Robert „Wolf” Wiśniewski – the vocalist and bassist of SCARECROW from the city of Bydgoszcz, tells us about the beginnings and stormy career of this ephemeral underground Polish band.
He talks also about his feelings towards Polish Radio and explains how real releasing of SCARECROW`s stuff on vinyl through American Nuclear War Now! Productions actually is.



Hi Robert! First off, tell us all about how you got into music in general (doesn’t have to be metal only)…Give us some examples that impressed you in those old times.

Hi Wojtek! I listened to THE BEATLES, CZERWONE GITARY (laughing). No kidding. BONEY M... really! Later, when I got older, like 12 years old, I got to listen to BLACK SABBATH and AC/DC and just went crazy. That was awesome and that was my music!

The first band you ever saw live? Whatyear was it?

I think it was TSA in 1982, or 1983. I will never forget this show. Andrzej Nowak`s and Stefan Machela`s long hair – it was beautiful. Poland`sfirst metal band.

Any local bands in Bydgoszcz back in the 80s? It was you guys, MORGOTH, FATUM and LORD VADER. Anyotherbands?

There were plenty of bands in Bydgoszcz at the time: LETARG, KATHARSIS, DYNAMICA, WYROK, FATUM, MORGOTH, and SORROW. All the bands used to compete with others back then. And we used to drink together and play at local gigs as well.

Before SCARECROW was formed, had you played in any other band?

The first band was LETARG – Chudy was a guitarist there. Later KATHARSIS…SCARECROW, with Chudy again.

How did you form SCARECROW in September 1987?

WhenI transferred from LETARG to KATHARSIS – well, it was still a metal band, but I wanted to play sharper music. The drummer – Mefistowas of the same opinion. KATHARIS, because of us, started to play thrash – but it was not enough. After I left, Chudywas offered to play in LORD VADER,so it looked like that: me in KATHRASIS,and he in LORD VADER. We lived in the same block of flats –next to each other. We had known each other since we were 6 years old. We always played together. LORD VADER was ok, but it wasn’t enough for us. So we started SCARECROW – it was total freedom and hell – we didn’t have to play in this band but we DID want to play in this band. We wanted to fucking play, yell and fucking play again. KATHARSIS split up, and so Jimmas (LORD VADER`s second guitarist) went to see us rehearse and finally joined us.

Tell me who came up with the band`s name? Who was responsible for the band`s awesome logo?

It was me and Chudy. The logo was made by a friend from MORBID TALES. It was another metal band from Bydgoszcz, I forgot to mention them before. At first there was some skull in the logo, but Mefisto changed it a little bit, so it looks the way it does.

How many gigs did SCARECROW play in the 80s? How do you like S'THRASH'YDLO and THRASHFEST?  You have any VHS recordings of these live shows?

Thereweren’t toomany gigs. And many were actually cancelled. Well, in general, it was like this: brutal music and a guy responsible for the sound who don’t know your tracks = shit. I didn’t like these big fests. OnThrashfestwe played as the first band, ha-ha. A sunny and bright day – three hooded cunts are playing; what comes from the stage is, when compared to disco BOYS, a killing machine. Strashydlo – we played as the last, or second to last band. There were, like what, maybe three guys left or so watching us. We were totally unlucky back then. I have some VHS recordings of these gigs. These are for my grandkids so they can get to know what passion their grandpa had.

Mugging was kind of normal at the time, during the gigs back then. Any special melee you remember and want to share with us?

Mugging. Well, personally Inever was mugged but I still remember when we were on our way to Spodek to see some bands play live, and my friend`s girlfriend lost her leatherjacket. Damn man, it was pure carnage there back then. Running with pepper spray on train, some violence – but no leather jacket. It simplydisappeared.

Are you still in touch with the guys from the old line-up? Chudy, Tomaszek, Jimas, Mefisto. What`re they up to?

Not toooften. We talk to each other now and then, but it is all different. We all are parents; got to work to feed them.

