🇺🇸 Expat Musician's Journey Between Passion and Purpose | Piqi Miqi in Prague
In this interview, singer‑songwriter‑producer Piqi Miqi discusses her all‑in approach to music creation—writing, producing, mixing, mastering, directing, and acting in her own videos—while reflecting on the high financial and time costs of high‑budget music videos (ranging from $60k to $135k). She explains the tension between logical planning and raw creativity, describing herself as a "wild" creative who balances multiple skills but risks spreading herself thin. Piqi talks about the artistic purpose behind her videos, emphasizing storytelling, humor, and personal expression over mere aesthetics. She outlines the challenges of being an English‑language, genre‑blending artist in Prague’s music scene, including limited local platforms, cultural stifling, and algorithmic barriers that favor domestic content. This leads her to consider relocating to markets like the US or London for better infrastructure and audience reach. The conversation also touches on the practical benefits of expat life in Prague—affordable living, abundant free time, a diverse international community, and the effort required to learn Czech—contrasted with the pressures she felt in New York. Overall, the interview paints a picture of a fiercely independent artist navigating creative control, financial realities, and geographic constraints while seeking a supportive environment for her music.
Chapters
Are you literally writing all the songs yourself?
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
That's insane.
I just want to do like dope shit. I always want to tell a story. I don't want to just look cool and look pretty. I don't give a fuck about that.
Yeah. I had these two opposing forces there. There was like this logic and then there was like raw creativity. They're constantly like— Creatives are really just wild people. We're very spontaneous. We're not so organized, and it's like you're taking a fucking animal from the fucking zoo.
To produce a music video like this, like, how much would it cost?
Roughly cost me $60,000.
Damn. Having a partner, having your wife, like, having that support system helps you because, like, she's also in that world as well, right? It does and it doesn't. Like, it does because we're both artists, so we understand each other. At the same time, because we're both artists, it is very risky, you know, because none of us is we're all in that hustle area. Yeah, yeah. Like, you know, creatives are really just wild people. We're very spontaneous. We're not so organized. And it's like you're taking a fucking animal from the fucking zoo and you're trying to like tame it and fit in an environment where it's not meant to fit. That part is definitely hard. Yeah. And it takes a lot of work. I'm two things, you know, part of me is like logical, but at the same time I'm a creative, so I'm like, I'm kind of, I'm not gonna say I'm bipolar, but I had these two opposing forces there. There was like this logic and then there was like raw creativity and they're constantly like, if I didn't have music as a passion, I can be a fucking CEO of some Fortune 500 company easily. Yeah, easily. Yeah. Or I guess make a startup. It would be no problem. But music is where it's like calling me. Ah, it's calling. Yeah. I can't ever. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, that's what I am. So I guess it's like, it's like a gift and a curse, man. Yeah. So I'm trying to find ways to use my other skills. That's the other thing. I have so many other skills, but when you start to train those other skills, it takes away from your time of music. So you kind of have to find this balance where you're like, all right, so right now, like, fuck, like when it comes to video, I can do everything. Yeah. I can direct, I can edit, I can color grade, I can do special effects. Then I went, oh, I want to learn how to program. All right, well, I'm starting to learn how to fucking do a fucking program. You're just so talented that you can, when it comes down to it, you can do anything. But actually, like, how are you going to find time to actually do music? That's what you're saying. Exactly, exactly. And then, so like, for me, it's like, yo, it actually pays if you are just like— I mean, I'm not saying that I wish this on myself, but I can see the benefit in people who are just— I don't want to say that they're not intelligent, but they're just good at something, one thing. They just— that's what they're good at. So they can just keep going and propel. Yeah. Whereas if you have too many fucking things, it's like your brain is just, "Haha, I wanna do this, haha." Yeah. And then also I'm a control freak. Not a control freak in the way that I'm like, "Don't think about it." I love being, I love being hands-on. I like to have my hands in everything. I like to like, "Oh yeah, I'm shooting this. I wanna write it. I wanna act in it. I wanna edit it. I wanna be there in every step of the process." Yeah, yeah. I love that shit. That's what people like about me, you know, when they find out, oh shit, you edited it, you mix and mastered your own shit, you produce it. It's like when you get a product from me, it's really me.
So produce a music video like this, like how much, how much would it cost?
This one cost me— I already spent on this like $125,000, $135,000, $136,000.
Damn.
Because we had taken a long pause because we just like ran out of energy and we were still trying to find a location. Like this location we found was through a friend that came to a concert and she happened to have a location that her parents had bought. It's a historical location and there was one room there that wasn't beaten up and we basically had to like clean this room. It was— it had like a pile of dust. Then we like found different furniture that was left in this building. Yeah, kind of art directed it. It happened to have a white piano there and we had these costumes rented from Barão D'Ô, the wigs, everything, like the makeup. And then, yeah, we were able to create like a cool look for this room.
There's so much involved in getting a music video like this produced, right? Obviously time, energy, money. So how do you like, how do you like justify all of that? Like, is this like, does this actually move the needle in the way that you want it to?
