Mike Kostrzyński – Made Of Hate – Interview Exclusive
Written by David Whistance
Saturday, 20 November 2010 05:00
When Made of Hate’s all new album ‘Pathogen’ dropped into URHQ’s PO Box back in August I wasn’t exactly sure what I was going to get. The team had been asking me to review what can only be described as ‘Progressive Pirate Metal’ albums to the point where I was actually starting to think that walking the plank was more exciting than the music I was getting. Little did I know that my ‘piratety’ outlook on life was about to change, and all within the first few blistering minutes of ‘Pathogen’s’ opening track the modern metal classic ‘Friends’.
Within the eight tracks that make up the Polish four piece’s second full length album they cleverly manage to bring together elements of classic Heavy Metal injected with a modern edge that forms another seamless collection from guitarist and main songwriter Mike Kostrzyński.
So who better to catch up with and shoot the breeze over the subject of all things Heavy Metal than Mike Kostrzyński himself? Why not sit back, relax, crank up your copy of ‘Pathogen’ and bid welcome to our world MADE OF HATE.
Hi Mike thanks for taking the time to talk to Uber Rock.
Hi Dave…Good to hear from you. We’re always happy to talk about the music we love. For openers, I’d just like to thank you for the review and general interest in Made Of Hate. We appreciate that a lot! Let’s go then!
Although you got a great review from us recently for ‘Pathogen’ some readers may be still totally unaware of Made of Hate…. So please take this opportunity to introduce yourselves.
OK. Made Of Hate is a metal act from Warsaw, Poland. We came out from ‘the darkness’, in 2008, with the debut album ‘Bullet In Your Head’, on AFM. Some of our fans recognize my band-mates and I from our previous act, called Archeon, but since 2007 we’ve been involved only with Made Of Hate….
Our debut album was released worldwide and we’ve been gathering some really nice feedback from around the world for that, but now we’ve just put out number two and it’s time to move on. As for a musical description of our songs, I would certainly point out a few milestones for your readers; we like to think our music is melodic, technical, expressive and basically really different with really twisted guitar work. Talking about one’s music is always hard when it 
comes to describing it in just few little words, but I would say Made Of Hate offers really fine and powerful pieces of heavy metal from our hearts. This is how we rock and this is what we are!! We used to say we play metal ‘made of hate’, hence the name, but in general it’s more about expressing our love for the particular genre in the music we play.
There has been an underground Metal scene in Poland for a number of years now, with bands such as Behemoth and Decapitated breaking through from the underground and appearing in the mainstream metal press…. do you think it’s a good time for metal in Poland right now?
No, not at all! I agree that there has been huge underground movement in Poland, but it’s not that colourful and vivid at the moment. Behemoth and Decapitated are just two of the bands that appeared at the highlight of this scene, but for lesser bands it’s been quite hard these days, to even exist! I don’t know, that’s probably a global thing too, but in Poland selling music is really difficult! People don’t attend that many metal concerts (unless it’s Metallica or AC/DC)….., and it’s tough!
Don’t get me wrong, it’s not dying, but it’s obviously suffering and the conditions are clearly worse than a few years back. There are the die-hard people that are attending the shows; that are buying your music; and hail to them. With the underground, it’s always like this – even when the dusk comes, it will still be reborn soon after…. But, I hope it gets better soon!! A lot of rubbish pop music and shit music has taken over most of the country and it’s really, really hard to get metal back into the limelight.
Is Metal as popular now as it’s always been, and are they any great bands in Poland right now that you’d recommend fans of Uber Rock sink their teeth into?
As I mentioned, it’s not that popular at the moment, no. I mean, I see a lot of people who are into metal and so on, on the street, but when it comes to supporting metal by buying records and attending shows, it’s not that positive any more. What I’ve found lately, is that some of the bands I know actually quit playing because of this and that’s really sad.
