Luke Marzec reveals "Alone In The City" and discusses the importance of honesty in music

The British-Polish musician first caught our attention with the shimmering tones of "When We First Met", and in the lead-up to his spectacular debut EP entitled Chances, which is released on 27 April, he has revealed another cross-genre gem in the shape of the fantastically haunting "Alone In The City".

The song delves deep into Marzec's expansive musical pallette, with its ambient undertones and jazz-fuelled tendencies. It's another immaculate scintillating offering that is only heightened by the the presence of the smokey saxophone intervals and the surprising juddering beats that underlay the smooth jam.

Marzec's strength comes in his seemingly endless musical knowledge. He is a multi-instrumentalist who was originally classically trained, even attending the Trinity Conservatoire of Music before realising that it wasn't quite the right place for his creative output. Having previously made music in various groups, it is on his journey as a solo artist that Marzec has honed his creative craft, adopting a sound that is striking and ultimately unique to him and marks him out as a wholly exciting prospect that we will no doubt he hearing a lot of this year.

In his first interview, we caught up to discuss the importance of honesty in music, the songs that influenced his EP and how music can immortalise your feelings and emotions from a moment in time.

BEST FIT: In the accompanying note to your EP, it says that you value honesty in music. Why is this so important to you and how do you try and bring it across in your own music?
LUKE MARZEC: The best pieces of music are the ones where the artist bares their soul, their vulnerabilities. When we listen to this music we can connect and know that someone else feels the same way. I try to capture involuntary moments. Moments we don't expect. Moments where accidents happen. In these accidents, when I'm not in control, the deeper parts of myself come out. So when I improvise, I try to listen to and understand the words that came out and find meaning in them. I think all the songs in this EP are like that... the root of all the ideas were not intended.

Did you have a particular aim when it came to the writing of this EP? Was there anything that you really wanted to achieve?
I had had enough of not having something I could call my own. I wanted to see what I could do in a set amount of time. Since, I've been more judgmental of what I make, but at the time I had never produced and recorded anything on my own before. So the whole experience was new to me - I was happy to just be able to make a beat, a riff and a bassline that moved. I kept the building blocks simple, set a deadline and the main thing I considered when arranging the song was..."did it flow?" and" would the listener make it to the end?"

Is there a song on the EP that you are particularly proud of writing?
I am particularly proud of Within. Most of the events in the song were not intended. I don't really know how it came about. But I was in a very open, non-judgmental and reactive state. I feel like I channeled a deeper part of myself and the outside world into this song. After putting so much labour into the song something changed and in a few moments it all came together. I still can't remember much about it, except the intro to the tune happened to be on record when I just improvised to get some peace. I think it's beautiful.

You've said you left Trinity Conservatoire of Music last year because you found it to be a suffocating environment. Did you find it stunted your creative output and what was the final straw when deciding to leave?
It was a brilliant place for many reasons, and I have many friends who loved it. But for me at that time in my life it wasn't right.

How do you feel about the reaction to the music you've already released?
A lot of people have got in touch to send their thanks and wish me luck in everything, which has meant a lot. I've received a couple of deeply personal messages that have really moved me.

You obviously have a formal music education behind you, but your new EP seems to transcend a lot of genres. What were you listening to when you were creating the EP and were there any particular artists that had a big influence over the direction it went in?
Years ago, going to nights at Subdub at the West Indian Centre in Leeds really changed the way I felt about music. At the time I was listening to a few key albums that I learnt a lot from: The King Of Limbs by Radiohead; 22, A Million by Bon Iver; Summer '08 Metronomy; A Seat At The Table Solange; For Those Of You Who Have Never (And Also Those Who Have) by Huerco S.; a selection of Bob Marley tracks; Migration by Bonobo and a bit of James Blake.

This EP was written whilst you were in a relationship, and that person was obviously crucial to its creation. Do you feel differently about the songs now than when you first wrote them now the situation has changed between you both? Have the songs evolved in any way?
I do feel differently. Over time different parts of the songs stand out to me differently. Other peoples' understandings of the songs and the lyrics also shape the way I understand the songs, their meaning. Oddly, though, in making the songs, a part of the way I felt is immortalised. It's almost like a letter to yourself for years to come and you can look back at your past self, see yourself in the past and learn to move forward.