Dymna Lotva‘s path has been one of transformation—what began as a studio project soon evolved into something far greater. From their early days in Belarus to their relocation to Poland, their journey has been shaped by struggle, self-discovery, and an unyielding creative vision.
Ahead of their first-ever show in Romania at Underground for the Masses II, we spoke with Jauhien and Nokt about the band’s evolution, the weight of their music, and the stories woven into their albums.
Dymna Lotva
© Katarzyna Mikołajczak
Greetings and thanks for joining us today. It’s been a while since the paths of Dymna Lotva intersected with the ones of DinÎntunerec. How have things been for you lately?
Jauhien: Hi! It’s 2018. It’s been a while. We were still very young then. Now we’ve grown up, of course. Moved from Belarus to Poland. And now we have a lot more opportunities than we had then. Last year alone we played more concerts than we did during the whole time in Belarus. So I guess we can say we’re doing pretty well.
We know that Dymna Lotva began as a studio project, with an initial collaboration that quickly grew into something much greater. From those first sessions to assembling a live lineup, the band has come a long way. Looking back, how do you see that transformation?
Jauhien: It was difficult. In Belarus, we often had problems with the lineup. We could say that half of the band consisted of session musicians most of the time. But we’ve learned a lot along the way. Including choosing the right people. We now have a permanent lineup where every member is interested in the band. That’s awesome.
Has the path you envisioned back then aligned with where Dymna Lotva stands today?
Jauhien: If we take the very beginning, we didn’t imagine the path at all. We just wanted to make an album. And overall we’re happy with how it turned out.
Your first full length, “Зямля пад чорнымі крыламі: Дрыгва” (“The Land under the Black Wings: Swamp”), was released in 2016. Apart from being your debut album, what does this material mean to you on a personal level?
Nokt: For both of us, this is the first serious big release that was created by just us from start to finish. The sound, the concept, the lyrics, the music, the visuals—it was all designed by ourselves from scratch. There were no other musicians’ ideas, there was no “let’s do like this band”, nobody directed us and nobody told us what we should do. So this was exactly the release that made us fully adult musicians. The debut album has given us a lot in terms of self-discovery.
When creating “Зямля пад чорнымі крыламі: Дрыгва” (“The Land under the Black Wings: Swamp”), were there any particular challenges you faced along the way?
Jauhien: I can’t really recall any difficulties. The album was recorded quite easily and quickly. The only thing is that there wasn’t a lot of money back then. We had to make it with what we could. Like recording guitars at home, and mixing the album with a friend of ours who was learning how to mix. But in retrospect, the album was not bad.
Nokt: Yeah, only money question. As I remember, the budget of the debut album was about 500$ but these times it was a lot of money for us. Anyway, I remember these times as super inspiring.
Going further, with “Палын” (“Wormwood”), from the year 2017, did you approach the creative process differently than with “Зямля пад чорнымі крыламі: Дрыгва” (“The Land under the Black Wings: Swamp”)?
Jauhien: I don’t think the creation process was much different. Moreover, some of the tracks on “Wormwood” are tracks that were written for the first album but didn’t fit.
What would you say was the key feeling or message you wanted to convey through “Палын” (“Wormwood”)?
Nokt: This was probably not a message, but a feeling. Feelings of despair when a dear person dies in your arms, when you leave home forever. The feeling of fear when the very air around you is silently killing you. Feelings of anger when people in power cover up their mistakes at the cost of many lives.
It is strange, we hadn’t seen war back then, but it sounds very similar.
Looking back on the creation of “Палын” (“Wormwood”), was there a specific song or moment during its making that felt particularly powerful to you?
Jauhien: It’s hard to remember now how the process went there and how we felt. Post facto, I can say that the strongest track for me is “A Solitary Human Voice II“. This is a very emotional and heavy track.
Nokt: For me it is “A Solitary Human Voice” (first), because it’s also our very first track. It started everything.
What was your mindset when you started working on “Зямля Пад Чорнымі Крыламі: Кроў” (“The Land Under The Black Wings: Blood”)?
