21-year-old Danya SAMOTA burst into Belarusian music at the beginning of 2025.

First, with videos showing what Belarusian artists would sound like in different genres, and then with his debut track, “I Don’t See Dreams.” He started getting respect from Palina and NAVIBAND. Then Lightowy and Mandzik offered him to join them on a tour in Poland. KLIK spoke with the artist about life in Prague, his metalcore background, and found out how Palina’s song influenced his work.

— Tell us about yourself. How did you end up in Prague?

— I always wanted to study abroad. When I was finishing school, many people were going to Poland. In general, the question “Which country are you going to study in?” was pretty common. But a friend of mine got into a university in the Czech Republic, and I decided to follow in his footsteps. In 2018, I started learning Czech intensely, while focusing on math, and in 2020 I got into the Czech Technical University in Prague. I’m studying software engineering there and working at the same time.

I really like Czechia. I’ve been to many European cities, but Prague has become my home. There’s a vibe of melancholy here. If you feel it, the city immediately captures your heart. In terms of nightlife, especially Belarusian nightlife, Prague is a big village. All the parties and action are in Poland right now. And I enjoy traveling there, but moving there — no, that’s not for me.

— How did you get into music?

— I’ve listened to heavy music my whole life: metalcore, deathcore, post-hardcore, all those genres. When I was little, my uncle would rock me to sleep with Rammstein. Plus, I have an older brother who had a guitar, and he’d always let me play it. I was literally 4 years old when I started to figure it out. Now, the guitar is a part of my me. I’m not a super technical player, but I can play anything except sweeps.

At 10, I was already making up songs and recording them on a voice recorder. Later, I discovered Guitar Pro 5, and that’s when it really started. I’d write songs in it and show them to my friends, and they’d say, “Dude, are you stupid? What is this crap?” By the way, Poshlaya Molly used samples from Guitar Pro 5 in their songs.

At 13, together with friends, we formed a metalcore band with the pompous name Behind The People. We decided we were the new Bring Me The Horizon and started rehearsing daily. We even played one concert at “Brugge.” (a bar in Minsk)

At 14, I discovered Bones. He just blew my mind. I had a dissonance. For me, it was incompatible: a guy doing rap while also screaming. I couldn’t admit that I liked any music other than heavy stuff. In the end, I’d listen to Bones at night and tell everyone it was trash.

After that, I started getting into electronics and began making beats. I could sit with music until 6 or 7 in the morning. Then came university applications and moving, and I didn’t have time for music anymore. I took a year off from it.

— How did Samota come about?

— The name was born from “Belarusian Song” by Palina and Intelligency. I approached the project through my band Loveletting, which we formed in Prague with former members of Marina and 20tokens. For me, it was a revelation that you could record demos and they wouldn’t just end up in a drawer. We started making TikToks, they went viral, and now the most popular track has around 300,000 streams.

After a year, I was thinking I needed to do something of my own. Just for fun, I started putting together a demo. Initially, the language didn’t matter. The only condition was definitely not English, since we make music in English in the band. For me, music is a completely different space. In life, I often speak Belarusian. In music, it was always important for me that everything worked together cohesively. Only now am I retraining myself to understand that lyrics and delivery matter.

— Was it hard to start a solo project?

— I was very scared. Because when you start doing something, creating something, you get a ton of attention. Even friends start treating you differently. But I did what I always do when I’m afraid to take the plunge: I closed my eyes, turned off my brain, and took a step forward. Afterwards, you realize how easy it was. As soon as I made that step, I felt a huge rush of dopamine.

— Who influenced your sound?

— Probably 2holis the most. I adore him. SoundCloud rap also had a big influence. I understand it’s hard to listen to. But it’s like a new branch of punk sound. It will definitely grow into something new.

— After your first videos, you got a lot of support. Which famous artists supported you?

— My videos were reposted by Nürnberg and NAVIBAND. The latter made two TikToks with my remix of their song. I remember walking through university, opening TikTok, and seeing that NAVIBAND had mentioned me in a post where they were dancing on the bed to my sound. It all looked like a dream with a 38-degree fever.

Also, Palina appreciated my remix of her song and followed me. You should have seen the look on my face when that happened.

— How do you create music?

— I have a Gen Z approach where you do everything fast and chaotically. I never force writing music. I don’t have writer’s block. Sometimes I’m scrolling through TikTok before bed, I hear a melody, and that’s it — the track is ready. I jump out of bed, open my computer, and write the coolest thing I’ve done.

Creating music always starts with the beat. I can catch a vibe, poke around, and it all happens very chaotically. I understand people who can’t work with me. I’m not a team player; my projects are a mess. I write all my music in FL Studio. I’d like to switch to Ableton, but it’s an old habit that’s hard to break, especially when you know FL inside out.

— Did you listen to Belarusian music before creating SAMOTA?

— Superficially, let’s say. I really like Palina, Nürnberg. I love Akute and adore Nizkiz. Nochy are cool. There are certain stereotypes surrounding Belarusian-language music. And when you’re making “Gen Z crap” in Belarusian, people either like it or hate you because you’re not following the canon. As soon as I started SAMOTA, I learned about hundreds of cool artists.

— How did you collaborate with the guys from ЁЎ Lab?

— Lightowy followed me. Then Mandzik. At some point, Lyokha messages me and invites me to join a tour in Poland. My head just exploded. It can’t be that a person created a project yesterday and today gets invited on a tour. I ended up moving all my plans and rushed to the concert in Krakow.

After the concert, Lyokha gave me a ЁЎ Lab t-shirt, and I was just shocked by the amount of attention and love. I met Mandzik there, and later we streamed once. Now he took it upon himself to organize a tour for us in Poland with Navalach. I don’t know where he gets all his energy. These guys are super charged.

— You made it to the finals of the “VYKLIK” competition. Share your impressions.

— I really liked the winner, Domsun. I went into the competition without any expectations. You should have seen the state we were in and what time we filmed the snippet. Overall, there were a lot of great artists, and I think Domsun’s win was deserved. When my music was called “a crap for Gen Z” on the “First Local” stream, it really pissed me off. Then I calmed down. I understand that not everyone likes my music, but to rate me this low as they did… I realized, definitely not this time.

Blitz

— What do you feel is missing in Belarusian music?
— Experiments and the overall quantity. I want to see more of it.

— Three coolest Belarusian artists or bands?
— Nizkiz, Palina, and Anastasia Rydlevskaya.

— Who would you like to collaborate with?
— With anyone who’s interested.

— A concert at “Re:Public” or a European tour?
— A European tour.

— Where do you see yourself in five years?
— As a significant artist who has recorded a couple of worthy albums.