Um, usually it does and it doesn't. When you got a good video, like for me, like locally, it gives me something to promote. So it's like, I got a new video out, I'm gonna release it, I'm gonna make a release event, I'm gonna make a concert, I'm gonna make some merch around it.
Gotcha.
People got something to be excited about. It's not just, oh, Picky Mickey has a concert, because when you're local here in Prague, you gotta always come with something, have some reason. So it helps when you have an event that has a purpose. And then the other aspect is it— I just want to do like dope shit. So when I'm looking at the people who inspired me, like Michael Jackson and Prince and all these other artists, I'm like, what did they do? They all had amazing music videos, so I don't want anything less, you know? And I always want to tell a story because I'm like, yo, I don't want to just look cool and look pretty. I don't give a fuck about that.
Yeah, and that's boring. Anyone can do that.
Yeah, exactly. So I want to like— yeah, I'm like, these are just like short films for us.
So yeah.
One thing I try to do is like, I like to be playful. Like, I like to have fun, be playful, add humor. I love sexual humor as well. I like to, I like to be goofy. Yeah. And I try to put all that shit into the music video also, but mostly deep, you know, introspective. So there's like a stronger message. Exactly, I like to throw that in there. Yeah, but at the end of the day, I'm like, yo, I'm trying to have fun. I want people to laugh when they see this. I want people to smile. I want people to feel like a kid again when they see my shit. I want them to have this like, you know, young youthful feeling. I don't like to be too serious. I've had music videos where it was like too serious, and that was when somebody else directed it. It didn't do well. Like my own stuff, you know, it really does well when I'm just being myself. Yeah, and I also love to play characters. I like to like impersonate and play characters. Due to music videos, I found like the love for acting. So in the music videos, I get a chance to play like so many characters. In my last video, I played 6 fucking characters. Oh man. So it's like I'm doing it Eddie Murphy, bro. Like, I'm just like, this video is coming out soon. Wait, which one is this? This is gonna be Whatever You're Into. Whatever You're Into, okay, okay. I've been working on that for over a year, and, uh, that one is just like amazing. I'm playing different characters. I like to get dressed up. I like to play with fashion, so I'm like, yo, we get on Pinterest and just like getting mood boards and looking at old films and finding these kids. I like to find shit I watched when I was a kid and like, yo, that's the shit we— okay, let's like put that in the video. Or like, oh, remember this cartoon? Remember this movie? Oh, let's take this part and let's add it in. Just like slicing the DNA of different things together. Yeah. That's where I get ideas from. So yeah, I guess a lot of it's coming from the childhood, man. There's like all this shit that was cool when I was a kid. I'm like, I get inspiration from that shit. That's like all my fond memories are there. Just like your life in Prague, obviously there's a whole like, you know, you trying to manifest your music career, but, uh, you know, getting acclimated to this society, right? All that. Like, what has that been like? Has it been like worth the hype for you? I'd say like living in Prague, as great as it is, it can be slightly culturally stifling. I've dealt with that in the past few years where I realized, whoa, boy's gonna be an outsider here. Not everybody sees it as my home, you know? So as far as like business and industry goes here, yeah, when it comes to music, a lot of the plays here I can't make because I'm not I'm not from this country. I don't make music in this country's language. And the people who have a bigger platform here, they're not making the type of music that I make. Here you got punished for being different. It makes it easier if you're relatable to everybody. So the remnants of communism still kind of linger on a little bit. Maybe, yeah, they like to blame it on that, but I feel like it's just the culture as well. He was just like, "Yo, you're the guy that everybody knows is doing something unique." Yeah. "Respect what you do. They want to see you like blow on your own." In order to reach any other height, I would have to somehow assimilate into the Czech mainstream music culture, which doesn't really match me. And now I slowly realize that I need to be in other places. As much as I mean, I love America, but I fucking hate it, to be honest. So I think it would probably benefit me to be back there because there's infrastructure for the music. There's labels, there's the influencers, the people, distribution, distribution, all that shit is there. And that could just give me like a boost. London is really another good vibe. I did a concert in London last summer. Game changer. It was just like, yo, the people— I forgot what it felt like to be in an English-speaking country. Yeah, you've been away for 13 years. Exactly. People, you can just say hi, hey, what's up? Yeah, what's going on? Immediate feedback, you know, feedback like, yo, your stuff is dope, when you playing next, where the fuck are you from, how did I not— yo, the love, it was like just love, like people was like really like just showing love. And I was like, damn, this is what I need. Not for my fucking ego, but just to know that somebody gives a shit. You want to know how people are responding to your stuff. Exactly, exactly. And the people there, they understand the music because I'm making this funky R&B, synthpop, new wave shit. So they have a reference for it. Here, it's like they're like, this is good, but they don't have like a something that's like, it's not related to their culture. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I found that that was like a rude awakening for me. Like, yo, if you don't get out of here, you're not gonna get what you want. You're gonna be like dissatisfied. And I dealt with that. Also, the other problem is, people don't think about this, but algorithm is where it's in control of your business.
