The Sound Of: Pointless Geometry
Pointless Geometry grew out of Warsaw venue Eufemia, which was also where the avant-garde club-cum-label Brutaż was born and the neo-gabber collective Wixapol threw their first parties. It was a unique time in the Polish independent music scene, says Banaszczyk, who released her leftfield 2022 album ‘Wehikuł’ on Jon K and Elle Andrews’ MAL Recordings: “There was a new generation of musicians coming through, characterised by the fact they didn’t remember communist times and had a broader worldview because they grew up with the internet or they might have studied or lived abroad [following EU enlargement].”
“There were lots of micro-labels being formed,” remembers Pietraszewski, who was deeply involved in Warsaw’s improv scene when Pointless Geometry — the output of which can be broadly described as experimental electronic music — was born. “It was also a favourable time technology-wise. Bandcamp made it easy to sell your stuff online, and audio cassettes were enjoying a renaissance.” The format appealed to Pietraszewski because of his belief that music should be egalitarian, with cassettes long being a cheap medium used for bootlegging. Still, it was important that Pointless Geometry’s tapes be well-recorded, that they could be used in DJ sets.
Banaszczyk was Pointless Geometry’s first signing, before joining to run the label alongside Pietraszewski in 2017. “We did 35 copies,” Pietraszewski says of Banaszczyk’s debut ‘Black Market Goods’, with further releases, including audiovisual projects on VHS, also in very limited runs — though Banaszczyk points out that the music is also available digitally, so stays true to the label’s egalitarian ethos. That Pointless Geometry has had so much attention despite its small operation is also thanks to the effort the duo put into promoting the releases. Indeed, Pointless Geometry’s core mission is that its artists, who are mostly Polish, get exposure. “We’re focused on getting press, on getting reviews, so that they get more bookings,” says Banaszczyk.
