Heartstrings

Heartstrings is a group project associated with Maciej Telezynski, a musician from Osowa in Gdansk. Telezynski is born on 28 October 1985 and studies music at school, where he specialises in piano before moving to guitar, which becomes his main instrument. He later largely stops playing piano, returning to it only occasionally for Christmas songs.

His early songwriting is shaped by teenage influences including Nirvana, Pearl Jam and Soundgarden, and he initially writes electric songs. In October 2004, after hearing Elliott Smith’s From the Basement On the Hill, he shifts towards acoustic songwriting. Elliott Smith then becomes a major influence on his writing and guitar style.

Heartstrings comes into existence after a small house concert on 22 May 2008. Following positive reactions to his work, Telezynski records a four-track demo in September 2008, mixed by Tomasz Musielak. The project focuses on simple acoustic songs with a melancholy tone, usually built around verse-chorus-verse structures.