Yeah.
I see a different algorithm just for the simple fact that I'm in a different country. Yeah. My stuff is not, it's not getting distributed to like, you know, Yeah, so it's like it doesn't matter how dope it is. Yeah, it's— they're not gonna fucking see it. Yeah, and I'd have to pay a shitload of money. Yeah, to get them to see it. Yeah, Google Ads. Yeah, you don't want to have to pay for this shit. You want to just to like also have some organic reach through the algorithms that people see it. Yeah, same thing with the Spotify, the related artists. All those things are related to where you— where your fucking IP address is. Yeah, you're trying to figure out how to circumvent bet that. It got really discouraging for me because I'm like, yo, why put all this work into content creation when the shit I put out, no matter how cool it is, ain't gonna fucking see it? And yeah, I realized like, yeah, the game is rigged. And I— it's like, it's almost like forcing me that I need to be physically somewhere else.
Are you literally writing all the songs yourself?
Yeah, yeah.
That's insane.
You write everything?
You like— Yeah, I produce everything, make everything here. I got my keyboard.
That's insane.
Mix and master everything.
Yeah, that's, yeah, that's fucking insane.
It's got a Michael Jackson vibe.
Be careful what you wish for. Right now it's just you and me in the galaxy. Let's go back, back in time, back when you used to be mine, back before you found a new guy, back before I made you cry. Back then you used to hit my line, talk me last till the end of time. Wish I Just a player. And I will keep on playing.
So go, go back to like Living in Prague. How do you kind of touch the on some of the ups and downs related to your career. And also, like, when you first got here, that kind of like kid in a candy store type of effect, right? Everything is like amazing. What's it like to like actually live here as like a nomad expat? Just like paint a general like picture, like what's it like? Like, as much as I can complain about having a lot of work and everything, like the work I do is work I create for myself. I think in Prague you can really find like time. Time is here. Like today I can do what the fuck I want. I'm gonna go chill with you, I'm gonna go to the studio, I'm gonna color grade, be my friend, like go for a walk. I got time to like be a human. Of course there's always some adult shit you gotta do like taxes and insurance and that shit. But in general, I don't have to think about that shit every day. Yeah, for now at least. And yeah, I just feel like free. I feel like a kid. I feel like I can play, I can play here. Yo, I think that's probably one of the most hopeful things that have come out of you for me. As long as that's the context and that's the mindset that you operate out of, I mean, that's really powerful. Yeah, man. Freedom with like, you know, this vibe of playfulness comes like this space for creativity and all that. I know that in a city like London, yeah, it's a lot of fun. It's a lot of things to do, but there's not many people places. Like Prague, you can just walk and sit in a park for free. Look at the city.
Yeah.
Hang out with your friends if you want. You don't have to spend money. Like you can just not spend money every day. If you were broke as fuck here, like, you had friends, like, you would never starve. You could find a way to live here on a budget and still enjoy life. I had times when I was super broke years ago, and I would go to a bar, just never buy a drink, but I could still go to the bar and still have fun with all my friends. I don't think I could do that in the States. Like, yeah, go somewhere, they ask me, hey, you want something, or you want to order something? I don't know how it is, but here I could go go to a bar, I can go to a club, maybe I know the person who's there and I get in for free. But nobody's judging you for what you wear or how much you got or what you got on. I don't see this shit here. Yeah, when I was in New York, maybe it was different now, but I started to see like, oh yeah, you really gotta prove yourself here. Yeah, even if you don't got nothing, you gotta act like you got everything.
Yeah. No more teachers, no more homework. Time to go out and buy some ice cream. I can't pick which one I want, everything looks so delicious. Watch out, your ice cream's melting up, better lick it before you drip it.
What about language? Like, now, like, I mean, you speak Czech pretty fluently. I speak Czech. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Was it difficult to get to a decent level? It was definitely difficult. Yeah, it was a challenge. I had to, like, back in the days I dated a girl who didn't speak English so well when we first met, so maybe that helped. That helped me. Yeah, yeah, yeah. We had— I had no choice. I was like, okay, I gotta use it. I was interested in her, so I was just like, I gotta figure out what to say, how to talk. There's a lot of awkward silence. So yeah, but now it's like, even if I don't use it every day, I still have it accessible in my brain, and I'm pretty good at it. I can use it pretty good at it. But yeah, most of my friends speak English well. Even my Czech friends. Oh, the other great thing about Prague, you know, people from all around the fucking world. Like, my friends are from all over. I got friends from Tokyo, I got friends from Libya, I got friends from Russia, Ukraine, I got friends from Kazakhstan, I got friends from the States, I got friends from Canada, Georgia. Poland, Slovakia, Germany, like, like everywhere. UN over here. No, literally, like, I got friends from all over the place, and it's like, I think New York is like diverse, but I don't know if it mixes as much. In Prague, you can just run into so many people. Maybe just Europe in general, that you can just run into people, yeah, from different countries, and they're like open to like hanging out with you.
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