Krkonošské matky: From a Pub Idea to a Style of Their Own. "It Makes Sense!!!"

Krkonošské matky were formed in 2017 from an idea that originally had neither great ambitions nor a fixed plan. What began as a group of friends who were only just learning how to handle their instruments gradually became a band with a sound of its own, two albums, and an audience that knows their songs and sings along with them in front of the stage.

In this interview for Rebel Sound, we return to their beginnings, the journey from Rýbrcoulův konec to the heavier Panoptikum, the stories of the Krkonoše Mountains and the Podkrkonoší region, their collaboration with Scorched Æarth, and what the band means to them after all these years as a group of people. We also talked about the next album and about 2027, when Krkonošské matky will celebrate ten years of existence.

Krkonošské matky were formed in 2017 from a pub idea shared by Honza and Richard, even though at the time you had neither years of playing behind you nor a clear plan of where the band should go. Today, when you stand in front of people with two albums behind you, what surprises you most about your own journey? And has music changed you as people in a way you could never have imagined during those first rehearsals?

What surprises us is that the vast majority of people in front of the stage know our songs and sing along, and it really surprises us that people have responded positively to the songs from the new album, which are considerably heavier. We have also found that when we arrive somewhere nobody knows us, the reactions are genuinely positive, and that really makes us happy.

It has definitely moved us forward as people. The beginnings were tough. Just like in a family, there were sometimes tears and almost even punches... All of that brought us to the point where we really are a family now. It is not a cliché, that is simply how it is - a family, including our partners, children, dogs, and so on...

At the beginning, you rejected cover songs partly because you did not want to "butcher" them, and instead you started writing your own material. That is actually quite an unusual path: learning an instrument through your own music rather than through other people's songs. What did this approach give to your songwriting style, and are there techniques you use today that may not be textbook methods but are, precisely because of that, typically yours?

From the beginning - and this needs to be emphasised - there were three of us who basically could not do anything at all; we just had a pile of lyrics. Our heads were full of ideas, but how were we supposed to get them out? Adam, who joined last, could at least play. He had already had some kind of "project" of his own, and he is the one who brings in the ideas that we then turn together into a finished song. Sometimes it takes 35 minutes; sometimes an idea goes into the drawer and we come back to it several months later.

There is honestly nothing textbook about it at all. It is not deliberately planned in any way; it is guided by feeling, and that is exactly how our signature style is created. We do not even realise it ourselves, but after all these years we hear it from fans and critics that we have created our own style and are unmistakable. Every single thing really comes from spontaneous ideas that change depending on feelings and mood. We kept polishing the songs on Panoptikum until they reached what we considered our own perfection.

The debut Rýbrcoulův konec captured the band in a much rawer and at times more classic-rock-oriented form, while Panoptikum from 2025 is heavier, darker, and more self-confident. If you did not see the two records merely as musical recordings, but as photographs of who you were at those moments in time, what would each of them reveal about you? And what could today's Krkonošské matky no longer reproduce in the same way from the debut era?

The first photo would show a naive bunch who had absolutely no idea what was going to happen. The enthusiasm was there, but probably no expectations. We really did not know what it actually meant - playing every weekend, travelling to gigs, negotiating conditions, and everything that comes with it. And our command of the instruments was also kind of... let's say childish.

The second photo is already more colourful, with more pixels. It shows a group that already knows what it wants.

And what we no longer want to do - and above all can no longer manage - is destroy a huge amount of rum and beer. Not anymore!!!

After the departure of the original bassist Michal, Lukáš joined and the band settled into its current line-up. Replacing one person can change not only the rhythm section, but also relationships and the way decisions are made in the rehearsal room. What did Lukáš's arrival change in the music and the internal chemistry of the band, and when did you first feel that this line-up was truly breathing as one?

Nothing changed; he simply came in and fitted right in. The advantage was that he was our friend and we already knew him. In a way it was a new beginning. Lukáš also had to learn how to play, but on a personal level everything was, and still is, fine.

The Krkonoše Mountains and the Podkrkonoší region are not just a backdrop in your lyrics; characters, legends, history, and specific local motifs keep returning in them. You have said yourselves that you research certain things because you do not want to put out nonsense. Where do you draw the line between historical or folkloric accuracy and an author's right to reshape a story? Has it ever happened that a fact you discovered forced you to change a lyric or completely abandon a good idea?

That would be a longer story... Generally speaking, in the case of Rýbrcoul, for example, Richard chose from several legends and interpretations the one that was closest to us and offered a certain point that Krakonoš could build on. There were themes we abandoned even though they were almost finished, because they would have been unnecessarily confrontational or unsuitable for our style of music. We want to entertain with both our music and our lyrics; our goal is not to keep asking questions and searching for answers at any cost.

On the one hand, you have songs firmly connected with the region you come from; on the other, you want them to work even for someone who has never stood beneath Sněžka and does not know the local legends. What must a regional story contain in order to become a universal song? And is there any song where people's reactions revealed a completely different meaning from the one you originally put into it?

