🇸🇰 Slovensky
Music From The Bag

Posledných desať rokov sa mi doma hromadili rôzne hudobné nápady. Väčšina z nich nikdy nebola určená pre KOMARA ani pre moje projekty s Arvem Henriksenom. Boli to skôr skladby pre moje sólové albumy – niektoré rockovejšie, iné s fusion náladou. Väčšina z nich si však pýtala bicie, a práve preto zostali celé roky nedokončené.

V zime 2025 som sa rozhodol tú pomyselnú tašku konečne otvoriť. V tom období ma začali priťahovať nové možnosti umelej inteligencie. Nešlo mi o to, aby za mňa tvorila hudbu. Zaujímalo ma, či sa môže stať nástrojom, ktorý mi pomôže objaviť nové rytmy a zvuky.

Nahral som napríklad trúbku Arveho Henriksena alebo údery na frame drum a experimentoval s tým, ako z týchto zvukov vytvoriť bicie. Vzniklo približne šesťsto experimentov. Z nich som nakoniec vybral deväť skladieb. Niektoré rytmické vrstvy vznikli s pomocou umelej inteligencie. Následne som ich programoval, vrstvil, upravoval a dopĺňal ďalšími rytmickými nápadmi. V niektorých skladbách sa tak prepletajú dve rytmické vrstvy.

Verím, že každá nová technológia má zmysel vtedy, keď sa stane nástrojom v rukách autora. Sama o sebe hudbu nevytvorí. To podstatné sa deje až v rozhodnutiach, ktoré robíme počas tvorby.

Tá taška je konečne prázdna.

David Kollar

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🇬🇧 English
Music From The Bag

Over the past ten years, I've collected countless musical ideas. Most of them were never meant for KOMARA or my projects with Arve Henriksen. They were sketches for my solo work—some leaning towards rock, others inspired by fusion. Most of them needed drums, and that's one of the reasons they remained unfinished for years.

During the winter of 2025, I finally decided to open that imaginary bag. Around the same time, I became fascinated by the creative possibilities of artificial intelligence. I wasn't looking for it to compose music for me. I was curious whether it could become a tool to discover new rhythms and sounds.

I experimented by transforming recordings of Arve Henriksen's trumpet and my frame drum into drum performances. After nearly 600 experiments, I selected nine pieces for this album. Some of the rhythmic layers were created with the help of artificial intelligence. I then programmed, layered and further developed them, adding my own rhythmic ideas. In some tracks, two rhythmic layers intertwine.

I believe every new technology becomes meaningful only when it serves as a tool in the hands of an artist. Technology alone doesn't create music. The creative decisions always belong to the human behind it.

The bag is finally empty.

David Kollar

This piece comes from a series of ideas I’ve been carrying since around 2015. Many of them lean toward rock and fusion — music I grew up with, and which still lives somewhere in my bloodstream no matter how far I travel into other sonic worlds.

While working on this track, I also allowed myself a small, almost invisible reference to the past. Listeners who know my earlier work might notice a familiar shadow in the sound, a fragment reappearing in a different landscape.

This track is part of a forthcoming album currently in progress.

A reflection on power, time, and the cost of believing simple answers.
24 HOURS is a reaction, not a statement.

If I were president
And I say this
I will end this war
In one day

Twenty-four hours
To end a war
Say the words
Shake the floor

Twenty-four hours
Make it clean
Tell us peace
Is just a screen

Mothers waiting
Phones stay still
Twenty-four hours
Children killed

If I were president
And I say this
I will end this war in one day
It will take twenty-four hours

Guitar Stories (Vol. II – Made in Venice) was shaped here in Los Angeles, in Rick Cox’s house in Venice. This place has its own atmosphere and Rick lives music non-stop. When he listens or plays something he loves, he is fully in it. No posing, just focus. Being around that energy changes the way you think about music.

Spending a week under the same roof made me rethink a lot – about music and about myself. Life is a path. You move forward, you stumble, sometimes you do not want to look at yourself honestly, but you keep going. As long as you breathe.

About the tracks:

For Edie – Edie was Rick’s dog. He meant everything to him.
Cazcanes – tequila made by Colin Edwards. Colin works at 20th Century Fox, he is a guitarist and a close friend of Rick’s since 1980. A great human being.
The Path – the road everyone has to walk through.

Credits:
Music by David Kollar
Mixing and mastering by Jonathan Crossley

The photo is Rick’s house in Venice.

Guitar Stories Vol. 1

Guitar Stories is a living, ongoing project born in my home – usually in the morning around 9 a.m., when everything is still quiet and clear. Each story is a one-take improvisation, recorded without edits or overdubs. What you hear is a single stereo track – just the guitar and a moment that will never return the same way.

The music carries the imprint of these turbulent times, yet it searches for light and hope. Each piece is a fragment of a story that gradually unfolds into something larger.

I will keep adding new stories over time. In the end, they will form a complete album – perhaps on CD, perhaps on vinyl – but for now you can already listen to its chapters as they appear.

———————


Guitar Stories Vol. 1

Guitar Stories je otvorený, živý projekt, ktorý vzniká priamo v mojom dome – väčšinou ráno, okolo deviatej, keď je všetko ešte tiché a čisté. Každý príbeh je improvizáciou, zaznamenanou na jeden pokus, bez zásahov a bez strihu. Všetko, čo počujete, je jediná stereo stopa – gitara a okamih, ktorý už nikdy nebude rovnaký.

Hudba nesie odtlačok týchto turbulentných čias, no zároveň hľadá svetlo a nádej. Každá skladba je fragmentom príbehu, ktorý sa postupne skladá do väčšieho celku.

Projekt budem postupne rozširovať o ďalšie stories. Na konci z neho vznikne kompletný album – možno CD, možno vinyl – ale už teraz si môžete vypočuť jeho jednotlivé kapitoly.

The genre-defying trio KOMARA returns with KOMARA II, a powerful new release that pushes sound boundaries and challenges musical convention. Featuring King Crimson drummer Pat Mastelotto, avant-garde guitarist David Kollar, and visionary trumpeter Paolo Raineri, the album blends ambient textures, industrial grit, and jazz-infused improvisation into a haunting, cinematic experience.

Special guests include Arve Henriksen, Deborah Carter Mastelotto and sound designer Bill Munyon, adding further depth to the album's rich, experimental palette. As with their first album, this release is visually anchored by a striking cover design from Tool guitarist and visual artist Adam Jones.

The band will perform several shows this summer in Europe with Pat's former King Crimson bandmate Trey Gunn joining the band.

Komara Il is available in as a 4 panel CD wallet.

"The musician as a musical piece."
Sonified phone calls. Fragments of the creative process. Moments of silence, frustration, support, and breakthrough.

CALLS is a unique, ongoing album built around real phone recordings.
These aren’t ordinary conversations — they are inner dialogues, late-night check-ins, voice memos, and existential reflections turned into soundscapes.
What you hear is raw, real, and deeply personal.

This album unfolds gradually — a new CALL will be added every Monday.
It’s a living, breathing document of a creative period filled with doubt, excitement, and transformation.

By purchasing the album now, you'll receive all current and future tracks as they are released.
Let the process reveal itself. Week by week. Call by call.