Queer Romani teenager scores pop music hit on Czech and Slovak social media
Czech and Slovak social media were dominated a few months back by a pop music hit called "Detvianský sen" [Detva Dream] by Vojtěch Klinec (19), who comes from the picturesque small town of Detva in the Banská Bystrica Region of Slovakia. He performs as Vojtík and his life has been fundamentally transformed by his success – his video about what it is like to grow up as a queer Romani man in a small town was seen by an enormous number of social media users overnight.
The songwriter says he does not consider himself popular, even though almost 200,000 social media users have seen his work and he is performing in concert all over the Czech Republic and Slovakia. “The original idea was to cover the ‘American Teenager’ video by the vocalist Ethel Cain, but then it occurred to me to make my own original composition, because I saw the potential of it. I remember not sleeping at all, I prepared the demo version using all of my strength, listening to it over and over, and I got more and more ideas. The passage with the lyrics ‘I listen to the town radio as I lie there, I scream until I fall asleep’ came to me because as I was playing the demo, the Detva radio started playing,” he says.
Art as such was important to him from his earliest childhood. He is a self-described “crazy person” whose friends say he is chaotic and intelligent.
Kevin, a friend of the performer, revealed to me that Vojtík constantly has new ideas for compositions or lyrics. He perceives Vojtík’s music as innovative because it includes elements from various genres which fit well together.
“My musical path started in the Romani ensemble Romka [Romani Woman] where I learned to sing, above all, because at the time they chiefly needed background vocalists. It is exactly thanks to that ensemble that I have such a good ear, it’s quite simple for me to create different harmonies. I can’t even remember the first time that I performed because I actually began while still in diapers,” the songwriter relates.
In addition to singing, he has also been interested in dance and theater since childhood. For that reason, he decided to study at the Private Music and Drama Conservatory in Rimavská Sobota, Slovakia, where he studied singing and theater.
At school he met people who are aiding him with his music career. “I met Vojtěch during the first year at the conservatory, we met online. There was a strong dynamic between us immediately, we had a lot in common. As my classmate he aided me with school stuff, with studying and homework. However, he assisted me the most through his positivity, which managed to change another boring, bothersome day at school into fun and super memories,” the songwriter’s fellow student says.
Before releasing “Detvianský sen“, Vojtík covered different pop tunes, translating some into Slovak. He never anticipated his output catching on in Slovakia, though.
“I was quite glad, but at the same time I was a bit fearful, because to be honest, Slovaks know how to be quite hateful,” says Vojtík. His writing predates his music career – first he wrote poetry, which is how some of the songs on his EP “Kvety z Podpoľania” [Flowers from Podpoľanie] came about.
“The most significant song, to me, is ‘Krev‘ [Blood], where I sing about rather personal problems. The song is based on a poem I wrote at the age of 13,” he reveals.
In his work, the songwriter also writes about his time in primary school, which was quite difficult for him because his classmates frequently excluded him from the collective. Local trans women supported him.
“They always reminded me that it is very important to live an authentic life, no matter what others think,” he recalls. He wants to support children and youth with his music so that they feel safe and unafraid to show their difference, so that they not take it as something wrong, but on the contrary as something that is exceptional.
“My biggest goal would be to improve the situation for young people who feel alone above all. To show them that there is no need to judge others, but there is a need to recognize and respect them, because each of us has something that weighs us down. When I was younger, there was not a lot of information about people like me available to us, generally, in Slovakia, so it was quite a lonely path. It’s necessary to seek out information and educate ourselves, not just so we can know things, but so we can get along with each other. I encounter children in whom I see my younger self, and sincerely, at their age I would have wanted to meet somebody like me. The knowledge that somebody else is like me and that I’m not alone is priceless,” he says.
