This heart warming artwork is a natural blend of mellow lo-fi vibes and future driven vocals. The minimalistic and abstract melody/lyrics leaves room for imagination and interpretation. It almost feels as an entryway for an individuals connection with his/her higher self. The ultra sensual feminine voice of Una Daniela mixes well with Rick Fed’s ill beats and ear pleasing sounds creating an experience that resembles daydreaming while looking at a beautiful painting.
Rick Feds is considered to be one of the greatest finger-drummers in the world today, but if you ever catch him live it will be something that you’ve never experienced before. The former jazz drums and classical piano background makes a key difference in Rick’s playing abilities on the sample pad and allows him to perform all elements of beat arrangement live in a way that’s never been done before. And it goes on.. All of his pads are synced to visuals and lights matching the sounds and telling the visual story alongside music. Basically he is playing God controlling your entire reality with his fingertips. In Rick’s eyes he is an ambassador of a new art form and is striving to do his part to extend dimensions that an individual can use to express impulsive emotions. But don’t get too drawn away by the performance side only. Feds sound design skills are your ear vitamins that you’ll be able to consume on May 7 when he drops his first ever LP “Future Human”.
He has done solo shows at venues like The Cutting Room (NYC), RockWood Music Hall (NYC), SXSW (Austin, TX) and has been included in Ableton’s TOP 5 performers list for two years in turn. His audio/visual work as well as the technical innovations and mastery on the sample pad have been described in music forums around the world.
Singer and pianist Katrīna Gupalo has released her new song “Agonija”. The song is about the last breath of love – about the last moment before the inevitable split. The message of the song is amplified by the music video. The musician in cooperation with the Crisis and Counseling Center “Skalbes” is calling to pay attention to the currently very obvious public mental health issues.
“I wrote the song “Agony” two years ago, when I had been suffering from depression for a long time. It was a time when I went through the cruel and ruthless criticism on my skin, which I could not “filter out” and perceived it very directly and painfully. At the time, I didn’t really see any light at the end of the tunnel, and the only thing that pulled me out of my deep depression was the resumption of active concert activities and the creation of music. Only after a while, looking back at my thoughts and feelings, I could take it easy – as a normal stage in my creative growth. But if I weren’t a fighter by nature, it might have ended differently. This situation made me remember my grandmother’s grandmother Sofia, who dreamed of becoming a doctor, but when her husband forbade her, Sofia hаnged herself in the attic of her house,” shares Katrīna Gupalo.
The song “Agony” tells about the last breath of love – about the last moment before inevitable leaving. It’s the moment of sweet bitterness towards the morning, when the party is almost over and everyone is drifting apart. When you really feel sleepy, but you are afraid to fall asleep, because in the morning everything will be different, so with the last effort you desperately try to stick to the reality that no longer has a future.
Jānis Škapars, the director of the video “Agony”, has presented the song from the viewpoint of this moment in time, when dark, depressing thoughts and feelings have filled the pandemic reality. He tells about the video: “When creating the music video, I wanted to show a multi-layered and ambiguous journey of an individual into the world of thoughts and dreams. The mind and the subconscious are sometimes the darkest places. When we close our eyes, we get into the darkness, into our thoughts and fantasies – sometimes it can be soothing and hide the reality for a moment, but sometimes it pulls you in so deep that it is very difficult to break out. With this video, we want to emphasize that suicide is not the solution, and that the complications that lead to it can be resolved.”
Katrīna Gupalo urges: “We want to encourage everyone – women, men, children and teenagers – not to hide and not be ashamed of being in greater or lesser difficulty, and to seek help before the situation worsens. In such moments, an open conversation with a friend, relative or a call to a crisis helpline can be very important. We also invite you to contact your loved ones more often to find out how they are doing, because such a call can provide not only joy, but also the necessary support.”
