Fading Colours

Well, everything started in 1986 in Boleslawiec, Poland (near Jelenia Gora). Brothers Leszek and Krzysztof Rakowski, together with Piotr Jerominow and Pawel Nowak, created the band "Bruno The Questionable." The name was taken from the movie "Jabberwocky" by Monty Python. The music was like American hard core - dark and heavy. In 1988, after two years of hard work, the band debuted at the most important Polish rock festivals - at "Jarocin ' 88," "Out Of Control (Warsaw)," and "New Stage (Gdynia).

They won them all! At Jarocin, they took the 'price of public' prize, and the possibility to record three songs for "Polish Scout Radio." It helped them to debut on the media circuit. They then became frequent guests at Polish rock festivals. Additionally, at the same time, the compilation Jarocin 88" was out. On this compilation were some songs from Bruno The Questionable.
A peculiar promotion started when the band decided to record with their own money in a professional studio. The song "Don't Tell Me", which became the first big hit of "Bruno?" came from these sessions.

Soon after, some changes were made. Leszek Rakowski started studying at the High Pedagogical School in Zielona Gora. He spent one evening at a philharmonic concert - listening to the classical academic choir. It wouldn't be so important for the band if had not seen a female singer with a wonderful voice. After the show, Leszek found her, and after a short conversation, asked if she would like to sing in a rock group. Kasia Ziemek said 'yes' and started ground work with "Bruno ...".

In 1992, an independent German label SPV started in Poland. One of bands which were 'signed,' along with the likes of Closterkeller and Agressiva 69, was "Bruno The Questionable".
The album from this contract was "Black Horse", which has 10 songs and was produced by Daniel Kleczynski - well known on the Polish techno stage ("Trumpets And Drums", Freenternetry, Gagarin 108 ). On this first album, we could see their unique style and their dark atmosphere within the context of the music

1993 was a turning point. The album "Black Horse" was out, and De Coy and Leszek were married. After the release, the premiere song "Black Horse" became "number one" on many radio and TV stations. The doors to fame were open.
Bruno The Questionable was a frequent guest on the radio, and there were also many interviews and reviews in the press. Some reviewers were saying that music of the band is nothing new, it sounds like Sisters of Mercy or U2. Some of the reviewers though were enchanted with the talent and the freshness of the band.
At that moment, De Coy joined that group of "most-important-Polish-rock vocalists".

In 1993, legendary gothic band Love Like Blood came to Poland. They played a concert in Warsaw, and Bruno the Questionable was the opening-night band. Love Like Blood liked the music of 'Bruno...' so much, that Gunnar Eysell, took a cassette of 'Black Horse' to Germany to show it to some people from the music line.
They were not waiting too long for an answer. Some European music labels were interested in music of the band. The best proposals came from Nuclear Blast and Dion Fortune Records. Previously, Nuclear Blast wanted them to sign the contract, but finally Dion Fortune Records became the publisher of 'Bruno...', maybe because they proposed best clauses.
At the moment there were other changes in the band. Artur Przybylak left the band, and Slawek Kwiatkowski was replaced with Tytus de Ville - the guitar player and leader of the most cultivated Polish gothic band Pornografia.
With help from Gunnar Eysell, Bruno The Questionable went to Impulse TonStudio in Hamburg (Love Like Blood recorded their "Odyssey" album) in the helpful hands of Jean Pierre (producer of Love Like Blood and Lacrimosa). During their time there, they mixed all the material and record a few new songs. As they said in later reviews - this new sound of 'Bruno...' was what they had always wanted ...

And now everything was ready for publishing. There was only one more condition of Dion Fortune, they wanted to change the name of Bruno The Questionable. It was not commercial and difficult to say, so the new name chosen was Fading Colours. The world premiere of album was scheduled for spring 1995...

The Polish edition of the cassette "Black Horse" was out January 1995. It was released at the same time the single "Lie" was out in the rest of Europe. The music from this album was very original for a Polish rock band. The hard sound of guitars joined with the atmospheric melodies of the keyboards and the perfect vocal of De Coy.
The single "Lie" soon stepped onto the top of play-lists on many European radio stations. The CD "Black Horse" was out in the late spring of 1995. The wait for public response then begun.
Soon, many good reviews appeared and voiced of the cd's delights. Many music magazines from all over the world were writing about Fading Colours. For example, "Sonic Seducer", "Drowning News", "Back Again", "Intro", "Side Line", reviewers of "Neuro Style" gave "Black Horse" 8 of 10 points, magazine "Doom Rock" called "Black Horse" debut of the month - same as German "Zillo" and French "Dark World". One of the Spanish music magazines reckoned "Black Horse" among the ten best rock albums of the past five years.
At this time, there was another important event for De Coy and Leszek - their son Filip was born.

