OK, first of all, could you tell us about the beginnings of your band?
Well, we started more or less... five years ago, but the situation has been a bit difficult because we study in different places... we all come from the same small town, but during the week we live in different cities and towns, so sometimes we have rehearsals once a month, so it's a bit difficult, but still we've been playing together for five years now. There were two people who founded the band, and we had the idea of playing heavy stuff that would bring people hope, which would be positive. I mean, we're both Christians, so we decided... why won't Jesus kind of... start to be important in our lives - at least in my life, that was my experience, I was kind of looking for my identity in religion, and I thought... playing music with no message at all or, like, singing about stupid things would.. you know, there's no point in it, so I thought, if I played music I'd want it to be important, I would like to have some message. So that's how we decided to sing about God. The two of us had the same idea, so we started to look for other people to join the band, and that's how we came together. We had different backgrounds as well. My musical background was more gothic metal, and... well, metal in general, but more gothic-metally stuff, and our guitar player listened to more hardcore and... even listen to punk a little bit, unfortunately... (laughs) well, that's my opinion... then other people joined us. That was five years ago, and since then, the only person that's changed in our lineup is the additional vocalist, so... we've got another guy now who does the vocals with me. We have seven people in the band - we have drums, bass guitar, two guitars - one guitarist, that's me, sings as well - cello, violin, the girl who plays violin also sings, and we also have another vocalist, so that's seven of us... quite a bit!

Could you tell us about the meaning of the name of your band?
"Illuminandi" comes from Latin and means "that which is to be enlightened". I found it in a book. The term comes from the early church, where it referred to people who were to be baptized, they were called "Illuminandi". I thought it was a good name, first of all because it had some connection with the light, and I like the meaning of it - something which is to be enlightened, or those who are seeking the light, the enlightenment. But it also sounded good, you know, it's Latin! (smiles) It might be a bit long, some people might have difficulties remembering it, but I don't think it's that bad. We've got worse band names.

How would you call the style of music that you play? What do others call it?
Well, people call it "gothic metal", but there's quite a lot to it, because, as I've said we're all from different musical backgrounds. So some of us are into death and black metal, and some listen to hardcore, so it's like all kinds of music... and some of us, like, the girls don't really listen to heavy music, just some of it... We have musical backgrounds so diverse that it's really hard to say. It's definitely some kind of... really heavy rock music with a metal edge, and with strings, so we just call it "heavy music with strings". Some people say it's a mixture of metal and classical music, but I wouldn't call it classical music, it's just just some sort of heavy music with strings. And there is a bit of death metal, a bit of hardcore, a bit of gothic metal, doom metal - everything we like, and everything we are able to play... (laughs) That's an important thing as well.

How do you write your songs, generally speaking? Do you start with the lyrics, a melody...?
I depends. Usually someone of us brings the riff, and then we work on it... one person works on it or sometimes just brings a whole song. Or sometimes the same person comes up with the lyric, and sometimes... like, for example, the other guitarist brings a new song, and then I just say, hey, this is cool, I think it has a... mood that would be suitable for this lyric I find in the Bible, or I've read somewhere, and I think this would be good for it, so we kind of... combine the lyric with the music. It just really depends, sometimes, we have a lyric that's waiting for the music to come, and then after two years, we think, this is the kind of lyric that will fit or go well with that kind of music. So... it really depends.

The lyrics to most of your songs are based on the Bible, and I think a lot of them are direct quotations from the Bible.
Exactly, yeah.
Is this the style that you puposely use, like for example, Saviour Machine who set parts of the Bible to music, or do you rather consider it a phase and consider doing something else later, like writing your own lyrics?
I don't really know. It started like something we wanted to do, you know, it was a conscious thing. But now I think it's been more like a phase, I mean, we've found some other lyrics that still deal with spiritual matters, poetry. But we're not going to give up the Bible, because, well, I think our guitarist thinks the Bible is the best source of his, and... the Word of God is the most powerful thing you can get. But on the other hand, sometimes it's just... I think it's good to present your own understanding of the Bible... how you feel it works in your life, you know, your own interpretation. To share your own thoughts. Sometimes I think it's good to use at least some lyrics of your own authorship, or lyrics by other people you think reflect what you think, your own attitude. So... I think we'll be doing both in the future.
It might have an impact on what other people think about you - if they see that you're only taking lyrics from the Bible, it might [...] leave the impression that you're not thinking on your own... about what you're doing. You know what I mean?
Yeah, exactly. (ponders) Well... yes and no, I mean, if it's a convention, you know, if you set a convention and stick to it, that's okay, it's just our style, right?
Yeah...
You could say so. But on the other hand, yes, and I also think that if some people realize that these words come from the Bible, and there's alot of, like "Jesus" and "God" words in it, people who are nonChristians, they feel like, you know... may feel rejected, so... sometimes I think it's good to have less direct lyrics that will make people think and draw their own conclusions, rather than tell them directly... what to do, or, you know,... once people hear that these words are from the Bible, they think, "okay, it's the Bible, I don't want to have anything to do with the Bible", you know, but... if they hear your own understanding of it, your own lyrics, then they might pay more attention to it, you know... get into it and then reach for the Bible for themselves.

When you play shows in Poland, for what kinds of audiences to you usually play - more secular, more Christian, or at festivals...?
Well, it's both. So far I think it's been mostly Christian, but not only, we also play with some metal bands for secular audiences, so... yeah, the most common thing is that we play with other heavy bands who have a Christian message, so it's like "semi" because we play in a pub or at a festival which is, you know... Christian bands, but not just heavy bands, so it's usually Christian festivals with heavy music, but also some secular concerts.

Do you have any contact to the Polish band Undish?
Uhh... no, I love them, I like their music, but I think they disbanded quite some time ago. I've tried to find their address or whatever, but...
Well, they have a website... I'll mail you the link.
Great, cause I was looking for it like a year ago... So no, we don't know them personally, we come from a different past of Poland, besides, they've been playing for at least ten years now, so they're a professional band with a record deal, you know... we're just beginners.

Here we went on chatting a bit about Undish, which should be of no interest here...

Ummm... What brought you here?
Frank. (laughs)
Okay. Good. Next question.
Frank did... He just called and asked if we could come, and we said yes. It's a new experience. I think the only time we've played outside of Poland was a year ago, when we played in the Czech Republic at a festival, which was a good experience. It's the second time we're playing outside of Poland.

Do you have any... Have you ever heard of the Wodnik?
Wodnik? No, what is it?
The water sprite?
Yeah?
What do you know about him?
Wodnik?
Yeah.
It's just one of the zodiac signs...
Oh, right, okay! I thought it was a Polish legend or something...
There... must be something, but... I don't really know... (laughs) Wodnik is a star sign... (chats with other band members in Polish) ...What was that? ... Ah, okay, it was a film.
A film?
Yeah, but I don't know... he knows, what was it? (other band member answers, "I don't know") (laughs) Okay, let's give it up!

So, we've been talking for 12 minutes now.... ummm... is there anything you want to say to the German readers?
(busts out laughing) ... Stay metal. Ugh! ... Or stay gothic. Stay whatever... Stay with God.

Okay, thank you!

Interview by Patrick Maiwald; May 2004
Photos: Daniel Keck, Wojciech Zawilinski