Underground po Śląsku.
Underground Music Scene in Silesia.

Summary/Abstract: Upper Silesia is usually associated with the historical land situated in southern Poland with highly developed industry, mainly mines and steelworks. The inhabitants of Upper Silesia are perceived as conservatist. In spite of that, it is Upper Silesia, precisely Gliwice, where the most vigorous underground music scene in communist Poland was created at the beginning of the 1980s. The Gliwice Alternative Scene was focused around student clubs in Gliwice with „Gwarek” as the representative one. In this article we will show the artistic legacy of chosen musical bands from GAS such as Smierc Kliniczna, R.A.P., Absurd, Processs, Brzytwa Ojca. In particular we will analyze the lyrics and quote interviews with the musicians from the before mentioned bands. We will therefore demonstrate that the Gliwice Alternative Scene was not only an alternative to the blues scene, which was very popular in Upper Silesia, but also through the fusion of punk, reggae and new wave as well as unconventional, radical lyrics, it stood out among other bands which created the Polish underground musical scene of the 1980s. In terms of its social impact, it was a “niche within a niche”. Finally, it is worth noting that the Gliwice Alternative Scene was beyond censorship and the dominant communist discourse.

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