The video’s creative team and the Crisis and Counseling Center “Skalbes” encourage everyone to share their experiences of the pandemic on the social networks Facebook and Instagram using the hashtag #paliksimnomodā, also about the ways of overcoming difficult situations or distressing thoughts. You can also express your emotions in a song, drawing, poem or other creative way, as this is one of the ways to help yourself organize your thoughts and at least partially get rid of negative feelings. Experience stories will be collected and published in the accounts of Katrīna Gupalo Music and the association “Skalbes” on Facebook.
Musical hooligans “Very Cool People” release the second single from the autumn album “50 Years of Influence + 30 Years of Cool Equals 13 Years of Music Hooliganism”. It’s called Renegade and is released along with the band’s most engaging video to date.
The song is recorded in the studio at once by an 8-piece band featuring four horns & rhythm section. This is an instrumental tune. The composition also has a vocal part in the middle with the lyrics “Baaa, baa, ba, ba, ba, ba, baaa”. This song has a slight Soviet estrada touch as well. The new single is based on the aesthetics of vocal-instrumental music of Latvia of the seventies, written in the best retro soul-jazz tradition, mixed with ska and Latin rhythms. The composition has a vocal part in the middle with the lyrics “Bā, bā, bā, bā, bā / Bā, bā, bā, bā, ba, ba, bā…” that are easily understandable by all the nations of the world. Scatting syllables and sounds “ba, ba, bā…” could also be called unique, new scat phrases with the claim to become archived in the consciousness of the world music industry as a Latvian scat.
“We dedicate this tune and clip to all Latvian music renegades who resisted the general requirements and listened, as well as played, jazz, rock, funk and instrumental non-academic music, keeping it alive from the sixties to the nineties,” explains Very Cool People’s leader Elvijs Grafcovs. “We want to say:” Thank you to all the renegades of the past, you helped to create the next generation of musicians and in the end you have paved the way for us in the off-road conditions of Latvia’s past! ” The clip was filmed at the legendary VEF Culture Palace, where in the past 40 to 80 different amateur and professional ensembles, choirs and dance groups have rehearsed and countless musical acts have been performed.
“We dedicate this tune and clip to all Latvian music renegades who resisted the general requirements and listened, as well as played, jazz, rock, funk and instrumental non-academic music, keeping it alive from the sixties to the nineties,” explains Very Cool People’s leader Elvijs Grafcovs. “We want to say:” Thank you to all the renegades of the past, you helped to create the next generation of musicians and in the end you have paved the way for us in the off-road conditions of Latvia’s past! ” The clip was filmed at the legendary VEF Culture Palace, where in the past 40 to 80 different amateur and professional ensembles, choirs and dance groups have rehearsed and countless musical acts have been performed.
“Never thought we’d compose a track for Japanese animation? Neither did we J watch the new video and try to identify each of us in it”
Today, April 21st, Brainstorm releases their new music video “Feels”. This unique video is made by animation studio “HonkFu”. Animators across the world were working for eight months to create the video in the Japanese manga format. In addition to the main characters in the story, members of Brainstorm are brought to life as superheroes.
The idea for the song came from Swedish musician and producer Magnus Nilsson with whom the band has worked with for several years. This is a very contemporary song, particularly the chorus that gives a sense of total freedom and freefall – a soaring new musical experiment by the band.
“The idea came from my daily life. One day, between my daughter’s Lea toys, I saw a doll who was sitting in the wheelchair. My first impression was: “My God, who she is playing with!?”, but immediately I realized how narrow-minded and stereotypical was my thinking. I truly was ashamed. The main character in the video is a girl in a wheelchair who is scared from life and other people. She is scared, just because she is different. I want to inspire people to leave aside judgments and accept the world as it is, with each one of us in it.”
The music video for “Feels” was premiered worldwide during a special online presentation on brainstormfeels.com platform April 21st 16.oo (GMT +3). During the premiere, the audience had a chance to ask their questions to the Brainstorm members who joined live from a studio in Riga.
The website brainstormfeels.com will continue to live on after the premiere and everyone will have a chance to take a quiz related to the music video, win exclusive prizes, find out which countries have the most Brainstorm listeners, purchase new merchandise and most importantly buy discounted tickets for the new album cinematic experience this fall.