As for new bands, it’s hard to say for me personally, because I’ve been pretty busy lately and can’t really tell you what’s going on with new the blood here. Sorry, but I’m probably not that big a help in this. I always recommend Made Of Hate as a nice band to stick with, though!! Ha! Ha! Ha!
We first heard of you guys here in the UK when Iron Maiden frontman Bruce Dickinson played your track ‘On The Edge’ on his radio show. How did it feel knowing that such a prestigious icon of the metal world was a fan of Made Of Hate?
That was just an unbelievable and breathtaking feeling! I remember that I got a call from my friend when I was at the bakery. He told me that that had happened (Bruce playing us and creaming over Made Of Hate!!) and I completely forgot what I was there for. I couldn’t believe 
it, and even now, it’s a really intense moment to recall. I felt so awesome that day – like a football player, who, all of the sudden gets a nice comment about your skills from someone like, Maradona. An unforgettable feeling, I tell you.
Keeping on the subject of Bruce’s Rock Show, I bet it was a huge surprise to yourselves that so many of Bruce’s listeners requested to hear more of the band? (This resulted in Bruce playing ‘Bullet In Your Head’ from your debut album didn’t it?)
You bet! It was like winning the lottery a second time in a row! Once you suddenly get the first prize, you can’t believe that; but you get another right after the first one? I remember my reaction; “you gotta be kidding me, right?”
But it wasn’t a joke, hoax or whatever. That was true; people really stood up and expressed a love for Made Of Hate after Brice Dickinson had played the songs, and that was something that tore me inside and made me feel so happy. I remember; I wrote a note to Bruce and just before playing “Bullet In Your Head”, he read that out on air! You know, I remember that I was so shocked, that I almost missed the song? I think that that moment, with Bruce Dickinson, was one of the most intense and emotional parts of my life! I’m inspired by it every day.
So how did it feel going from playing smaller club style venues to suddenly opening up for Iron Maiden at the 30,000 capacity Gwerdia Stadium in Warsaw, which you did soon after?
Oh, It felt just great! Once we got on stage, I just walked right to the edge of it and raised my fist up in the air. It was like being in a dream! At the same time, people followed my lead and we received a wonderful ovation! That was like a dream come true and yet another unforgettable moment in my life. That crowd, this huge stage and this particular day; it’s just outstanding! Definitely one of the best days of our lives.
Were you already fans of Iron Maiden prior to receiving your invite to open for the band?
Of course! When I was like 10 or something, I already had records by Iron Maiden. Then, whilst practising guitar, I was always playing songs by this band….. They have had a huge impact on the music I play today. As you can imagine, it was even nicer to be called by them and to support their show??
Growing up in Poland, did you get to see as many major Metal acts playing in your country, as you would have liked to?
Well, in the early days, when I was growing up, probably not; there weren’t too many major metal shows back then; I think I saw Metallica for the first time when I was 13…, which is pretty damn late. I didn’t see many shows…. But the situation really changed here after the year 2000. Some top bands visited Poland right about then and they seem to keep on coming back, which is good. Like this year; we’ve had that incredible ‘Big Four’ thing – I’ve seen; Metallica, Megadeth, Anthrax, Slayer, AC/DC and Dimmu Borgir… That certainly wasn’t possible back in the early days.
Who would you say were your musical influences whilst growing up? You mentioned Maiden, as just one!
Yes, but definitely Metallica and The Great Kat along with Judas Priest and, Malmsteen. Except the last one, all were bands my older brother used to listen to. He kind of 
“indoctrinated” me into metal, staring when I was a very small kid. I listened to what he listened to, basically. My first records were AC/DC “Live!”; then there was Scorpions “Blackout”, before it all started to get heavier and heavier as I was growing up.
Whilst researching Made of Hate on the web I discovered that there were a few fans from your former days as Archeon who didn’t approve of the name change. Why did you decide to re-name the band, and do you believe you’d made the right decision?
Yes… That decision had to be made. Archeon was our first attempt to do metal and we had some issues inside the band. Some people left, some things were about to change, and there was no other way to resolve it, despite what some thought, than to start a new band.
