Hello everyone, I’m Tehillah from DULAXI, and today I’m delighted to be joined by Polish lyricist, creative director, and independent artist Paweł J.P. Hirlok.
Based in Kobiór, Poland, Paweł has steadily developed a distinctive creative identity built around emotional storytelling, cinematic soundscapes, and carefully crafted musical concepts. His latest release, Perły, officially released on July 30, 2026, continues that artistic journey through an album that blends symphonic rock, melodic pop, cinematic orchestration, and touches of symphonic metal into one emotionally connected listening experience.
Before we begin our conversation with Paweł J.P. Hirlok, here’s what you need to know about today’s featured project.
About J.P. Hirlok
For Paweł J.P. Hirlok, music has never been simply about creating songs. Every project begins with an idea, a story, and an emotional journey waiting to be explored. As an independent Polish lyricist, creative director, and songwriter, he has built his work around original concepts that merge heartfelt storytelling with expansive musical landscapes, allowing every release to feel like a complete artistic experience rather than a collection of individual tracks.
His newest album, Perły, meaning Pearls, reflects that philosophy beautifully. Across twelve original compositions, the album moves effortlessly between intimate piano-driven moments, soaring orchestral passages, melodic pop, symphonic rock, cinematic arrangements, and elements of symphonic metal. While every song possesses its own atmosphere and identity, they are united by recurring themes of love, memory, hope, personal growth, and the delicate balance between light and darkness.
Rather than approaching music through the limitations of genre, Paweł allows each story to determine its own musical language. Rich orchestral textures, expressive vocal performances, powerful guitars, choirs, and cinematic arrangements all serve a single purpose: strengthening the emotional weight of the stories at the heart of the album.
At its core, Perły is an invitation to reflect on the experiences that shape us. Just as pearls are formed gradually over time, the album suggests that human emotions, memories, and resilience are also created through life’s many joys, struggles, and transformations. Together, its twelve songs form a cohesive narrative that celebrates both vulnerability and hope while encouraging listeners to discover their own stories within the music.
Having this brief introduction to today’s featured project, I’m sure both new listeners and longtime fans are excited to hear directly from Paweł. So, without further ado, let’s begin today’s interview.
INTERVIEW SESSION
Tehillah:
Perły is your seventh studio album, which suggests years of dedication, creativity, and artistic growth. Looking back on your journey, what first inspired you to pursue music, and how have your personal experiences shaped not only the artist you’ve become, but also the person behind the music?
Paweł J.P. Hirlok:
First of all, I’d like to correct one detail. Pearls is actually my twelfth studio album, not my seventh. During the campaign submission, I most likely mixed it up with albums that were already scheduled for future release.
I never planned to become a musician in the traditional sense of the word. Everything really began in March of this year, when I wrote my very first lyrics, Spacer (“Walk”), which later became part of my debut album First Steps. For many years before that, I carried ideas, emotions and stories inside me, but I had no way of turning them into music.
The breakthrough happened almost by accident. I was watching a YouTube creator who demonstrated how he used artificial intelligence to create songs. I asked him which tool he was using, and the moment he answered, I realised I had finally found a way to give a voice to the stories that had existed only in my imagination for so long.
Today, AI is simply a creative tool in my process. Every lyric, every story, every album concept and the message behind it comes entirely from me. Artificial intelligence helps transform those ideas into music, but the vision, emotions and storytelling are always my own.
Both the beautiful and the painful experiences in my life have shaped who I am. Not every album tells my personal story, but every one of them is built upon emotions that I have experienced, understood or imagined deeply enough to make them feel real.
I still wouldn’t describe myself as a great artist. I’m simply an ordinary person who has been through difficult times and discovered that writing was the only way to express feelings I could never put into words before.
Tehillah:
Your music consistently explores emotions such as love, memory, hope, and the tension between light and darkness. Were there any defining moments in your life that taught you to see beauty in these emotional contrasts, and how do those experiences continue to influence the stories you choose to tell through your songs?
Paweł J.P. Hirlok:
Love and hope are probably the two most important words in both my life and my music.
Several years ago, I went through a very serious illness. There was a moment when I genuinely felt as though I was standing somewhere between light and darkness. I had to ask myself whether I wanted to keep fighting for my life or simply give up. That experience taught me that even in the darkest moments, hope is something worth holding on to. Without it, it’s very easy to lose your way.
The second major theme is love, not only the love I’ve experienced, but also the love I dreamed about for many years. Many of my lyrics were born from those dreams, questions and emotions.
Today, I believe that light and darkness cannot exist without one another. One helps us understand the other. That’s why these themes continue to appear throughout my songs.
