by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Belarusian post-punk/cold wave/synth-fueled EDM trio Molchat Doma was founded in 2017 in Minsk. And like their origin implies, there is drama in everything they do. Even their name — translated to English — means “Houses Are Silent.” Could anything sound more foreboding?

The band — vocalist Egor Shkutko (Belarusian: Yahor Shkutko); Roman Komogortsev (Raman Kamahortsau) on guitar, synths and drum machine, and Pavel Kozlov on bass and synths — creates darkly urban, wholly modern synth-pop whose undertones and rhythms are familiar to anyone who grew up listening to Depeche Mode, Human League, The Cure, and so on. 

The band sites Perestroika-era Russian groups such as Kino as an influence, and you can hear shadows of Kraftwerk in their early work. As their one-sheet oh so accurately describes: “The band gained a following with earlier albums that sound like third-generation bootlegs of banned recordings from the Eastern Bloc made after a few key entries in the Factory Records catalog were smuggled in from the West.” 

Tracks off their 2017 self-released debut, S Krysh Nashikh Domov (translated via Google as From the Roofs of Our Houses), such as “Ludi Nadoeli,” (“People are Boring”), could be mistaken for early, upbeat Joy Division, except for the Russian lyrics.

According to Pitchfork, one of Molchat Doma’s early breaks came in April 2020 when their song “Судно (Sudno)” was used in a viral TikTok video clip that garnered over 6 million views, sparking listeners on Spotify. Then (according to the Chicago Reader), an Australian taste-maker uploaded the band’s 2018 album, Etazhi, onto YouTube, which caught the attention of hip Brooklyn record label Sacred Bones, who signed the band and reissued their early works. 

Sacred Bones released Mochat Doma’s third album, Monument, in 2020 in the shadow of the pandemic. The band was forced to hold off on its first U.S. tour, but would eventually play major festival stages, including Coachella and Cruel World in 2022. 

Over the years, their sound has evolved from shadowy, minimalist post-punk into the shiny, pulsing, black-lit EDM heard on their most recent release, 2024’s Belaya Polosa. Completed in their new home of Los Angeles, their label called it “a testament to change in difficult times, a love letter to the digital pulse of the ‘90s, and a technicolor reinvention of the band’s somber dancefloor anthems.”

The trio has been selling out venues throughout its current tour, which brings them to Steelhouse Omaha Monday, Feb. 24. They generously took the Lazy-i Ten Questions survey. Here’s what they had to say:

1. What is your favorite album?

Yahor: Moby – All Visible Objects

Pavel: Tool – Lateralus

Raman: Puma Blue – Holy Waters

2. What is your least favorite song?

“APT” by Bruno Mars and Rose

3. What do you enjoy most about being in a band?

Touring. We all love touring. Every time we hit the road we feel ourselves alive.

4. What do you hate about being in a band?

Being homesick. We all have families and sometimes it’s really hard being too far from them.

5. What is your favorite substance (legal or illegal)?

We all love a lure. We are crazy about this bait. 

6. In what city or town do you love to perform (and why)?

There are so many cities where we love to play. Always pleasure to play in our residence city, LA. NYC is so special too. Europe is definitely different, but Berlin, London, and Paris are so good to play. 

7. What city or town did you have your worst gig (and why)?

That was several years ago in Minsk, Belarus. We were so drunk and played as shit. We still feel ashamed.

8. Are you able to support yourself through your music? If so, how long did it take to get there; if not, how do you pay your bills?

Yes, it became possible when we started growing in popularity in 2020. We toured a lot and continue to tour to this day, plus streaming and merch helps us pay our bills.

9. What one profession other than music would you like to attempt; what one profession would you absolutely hate to do?

Certainly none of us would like to go back to our previous jobs, which we did before music – working in construction. In fact, I don’t want to try any other professions, since we get great pleasure from what we are doing now. Well, maybe a civil aviation pilot.

10. What stories have you heard about Omaha, Nebraska?

We don’t know anything about this place, but we hope to have a very good experience and enjoy being there!

Molchat Doma plays with Sextile at Steelhouse Omaha Monday, Feb. 24. Tickets range from $27.50 to $65. For more information, go to steelhouseomaha.com

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Read Tim McMahan’s blog daily at Lazy-i.com — an online music magazine that includes feature interviews, reviews and news. The focus is on the national indie music scene with a special emphasis on the best original bands in the Omaha area. Copyright © 2025 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.