Now Spinning Music Magazine - Artist Interviews and Music Reviews · Phil Aston

Mariusz Duda Interview : From Riverside to Lunatic Soul

·48 min·3 clips

Duda says Lunatic Soul gives him more artistic freedom than Riverside and lets him play almost everything himself.

Phil Aston starts from affection. He introduces Marius Duda as the voice, bassist, and creative force behind Riverside, then shifts to Lunatic Soul as its own world, not just a side road. The World Under Unsung sounds huge here. Phil treats it as an eighth Lunatic Soul album, a 90-minute double album, and a record about inner conflict and transformation. He has clearly been living with it. His questions come from close listening: the textures, the guitars, and that lonely saxophone solo about eight minutes in. Duda does not dress it up. For him, the gift of a solo album is simple: he does not have to think about bandmates. A long intro can take its time. A track can hold back drums, lean on keyboards, or choose saxophone when a guitar lead would be expected. That changes the whole canvas. Lunatic Soul is where he can build cinematic ambient sound design, layered atmospheres, melodic turns, and those familiar bass riffs. Riverside still sits nearby in the conversation. The contrast matters because a band means other players need space in the arrangement. Lunatic Soul removes that pressure. Duda can follow the shape in his head, even when it is long, patient, or a little unusual. Phil keeps pulling the talk back to details in the music. It feels less like promotion than one serious fan asking why a sound hits exactly where it does. The ending opens back out to the Now Spinning community: music lovers, collectors, private groups, and the belief that music can heal.

As heard by us

A focused conversation that frames Lunatic Soul as its own world and makes the album's freedom easy to hear.

Phil Aston keeps the conversation tight, and Mariusz Duda is most interesting when he treats Lunatic Soul as a separate space from Riverside rather than a side project.

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

Press play if you want Mariusz Duda talking through Lunatic Soul's bold 90-minute double album, The World Under Unsung.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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