Today the Not Just A Phase spotlight is on a poppy, horror-punk band that started in a small town in Poland called Busko-Zdrój. Seks W Czasach Wojny are a group of young punks looking to be the change they want to see in the Polish music scene. Members are now spread throughout Poland in Warszawa, Kraków, and Wrocław creating a unique recording experience for this debut.

The band has been busy creating a more expansive and inclusive scene with their DIY ethos and infectious hooks through songs that command compulsory sing alongs that I would join in on, if I could speak any polish what so ever (I absolutely cannot).

Wearing their influences on their sleeves you can hear a pop-punk sound that’s twisted with the horror vibes you’d find from early AFI, The Misfits, and My Chemical Romance. Their self titled album has so much to discover if you want something that’s just as catchy and fun as it is spooky. The song that we’re discussing today was inspired by a the lyrics of a song written in the 1920s and it’s basically about heart break. Fun fact: “it uses some old Polish words that are considered funny today.”

“This release was a lot of fun and we experimented a bit, it was the first song that we did fully remotely and gave us some new perspectives on song writing. We did some dumb unnecessary stuff like two guitar solos and a short breakdown, it was just cool to record it,” the band writes. It’s an interesting concept and tribute, one that pays homage to a historical figure in spirit and ethos rather than a note-for-note cover song. “It’s a part of a tribute album and the idea of that release was to celebrate the art of Mieczysław Fogg by making it ‘new/fresh/modern’ and to be honest we’ve just put such much of our soul into it this release that we don’t feel it’s a cover, if it makes any sense”.

Their guitarist Karol tells us of their agenda for 2025 and the actions they’re taking to make the changes they want to see for the future of their music scenes..

CAN YOU GIVE US SOME DETAILS ON YOUR RECORDING PROCESS?

“We always do it with our friend Jonasz Gubera, who is also a popular underground pop punk figure in Poland. He’s our producer and the recording process is really loose, we recorded live drums at No Stress Studio in Warsaw, then guitars are recorded with tonex (first album was done with live amplifiers though). Vocals are registered with dynamic microphones.”

WHAT WAS THE WRITING PROCESS FOR THIS RELEASE?

“The backbone of ‘Rym do łzy (kiedy będziesz zakochany)’ was written by Karol and Paweł on bass and guitar, Kuba later programmed some drums, Dorian added second guitar and Wiktoria together with Karol came up with vocals. In general new songs are written remotely and we meet together to learn how to play those songs live.”

SO WHAT’S NEXT FOR THE BAND NOW?

“I feel like we just want to make music and play shows in bigger venues. The main goal that we had was knowing that people actually like our stuff and are going to our concerts, and of course that goal is achieved. We would like to play support for any “famous” bands that we like, for example My Chemical Romance, Destroy Boys, julie, etc. Our band is happy and grateful for having this opportunity to play gigs and make songs for people that listen to our music.”

“THE MAIN THING THAT WE WANT TO SHARE WITH PEOPLE IS THE DIY CONCEPT. WE WOULD LIKE TO SHOW OTHER YOUNG PEOPLE THAT YOU CAN MAKE MUSIC ON YOUR OWN.

WE FOCUS ON BEING OURSELVES AND WE MAKE MUSIC ABOUT OUR LIVES, EXPIERIENCES, EMOTIONS AND INTERESTS. WE DISPLAY THESE THEMES IN OUR SONGS AND LYRICS THROUGH A HORROR THEMED LENSE”.

- WIKTORIA, @SEKS_WCZASACHWOJNY

ANY SHOWS OR TOURS COMING UP?

07.06 Szczecin, PL

04.07 Wrocław, PL

08.08 Bielsko Biała, PL

09.08 Kraków, PL

15.08 Povazska Bystrica, SK

16.08 Bratislava, SK

12.09 Warszawa, PL

13.09 Bydgoszcz, PL

ANY CLOSING WORDS FOR OUR READERS?

“We want to create a safe space for young people and show them that they don’t need old generation approval to do things, diy or die lol. In Poland all kinds of alternative people get a lot of hate, even in old-head punk/hardcore/metal communities. We (by “we” I mean young people) are creating a new scene detached from those old guys, they never reached out to us to do some shows together and stuff, we were always ignored, we and other young bands do everything from the scratch – we are building our own scene.

Old generations don’t let young generations reach the broader audience, the same old bands are playing big clubs since 90s and they never invite new acts. You have to take things in your own hands, don’t be afraid to start a band and don’t be afraid to do stuff on your own.”

The original song that the lyrics were derived from can be found here, and you might be asking yourself the old polish saying ‘co ma piernik do wiatraka?’ which loosely translates to ‘What does gingerbread have to do with a windmill? And I have no fucking idea but the lyrics of the original song have inspired a very creative homage and Seks W Czasach have set out to inspire young punks of their scene and the world around them to start new bands, make new music, and create the change you desire in this world and that’s what this whole damn thing is supposed to be about isn’t it?