: I'll just say: sports, sports, and, once again, sports :)

Jerneja: If, at the end of the interview, there is anything else you would like to add, clarify, or maybe address your current and potential fans and/or readers of Terra Relicta dark music web magazine... the floor is yours...
Arek: First of all, I'd like to thank you, Jerneja, for the interesting questions. It was a pleasure spending this time with you. Also, taking the opportunity, I want to congratulate the entire Terra Relicta dark music team for your perseverance and for still being around, which can't be said about many other portals. I remember your news about Desdemona back in 2012 - it's been quite a while since you've been supporting this dark music world!
Filip: I would like to thank all those who dedicate their precious time to listening to TACHION-X, as I know how valuable time is nowadays and how much music and information we are bombarded with every day. If you enjoy our sounds and vibe, feel free to follow, comment, and share with your friends - but only if you truly think it's worth it!

Jerneja: Thank you for the interview and your kind words. All the best to you and Tachion-X!

Tachion-X links: Official Website, Facebook, Instagram, X, Bandcamp, YouTube