SZELA

Szela biography
FORMED: 1992
FROM: Tricity, Poland
STATUS as of Dec 2022: occasional

SZELA's origins lie in a Maritime folk rock band called SMUGGLERS who formed in 1989. IN late 1992 they entered the studio with the idea of blending the SMUGGLERS sound with more Polish, particularly, KASHUBIAN, folk influences. At some point this led to the name change, though in the intervening decades it seems that SMUGGLERS has resurfaced more often.

While Poland did experience a folk rock boom in the late 1990s, SZELA was somewhat early to the party, and the press largely ignored their sole, cassette only, offering. Several reunions have occurred. Most notably in 2016, they reissed the debut on CD with a bonus CD of fresh material.