Tehillah:
Beyond writing and performing music, you also describe yourself as a creative director, suggesting that your vision extends far beyond the melodies themselves. How would you describe your artistic philosophy, and what role does storytelling play in bringing every musical project to life?
Paweł J.P. Hirlok:
For me, every song begins with a story.
Music is important, but lyrics and emotions are the true heart of every piece I create. I never write songs at random. Everything starts with an idea, an image or an emotion that I want to express. Only after that does the music begin to take shape.
That’s why I describe myself as a creative director. My role is to build the vision of an entire project, from the lyrics and emotional atmosphere to the order of the songs on the album, the artwork and the overall message.
AI is simply the tool that allows those ideas to become music. The stories, concepts and emotional foundations always come from me.
My goal is not just for listeners to hear a song, but to feel as though they are stepping into a story. Even if every listener interprets it differently, what matters most to me is that the music leaves an emotional mark long after the album has finished.
Interestingly, I never intended to release my music publicly in the beginning. I was creating it mainly for myself.
Tehillah:
One of the most distinctive aspects of your work is the way you blend symphonic rock, melodic pop, cinematic orchestration, and touches of symphonic metal without allowing one style to overpower another. What drew you toward creating music that exists between multiple musical worlds rather than limiting yourself to a single genre?
Paweł J.P. Hirlok:
I love films and television series. Every story is told in a different way, and I wanted my albums to work in a similar fashion.
Every idea and every lyric demands its own musical language. Some stories need lightness and simplicity, while others require weight, grandeur and cinematic power. That’s why I never choose the genre first.
I always begin with the lyrics and the story. Only afterwards do I search for the musical style that best reflects the emotions hidden within the words.
Pearls represents only a small part of the musical styles I enjoy exploring. I don’t have one favourite genre, and perhaps that’s exactly why my albums are so diverse.
I like listeners to feel that they never quite know what the next track will sound like. I believe that sense of discovery makes the journey through the album far more engaging.
Tehillah:
The title Perły, meaning “Pearls,” beautifully suggests that every song carries its own unique value while remaining part of a greater collection. How did this idea first come to you, and what made it the perfect metaphor to represent the emotional and musical identity of the entire album?
Paweł J.P. Hirlok:
I chose the title Pearls because, to me, pearls symbolise something unique, precious and timeless.
Each of the twelve songs is like an individual pearl, carrying its own story, emotions and meaning. Together, however, they form one complete and unified narrative.
The album also includes titles such as Diamond Heart, Ruby Glow, Sapphire Glow and Golden Dust. Together they create a symbolic world in which every song represents a different value and a different emotional experience.
A pearl is formed slowly, layer by layer. I see human emotions in much the same way. They are shaped over time by love, hope, memories, difficult experiences and personal growth.
The album also features Girl with Pearl Hair, my own response to the legendary Hungarian song by Omega. Many artists have recorded cover versions over the years, but I felt nobody had truly entered into a dialogue with the original. I wanted to honour that classic while adding my own chapter to its story.
That’s why Pearls became the perfect title for the album. Every song has its own identity, yet together they create one emotional journey.
Tehillah:
Throughout Perły, listeners travel through themes of love, memory, hope, inner struggle, beauty, and the constant interplay between light and darkness. Why were these particular themes important for you to explore at this point in your career, and what do they reveal about your own outlook on life?
Paweł J.P. Hirlok:
The themes of light, darkness, hope and inner struggle have stayed with me ever since I went through a serious illness. That experience completely changed the way I look at life and taught me how incredibly thin the line between hope and despair can be.
A few months ago, I met a woman who, for a while, brought light back into my life. She helped me see many things from a completely different perspective. Later came disappointment, heartbreak and difficult emotions, but even those experiences taught me something valuable. Every experience eventually finds its way into my writing.
Today, I don’t believe the world is simply black and white. If it were, life would be predictable and probably rather boring. Instead, it’s full of colours, beauty and joy, but also pain, sadness and uncertainty.
That’s one of the reasons I finally decided to share my music with others. I believe real life exists in those contrasts. Without darkness, we would never truly appreciate light.
Tehillah:
Your lyrics seem to focus on creating emotional experiences rather than simply telling straightforward stories. When you begin writing a new song, do you usually start with a personal emotion, a vivid image, a lyrical idea, or a musical composition, and how does that initial spark eventually develop into a finished piece?
Paweł J.P. Hirlok:
For me, music is almost never the starting point.
Everything usually begins with an emotion, a single moment or something that captures my attention.
Sometimes it’s just one sentence spoken by another person. Sometimes it’s a sound, an image, or a feeling, happiness, longing, heartbreak or even an ordinary conversation. Those moments become the spark that starts everything.
Once I recognise that feeling, I want to capture it as honestly as possible in the lyrics. Words are always the most important part for me because they carry the story and the emotions I want to share.