As we made that step, all the problems and questions disappeared, and we were free to do what we wanted. People sometimes stick to an old name, but, just for the record; even Lamb Of God released a few albums as ‘Burn The Priest’ and they had the same discussions – the old name vs. the new name, didn’t they? At the end of the day, it’s not about the name, but the music you want to make.
Mike you are a guitarist that has been described as a ‘Virtuoso’. How does it feel being tagged with such a label that is also shared by the likes of Yngwie Malmstein, Alex Rudi Pell, Eddie Van Halen etc…?
I feel immensely happy and privileged to hear that my playing is valued so highly, but I honestly believe that those names you mentioned, are far beyond my reach, and I’m aware that there is so much for me to work on before I even claim to be close to those guys!! I pay attention to detail and I always give of my best on the guitar, but to reach the heights those people have achieved…..? Well, it’s really cool that some people like it so much and appreciate my playing. No labels needed; they flatter me! But I try to keep my feet on the ground and do my job, a job I’m really in love with.
What other music/bands influence Made Of Hate that may surprise some of your fans?
As for metal acts, I would say that one of the influences for me has always been Dimmu Borgir, but that might not be a surprise to people who know us! Other surprises? (Or not; I don’t know? Ha! Ha!); but music that has always been a huge influence, is classical; in the works of 
Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Vivaldi…, generally the Baroque, Classic and Romantic composers. This music is beyond any classification; you could honestly call it the ‘metal’ or ‘rock’ of its day? It’s a treasury of sounds and ideas. With all respect to musicians of today, those composers were in a different league as far as ‘genius’ is measured, compared to music nowadays.
Going back to one of my opening questions, and referring to the listeners of the Bruce Dickinson show; obviously there are many fans of Made Of Hate residing in the UK. Any plans on playing any gigs here any time soon?
You know, we would love to hit the UK as soon as possible, but it’s all about proper preparation. We are dealing right now with some people who hope to make a proper, full tour across Europe happen; it’s definitely time with “Pathogen”, which is a really strong step forward for the band, but it has to be the right time. We know that there are many people in the UK who are waiting for us to come and we hope to pay them a visit! One thing is sure; we will play in UK one day; it’s just a matter of time. Let’s just keep our fingers crossed for this. If everything goes our way, we will play a string of shows in the upcoming months and you never know where that will lead?
And finally something a little different to finish off. If you were marooned on a desert island as a band, what five things would you want to be with you to help keep Made Of Hate sane and happy until you were rescued?
One thing, and the most important, definitely would be our instruments; without my guitar, I’m sick and lifeless, basically. Then, second would be girls!! The guys are all engaged and I would just want to take some cool girls to play around, maybe, ha! ha!” “Third; alcohol – even though we probably don’t drink too much, we would definitely make use of some whiskey. Fourth, would be football, because we all love to play it. Tomek, our drummer, is a born goalkeeper 
and I’m a wing/centre forward. Fifth, and last thing, would be probably a TV set with DVD player – with our all time favourite film “Miś”, a classic Polish comedy about the absurd state of our late political system? I think that mix of things would keep us sane and happy until we were saved.
Thanks again for taking the time to talk with us guys; we wish you every success with ‘Pathogen’.
Thank you very much and it was a pleasure to answer your questions! Remember us, we will come around soon! With the subtle change that has been made on “Pathogen” – that of Radek, who was a guitar player, now singing, ‘Pathogen’ is an important step for us and I hope people will give it a listen!! Stay metal! Best wishes from Made Of Hate.
Cheers!!
I by now you’re still wondering what I’m raving on about, then check out my album review for ‘Pathogen’ here, and why not also visit the band’s official Myspace (the link is below) to ensure you have the perfect soundtrack to accompany your reading.
Before I round things off I’d just like to say a big “thank you” to Mike Kostrzyński for being such a top guy (as well as fantastic songwriter and guitarist) and making this interview so easy.
Now get over to the Made of Hate’s website and check them out.