The name Pagan Spark came to me as I was sitting in my room, recording stuff and trying to figure out how to name my little project. I looked at my Spark amp and instantly remembered one of the significant historical events in early Poland (my home country), the Pagan Reaction.

This event occurred in the 1030s and was a rebellion against forced Christianization and feudal masters. Churches burned, priests were killed, and even the king himself, Mieszko II, might have died during the course of this event (sources vary here).

I learned about this event by accident. It was never mentioned at school, where I was taught that early Poland was baptized (yes, the country was baptized), everyone was happy about it, and they embraced the new god with open hearts, with chirping birds around and the sun shining.

Well, the truth was more complex. Christians forced belief in Jesus with fire and sword. Christianity itself was completely different from the original beliefs as it removed all the best stuff from Earth and placed it into some transcendent heaven. And how could you not worship the forest? The Sun? The river that allows us to live? In their holy book, we read that only humans have souls. Heh, yeah.

I believe that Christianity, ironically, stripped the soul from people. Native religions were less abstract and placed people where they belonged – as an integral part of nature, not above it.

Even though I’m not a fan of returning to the exact same belief system (whatever it might have looked like, thanks to Christians we barely have any sources), I strongly believe that proper respect for nature is something we need as a species to survive and actually be happier.

We also need to remember how to rebel against the oppressive state. We lack this spark as a nation today. Poland is ravaged by fanatical capitalists and Catholics, and the response is almost nonexistent. Where is all the rage? Why do we allow the state to be violent without an adequate response? Years and years of subjugation took a huge toll here. I have no clue how to change it. I just know I have to find a way to get rid of all the frustration out of my system.

So, as Pagan Spark, I’ll try to use music, language, and maybe photography to express all of that.
And I’m starting with channeling raw emotions into the music. The debut album is simply all the pain, sadness, anger I could put into 43 minutes.