Autumn 1995 was very 'industrious' for Fading Colours. At the end of August, they played a concert on the German rock festival Pop Komm. It was the first opportunity to introduce the band to such a big audience. During the same month, they were the main stars of the Polish prioritic gothic festival "Castle Party" in Grodziec. They previously had a really hot public reaction there while being a support band to "Psyche".
Few weeks later came time for the European tour side by side with Garden Of Delight.

In 1996, the band (a trio: De Coy, Leszek Rakowski & Krzysztof Rakowski ) stepped again into studio to record material for a new album. They chose a new kind of music and a new way of releasing these ideals. It didn't have anything in common with the album "Black Horse". A few of these songs arose before the recording of the debut album - previously created for a solo album of De Coy - which, unfortunately, has never been released. The rest of the new material was a voice of their new fascinations. De Coy avowed that she used to be a frequent guest at techno-parties, and this music - which contains such big energy - enchanted her. All the material for the EP "Time" was recorded in Poland and mastered in Germany with the help of Andreas Bruhn - author of the music for two versions of "Lie", Darrin Huss - a second vocal in the track "Time," and Daniel Kleczy?ski responsible for remixes of a few tracks..

The EP "Time" was out in the spring of 96 - one year after the premiere of the debut album. Many people were surprised from its sound when it appeared in shops. The band was also afraid of being unaccepted in this new format, but the reaction of the fans was just as spontaneous as it was for the first album. At the end of the summer of 96, Fading Colours played a wonderful concert at "Castle Party" in Grodziec, with such known Polish bands as Artrosis and Closterkeller. In November, the band was a guest at the European controversial goth festival "The Carnival Of Souls" in England. After this gig, they played a lot of concerts in Germany and U.K. until spring '97.

In between this time, Fading Colours were featured on a few compilations. They recorded their own version of Depeche's Mode's "Clean." The track "Spring" was used for the compilation "Dive Ex Machina" - a presentation of the best, female-lead gothic 'n' wave groups.

In January 1997, Leszek Rakowski and Daniel Kleczynski created their production company "Deep Space Productions" (they are also both members of another techno-trance group - Mesmerisa), which have produced other Polish techno bands. Their first album was compilation "Hipnotic Drum'n'Bass" published in July.
Also in July of 1997, there appeared rumours of a new Fading Colours album.

Work on new album started in the spring of 1997. The band decided to record this album with their own equipment, with the help of only a few friends. The vocals of De Coy were recorded at SPAART studio in PL, and the rest of the music was made with synthesizers, sequencers and computers. Andreas Bruhn helped them with the song "In This Garden Of Mine", and Anne Clark, who is an old friend of the band appeared on track "Eveline." The co-author of the lyrics for this song was Tomasz Beksinski.
The new album "I'm Scared Of..." was out in March 1998. Response for this album was immediate. One of the most important music magazines in Germany, "Zillo" called "I'm Scared Of..." - "Talent Of The Month" and made extra promotion for the band. Additionally, the World of Music decided to promote the album in its shops, and it was placed on separate shelf with the possibility to hear it before buying.
In April, the band played few concerts at the "Dion Fortune Spring Festival" in Germany. They were invited to play at "ZeitGeist Festival" in U.K. and to "Castle Party '98" in Poland during the summer.
The spring of 1998 brought another "Castle Party" (It's sixth edition!). This fest is now the biggest gothic-darkwave fest in mid Europe. The bands at the fest this time were: Attrition (UK), Inkubus Sukkubus (UK), Fading Colours, Closterkeller, Artrosis, Aion, God's Own Medicine, T.R.H., P.Vampire (USA) and contest bands. It was the 10th anniversary of Closterkeller, and they have made it big!
Fading Colours played on the second day, before Closterkeller. De Coy, Leszek and Krzysiek appeared against a techno, fluoro-background, between and within the flashes of stroboscope lights. De Coy looked and sang stunningly. Those who didn't see the gig - shall regret it! They started with "Lorelei", then in turn "Enchanted", "Clean", "Hypocrisy", later "Time", "Lie" and then a total shock - 2 pieces from the "Black Horse" album - "Colours" and the title song - both in completely changed, electrified, very danceable versions. At the end, they played "Eveline," whose original was performed with Anne Clark on the "I'm Scared Of..." album...

Traditionally, the year 1999 brought us another great performance at "Castle Party" and an announcement of a new album - scheduled for release somewhen in the 2002...