7faz – seven phases – the wholeness of sound

Seven is a mystical number. In many mythologies and religions of the world, it represents wholeness, fulfilment and perfection. It symbolises the bond between time and space. It was an attribute of gods, this value appeared in architecture, holy scripts, commandments and cosmology. There were seven virtues, seven sacraments, seven liberal arts and seven gifts of the body awaiting the chosen in paradise. But we’re not done yet: there are seven days of the week, seven planets ruling the Zodiac, seven colours of the rainbow and seven crystal systems. Not to mention Seven Samurai and The Magnificent Seven. And how many notes are there in music? That’s right, seven.

The number seven has just taken on yet another meaning. 7faz is a new project by musicians from Gdańsk, Sopot and Gdynia associated with the Nasiono Records label, which ideally fits the symbolism mentioned above. Why? Because 7faz is both a finished, harmonious whole and a building block for something more.

Seven phases may be just listened to, but they also provide a point of departure for musicians or DJs. Phases G and E were used by Pure Phase Ensemble 5 ft Hugo Race during their SpaceFest performance. You can hear Phase G in the background of Asia i Koty’s “I’m Gonna Use My Claws”. Phases are also employed by Projekt Poezja Kulturystyczna (Bodybuilders’ Poetry Project) – says Karol Schwarz, the founder and one of the authors of the project.

Seven phases create seven musical spaces recorded on seven separate discs. Each phase usually consists of two parts: tuning (a calm, contemplative part) and a trip (a louder part).

Faza A (Phase A)
part one – drone on four guitars, an analogue synthesizer, a sitar and a saxophone; a musical mantra cleared of attack, rather swirling than flowing

part two – a flight of a ball thrown high up and falling to bounce again; the instruments playing extremely loud hit unison in an escalating tempo, to finally intertwine in a radical noise chaos scattering again – in time – into a rhythmical beat

Individual phases constitute separate entities but they all interconnect in an unusual way, complement each other, unceasingly swirl around each other and interfere.
– It is a perfect music for work, yoga and solitude – as someone stated in one of the reviews published after the publication of the first of Seven Phases on bandcamp (https://7faz.bandcamp.com).

7faz was created by:
Michał Gos drums • Tomasz Gadecki saxophone • Karol Schwarz guitar, voice, phase • Jakub Noga sitar • Jowita Cieślikiewicz synthesisers • Szymon Albrzykowski synthesisers • Marcin Bożek/ Max Białystok bass guitar • Artur Bieszke guitar • Piotr Czerski guitar

Seven days before the Flood, Noah heard: Take with you seven pairs of every kind of animal, a male and its mate, and also seven pairs of every kind of bird, male and female, to keep their various kinds alive throughout the earth. We’re not sure know what Karol Schwarz heard, but the fact is that the musicians he gathered met and recorded in a wooden barn situated in the middle of Kashubian nowhere. Seven kilometres from the nearest village shop. And when it stopped raining – a rainbow of seven colours appeared in the sky…

https://www.facebook.com/sevenfaz

Discography:
Faza A
Faza B
Faza C
Faza D
Faza E
Faza F
Faza G