{"id":6487,"date":"2026-04-29T12:09:36","date_gmt":"2026-04-29T10:09:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/whystory.pl\/en\/?p=6487"},"modified":"2026-04-29T12:09:37","modified_gmt":"2026-04-29T10:09:37","slug":"what-is-uni-vibe-energy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/whystory.pl\/en\/what-is-uni-vibe-energy\/","title":{"rendered":"What is Uni-Vibe energy?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

An interview with Leszek Cicho\u0144ski \u2013 Polish blues-rock guitarist, vocalist, composer, and arranger, author of guitar textbooks and educational programs for TVP, lecturer in music workshops, creator of the Thanks Jimi Festival and the Guitar World Record. He has collaborated with artists such as Tadeusz Nalepa and Wojciech Karolak. He has been promoting the Uni-Vibe (Uniting Vibration of Music) concept for seven years. The artist has just been nominated for the title of Leader by Vocation in\u00a0the\u00a0Leader of Art category.<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Were you born a\u00a0leader?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Not really (laughter). As a teenager, I was rather shy. I sometimes say I\u2019m a musician by accident, but I truly became a leader out of a spiritual need. It happened spontaneously, like almost everything else in my life. I didn\u2019t plan it. It just happened. Today I know one thing \u2013 what gives me the greatest joy isn\u2019t playing itself, but connecting people through music, through the idea of playing together. Guitars and \u201eHey Joe\u201d were the beginning, but what grew from it is something much more important. Every time I get chills down my spine when thousands of people raise their guitars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is the phenomenon of the Guitar World Record?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s about the collectively generated emotion. The sudden disappearance of the division between stage and audience. All participants become performers. They play and experience the music. It\u2019s an invaluable experience and, at the same time, the unique value of our festival.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first Guitar World Record took place in 2003. I expected maybe a hundred people, but 558 guitarists showed up. I remember the exact moment when they spontaneously raised their guitars for the first time and I saw something in their eyes: joy, excitement, that \u201esomething\u201d that can\u2019t be planned. Years later, I called it UNI-VIBE \u2013 Uniting Vibration of Music.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So the record isn\u2019t the most important thing?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Actually, it has never been. The record is just a pretext. The most important thing is what happens between people. The energy we feel together. That\u2019s why I often say it\u2019s not a concert \u2013 it\u2019s a \u201esociological-energetic\u201d phenomenon (laughter).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Where did this idea come from?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

From a very simple experience \u2013 a dozen or so people playing \u201eHey Joe\u201d together at a blues workshop in Zakrzewo. I felt an energy I hadn\u2019t known before. There wasn\u2019t a vision of a thousand guitars on the mountain, but some important message clearly stayed in my heart. And I thought: we need to play this with more guitars, and then \u2013 let\u2019s do it again. And we\u2019ve been playing it every May 1st for 24 years now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your version of \u201eHey Joe\u201d is different from the original\u2026<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Yes, I wrote new lyrics because the original lyrics are about violence. I always felt an unpleasant dissonance that everyone, including young people and children, was playing \u201eHey Joe\u201d and enjoying it, while Joe shot his wife and fled to Mexico. No, no \u2013 it can\u2019t be like that\u2026 I believe you can always choose a different path.
In my version, Joe throws the gun into the river. He chooses life. He chooses happiness with his woman. That was important to me \u2013 to show that each of us can take this one step to change our entire lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Was that the beginning of the idea for Uni-Vibe?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Yes. Very specific. I was driving early in the morning to Wroc\u0142aw\u2019s Market Square for Rekord and singing to myself a new version of \u201eHey Joe \u2013 New Story,\u201d in which Joe runs with flowers to his wife because she\u2019s just given birth to three boys \u2013 I held up three fingers. And suddenly, an epiphany struck. After all, those are two connected letters, U and V \u2013 for Uniting Vibration. That is, Uni-Vibe. Quite often, I have a feeling of being guided from \u201eOn High,\u201d and then I felt that what we do has a deeper meaning. That it\u2019s not just music. It\u2019s an important message. From that moment, the Uni-Vibe logo and idea were born, as was the whole idea of this energy as something real \u2013 something that could be built, developed, and passed on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Was the pandemic a\u00a0test of this idea?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