Ok, how do you, nowadays, see “DeoOptimo Maximo,” and the recording session in the Polish Radio Studio?

I think that the DOM stuff is very good. SCARECROW with Jimmas and Mefisto was heavily influenced by KREATOR, SLAYER – no fireworks, one knew what was going to happen next. SCARECROW as a three piece band was shaped differently. It was our music in 90%, ha-ha. The remaining 10 per cent were some other influences.
Well, when it comes to realization – it was just fucked up. The drums are not listenable, only the snare drum is present. The guitar is totally flat. The guy responsible for the sound erased the Chudy`s guitar at the end of the first track. The first four tracks are sound-wise different from the remaining three – this guy mixed the stuff by installments and didn’t remember the initial parameters. There is no power in this stuff nor good sound. It istotallyfucked up.

In 1988 you took partin theMetalmania Metal Fest`s audition. How did it go?

Theauditionwent really good. Plenty of great bands. I think we did ok. We did sound ok I guess, but who cares, huh! Ha-ha. It was just for fun, as the roaster had been readied before, that’s for sure.

Your promotor was Steve (RIP) from Szczecin. Howdid the mutual cooperation look like? Good? You can estimate how many copies of your demo got sold?
Steve was awesome. We lost our contact when SCARECROW split up, but I am still grateful for his support.
It was you who told me about his death. I was deeply shocked. He was part of the SCARECROW`s old times. He did so much for us. Such a pity. No idea how many tapes sold. Never asked him about it. It didn’t matter at all.

You guys had a very extraordinary image at the time. Where did these ideas come from? Hoods, skulls, crosses. Where did you get them to take these pictures?

Ha-ha, you know, a covered face means anonymity. With a hooded face you can do anything you feel like to. I wanted SCARECROW to be totally inhuman. I wanted people to associate our name with hooded guys. We borrowedall the stuff from friends.

Your lyrics were sharp, very sharp. Who was the author?

I did them, except for Scarecrow.

The reason you split up? I talked about the second demo in Dethroner zine. What went wrong?

Well, SCARECROW split up becauseChudylost his heart to playing music. These shitty gigs cut his wings. We had songs ready for our second demo: „Ciemność”, „Najpierwbyłwiatr”, „Schizo”, „Nicnietrwawiecznie”, „Światświń”. Wedidn’t know where to record these tracks so they look all right. Pity, becausethese tracks were really good.

When SCARECROW split up, you formed INDULGENCE. Did you partake in recording the band`s only tape, “Embodiment to Evil”?

When Chudy left, we decided to split up. The reason was there was no other guy in town who could play in such a specific way as he did. Me and Tomekstarted INDULGENCE. Fred from MORGOTH joined us, as well as Marek Markiewicz(RIP). We recorded “Embodiment of Evil” – guess where? In the same fucking radio studio where we`d recorded D.O.M., with the same sound engineer! For fuck`s sake. This demo had the SCARECROW`s tracks I talked about before, and which were supposed to be put on demo II.
INDULGENCE`s line up was back then as follows: Robert ''Max" Wiśniewski – bass, Tomasz "Tomaszek'' Kośmider – drums, Marek Markiewicz – guit, Radosław „Fred” Giżyński – guit, Krzysztof ''Fik'' Ledworski – voc. As you can see “Wolf” died together with SCARECROW, ha-ha.

Finally, if possible, tell us how likely is it to release SCARECROW`s stuff on vinyl through Nuclear War Now from the USA?

Tomaszek knows the right people, haha – in this fucking Polish Radio. If the master tape (a reel to reel audio tape actually) is still in working condition (it`s 26 years old) – well, there will be some re-edition then!
Thanx! Hope the reel to reel audio tape is still in good conditio!
Thank you for the interview. It was nice to talk about old times.

Wojtek Lis
Robert „Wolf” Wiśniewski – SCARECROW.