{"id":368249,"date":"2025-03-27T12:06:15","date_gmt":"2025-03-27T11:06:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/germany.10mag.indevmode.co.uk\/?p=368249"},"modified":"2025-03-30T17:36:07","modified_gmt":"2025-03-30T15:36:07","slug":"mary-komasa-discusses-inspiration-collaboration-and-sisterhood","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/germany.10mag.indevmode.co.uk\/en_gb\/mary-komasa-discusses-inspiration-collaboration-and-sisterhood\/","title":{"rendered":"Mary Komasa discusses inspiration collaboration and sisterhood"},"content":{"rendered":"
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What does it mean to create something truly meaningful? For Mary Komasa, the answer is anything but straightforward. \u201cIt\u2019s like trying to share your dreams with the world,\u201d she says. \u201cVivid, surreal, often indescribable dreams \u2013 with the limited tools we have at our disposal.\u201d The challenge of translating the extraordinary into something tangible is daunting, yet it fuels her drive.<\/p>\n

Whether through her lyrics, music or film scores,Komasa, 40, measures her success by how well she can evoke emotion in her audience and connect with them. To do so, she needs to dig deep: vulnerability is essential. \u201cThe greatest reward I could ever receive is knowing someone understood what I was trying to express emotionally, that I touched those soft spots in another human being,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Komasa\u2019s musical journey began in Poland, rooted in the discipline of classical training, an experience she often found stifling. \u201cIt always felt like a corset I needed to break free from. It was hard to breathe in that environment,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Growing up under the shadow of Poland\u2019s communist history, her parents instilled in her a
\nbelief in art as a sanctuary of freedom. Yet even within this strict regimen, Komasa discovered an escape: pop culture. \u201cWhile my days were consumed by Bach and Chopin, my tapes from the 1990s were pure chaos,\u201d she explains. \u201cOne song would be Chopin, the next Backstreet Boys or Britney Spears, and then back to Bach.\u201d The stark contrast became her secret refuge. \u201cIt felt like a crazy idea to even listen to pop music back then, but it was that wild mix that gave me something to hold onto.\u201d<\/p>\n

She dreamt of becoming both a singer and a film composer, but felt constricted by the roles that society had imposed on her. \u201cI knew it wasn\u2019t possible for me to become a film composer because I was a girl,\u201d she says. \u201cIt felt like a boy\u2019s job. So I told myself it would be easier to start by becoming a singer and writing my own songs.\u201d But the cinematic world remained a vivid part of her imagination; she dreamt of working with film directors such as Lars von Trier and David Lynch or even on a Batman movie.<\/p>\n

Komasa\u2019s most recent album, Sister, profoundly explores themes of human connection, vulnerability and introspection. Its title track, the lead single, was written after an intensely emotional phone call with her sibling. At the time, they were both grappling with the isolation of the pandemic. \u201cI just wanted to hug her, but we couldn\u2019t see each other for so long,\u201d she says. Feeling helpless, she turned to music and, within moments, the song poured out of her \u2013 the hug she couldn\u2019t give.<\/p>\n

Sending the song to her sister, the artist received a heartfelt response: \u201cYou saw my scars
\nopen, and you hugged them.\u201d What began as a song for someone specific evolved into a
\nuniversal anthem. Over time, the song resonated with Komasa\u2019s friends as well and she realised that while she had thought it was for her sister, she had actually written it for herself,too. Through this, the concept of Sister grew to represent a powerful message of connection.<\/p>\n

The album, though diverse in sound and mood, explores deep existential questions
\nabout humanity and seeks to engage listeners with tough, introspective questions: are we
\ndisappointed with where we are as a society. If so, how can we start to build something better? \u201cI don\u2019t want my music to be elevator music. Sometimes, it\u2019s tough. But you can still dance to it,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Now a successful boundary- breaking artist, Komasa is happy with how far she\u2019s come, but the journey wasn\u2019t always easy. \u201cLabels would ask me, \u2018What\u2019s your genre?\u2019\u201d she says. \u201cI didn\u2019t fit into their boxes and I didn\u2019t want to.\u201d One medium alone isn\u2019t enough for Komasa to communicate. \u201cI admire artists who understand this, who work across disciplines. That\u2019s my language, my way of growing. I need all of it to thrive, like a plant that can\u2019t grow without enough water.\u201d<\/p>\n

