Binary Blues

Would this be what Joy Division would have sounded like today if Ian Curtis was still alive? In the meantime (40 years later) he would probably also listen to blues by now, especially the not obvious, dirty and devoid of clapton-jam-like atmosphere, the kind seeking out far-out electronics, avant-garde, techno and dark songwriting. I guess.

Neither John nor Mateusz are blues artists, they may not necessarily qualify for the strictly electronic scene, in fact, they cannot be pigeonholed, defined and encapsulated in one term. Their joint album shows a particularly difficult task for journalists and reviewers, but very friendly for listeners who do not have to name anything, define anything, define or systematize anything.


Legend has it that John Donatowicz and Mateusz Rosiński met on December 10, 2011 in a now non-existent club in Zielona Góra run by the founder of Gusstaff Records. It was then, after the solo performance of The Human Elephant, during joint discussions about music, an offer was made to DJ-ing together and get to know each other better. It can be said that the first joint song Elephant Dials was also written in 2011, however it was never finished, and then it died along with the computer disk.

Soon after, Rosiński left for Gorzów, where he later started Dym Records and the Club Sejf. From time to time, the gentlemen played common DJ sets in Zielona Góra, Gorzów and Berlin, sharing a common language in music. In 2017, John, tired of Berlin and his hometown Chicago, hungry for Poland (sic!) had settled meanwhile in Gorzów. It is worth mentioning here that the artist has Polish roots. In the pandemic summer of 2020, Rosiński and Donatowicz recorded tracks in Gorzów at Sejf, a former municipal bath.

The mood of the music was undoubtedly influenced by the character of the post-German city, which is so beautiful that even its ugliness does not tarnish the image, and in the city center it often smells like shit. Just as the yeast has to grow, the material laid dormant for another year and a half. In the winter of 2022, Rosiński put on a helmet, mixed and refined the pieces, which were then mastered by Mateusz Wysocki. This is how the album Elephant Dials - Binary Blues was created, which we are happy to present to you. Better late than later!

John J. Donatowicz, formerly John Edward Donald, records mainly as Human Elephant (albums released by Umor Rex, DYM and Don't Sit On My Vinyl) but you may also know him as the vocalist and guitarist of the Rats Live On No Evil Stars project (Gusstaff Rec.) which was co-written with Bernd Jestram of Tarwater. For several years he has been living and working in Poland.

Mateusz Rosiński, often hiding under the pseudonym Wrong Dials, is a well-recognized figure on the electronic scene. He is the founder of Dym Records, the Sejf club and a member of the bands Niepokoje Gościnne and Dynasonic.