Kim Nowak is a Polish rock band. It was founded in 2008 by hip-hop artist Bartosz "Fisz" Waglewski, producer Piotr "Emade" Waglewski and Michał Sobolewski. The band name is a Polish spelling variant of the name of American actress

Kim Novak Marilyn Pauline "Kim" Novak (born February 13, 1933) is an American retired film and television actress and painter. Novak began her career in 1954 after signing with Columbia Pictures and quickly became one of Hollywood's top box office stars, ...

. In an interview with

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely ...

, Piotr Waglewski said the band's intention was to refer to the 1960s. Disambiguation: Kimnowak was a Hungarian alternative rock band, active between 1993-2003, best known of its hit Gyémánt.

History

''Kim Nowak'' (2008–2011)

As Waglewski brothers had been present on the Polish hip-hop music scene for over a decade, they started Kim Nowak in 2008 as a side-project to "fulfill their boyhood dreams of playing this kind of music" and to "pay tribute to groups like Fugazi or

Black Keys Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white ha ...

". Their debut album, titled ''Kim Nowak'', was recorded in August 2009 and released on 14 May 2010 through Universal Music Poland. The single promoting the album, titled "Szczur" ("Rat"), was accompanied by a music video directed by Tomasza Nalewajek and Marcin Nowak. The album was nominated for the Polish music award

Fryderyk The Fryderyk is the annual award in Polish music. Its name refers to the original Polish spelling variant of Polish composer Frédéric Chopin's first name. Its status in the Polish public can be compared to the American Grammy and the UK's BR ...

in the Rock Album of the Year category. On 28 August 2010, the band played at

Orange Warsaw Festival Orange Warsaw Festival is a Polish annual music festival. The first edition took place in 2008. Since 2010 it has been broadcast on television by TVN. It moved to the National Stadium in May 2013. The 2014 edition took place on 13–15 June 20 ...

. On 2 July 2011, Kim Nowak performed at the Tent Stage at

Open'er Festival The Open'er Festival is a music festival which takes place on the north coast of Poland, in Gdynia. It is one of the biggest annual music festivals in Poland. The first edition of the festival was organized in Warsaw in 2002 as ''Open Air Festi ...

, alongside artists like

Kate Nash Kate Marie Nash (born 6 July 1987) is an English singer-songwriter and actress. Nash launched her music career in 2005. Her 2007 single " Foundations" became a hit and brought her to public attention in the UK. Her debut album, '' Made of Bricks ...

Chapel Club Chapel Club were an English indie- synthpop band from London, consisting of singer Lewis Bowman, drummer Rich Mitchell, bassist Liam Arklie and keyboardists/guitarists Michael Hibbert and Alex Parry. The band parted ways with Universal imprint ...

and The Asteroids Galaxy Tour.

''Wilk'' (2011–present)

Kim Nowak released their second studio album, ''Wilk'' (''Wolf''), on 6 November 2012 through Universal Music Poland. Although the band didn't stop searching for inspiration in the rock music of the 1960s, ''Wilk'' represents a different music direction than their debut album: garage sounds and screams made more room for compositions with a calm and dark climate, sometimes resembling a soundtrack for a David Lynch or Tarantino film. The album featured guest appearances by Izabela Skrybant Dziewiątkowska of Tercet Egzotyczny and Tomek Duda of Pink Freud. All songs were composed by Kim Nowak, lyrics were written by Bartosz Waglewski and the album was produced by Piotr Waglewski. In 2012, the band performed at Coke Live Music Festival in Cracow. On 4 July 2013, they played as one of the supports for

Arctic Monkeys Arctic Monkeys are an English rock band formed in Sheffield in 2002. The group consists of Alex Turner (lead vocals, guitar, keyboards), Jamie Cook (guitar, keyboards), Nick O'Malley (bass guitar, backing vocals), and Matt Helders (drums, ...

at the main stage at

Gdynia Gdynia ( ; ; german: Gdingen (currently), (1939–1945); csb, Gdiniô, , , ) is a city in northern Poland and a seaport on the Baltic Sea coast. With a population of 243,918, it is the 12th-largest city in Poland and the second-largest in th ...

Musical style

In an official press statement prior to the release of the debut album ''Kim Nowak'', the band wrote:

Band members

* Bartosz Waglewski – vocals, bass guitar (2008–present) * Piotr Waglewski – drums (2008–present) * Michał Sobolewski – guitar (2008–present)

Discography

Albums

Awards and nominations

Fryderyk

, - , 2011 , , ''Kim Nowak'' , , Album of the Year – Rock , ,

References

External links

Kim Nowak official websiteKim Nowak
at Culture.pl {{Authority control Polish rock music groups