Jauhien: Back in 2016-2017, when the album was conceived, we expected it to be just a historical album. About the fates of people during the wars that took place on the territory of Belarus. The album should have just continued the trilogy further. Nothing more. But a lot of different factors prevented us from recording it to the end and releasing it as planned. Apparently, the universe was waiting for a more relevant time. So that we could feel 2020 in Belarus and the war in Ukraine.
The track “Смерць цалуе ў вочы” (“Death Kisses in the Eyes”) feels especially intense. What can you share about the emotional core of this song?
Nokt: I wrote this text for my grandmother’s death. She was in her 90s and I realized that she would probably die before or shortly after the album was released. It was such a self-preparation for grief. But in the end we dedicated this track to Roman Bondarenko, who was beaten to death by Lukashenko’s servants. Just on the day of his death I realized that the lyrics fit this story very well. This song is emotional, but it really should give consolation.
Of all of your songs, what has been the most difficult one for you to write, emotionally or musically?
Jauhien: Musically, I can’t say that our music is difficult. Emotionally, the most difficult tracks were probably “The Pit” and “Hell“. These tracks are really hard to listen to and were equally hard to record. Even our mixing engineer said it was emotionally difficult for him to work with the “Hell”.
Nokt: I agree with Jauhien. For “Hell”, we recorded the voices of two children of our friend. These children were in the studio for the first time in their life, they are not any kind of actors or singers – so it was hard to record their part. We spent a lot of money and pizza. And “The Pit”, yeah… I was strangling myself with a scarf while recording to get the sound of a person screaming while buried in a pit of corpses.
The album covers you’ve chosen are photography-based rather than illustrations or paintings. What draws you to photography in particular for these visuals?
Nokt: The fact that I cannot draw professionally. Ideas for our visuals are always mine. I usually create a very detailed briefing of what we need, choose a photographer with the style we want, draw a sketch and attend the shoot. So we always know exactly what we want. And we get it in the form of a photo. The photos are more realistic. And usually, a photo is easier to get than a drawing (although we’re working on a cover for a side project right now and for the idea we have, it’s harder to get a photo, on the contrary, and we chose that route to do the harder work). Try to imagine “Wormwood” cover drawn. It would be just some drawing. But as a photo where we covered our model (and ex-guitarist) body with my fresh blood in the hurricane-damaged forest…
For the cover of your first album, you chose your grandmother as the model (a very touching move in my eyes, congratulations for the idea!). What inspired that choice?
Nokt: She inspired us. Her beauty, her story, her heart full of love. She deserved to live forever in the art.
The cover artwork for “Зямля пад чорнымі крыламі: Дрыгва” (“The Land under the Black Wings: Swamp”)
© The band’s archive
In your latest work, I’ve seen that one of the models on the cover is someone close to you, perhaps a friend. Can you share more about the story behind this person and her role in your art?
Nokt: One of the models on the cover is me (not Jauhien as everybody thinks!). Another model was 12-year-old Stefania Vadanosava. She is a young musician— violinist and singer—and daughter of well-known Belarusian singer, national costumes reconstructor and TV presenter Kaciaryna Vadanosava. They are our friends, not super close, but friends. The original plan was to shoot my friend’s young niece in Belarus, but we had to flee the country. Stefania’s family also had to flee because of political persecution. We met in Kyiv in February 2022 and agreed on a shoot. A couple weeks later, the war came to Kyiv. They evacuated to Poland, and a couple of months later we came to Poland too. We are happy that it was a Belarusian girl from a family that does so much for Belarusian culture who starred as our young Belarus in the hands of the War.
The cover artwork for “Зямля Пад Чорнымі Крыламі: Кроў” (“The Land Under The Black Wings: Blood”)
© The band’s archive
Your connection with those who follow your music is evident on social media. Is there a particular moment or interaction that stands out—something that left a deep impression on you?
