There are texts that you are afraid of having to write one day. It never occurred to me that I was forced to formulate an obituary on Piotr Grudziński during my active time as a music journalist. We're practically the same age. But Grudziński died on 21 February. Forty years old. His heart suddenly failed, they say. Like many other music fans, Piotr Grudziński touched me deeply with his playing.
The Warsaw-born guitarist always had doubts about his abilities and often reacted surprised (but also delighted) with compliments. Often he struggled with his playing, which was rooted in metal. "I'm actually a real metalhead. After hearing Iron Maiden's 'Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son' in 1988, I wanted to become a guitarist," he told me once. "So I never learned to play in the 'progressive' sense." At first he was a member of the metal formations Groan and Unnamed. At the end of 1999 the drummer Piotr Kozieradzki played him something of Marillion. They discovered that she shared a passion for progressive sounds; the idea for a joint project was born.
Grudzińskis Contributions to the six albums he has released with Riverside since 2003 reveal a highly emotional artist. Songs like "Second Life Syndrome", "Under The Pillow", "We Got Used To Us" or "The Same River" he always crowned with emotional-magical moments. "Speed and technical perfection never interested me very much. I am always looking for sounds and melodies that directly touch the heart and soul. That's why I adore David Gilmour so much, because he still manages to say a lot with just a few notes in an inimitable way." But Piotr never wanted to speak of an idol concerning Gilmour, but rather referred to his parents: "They are my greatest idols, because of them I am what I am". Piotr also refrained from describing his song contributions as solos. "I prefer to talk about melodies because I want to tell a story and not how good or bad I am."