Only afterwards does the music appear, giving those emotions their final shape and allowing them to come fully alive.
Every song begins differently, but it always starts with something genuine, something I’ve seen, heard, experienced or imagined.
I truly believe that if the emotions are honest, listeners will recognise them and discover pieces of their own lives within the songs.
Tehillah:
Many listeners connect most deeply with songs that leave room for personal interpretation. As a songwriter, how do you balance expressing your own experiences while allowing listeners to discover reflections of their own lives within your lyrics?
Paweł J.P. Hirlok:
I write primarily about emotions rather than specific events from my own life.
Of course, many of my songs are inspired by my thoughts, experiences and imagination, but I never want to force a single interpretation upon the listener.
The moment a song reaches someone else, it no longer belongs only to me. Every listener experiences it through their own memories, relationships and emotions. To me, that’s one of the most beautiful qualities music can have.
If someone discovers a completely different story in one of my songs than the one I had in mind while writing it, I don’t see that as a misunderstanding.
On the contrary, it means the song has taken on a life of its own.
For a lyricist, I can’t imagine a greater compliment than that.
Tehillah:
One of the album’s defining characteristics is its remarkable sonic diversity, moving naturally from intimate piano-led passages to soaring orchestral arrangements, powerful electric guitars, cinematic brass, choirs, and atmospheric synthesizers. How did you approach arranging these different musical elements so they complemented one another rather than competing for attention?
Paweł J.P. Hirlok:
Every word and every line of a lyric matters to me.
Each part of a song deserves its own musical setting. Sometimes a single sentence should be accompanied only by a piano. Other moments demand a full choir, powerful guitars or a large orchestral arrangement to express the emotion properly.
I spent a great deal of time experimenting. There were occasions when I completely changed the arrangement, or even the entire genre, because it simply didn’t express what I wanted the song to say.
Sometimes only one small change was enough. Replacing a soft pop arrangement with a stronger rock sound could suddenly transform the entire piece into exactly what I had imagined.
I never choose instruments simply because they sound impressive on their own.
I choose them because they strengthen the emotions carried by the lyrics.
Only then do I feel that a song is truly finished.
Tehillah:
The vocal arrangements on Perły are equally diverse, featuring warm baritone passages, melodic tenor performances, slightly raspy vocals, female harmonies, operatic soprano backing, and male-female duets. What inspired you to explore such a wide range of vocal textures, and how did those choices help strengthen the emotional identity of each song?
Paweł J.P. Hirlok:
Every song has its own personality, emotional weight and story. Because of that, I don’t believe a single vocal style can suit every piece.
Each song requires the right voice, the right vocal range and the right emotional delivery to fully express what I want listeners to feel.
I’ve always loved large-scale symphonic compositions where orchestras, choirs and different vocal textures create something powerful and cinematic. Since I had the opportunity to explore those possibilities, I wanted to use them with purpose rather than simply for effect.
There are songs where a male voice alone wouldn’t have been enough. Sometimes a female voice adds tenderness and vulnerability. In other cases, a duet creates a genuine conversation between two people, while choirs give the music an epic, almost film-like atmosphere.
I never use different vocal styles simply because they sound impressive.
Every vocal choice has a purpose: to strengthen the emotions hidden within the lyrics.
If a vocal performance doesn’t serve the story, then it isn’t the right choice.
Tehillah:
Creating an album with cinematic scope often requires balancing technical precision with genuine emotional expression. During the recording and production of Perły, were there any moments that challenged your creative vision, and how did overcoming those obstacles ultimately improve the finished album?
Paweł J.P. Hirlok:
The greatest challenges were never technical.
The real challenge was always finding the perfect musical form for the emotions I wanted to express.
There were times when I completely changed the genre of a song or redesigned parts of the arrangement because I felt they didn’t truly reflect the story behind the lyrics.
Sometimes even a single word could destroy the emotional balance of an entire song.
When that happened, I wasn’t simply searching for another word. I was searching for an expression that carried exactly the same emotional weight and meaning. Sometimes that seemingly small change made the difference between an ordinary song and one that truly felt complete.
A good example is Girl with Pearl Hair. It isn’t simply an adaptation of Omega’s legendary song.
I wanted to write an answer to it.
Over the years, many artists have recorded cover versions, but I felt nobody had tried to continue the conversation started by the original.
That’s why I wrote my own response.
The line “Poland and Hungary together once again” means much more to me than the words themselves. It represents the friendship between two nations and serves as my tribute to a song that inspired me to write my own story.
Tehillah:
Reaching a twelfth studio album is an important milestone because it reflects both consistency and evolution. When you compare Perły with your earlier work, in what ways do you feel you have grown as a songwriter, composer, and storyteller, and what have you learned about yourself throughout that journey?