A huge one. We couldn\u2019t meet physically, we were confined to our homes, terrified and intimidated, everything suddenly came to a head. And then we in Wroc\u0142aw said: we\u2019re going to play!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We obtained permission from the Mayor for a concert without an audience and created the Online Guitar Record. Michael Jackson\u2019s guitarist Jennifer Batten, Jan Borysewicz, Marek Napi\u00f3rkowski, Marek Raduli, and almost all the top Polish guitarists played with us. People all over Poland and abroad played from their homes, on their balconies, and connected with us online. They sent photos and videos with the Uni-Vibe logo. And something extraordinary happened \u2013 despite the distance, a true sense of unity emerged between us all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We received hundreds of messages from people that this gave us hope. That this sign, this gesture \u2013 the Uni-Vibe \u2013 and the knowledge that we are together really triggers something within them. And Jennifer Baten said about the Uni-Vibe: \u201eThe World Needs this Sign\u201d and recorded a beautiful video about it on YouTube.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Your work is not only a\u00a0record, but also concrete artistic achievements\u2026 Three of your albums were nominated for Fryderyk Awards. I\u00a0really appreciate these awards. The album \u201eSob\u0105 Gram\u201d is very personal, it tells a\u00a0story about life, about reflection.<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m talking about what I really feel. The lyrics to the title track were written by Jacek Cygan.
The album \u201eThanks Jimi Symphonic,\u201d recorded with the symphony orchestra of the National Forum of Music in Wroc\u0142aw, was also very important \u2013 it\u2019s the first and only album in the world with arrangements of Hendrix\u2019s works for symphony orchestra. It was a huge challenge and a wonderful artistic adventure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You\u00a0also received awards \u2013 the silver and bronze Gloria Artis medals.<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

I consider this a recognition of the path I have consistently followed for years.
35 years ago, you developed and published a textbook with cassettes that completely changed guitar education in Poland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The \u201eBlues-Rock Guitar Workshop\u201d course was born out of a\u00a0heartfelt need \u2013 I\u00a0wanted to impart the knowledge I\u00a0myself had once sought. Thousands of young people began their guitar journey with this textbook.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Your students are now renowned artists themselves\u2026<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

And that is one of the most beautiful things and the source of my immense satisfaction. Many of them wouldn\u2019t be called my students, but my textbook appeared at the beginning of their guitar journey and completely changed their lives. My Workshop has been used by, among others, Piotr Kupicha (Feel), Piotr \u0141ukaszewski (IRA), Piotr Lekki from TSA, Robert Dr\u0119\u017cek from Luxtorpeda, Andrzej Dom\u017co\u0142, and even the Russian virtuoso Roman Miroshnichenko. I\u2019m now planning to revisit this course. Even though the days of cassette tapes are long gone, the \u201eBlues-Rock Guitar Workshop\u201d still generates enormous interest thanks to its effective educational method.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And your first guitar?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

I used to steal my older brother\u2019s guitar and regularly detune it. My parents noticed that this was causing domestic conflicts and bought me my first small Defil case \u2013 that\u2019s how it all started. And in 1975, I went to the German Democratic Republic to buy my first electric guitar \u2013 a Musima \u2013 it was shaped like a startocaster, so I dreamed of having just such an instrument. I tried many guitars from this brand, but ultimately chose the Czech Jolana, which, despite its completely different construction, played brilliantly \u2013 it simply spoke to me in a human voice. I still play this guitar in the \u201eVIVA SANTANA\u201d project with Jose Torres.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Who taught you how to play guitar?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

All the most famous giants \u2013 BB King, Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Peter Green, Carlos Santana, and others. Back then, we\u2019d record the most interesting bands from Radio 3 onto a reel-to-reel tape recorder. Later, when a friend got a cassette player, we\u2019d record the reels onto a cassette player \u2013 there was plenty to listen to back then.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What kind of art is music?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s immaterial; it\u2019s like the soul; you can\u2019t touch it, yet it has a profound impact on us. The same goes for its reception. It\u2019s \u201eimmaterial.\u201d Every year, thousands of guitarists meet in Wroc\u0142aw\u2019s Market Square to play together and experience this phenomenon. This shared experience shows how close we are, even though we\u2019re often very different. No arguments can affect us, because we\u2019re beyond that, connected by the sound of the guitars and the energy of the Uni-Vibe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Family is very important in your life\u2026<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

