Marcin is not your average guitar player. The 25-year-old Polish guitarist is a maestro in every sense of the word. When he was just 10, he developed his love for classical music, participating in competitions all throughout Poland and Europe. And at the tender age of 14, he participated in one of Poland’s biggest talent competitions, Must Be The Music. All Marcin wanted was to perform on a bigger stage; for more people to hear the kind of music he could create. Little did he know that he would emerge as the show’s winner.
Nearly 10 years on, the guitar prodigy is bringing new meaning to the world of music with his percussive, finger-style guitar tracks. Upbeat, electric and enchanting in the most unique way, Marcin’s impressive skills shine through with every song he puts out, whether they are original compositions or covers of existing songs. It comes as little surprise, then, that the young star has worked with some of the most major names in contemporary music, including Big Sean and Will Smith.
So when we learned that Marcin would be in town as part of his Art of Guitar world tour, we had to sit down with the musician for a chat, just a day before his show. Ahead, we find out which of his songs define him best as an artist, his journey in music, and the biggest lessons he’s learnt from his decade in the industry.
GRAZIA Singapore (GS): Welcome to Singapore! Other than your show, what are you most looking forward to doing while you’re in town?
Marcin (M): I’ve been here for a few days already so I’ve checked off most items on my list but the most important thing I’ve not done is eat a durian. That, and frog porridge. Perhaps on my next trip, I will also visit the Singapore Zoo or the new Oceanarium.
GS: As a young musician from Poland, what kind of message do you hope to send with your songs?
M: The key goal I have is to spread the style of guitar that I play. In my eyes, this way of playing the guitar—percussive, fiery and flashy—is underrepresented in the music world. I think the guitar is a much more open instrument than people think, and that there are lanes that exist: electric, flamenco, classical and jazz guitars, for example. These are all amazing and what I want to do is spread the awareness of these types of guitar music with my sound.
Most importantly, I want to create music that reaches the everyday person who loves music and is curious to interesting things. The best compliment for me is when people leave my concert and say, “I’ve never seen or heard something like this before.” Originality is a key factor for me.
GS: Your start in music was grounded by classical instruments. How do you think that background has informed your unique sound as an artist?
M: Learning classical music is a very disciplined process. It’s something you sacrifice years of your life to do; to learn and perfect the “proper” way of doing things. I did that for about eight years, and I love it. But in my shows, I don’t play classical music in the traditional way. I feel that the worst thing an artist can do is not be themselves. I’ve seen a few classical musicians trying to emulate something, rather than do something new. And while that is amazing in itself and requires a lot of skill, I want to play something different. It’s not a typical arrangement, it’s my own, with a lot more percussion and with a new soul. It’s not necessarily a better way, it’s just a different way of interpreting classical music.
GS: What inspired you to write How Music Works? Tell us more about the track, and its layers.
M: With my past work and videos, there was always a good number of people reacting to it and thinking my playing was fake. To be honest, it’s easy to fake things online. So I first made this arrangement of Alors On Danse by Belgian artist Stromae a while back. I did a cover and explained to the audience the process of making my type of music. This paid off and became quite popular. I was so proud of it but ultimately, it was still a cover. So How Music Works was that idea but made with my own composition, to showcase how I perform and do it live.
GS: Your music career took off after your big win at the Polish talent programme Must Be The Music, back in 2015 when you were just 14 years old. How do you think your sound has changed in the last 10 years?
M: It’s changed a lot. The beginnings were more naïve. When you’re starting out as a musician in the age of the internet, you put a lot of focus on publicity and views, because it’s simply just so hard to get. My approach, initially, was to do a lot of covers. One of my big covers was Toxicity by System of a Down, which I played in the US for America’s Got Talent. I also did arrangements of pop songs like Shape Of You by Ed Sheeran, which was fun, but, on hindsight, feels a little childish. But the good that came out of that was that it brought me a lot of new listeners. Then, I decided that I have a small chance to convert them into real fans, with my original music. It’s a slow shift into original compositions and my own unapologetic style of music.
GS: What is the biggest lesson you’ve learned from your time in the music industry?
M: Don’t respond to criticism. If it’s constructive, you can think about it, and decide to correct and improve yourself. But I think it’s impossible to respond to someone who has bad intentions. I’ve been lucky in the sense that very few people who follow me are like this. But sometimes it’s important to just do your own thing. No one knows better than you. This is how I create my music and you can like it or not like it. But I won’t change who I am for you.
GS: What is the one song from your discography that you think represents your music best?
M: It’s hard for me to just pick one song so I’ll give two. The first is Classical Dragon, that’s the biggest song from my album Dragon In Harmony. It’s a song that is intrinsically about me because I was born in the year 2000, the Year of the Dragon, and it was released in 2024, which was also another Dragon year. I loved the meaning behind this track, and working with Tim Henson on it was great. He’s a pretty big metal guitarist so it was a fun collaboration.
From my solo tracks, I love the song I Killed It from the same album. It’s the second song on the album; the first is called Guitar Is Dead. Together, they basically become one song. The song essentially talks about doing your own thing, and being unapologetic about it. It’s very flamenco inspired and there’s a lot of nylon string guitars so it’s more classical and soft-sounding. I love the harmonies of it.
GS: Looking forward, how do you see your sound changing in the next 10 years, if at all?
M: Oh it’s definitely going to change. Even in the next year, it’s going to change so much. I’ve been on tour for most of this year, reaching five continents with 60 shows. Next year, I’ll go into a more artistic direction. Without thinking so much about how it’s going to be received on the internet, I’ll try to make a project that is more technically challenging and experimental. I’d also like to work with larger ensembles, like with string sections, for example. I can’t say what’s going to happen in 10 years, but I do know that next year is going to be more insightful and thoughtful.
GS: What is your biggest hope for the music industry’s future?
M: I hope for more people to see how complex the music industry actually is. People don’t often realise how difficult it is to put on a concert. Unfortunately, the corporations that organise concerts are not typically created with artists in mind. Fans may think they’re directly supporting the artist by attending their shows but, in fact, the artist first has to deal with and manage these larger corporations. Even if you make beautiful art as the most avant-garde artist in the world, you still have to go through these hoops to put on a show, which is not what it should be, and I really hope this changes.
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