Krystof Dobrek resists stylistic labels for his musical creations, not wanting to set restrictions or parameters for himself or for others.
Well, we'll abide by his wishes, and invite listeners to experience for themselves the music composed by this charismatic bandleader and accordion player, Krysztof Dobrek of the Dobrek Bistro [a small tavern with good food and no dress code].
ET: When did you start making music?
Dobrek: From the day I was born. I've never done anything else. I began to earn money with my music from the age of 14. I have earned my living making music for 26 years.
I grew up in the south of Poland, at the edge of a desert. It was truly like living behind the moon—between Krakow and Katowice.
ET: When did you move to Austria?
Dobrek: I immigrated to Austria in 1990. It actually was one of those quick decisions.
One Tuesday evening I heard on the news that beginning the next Thursday night, Polish citizens had to apply for a visa if they wanted to go to Austria. At the time, West Berlin no longer existed as a separate city [in the midst of communist East Germany]. Austria had been the last country people could visit without a visa.
I bought my train ticket on Wednesday morning and came to Vienna on the last day one could travel to Austria without obtaining a visa.
ET: What did you experience in Vienna? Was it a difficult adjustment?
Dobrek: I think that one can take such a step only at a certain age. I had with me 15 Euros [$23.60]. That wasn't enough to pay for a room. But, on this last night before visas were required, 17,000 Poles immigrated to Vienna. So even if one had money, there were no beds to be found.
For three weeks I slept on the floor wherever I could find a spot. After that, I had enough money to rent a bed for two weeks in a room for five people.
ET: How did you manage this?
Dobrek: Many Polish people returned home. If you had arrived on Sept. 5, you were allowed to stay for three months. During those months, people tried to adjust to life in Vienna. But there were too many people and not enough jobs. So after a while, not many Poles were left.
I started out as a street musician on Kaerntner Street [a famous shopping area in Vienna] the first day I arrived. I supported myself this way for six years. One could say that I earned my living like this for six winters. Street musicians count time like the old Indians.
ET: What is the life of a street musician like?
Dobrek: It's hard work—always on the street ready to play as thousands of people pass by. But you don't have any rights, and you have to stay healthy since you don't have insurance.
ET: How can one leave the life of a street musician and move on?
Dobrek: I got to know many musicians in Vienna—mainly students. One day, the band Landstreich [the joke of the land] needed two more people and someone recommended me. I played with that band from 1996 to 2004. In 2003, we won the Salzburger Stier award [granted annually since 1982 and awarded by German and Austrian radio stations]. The Dobrek Bistro was established at that time.
ET: Did you study classical music?
Dobrek: I took classes at a number of music schools, but the school I'll graduate from hasn't been discovered yet. I studied music, but only as long as a particular style of music could hold my interest.
I began playing the accordion when I was 13 and later changed to the bassoon. I didn't touch the accordion for about eight or nine years after the age of 13. At the time I was interested in classical music and had decided that this would be my vocation. I began playing the accordion again in Vienna.
ET: Do you have any music role models?
Dobrek: Many! The first one was a gypsy street musician in Krakow. I spend hours listening to him and later played with him. He's a legend in Krakow—a violinist who had to relearn how to play the violin following an illness. He had to hold the violin like a cello—yet he was fantastic.
When I hear something, I'm a very active listener. I may begin with Vivaldi and then transition to a Romanian wedding march.
ET: How did the Dobrek Bistro get started?
Dobrek: I was asked to arrange the activities for the first Accordion Evening Festival, and agreed to do this for one evening. I wanted to involve others and was given the liberty to bring in anyone I wanted. That's how the Dobrek Bistro got started. First I got the band together. I came up with the name about five months later.
ET: Aren't you also a fan of classical music?
Dobrek: Yes, I love classical music. I'm also a fan of folk music, including my own folk music. And I love the music of the '70s. I especially like the music of Chopin. This is the music I was exposed to as a child. If a party official died, no one was allowed to play any music for three days, and one could only listen to Chopin.
ET: Being raised during the communist period, what type of music was one allowed to play?
Dobrek: Classical music was allowed, but there was a problem with playing jazz in the '50s. If I remember correctly, jazz was forbidden until 1954. Anyone caught listening to jazz was given a prison sentence.
After 1954, it was allowed again, but every jazz musician had to be registered with the police. Just being a jazz musician meant that you would be monitored by the police. That's why jazz was so highly regarded in Poland.
America is still considered the "suburb of heaven." This is really true. Many people identified with jazz music because it was a way to protest against communism.
ET: What else would you like to include in your repertoire going forward—are you interested in Chinese music?
Dobrek: I belonged to a flat-sharing community with a group of Chinese musicians for four years. They sang classical pieces, and it was almost impossible to learn anything about Chinese classical folk music from them. They were fixed on playing or talking about Mozart.
There are about 20,000 to 30,000 Chinese people in Vienna, but they don't participate in the music scene.
ET: In the Asian communities, music is generally connected with spirituality. Do you have any thoughts about that?
Dobrek: The healing powers of music were taught in ancient Greece, as well as the magical powers of music, and so on. This is something that was obliterated in the middle ages.
During the times when the church was all-powerful, such thoughts about music were forbidden. Then, during the Renaissance such ideas developed again among the people, especially as people wanted to distance themselves from religion.
If one studies ancient schools of thought, music, as well as mathematics and astrology, were always part of human thoughts. One can see it from the music by Pythagoras—his scales had a healing component, and musical instruments could elicit this or that.
Background
Krzysztof Dobrek was raised on the Blodowsak desert, located in Central Europe. He played the accordion from the age of 7. At the age of 13, he left home and went to Krakow where he learned to play a bassoon [a reed instrument with a lower sound than other woodwinds]. In 1990, Dobrek left Poland and moved to Vienna, Austria. After a few years working as a street musician, his career took off.
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