Komasa may be a multi-hyphenate, but she is also a keen creative collaborator. And one of her key partners is her husband, Antoni \u0141azarkiewicz. Together, they\u2019ve created compelling soundtracks for films such as In Darkness, Spoor and Mr. Jones, helmed by the great Polish director Agnieszka Holland, in addition to Julia von Heinz\u2019s Treasure, which featured in the Berlinale Special Gala section at the 74th Berlin International Film Festival last year.<\/p>\n

Komasa\u2019s work with her husband is often defined by a dynamic interplay of tension and mutual growth \u2013 a process that feels profoundly natural to her. Even if they have differing working methods, she embraces them as a vital part of their creative processes. \u201cAntoni brings something outside my vocabulary, and I bring the energy he doesn\u2019t have. We\u2019re totally different in terms of ideas and dynamics, but that\u2019s what I love about our collaboration. It\u2019s like constantly discovering new worlds.\u201d Komasa isn\u2019t afraid of ego or disagreement: \u201cIf one of us thinks our idea is better, we try it out. At the end of the day, it\u2019s about what works best for the project,\u201d she says. \u201cWhen we work together, it feels like I\u2019m reaching his heart. I\u2019m gently tapping it and he does the same to mine. Being able to share that through our life\u2019s work is a dream. I wouldn\u2019t trade it for anything.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n

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Photographer <\/em>JUERGEN TELLER
\n<\/strong>Creative Partner <\/em>DOVILE DRIZYTE
\n<\/strong>Fashion Editor <\/em>VERONIKA HEILBRUNNER
\n<\/strong>Talent <\/em>MARY KOMASA
\n<\/strong>Text <\/em>GIULIO POLVERIGIANI
\n<\/strong>1st Photo assistant <\/em>FELIPE CHAVES
\n<\/strong>Postproduction <\/em>LOUWRE ERASMUS at Quickfix
\n<\/strong>Producer <\/em>JOELLE FLACKE at Westend Berlin
\n<\/strong>Executive producer <\/em>NICOLAS SCHWAIGER at Westend Berlin
\n<\/strong>Special thanks to <\/em>Next Management
\nJewellery throughout talent\u2019s own<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What does it mean to create something truly meaningful? For Mary Komasa, the answer is anything but straightforward. \u201cIt\u2019s like trying to share your dreams with the world,\u201d she says. \u201cVivid, surreal, often indescribable dreams \u2013 with the limited tools we have at our disposal.\u201d The challenge of translating the extraordinary into something tangible is daunting, yet it fuels her drive.<\/p>\n

Whether through her lyrics, music or film scores,Komasa, 40, measures her success by how well she can evoke emotion in her audience and connect with them. To do so, she needs to dig deep: vulnerability is essential. \u201cThe greatest reward I could ever receive is knowing someone understood what I was trying to express emotionally, that I touched those soft spots in another human being,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

A few minutes before our scheduled call, she messages me, apologising for the fact that she\u2019ll be ten minutes late. I respond with, \u201cDas geht sich aus\u201d \u2013 a small but satisfying moment of Austrian connection between us both. \u2018Young-Girl Illusion\u2019 \u2013 a track from her latest album, Young-Girl Forever \u2013 plays in the background, making the studio feel even cosier when she eventually calls.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1436,"featured_media":399153,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_wpscppro_custom_social_share_image":0,"_facebook_share_type":"default","_twitter_share_type":"default","_linkedin_share_type":"default","_pinterest_share_type":"default","_linkedin_share_type_page":"","_instagram_share_type":"default","_medium_share_type":"default","_threads_share_type":"","_selected_social_profile":[]},"categories":[876],"tags":[1048],"season":[],"class_list":["post-368249","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fashion","tag-mary-komasa"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/germany.10mag.indevmode.co.uk\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/368249"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/germany.10mag.indevmode.co.uk\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/germany.10mag.indevmode.co.uk\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/germany.10mag.indevmode.co.uk\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1436"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/germany.10mag.indevmode.co.uk\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=368249"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/germany.10mag.indevmode.co.uk\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/368249\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":368308,"href":"https:\/\/germany.10mag.indevmode.co.uk\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/368249\/revisions\/368308"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/germany.10mag.indevmode.co.uk\/en_gb\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/germany.10mag.indevmode.co.uk\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=368249"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/germany.10mag.indevmode.co.uk\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=368249"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/germany.10mag.indevmode.co.uk\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=368249"},{"taxonomy":"season","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/germany.10mag.indevmode.co.uk\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/season?post=368249"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}