For me, family is the foundation of fulfillment and happiness in life\u2026 maintaining a balance between passion and being close to another person is a real art, and I\u2019ve been working on it my whole life. The title track from the album \u201eI play myself\u201d is precisely about this kind of relationship \u2013 Jacek Cygan hit the nail on the head with his lyrics. Only recently have I noticed that there were no coincidences in my life \u2013 it simply couldn\u2019t have been otherwise. I remember the year 1970 clearly. I went to summer camp then, I was 12 years old, so I was just a kid when I met a blue-eyed girl, a year younger than me \u2013 Jola \u2013 and I just flew away (laughter). I lived in Wroc\u0142aw, she in Z\u0142otoryja, so there was practically no chance of meeting. Five years later, when I went to the GDR to buy that guitar, I thought maybe this would be the perfect opportunity to visit my childhood crush, and so I did. Later, in my final year of high school, Jola invited me to New Year\u2019s Eve. I went and\u2026the earth simply shook. Looking back on it now, it seems like some angelic beings were with us, and even then my soul knew it was definitely Her. Now, we\u2019ve been married for 43 years, have three children, four grandchildren, but most importantly, there\u2019s still a spark between us. \ud83d\ude0a<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do you remember the name of your first band?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Yes. We were called Colegium and we played our first concerts at the Index student club. Back then, I didn\u2019t even know I\u2019d be playing. Then there was CDN \u2013 by the way, Pawe\u0142 Kukiz\u2019s first band. It was just fun playing music. Jola and I were planning to get married at the same time, and that\u2019s where I faced a serious dilemma. After all, I had to finish university. With a master\u2019s degree in engineering, I was entering adulthood. My father was a legal counsel at the prison administration, and I was supposed to become a sanitary inspector there, with a \u201ebright future\u201d guaranteed. But life sometimes plays tricks on me. My fianc\u00e9e married a serious, promising young man \u2013 a Master of Science in Engineering \u2013 and just four days after the wedding, she was married to a rock musician. \ud83d\ude0a<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Did you write lyrics too?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Rarely. Usually, inspiration came from various life situations I had to deal with. I actually sat down to work on my fully original album 13 years ago. \u201eSob\u0105 gram\u201d is a concept album. The songs collected there are the result of reflections and questions related to life and its problems. The first title says it all \u2013 \u201eWhat\u2019s on your mind?\u201d \u2013 in times of global manipulation, it\u2019s important to \u201escan this computer\u201d from time to time, and the second, \u201eKim jestem?\u201d (Who am I?), is about love; it\u2019s a dedication to my wife, with whom I spent so many years. The music on this album was a bit of therapy for me; thanks to it, I felt like I\u2019d managed to find the long-sought balance in my life. Today, I\u2019m a fulfilled, happy husband, father, and grandfather. And I still feel the need, or rather the need, to share good vibes with others. I think that\u2019s where the idea for Uni-Vibe came from.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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What does Uni-Vibe mean to you today?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Today, I see Uni-Vibe not just as a single event experience, but as a broad idea that\u2019s taking on a life of its own and has the potential to reach far beyond Wroc\u0142aw and Poland. We\u2019re seeing more and more signals from various places around the world, people are playing with us online, and there\u2019s interest in places like San Francisco and Japan, and I feel like this could be the beginning of something bigger. Uni-Vibe could become a movement that, in a simple way\u2014without big slogans\u2014truly changes things for the better between people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your career is also connected to television.<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s true. I remember it happened around the time I returned from concerts in the US with Tadeusz Nalepa. Back then, I had plans to develop a school for guitarists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And then television became interested in you.<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

That was 1995, so a few years later. I recorded a total of 52 episodes for TVP Edukacyjna. I invited artists like\u2026 Jurek Styczy\u0144ski, Marek Raduli, Wojtek Pilichowski, Grzegorz Skawi\u0144ski, and Janek Borysewicz. These were very popular programs and inspired many young people to pick up the guitar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Have you ever said you were changing the world?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

I said that \u201etogether we\u2019re changing the world for the better.\u201d It might sound lofty, but it\u2019s true. Indeed, the experience of playing together at the Giuitar Record in Wroc\u0142aw raises the world\u2019s vibrations. This year, in addition to \u201eHey Joe,\u201d we\u2019ll be playing Bob Marley\u2019s hit \u201eONE LOVE\u201d with his guitarist Al Anderson. I want this message to reach the world from Wroc\u0142aw \u2013 ONE LOVE, ONE VIBE, UNI-VIBE! \ud83d\ude0a
If thousands of people feel this unity for a moment, something changes. And if they take it with them into their lives, more changes than we realize.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Why are you a\u00a0leader by vocation?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

I\u00a0wasn\u2019t born a\u00a0leader, and for a\u00a0long time I\u00a0didn\u2019t think of myself that way \u2013 rather, subsequent situations naturally placed me in a\u00a0position where I\u00a0had to lead something and take responsibility for it. Over time, I\u00a0realized that when a\u00a0space for collective action appears, I\u00a0instinctively create it, develop it, and unite people around an idea, even if I\u00a0hadn\u2019t planned it beforehand. So if I\u00a0have to say why I\u00a0call it a\u00a0calling today, it\u2019s probably because it\u2019s not a\u00a0choice \u2013 it\u2019s something that just happens and leads me exactly where I\u00a0need to be. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wojciech Skowro\u0144ski
Beata Seku\u0142a<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An interview with Leszek Cicho\u0144ski \u2013 Polish blues-rock guitarist, vocalist, composer, and arranger, author of guitar textbooks and educational programs for TVP, lecturer in music workshops, creator of the Thanks Jimi Festival and the Guitar World Record. He has collaborated with artists such as Tadeusz Nalepa and Wojciech Karolak. He has been promoting the Uni-Vibe […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6497,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/whystory.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6487"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/whystory.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/whystory.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/whystory.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/whystory.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6487"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/whystory.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6487\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6502,"href":"http:\/\/whystory.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6487\/revisions\/6502"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/whystory.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6497"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/whystory.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6487"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/whystory.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6487"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/whystory.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6487"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}