Molchat Doma
We’re now more than a year into Russia’s brutal war on Ukraine. Not long after the conflict began, Molchat Doma — a first-rate synth-punk trio from Minsk, Belarus, which is very near both countries — went on its first headlining club tour in the U.S., stopping at Exit/In in April 2022. The trio of vocalist Egor Shkutko, bassist and synth player Pavel Kozlov and guitarist, keyboardist and drum programmer Roman Komogortsev have crafted a cold but kinetic post-punk sound that perfectly suits their name: Translated from Russian, the language most commonly spoken in their hometown, that’s “Houses Are Silent.”
Drawing on influential English groups like Depeche Mode, Joy Division and Bauhaus — as well as ones closer to home like 1980s St. Petersburg post-punks Kino and contemporary Minsk underground rockers Soyuz — Molchat Doma has released three LPs. Though the members were born after the end of the USSR, Soviet visions of the future have echoes that you can feel in the brutalist architecture of the band’s hometown, which in turn influences its work. Not long after the group formed in 2017 came S Krysh Nashikh Domov (roughly, “From Our Houses’ Rooftops”), followed by 2018’s Etazhi (“Floors,” whose track “Sudno,” or “Vessel,” became very popular on TikTok). In late 2020, a time when the austere and mechanically oriented sound the band made felt especially resonant, Monument arrived via Brooklyn indie Sacred Bones, a label that perennially seems to have its finger on the pulse.
In the past year, Molchat Doma resettled in Los Angeles and began work on their fourth album. The current tour wraps in Pasadena, Calif., where they’ll play alongside Billy Idol, The Human League, Echo & the Bunnymen and more as part of the second installment of New Wave goth fest Cruel World. Understandably, the band declined to answer any political questions, but was happy to answer a few others via email from the Scene ahead of their visit to Eastside Bowl on Thursday. Our interview has been edited for length and clarity.
The Eastern European human condition, at least in my perception, is a pragmatic sort of pessimism. Does that accurately describe the three of you?
We are quite depressed people … brought up in far-from-cool conditions. We know there are situations much worse than ours, but one way or another, life in the 2000s — post-Soviet era — leaves a certain imprint on you.
Growing up, was alternative music and art something you sought out on your own, or was it passed down from friends and relatives?
MTV influenced us very much as children. Later, once we got the internet, we went looking for music on local networks. There was always music at home. Our parents listened to music on cassette, and later on CD.
What has Molchat Doma been up to since its last Nashville show in April 2022?
We’ve started a new period in our lives. We moved to the U.S. and have been busy rearranging our lives, arranging our music studio and occupying ourselves working on a new album. There’s so much going on in L.A. you never get bored, but of course we miss friends and relatives.
Tell me more about the band’s next moves.
Before this tour, we were working on a new album, and we’ll continue to work on it afterwards. Everyone will be able to hear new songs at these concerts — and judging by the reaction [so far], they’ll really like them.
