After 6 years of operation, they are actually just getting started. From the very beginning, they have focused on their unique character and do not intend to give up this formula. A_tropic and Prncs Error tell us about the wonderful adventure of creating a collective and following intuition. Have fun!
Dominic: Acidtropicalia is celebrating its 6th birthday. How do you evaluate your path in hindsight? Was it worth spending this time to be here, where are you now?
A_tropic: It’s definitely worth it, although of course if there were better life opportunities for the two of us, we would probably do much more.
Prncs Error: In retrospect, our path seems really interesting and valuable, especially considering that at the beginning there were not many music collectives pursuing music other than techno or house. It started with our mission to bring freshness to the Wrocław scene and the desire to have fun, but at the same time we treated our activities very seriously. We now have new goals and perspectives, we already know what direction we want to go.
Following your own path is crucial to the development of every artist! What were the beginnings of your collective like?
A_tropic: Acidtropicalia was born in March 2018, when together with a group of friends we started organizing parties with music that could not be heard in other clubs. We started with a series of events in the non-existent Uff club in Wrocław. Since then, we have been more or less active and organized events with various interesting people from Poland and abroad. By the way, I must admit that building line-ups is probably my favorite promotional activity. I would certainly be perfect as a booker in a good club:) Instead of focusing on who currently has good coverage or plays in popular places, we reached for local or foreign personalities who correspond well with the character of each of our events. Usually these were non-obvious choices, such as TSVI or Air Max 97, which we invited as the first ones in Poland.
Currently, Acidtropicalia is a two-person music collective that I co-create with Luiza. Musically, we place ourselves somewhere at the intersection of technical and bass music. Although this of course does not exhaust all our inspirations.
Privately, you are a couple, how does this affect your activities in the musical field? Do each of you deals with specific topics?
A_tropic: That’s right. Over the years, we have developed a certain work pattern. Concept of events, setting lineups, etc. – we always work on this together. Luiza is responsible for graphic themes. I mainly deal with contact with bookers and broadly understood copywriting. We also share our activities on social media:)
Prncs Error: Exactly as Łukasz says. I think we complement each other very well. Since we live together, we don’t need to arrange organizational meetings – we can simply talk about everything at any time. I don’t know if this is always a plus, but it works well for us. Moreover, we support each other not only in activities related to the collective, but also in other musical areas.
Could you tell us about your greatest achievements so far?
Prncs Error: As a collective, we have achieved a lot. As I mentioned initially, there were few people in Wrocław who played broken music. From the very beginning, we have tried to move in this direction and naturally accustom the audience to the variety of genres in club music. We definitely managed to achieve this and bring a lot of freshness to our scene. In addition to successes in organizing events, we have also achieved other achievements. After only two years of the collective’s existence, we received an offer to host an hour-long program on Mexican Internet Public Radio.
We were also noticed in Wrocław’s cultural backyard, where we performed at events, festivals and cultural institutions. Our podcast series is also very popular and successful. We host the program “We are Acidtropicalia” (currently temporarily suspended) on Radio Kapitał. In addition to organizing events under the Acidtropicalia banner, we also have two separate event series: “Fuzja” and “RAVE/TEK”. We establish numerous cooperations with local collectives and other cities. And there is also A_tropic invites, which is run by Łukasz.
Do you have any specific plans for 2024 and beyond?
A_tropic: This year we decided to implement the idea of combining various local scenes neighboring Poland. The location of the region where we live opens opportunities for cross-border alliances. Lower Silesia is located at the junction of Poland, the Czech Republic and Germany. Talking to creative people from the Czech Republic and Germany, we came to the conclusion that there is no flow between our scenes. The journey from Wrocław to Prague or Dresden is shorter than to Warsaw. Despite this, musical meetings rarely take place. We would like to change this. We started by inviting several great DJs from the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Germany to our podcast series. This year, we are giving half of the Acidtropicalia Podcast slots to them. You can listen to the first set recorded for us by Cosmodan from Prague on our Soundcloud.
Have you had the opportunity to play outside Poland?
Prncs Error: Yes in Czech Republic. In May we are going once again, this time to Prague. Together with Yoga Collective from Prague, we are organizing an event that will take place at the iconic Bike Jesus venue. We have many plans for further performances outside Poland, so we will definitely explore the possibilities of performing in neighboring countries.
You operate at the crossroads of several countries and different cultures. Do you see these influences in the local scene?
A_tropic: We are just starting to expand our business abroad. I could tell you more from the perspective of a party/social life participant. What I have observed on the local scene over the years is, on the one hand, the flourishing of collectives/crews playing very diverse things (although, of course, most of them reach for what is trendy), and on the other, the increasing closure of clubs and venues to this diversity. . Profiling of the (most popular) species of floors is one of its manifestations.
How do you assess these differences in the European music scene? Where does Poland rank here and how are we competitive compared to other countries?
A_tropic: Unfortunately, we are not competitive in anything. Compared to, for example, the British or German scene, ours is a distant and quite exotic periphery. This was shown, for example, by the reports of the Oramics collective devoted to the presence of the Central European scene in foreign podcasters or line-ups. This is, of course, influenced by the longer musical history of the above two, the greater wealth of local societies and the development of the practice of clubbing as a form of spending free time (not only for people in their twenties and thirties). In addition, better music education and an extensive network of places where you can hear live music or DJ sets are other factors working to our disadvantage. Although there was a moment when the electronic scene in Poland was growing stronger year by year. Unfortunately, it was stopped by COVID, then the war on the eastern border, and finally the general price increase finished it off. Going to a club or a concert is not at the top of the pyramid of needs, so it is what it is.
Finally, tell us something about your podcast series, which is already very popular.
Prncs Error: Our podcasts are very popular, which makes us very happy. Although a well-known music portal called us a “podcasting house”, I believe that this label does not fully reflect our activities. They only complement our mission, focusing mainly on promoting people whose musical work we truly respect and appreciate. The sets so far have mainly come from local artists. However, this year we decided to change the formula slightly. Once a month we publish podcasts from people living in Poland, and the next month we present sets by artists from abroad.
Thanks for the meeting and good conversation! I wish you further development of your project and fulfillment of all your plans!
Instagram: @acidtropicalia
Facebook: acidtropicalia
SoundCloud: acidtropicaliacrew