Krakonoš, Sněžka, Rýbrcoul - these are names that basically everyone knows, so in that respect it is quite simple. The music has to grab people, then the lyrics have to work with it, and it should function everywhere.

The song Motor from the first album is actually about us, about the band, about our beginnings. And now it has become a kind of "morkářská anthem".

Panoptikum was created in close collaboration with Jan Mostecký from Scorched Æarth, with other members of that band also appearing on backing vocals, and you yourselves speak about mutual help and friendship. In an environment where bands are often seen as competitors for the same audience, that is an interesting counterpoint. What did this collaboration show you about how a local scene can work when bands open doors for each other instead of competing?

We do not see any band as competition. We think the local scene here works well. A good example is the local multi-genre Festival Dvorských kapel - from country to metal. People come and it is a great event. And Scorched Æarth themselves? Simply friends. We share a rehearsal room, go out for beers together - simply friends.

You sent the final mastering of Panoptikum to Thomas Eberger and Sofia von Haage in Stockholm, and the result convinced you so much that you have already said you want the next album to follow the same path. What did you hear in your own music for the first time in the Swedish master that had been missing before? And how do you recognise the point at which the sound is still an authentic version of Krkonošské matky, and when studio perfection would begin to erase the band's character?

The first thing was that Jenda Mostecký recorded the material and mixed it well. From Sweden we received notes about what they would be "bringing out" in each song and at what point. The overall impression is that they really feel the music and understood what we meant by it. They brought out exactly what each song needed. What we want to say is that, in our opinion, the whole album is fairly raw, and the Swedes simply emphasised that.

Panoptikum was also the first album you released on vinyl. For a band that originally planned nothing more than playing for fun in a garage, having your own LP is quite a symbolic milestone. When you held it in your hands for the first time, was the stronger feeling pride, disbelief, or rather the immediate thought, "so what comes next?" And did releasing a physical record change your relationship with what you want to leave behind as a band?

None of us had ever thought about that question. Really, the only question was: what comes next? Well, we simply want to keep making music so that we can find out what comes next...

Honza uses a broader expressive range on Panoptikum, and the whole band has naturally moved towards a heavier sound, yet you have also said that the next step should not simply be "even heavier". So if your future development is not about adding more brutality, where do you currently see the greatest unexplored space for Krkonošské matky: in atmosphere, arrangements, lyrics, melody, vocal work, or somewhere else entirely?

In everything you have just mentioned. That is simply how it is; the most important thing is the atmosphere and the mood within the band.

You already know at least two things about the next album: you do not want to keep making the music heavier without thinking, and you would like to entrust the mastering to Sweden again. What actually exists of the third record today - riffs, lyrics, themes, finished songs, or mainly a direction so far? And what does the new album have to offer so that it is not just "Panoptikum number two", but another reason why it makes sense for the band to continue?

The important thing is desire, and from that comes hard work and development. The direction is set, the ideas are there, and now it is all up to us. Desire is the most important thing, and it is genuinely strong. We do not want to copy ourselves. That makes it harder, but also more interesting.

In 2027 you will celebrate ten years together. You started without any big plans, and today you have two albums, your own LP, music videos, and experience on large stages, while you yourselves say that playing for people is what gives you the most energy. If, for your tenth anniversary, you were not allowed to wish for a bigger festival, higher numbers, or a more famous name on the poster, what other proof would tell you that those ten years had been worth it?

The group we have. We have been through all kinds of situations - difficult ones, when the health of one of us was at stake, when we went through various family upheavals, but also good ones, like weddings and other things. It was worth it. The fact that we are still here is proof that it made sense. It makes sense!!!

And finally, we will leave you some space without any boundaries. What would you like to say today to the people who have followed Krkonošské matky since Rýbrcoulův konec, to those who only discovered you through Panoptikum or at a concert, and to the readers of Rebel Sound? And if, ten years from now, someone had to sum up in one sentence what Krkonošské matky were all about, what sentence would you like to hear?

The answer is simple. Go to concerts, have fun; without you it does not work and it never will. When you enjoy it, we enjoy it even more.

What would we like to hear? Probably just: "GOOD".

Celebrate 10 years with us next year. It is going to be one hell of a ride!!!

Thank you for the opportunity to present our band!

Honza, Ríša, Adam and Lukáš... Yours, KM

The story of Krkonošské matky proves that a band does not have to begin with a grand plan in order to gradually find its own path, sound, and audience. What started as a pub idea grew into a group for whom music today is not only about records and concerts, but also about relationships, shared experiences, and the desire to keep moving forward without losing their own identity. With their tenth anniversary approaching, Krkonošské matky are not only looking back - they are already thinking about another record, and in their own words, the desire to continue is genuinely strong. And as they put it most simply: "It makes sense!!!"

We would like to thank Krkonošské matky for their time, openness, and this interview for Rebel Sound.

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