Polish born, London resident Sebastian Bartz is a solo artist whose arresting musical creativity reflects an innate fascination with style and the visual arts, and strong collaborative ties with the fashion world.

The dark, uncompromising music of Sebastian Bartz is as sonically stark as it is emotionally compelling, exploring the internal and external conflicts surrounding sexuality, androgyny, identity and getting on in today’s world.

Although his real name has until recently been relatively under wraps, Bartz is no stranger to acclaim, having released a handful of studio-based side projects in recent years; most famously, under the Venice Calypso moniker he has won the appreciation of sweaty ravers and blogs including Resident Advisor, XLR8R, Earmilk and Liminal Sounds, for a strain of vibrant, filthy club music released on trailblazing indie Senseless Records.

Turning his full attention to his new project under the Sebastian Bartz banner, this gifted producer now steps into the limelight, with a wealth of new material, as singer, performer, multi-instrumentalist, and frontman of a five-strong band. With regular shows under their belt already, in London and beyond, the Sebastian Bartz band have built up a reputation on the live circuit, and now Bartz releases his first single and video under his own name.

Explaining the dichotomy in his musical directions, he says, “What I do as Sebastian Bartz is completely disconnected from what I’ve done as Venice Calypso. Like most of my generation, raised on the internet, I have a bit of schizophrenia in a music sense. As Venice Calypso I simply record music which I like to hear when I’m in the club; when I work as Sebastian Bartz I’m expressing my feelings, emotions and moods.”

With a heavy involvement in the fashion world – from modeling and sound design for catwalk shows by designers Ada Zanditon and Sade English, to his plans to establish his own label – it’s no surprise that the influences on Bartz’ music do not necessarily come from other musicians, but from numerous inspirational sources both visual and sonic, stylistic and idealistic. “I consider myself synaesthetic. When I hear the sound I can see the images. When I look at visual content I can hear the sounds”, says Bartz. He cites infamous occultist Alessandro Cagliostro as a major influence: “I’m influenced by the life of people who can create a reality to suit them, to fit around them.”