Independent Slovak artist motko has always approached music as something bigger than sounds, melodies or rhythms, but he broadens one’s preconceived notions to something much more immersive. His self-coined description of “movies for your ears” sets out the idea of his songs being cinematic and storied. A good place to start for any listener is his new EP, home, a nine-track collection that explores how one’s identity is shaped by where we belong, where we’re heading or where we’ve moved on from. Not only is this record a deep dive into personal experience, but it also marks a new chapter for motko as a solo artist following years playing in bands like Millhouse, Symbiosis and IONS. This new project has given him freedom to follow the creative process from start to finish; from the spark of inspiration to the demo stage to the final production. Alongside home, motko has also treated us to a companion zine, which expands on the EP’s themes and laid out the lyrics – you can check out Finding Your Way Back Home here. With the introduction out of the way, we’ll let motko take over to tell us about the making of home, the stories behind the songs and what it means to find yourself.
Welcome to Unrecorded! For those who aren’t already familiar with motko, can you introduce yourself?
motko is my solo project — a place where I can follow an idea from its first spark all the way through to the final sound and visual world around it. Before this, I was part of bands including Millhouse and Symbiosis, and IONS. motko gave me a way to make something more personal and self-directed.
I write, arrange, produce, record and mix the music myself, but home was not made in isolation. Martin Pisko played drums, Jakub Spišák engineered the drums recording, and Petter Jensen mastered the album.
I sometimes describe motko as “movies for your ears”. I tend to hear songs as scenes in a larger whole rather than separate tracks, so atmosphere, pacing and the space between things matter as much to me as hooks or volume.
Congratulations on the release of your new EP! How would you describe home in three words?
Restless, tender, cinematic.
You’ve described the record as “a record about leaving far enough to finally know how to stay.” What does that idea mean to you as an artist?
For me, leaving is not only about physically going somewhere else. It can mean leaving an old role, a family expectation, a job, a relationship, or an idea of who you are supposed to be.
I think we often carry things that do not really belong to us: habits, fears and stories we learned before we had the words to question them. Sometimes you need distance from those things before you can recognise what is actually yours.
So “staying” is not about standing still. It is about being able to stay with yourself — with your feelings, contradictions and uncertainty — instead of abandoning yourself to become someone more acceptable to other people.
Considering the cinematic scope of the release, which film would you pair with it? And why that one?
I do not have one exact film in mind. home is less like a soundtrack to one story and more like the space between scenes: a road at dusk, a quiet room after an argument, a house that feels familiar but somehow no longer safe.
I wanted the album to move like a film can move — slowly, through atmosphere and emotional temperature, without explaining everything immediately. Each song has its own story, but together they become one inner landscape.
Home can mean so many different things: a place, person, feeling or memory. What does the concept represent in the album?
All of those things are in the record, but the most important meaning of home for me is the relationship you have with yourself.
Sometimes we think we need to return to a place, a person or an earlier version of life in order to feel whole again. But home can also mean not leaving yourself behind when things become difficult. It is the moment you stop performing for everyone else long enough to hear what you actually feel.
I am not saying I have figured that out. home is more about looking for that place than arriving there.
Focus single ‘old’ deals with the fear of becoming rigid and bitter, so was there a personal experience that inspired this self-reflection?
Yes. I started noticing how easy it is to become certain that you already know how the world works — to answer everything with cynicism, irritation or one fixed opinion. It can feel like protection, especially when you have been disappointed or hurt, but eventually it becomes a wall between you and other people.
“old” is about being afraid of that wall growing around your heart. I do not think getting older automatically makes someone bitter, but I think we have to keep choosing curiosity over false certainty. The song is me trying to catch myself before I become too comfortable judging everything from a distance.
What else do you hope listeners will take away from home?
I hope it gives people a little more permission to be who they really are — especially if they have spent years feeling too sensitive, too strange, too emotional or simply out of place.
I do not want to give people instructions or pretend that every inner conflict has a clean solution. I hope the record can be a small harbour: a place where it is okay to look at learned patterns, shame, anger and fear without immediately judging yourself for having them.
If someone hears home and recognises pieces of their own story in it, and feels a little less alone afterwards, that would mean a lot to me.
You previously played in bands like Millhouse, Symbiosis and IONS, so how has your experience been of going solo so far? Any challenges or new-found joys?
Going solo gave me a different kind of freedom. In a band, songs grow through shared energy, conversation and compromise. With motko, I can let an instinct lead the process and follow it through the writing, arrangement, production, mix and visual world.
I know what I want to say in a song, and I can usually feel when it is finished. But I do not make those decisions in a vacuum. Throughout the process, I play ideas and demos to my fiancée Lenka. She gives me very honest feedback and often notices when I am starting to move away from myself. She is a kind of lighthouse for that: she helps me notice when something feels true and when I am starting to perform or overthink it.
In a way, she is also the reason I began writing songs for myself. The first songs came from writing for her; then I realised that when I write for her — for us — I am also writing for myself.
I would like motko to grow into a live band with people I trust, too. The songs can have full-band energy, but they also work in a much more intimate acoustic setting, and I like that tension between the two.
With the recent break-through of fellow Slovak artist ADÉLA onto the global stage, do you have any other artists or bands for us to keep an eye on?
To be honest, I do not really follow mainstream music or artist “breakthroughs” very closely, so I do not know enough about ADÉLA to say anything meaningful.
I also do not choose what to listen to based on nationality. I am usually drawn to music that feels authentic and honest — something that surprises me, even in a small way. It does not need to be perfect or fashionable; I just need to feel that there is a real person and a real reason behind it.
In Slovakia, I really enjoy the production and the worlds around FVCK_KVLT, Boy Wonder, Viktor Ori, Dušan Vlk and Small Town Life. In the Czech Republic, Tata Bojs and Mutanti Hledaj Východisko have been important to me too. They are all very different, but they each have a strong identity and a willingness to do things on their own terms.
I tend to find music through personal recommendations, small shows and the stranger corners of the internet rather than through the mainstream.
Following the release of this album, what will be next on the horizon for you?
First, I want to give home some room to live. I want to play more shows, share acoustic or naked versions of the songs, and build a more direct and personal connection with people through letters, small notes and things that do not fit naturally on streaming platforms or social media.
I am also working towards a vinyl edition and small DIY objects around the record — prints, upcycled pieces and things that feel connected to its world.
At the same time, I am already writing again. I do not know exactly what the next album will become yet, but I want to keep following the same rule: stay curious and make something honest enough for people to recognise themselves in.
You can also listen to focus track ‘old’ in our Outsiders Club playlist.
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