Nokt: Oh, yes! Literally because of this connection now we have a guitarist and I have a boyfriend (it’s the same person). Back in the beginning of 2019, Mikita was just a Dymna Lotva young fan who followed us, commented our posts and once wrote a direct message to me. So we started to talk sometimes. Then we met in real life and became friends. Then he became our stage technician. Then we kissed being drunk at the afterparty after the fest… Okay, there were a lot of different things together: pandemic, protests, war, emigration, criminal persecution… Now we are a pair for five years already and Mikita played with us more than 40 shows.
I know that the costumes for Dymna Lotva are sewn within the band—how did this practice begin?
Jauhien: Do you know how much designer suits cost? It’s usually some crazy money. We could spend that money on equipment. Or recording an album. Well, this practice has been around since the very first concert. Nokt made our first outfits herself. Which we successfully lost at the afterparty.
Nokt: So I created the new ones. And again. And again. By the way, someone stole all the men’s stage costumes from the apartment I rented in Minsk after Mikita and I had to flee Belarus. And one of my current stage dresses was a bedding in my cat’s carrier during the occupation of Irpin (and another one I couldn’t take away, so it burned down when the house was bombed).
But overall, I love designing and sewing costumes for the stage and videos. And if we ever make more money, I’d like to spend it not on a costume designer, but to be able to work less at work, so that I can free up time to create cooler costumes. I wouldn’t want to outsource that part of the work.
Is each costume designed with a specific concept in mind, or does inspiration strike during the process?
Nokt: I usually understand what I need. Sometimes I draw it. But our current costumes are really not complicated.
Recently, you had a lot of live performances. How did it feel to bring your music to life on stage?
Jauhien: We like playing live shows. It’s really awesome to see from the stage that people like our music. It’s inspiring. And we try to make them better every time. After almost every show sitting on backstage or in the hotel we discuss mistakes. Or what we can try to realize at the next shows.
Do you see your live shows as a direct extension of your recorded music, or do they take on a life of their own?
Jauhien: We regard live shows as something else. We play the tracks differently than we do on record. Plus visual composition, performance, light. So everyone is invited to the concert to hear our music from a different perspective.
Nokt: … but it’s still a direct extension of our art.
Do you have any pre-show rituals or preparations to get into the right mindset?
Jauhien: Do a few beers count as a ritual? There’s really no time for any rituals. We need to do make-up, put on costumes and so on.
Nokt: On our first concerts I usually pricked my finger and sprinkled the musicians and myself with my blood. It could be bloody makeup or just a few drops of blood on the bandages on our hands. I liked this practice (some of our musicians did not), but now, with so many concerts in a row, it is no longer possible. The last time I used my own blood was at Prophecy Fest 2023.
Now, regarding Underground for the Masses II—this festival gathers bands that have shaped and redefined black metal. What does it mean for you to take part in this edition?
Jauhien: We are honored to perform at this festival in great company. The lineup is really impressive. It will also be our first performance in Romania. It’s always awesome to bring our music to new places. We plan to meet new people and have a great time.
Nokt: People call me a vampire since school, so I’M GOING HOME!
Dymna Lotva at Underground for the Masses II
© Nexion Arts and Anca Kivart
Do you feel a sense of kinship with the other acts performing?
Nokt: We haven’t shared the stage with most of the bands that are announced in the lineup of Underground for the Masses II before, so we expect new interesting acquaintances. And it’s a pity that one really related band, whose musicians we call brothers and sister, canceled their performance. I’m talking about Perchta.
What can those attending expect from your performance?
Jauhien: It’s going to be emotional. And beautiful.
Nokt: Sometimes I claw the stage.
As we look to the future, where do you see your creative path unfolding?
Jauhien: We would like to become superstars and play large scale beautiful shows. We’re still small, but we’re trying. We plan to play more concerts and festivals. Release more albums. In general, we plan to go the standard path.
Nokt: … and die at the end. Or not.
Lastly, do you have a message for those who have listened to your music and connected with it?
Nokt: Be brave. Be strong. Read books. Brave strong people who read good books are able to change the world.