Brainstorm upcoming shows: St. Petersburg (13th May) and Moscow (14th and 16th May). More info: www.pratavetra.lv.
Reinis Jaunais recently released new animated music video for his song “Depths”. The song features several guest artists, including Regan Awale from Nepal, Ivars Štubis from Australia, Erna Daugaviete and Ernests Mediņš from Latvia.
The video was made by Reinis Jaunais’s wife Laima Jaunā. She made this video inspired by a dream she once had. She describes the idea behind this surreal video: “Imagine yourself waking up in the middle of a night because of a mosquito buzzing around you. You get up desperately trying to catch it! Afterwards, you can’t get back to sleep anymore because you are stuck in a weird place between your dreams and reality.”
Nepalese musician Regan Awale recorded sarod tracks for this song. Sarod is a string instrument, common in Nepal, as well as in India and other nearby countries. It has broad fretless fingerboard covered in metal. The strings of the sarod are plucked with a plectrum held in the right hand, while the fingernails of the left hand press and slide the strings. The plectrum often is made out of a coconut bark. Sarod has up to 25 strings, most are tuned up in a particular scale for resonant, reverberant sound.
Another featuring artist in this composition is Ivars Štubis. Ivars Štubis was born and raised in Australia but he moved back to Latvia year ago. Ivars added bass guitar lines to this song. Latvian musician Erna Daugaviete added cello tracks to this composition. At the very beginning and end of this song you can hear some vibraphone melodies played by Ernests Mediņš, known as member of Perpetuum Ritmico band. Audio was mixed by sound designer Arvis Ahuns.
The song is included in Reinis Jaunais latest music album “Zeme”, released with the support of VKKF fund and AKKA / LAA author scholarship. The album also raised necessary funds on the crowd-funding platform “Projektu banka” in less than 24 hours.
Song “Stop” is dedicated for all those who didn’t know or care that for some people they are a hero. An inspiration for this one came from famous photo “Tank man”. Latvian version “Divatā” is a story about desire, fear and indecision. Both versions of the song are available on all biggest music streaming platforms.
Song was recorded in bands own studio “Laimes Telpa” with bands guitarist Mārcis as sound engineer, and some parts with Mārcis Kalniņš in “Siguldas skaņu studija”. Song was mixed by Krišjānis Geidāns, mastered by Minerva Pappi from Waudio Mastering. Artwork by Miķelis Vīte.
Song was funded with the help of LaiPa (Latvian Performers’ and Producers’ Association).
The Latvian rock phenom “Laime Pilniga” embodies a rock`n`roll dream by combining elements of unique vocals, groovy rhythm section and virtuoso electric guitars. Fueled by true passion and outstanding musicianship band is a one of must see live acts from Baltic rock scene.
Laime Pilniga have released four studio albums – Dual (2011), LP (2015) Synergy and Waterlilies (2018) and “Atoms”(2019). All albums have been nominated as “Best rock/ metal album” in annual Latvian music awards “Zelta mikrofons”.
The band have toured a lot in Europe and shared stage with artists like: Three Days Grace, Anathema, Sinead o’Connor, Jake’s Lee Red Dragon Cartel, Mummiy Troll, Frank Turner, Skyforger and many others.
Ervīns Ramiņš (Vocals), Mārcis Vasiļevskis (Guitars), Jānis Olekšs (Bass) and Elvijs Mamedovs (Drums & Percussion).
Electronic music producer MICKEEN (Miks Pinzulis), in collaboration with Saule (Krišjānis Suntažs) on May 4th, released the single “Feel Free”.
Saule about the song:“Message is pretty straightforward, but at the same time so true. When I wrote the lyrics, I was in a place in my life, where everything was changing, everything about my life was getting more and more serious and I felt like i’m losing my spark, my spontaneity, my inspiration to have fun. That’s what the song is about, an encouragement for people to not be shy, to do silly things and embrace life fully.”
MICKEEN about the song: “When working on this song I wanted to create happy but still emotional feelings with thought that adults sometimes should feel like kids and feel free. With Saule we already knew the motive of this song when we started.”