Paweł J.P. Hirlok:
Only a few months ago, I would have said that I wrote simply to release my emotions.
Writing was an emotional outlet, a place where I could leave everything I was carrying inside.
Over time, however, my lyrics began to change.
When I fell in love, I found myself writing not only about imagined feelings but about emotions I was genuinely experiencing for the first time. That changed my writing completely. My songs became more personal, more honest and, I believe, more mature.
It wasn’t until after the relationship ended that I realised how much I had changed, not only as a person but also as a songwriter.
I began to notice mistakes I had made in my personal life, and those realisations naturally found their way into my writing.
Looking back at my earliest songs today, I can clearly see my own growth, not only in the quality of my lyrics but also in my ability to express emotions honestly.
Some of my songs also contain hidden references to other works of music and literature.
I don’t explain them intentionally.
I’d rather let listeners discover those connections on their own.
Tehillah:
Music has a unique ability to accompany people through different chapters of their lives, offering comfort, strength, or simply a sense of understanding. As listeners experience Perły for the first time, what emotions or reflections do you hope remain with them long after the final track has ended?
Paweł J.P. Hirlok:
That’s probably the most difficult question of all.
More than anything, I hope listeners finish the album with a little more hope than they had when they pressed play.
I hope they realise that loss, heartbreak and painful experiences are never truly the end of the story.
Sometimes they become the beginning of something entirely new, even if we can’t see it at first.
I also hope my songs remind people how important love, kindness and mutual respect really are.
I genuinely believe that even in the darkest shadow, there is always a small ray of light waiting to be found.
Sometimes all we have to do is give ourselves, or someone else, one more chance.
If even one listener finishes Perły feeling a little less alone with their emotions, then I will consider this album a success.
Tehillah:
As an independent artist, every new release contributes to building a legacy that is entirely your own. Looking beyond Perły, what creative directions are you most excited to explore next, and what do you ultimately hope people will remember when they look back on your body of work years from now?
Paweł J.P. Hirlok:
To be honest, I still feel that calling myself an “artist” is too big a word.
I’m simply someone who writes lyrics, tells stories and tries to express emotions through music.
The musical genre always comes later.
The story always comes first.
Artificial intelligence is an important part of my creative process, but only as a tool. It helps transform my ideas into music, yet it can never replace emotions, stories or words.
Those things will always remain at the heart of everything I create.
When I started writing, I wasn’t thinking about where it might lead six months, a year or even ten years later.
I simply wanted to create.
The response I’ve received has surprised me far more than I ever expected, and at the same time it has inspired me to keep moving forward.
Who knows?
Perhaps one day, alongside music, I’ll publish books as well.
Writing has always come naturally to me, and I don’t want to limit myself to just one form of storytelling.
If there’s one thing I’d like people to remember about me, it’s this:
Every word, every emotion and every action towards another person matters.
Everything we do carries consequences, for ourselves and for others.
I hope my music encourages people to stay true to themselves, never stop believing in love, and never lose hope.
Because sometimes hope is the very first step towards finding the light.
“Paweł J.P. Hirlok’s Perły feels like a collection of emotional landscapes, where every song carries its own colour, shape, and story. Through symphonic ambition, cinematic imagination, and deeply personal reflections, the album transforms individual moments of life into a shared journey through love, resilience, and hope.”
~ Tehillah (DULAXI Team)
MY EDITORIAL PERSPECTIVE
Listening to the story behind Perły reveals an album built around emotional storytelling rather than genre boundaries. Paweł J.P. Hirlok approaches music as a space where lyrics, orchestration, vocals, and atmosphere work together to create vivid experiences. The album’s movement between intimate moments and grand cinematic arrangements reflects a strong focus on capturing human emotions in their many forms. Perły stands as a creative exploration of memory, hope, love, and the search for light within life’s contrasts.
~ Tehillah (DULAXI Team)
CLOSING
Paweł J.P. Hirlok, thank you for taking the time to share the story behind Perły and for giving our readers a deeper understanding of the emotions, experiences, and creative vision that shaped this album.
Through this conversation, we have explored not only the music itself but also the personal journey behind the songs, from the stories that inspired them to the artistic decisions that brought them to life. Your dedication to storytelling and your belief in the power of emotions remind us of the unique connection music can create between an artist and listeners.
We encourage everyone discovering Paweł J.P. Hirlok’s work to experience Perły and explore the twelve-song journey he has created, allowing each track to reveal its own story and meaning.
Thank you to everyone who spent this time with DULAXI. Stay connected with us as we continue bringing you more conversations with talented artists from around the world.
Until the next interview, keep discovering new music and the stories behind it.