Pawel Zawadzki
drums and percussion
Pawel was born in Perth, Australia on 11th February 1982. Pawel's name stems from Poland, from where his parents emmigrated in 1981 to seek a life away from the communist regimes of the early 1980s.
Pawel didn't become truly interested in music until the age of 13, when a close friend in Perth introduced him to Metallica's Black Album, and in particular, the classic "Enter Sandman". From that moment, Pawel was hooked by the aggressive energy and metallic edge of the music, and broadened his horizons by exploring more of Metallica's catalogue. Pawel often cites '...And Justice For All...' as one of the major influences on not only his musical aspirations but in how he developed his style of musical performance, due to its use of differing shades of heavy metal and lighter, balladesque material. It was also '...Justice' that inspired Pawel to pick up sticks and begin playing the drums. Having been brought up solely on heavy and thrash metal, Pawel almost immediately became intent on producing intense, technical performance, and began working on his technique and stamina straight away.
A fast learner, and a faster player, Pawel was in his first band, Embassy, at 14. Embassy realised influences from not only Metallica but from the other contemporary heavyweights of metal: Megadeth, Slayer, Machine Head, Pantera and also the more percussive, organic, rythmic Sepultura. Embassy recorded three songs (Small World Haven, Fact Or Fiction, Through The Eyes Of The Blind); four successful years spent playing at parties, showcases and infiltrating the underground metal scene in Perth was cut short when they disbanded because of professional differences. However, playing the scene for such an exntended amount of time allowed Pawel to get some crucial experience of being in an unsigned band.
The disbandment of Embassy caused Pawel to stop playing drums for a while, but this short hiatus was cut short when Robbie Sam (Embassy), called on Pawel to complete the lineup of a friend's new project, entitled Imagineye. Imagineye was a more mature outfit, combining more complex, ambient sounds more akin to Tool and A Perfect Circle than the thrash bands of the late 80s and early 90s. It was no surprise that Imagineye's rise coincided with Pawel expanding his musical horizons, listening to jazz, progressive and conventional rock.
The introduction of progressive rock and metal to Pawel, and particularly Dream Theater, reignited the inspiration that first caused to Pawel to pick up the sticks; Pawel's attention was caught immediately by Mike Portnoy, Dream Theater's drummer, and noted how Portnoy made "the most complex beats sound simple but very, vey effective." It was here that Pawel began to become the accomplished technician that sits behind the kit for Core Project, incorporating metric modulation, odd time and hemiolas into songs to add substance to the beats.
Pawel moved to London in 2006 to pursue a career in accounting and finance; it was in London that he was spotted and tapped up by Core Project, and hasn't looked back since.
Pawel's Gear
Roland V-Drums TD-20K
Roland SPD20 Percussion pad
Vic Firth MP Sticks
DW5000 Pedals