The single was released with a video about friendship, the feeling of being free and having a good time.
On April 30, the local group “Dagamba” and the new singer Dārta Stepanova released a new collaboration – the song “I must go further”.
The title of the song is especially significant for Dārta Stepanova, as this is her debut in the world of Latvian popular music. The author of the single’s music is a member of “Dagamba”, cellist Valters Pūce, while the author of the words – singer Patrisha, the representatives of the musicians informed.
Local Latvian rock band Cacophonics presents their newest song We Did Not Use It All and an accompanying video.
The song’s author Ingus Sala comments: “Just like for many other bands, last year has been a big challenge for us. We greatly missed spending time together, rehearsing, also gigging and visiting shows of other musicians. At the same time, it has been a good opportunity to slow down and evaluate past events and decisions so as to more effectively use the chances that live presents and appreciate things that seemed self-evident in the past”.
The song was recorded at No Fuss Audio studio in Tukums, it was mixed by the drummer of Cacophonics Valērijs Černejs. The song’s music and lyrics were written by the band’s singer and guitar player Ingus Sala. The video for the song was filmed at Tukums city Culture Center, it was shot and edited by Gints Sprēdis in collaboration with the band’s bass player Aivars Daugavietis.
Cacophonics was formed in 2002 in Cēsis, up until now the band had released 1 full-length LP, 2 Eps and 7 singles, has played shows in all Baltic states, Slovakia, Hungary, Poland and Russia.
On November 23rd Latvian synth-rock band Dani Ryan released its new album titled „PARTY!”. This is the band’s second album. Dani Ryan’s previous album was released a year ago, in December 2019.
Unlike the band’s previous album, which was created in the time period between 2011 and 2019, this album was written entirely during this year. However the members of Dani Ryan had to choose 11 out of 25 written songs for „PARTY!”, so the music band already has ready material to create another full-fledged album. The point is to realease a b-side for „PARTY!”, which will be called „Afterparty!”. Its release is tentatively scheduled for the spring of 2021.
The goal was to create an interesting, dynamic album that would drastically differ in mood from Dani Ryan’s first album. The decision was made to use the elements of classic rock music and combine theme with unusual and unique sound effects – as, for example, in the songs „RADIO ANNA” or „Insta”. Meanwhile the song „Final call” is somewhat reminiscent of an indie rock classic. As the project developed, songs with female vocal parts also appeared – „Bring a little lovin’” and „Relax”. Furthermore, the album also got complemented with an unexpected electroclash track from Dani Ryan’s bass-player called „Touch my dress” and a spontaneously recorded song in Latvian „Meloman”.
Just like any creative process, the making of this album had many interesting moments. For example, the title track „Party!” went through many changes. Five different versions of the recording were reviewed, the lyrics were rewritten three times and the song was re-mixed many times too. Another track, „Meloman”, on the other hand, was written in one evening and all the instruments and vocals were recorded from the first try.
Since the band members wanted to see „PARTY!” as not just a collection of Dani Ryan’s songs, but as a complete piece of art, much attention was paid to compiling the sequence of songs in the album. It was changed about 15 times until the desired composition and effect were achieved. The team also took creating an album cover very seriously – its appearance has repeatedly changed during the making of the album.
The entire album was composed and recorded at Dani Ryan’s home studio, with the only exception being the track „Touch my dress” – all the credits of this track go to the band’s bass player Nikita Andreyev. The rest of the album’s material was recorded and mixed by Dani Ryan’s frontman and leader Daniil Ravinsky at his home. In turn, he would like to thank sound engineer Kaspars Greizis for giving advice in the process of working on the sound and for the final mastering of the album.
Dani Ryan was founded in 2015. In 2019 the band began to be active, but before that the band changed several members.
There are three people performing in Dani Ryan on a regular basis – Daniil Ravinsky (composer, keyboardist, guitarist, lead singer, creator of visual effects and posters), Janis Zarins (drummer) and Nikita Andrejevs (bass-player and backing vocalist).
