Sautrus is a heavy tuned psychedelic/stoner band from Northern Poland formed in 2010. Since forming in 2010, Sautrus have released ‘Kuelmaggah mysticism’ EP in 2012, ‘Reed: Chapter One’ LP in 2014 and ‘Anthony Hill’ LP in 2017. They have a brand new album out entitled ‘M.A.P.’,

Sautrus is:
Weno Winter – Vocals
Michał Nowak – Guitar
Krystian Papiernik – Bass
Arek Wądołowski – Drums

Who’s in Sautrus and what do you all play? Have you all made any changes to the lineup since you started or is this the original lineup?

Sautrus has been formed by Weno Winter and Michał Nowak, and they are the only original members of the band since the very beginning. Lineup of the band was changing throughout the years and every album was recorded with different rhythm section. For now, the lineup is stable and complete – we’ve done a full length album together, of which we are really satisfied.

What do you consider to be your first real exposure to music?

It is a really subjective matter for each one of us and it would take many paragraphs, if we’d really like to describe it individually. But answering this question from the band’s perspective, I think all of us would agree – exposure to a bigger audience and experiencing the music with people. Simply – playing live gigs. The very first serious instance of such an event was surely the ‘Red Smoke Festival’, where we had the opportunity to perform live our first album ‘Reed: Chapter One’ for bigger audience and to have some real feedback from it. It is worth mentioning here, that the first festival gig with our current lineup was also not an usual experience- in August of this year we gave our first live show together in really beautiful circumstances, surrounded by mountains during ‘Mountain Jam Generator Party’. That was truly magical and due to global situation – a really important event for us.

When and how did you all originally meet?

As I mentioned, only Michał and Weno are original members. After we recorded ‘Anthony Hill’ album our paths with the rhythm section of that time parted. Sautrus has been disbanded for a while as a band, but we were still composing songs and working in studio. Although there are many excellent musicians in our area, it wasn’t easy for them to fit in the same style and build a connection that will combine similar influences. We were looking among the bands in Gdańsk and the first guy we found was the drummer – Arek. That was the turning point, we decided to put the band together and form a core. It took us some time before we’ve found proper bassist, but we’ve managed to find Krystian. At the moment we are finishing the release of our new album and we hope to run things as soon as it possible.

What does the name “Sautrus” refer to?

‘Sautrus’ is the word taken from far eastern philosophy of ‘Pure Hesitentia’. It means “The Man who came from the south and combined with north”. In simple words, it describes the idea of ‘difference’ and ‘non-difference’ residing inside of individual human spirit and the wholeness of being. Practically, it is an eternal idea of conflict of choices between ‘Ketchup’ and ‘Mayo’ on french fries, while the ‘Potato’ and ‘Salt’ are always present constant forces of nature.

Can you share some further details about ‘Anthony Hill’?

‘Anthony Hill’ was recorded in now defunct “SGP” Studio in Gdynia. Recording, all mixes and mastering was done by Jan Galbas. ‘Anthony Hill’ was released by Pink Tank Records from Hamburg and it came out digitally, on CD and vinyl.

Most of the album was prepared earlier, in our rehearsal room, before we hit the studio. Recording sessions took five days, during which we were looking for some new ideas and sounds. We invited several musicians from other bands to pull in some inspiration. That was a really refreshing experience for us. Artwork for this album was made by Daniel Chyliński, with whom we are also working for the new album artworks and a videoclip.

How would you compare it to your debut, ‘Reed: Chapter One’?

These two albums are really different both in sound and composition. We were much younger and less experienced when we were recording ‘Reed: Chapter One’, but I think there was some kind of naivety and energy which compensated our lack of musical experience. Certainly it was more spontaneous. On the other hand, ‘Anthony Hill’ is a much thought-out album, much better composed and took much more time to finalize. The sound on that album is much more professional than on previous album ‘Reed’ (which also was realized by Jan Galbas), but in exchange for better compositions it lost a little bit of its spontaneity. I think it’s just a matter of taste, or mood or whatever. The next album will also be different from the previous ones – I hope that it will combine the vibes of ‘Reed’ and ‘Anthony’ into one.

“We’d really like to describe our sound as full of emotions”

<a href="https://sautrus.bandcamp.com/album/m-a-p">M.A.P. by SautruS</a>

How would you describe your sound?

Sometimes it is a full-on blasting metal sound, sometimes it is sweet and melodic and there are moments that are pulsating and noisy. Mostly overdriven and sharp, influenced with hard rock and metal, but we also try to find more delicate ways to express. We constantly try to change our sound, by honing our skills, exploring and looking for new solutions. We’d really like to describe our sound as full of emotions, but we should leave this for the listeners.

Let’s end this interview with some of your favorite albums. Have you found something new lately you would like to recommend to our readers?

Krystian:
Billie Eilish – ‘When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go’
Joji – ‘Ballads 1’

Arek:
The Ocean – ‘Phanerozoic II: Mesozoic | Cenozoic’
The Pineapple Thief – ‘The Versions of the Truth’
Gustavo Santaolalla ‎- ‘The Last Of Us: Original Score – Volume II’

Michał:
YOB – ‘Our Raw Hearts’
Nick Cave – ‘Ghosteen’

Weno:
Ulver – ‘Flowers of Evil’
Kate Bush – ‘Lionheart’
Genesis – ‘The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway’