Category: News

The third Freedom Festival by Andrejs Osokins will be held in Riga from May 25 until June 8. As a reaction to Russia‘s military aggression, this year’s festival is dedicated to Ukraine. Currently six concerts are being announced, taking place at these venues: the Black Heads House (Melngalvju nams), Hanzas perons, Piano salon @152 and the Anglican Church. A multitude of artists, well-known both in Latvia and globally, will come together for this festival, among them are Dita Lūriņa, Chulpan Khamatova, Ģirts Krūmiņš, Ralfs Eilands, Georgijs Osokins, Raimonds Tiguls, Žoržs Siksna, Katrīna Dimanta, Roberto Meloni, Katrina Gupalo and Andrejs Osokins himself as well as musicians and actors from Ukraine who came to Latvia seeking shelter from the horrors of war. In cooperation with “Biļešu paradīze” and the Ziedot.lv foundation all proceeds from ticket sales will be donated for the support of the Ukrainian people.                                                                                                       

“It is more than obvious that Russia’s military attacks and their military operations in Ukraine will change the world. But in what way – that depends on each one of us. Right now, not only weapons and world leaders hold power but each and every person can influence what is happening – with their voice, be it live or virtually, their actions, their help, their support and their decisions. Ukraine and its courageous people  have been fighting relentlessly for the existence of their country and their people, the future of Europe with its ideals and its freedom. That’s why we must keep up our energy in helping and supporting Ukraine”, says Andrejs Osokins, initiator of the festival.

The first two concerts will take place at the piano salon @152 which the audience already knows from the past two Osokins festivals. On May 25 we will hear Andrejs Osokins, Katrina Gupalo, Žoržs Siksna, Ģirts Krūmiņš and a piano duet by Roksana Tarvide and Kaspars Bumbišs in a very personal setting, a grand and masterful opening of the program. On May 27 pianist Georgijs Osokins will be playing a solo concert at his brother‘s festival for the first time, performing music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Frédéric Chopin, Tōru Takemitsu, Stephen Hough and Alexander Scriabin.

On May 28 Chulpan Khamatova, actress at The New Riga Theatre, and Andrejs Osokins will present their poetic performance at the House of the Black Heads. The performance was created especially for this festival and combines music by Ukrainian composer Valentin Silvestrov, Frédéric Chopin and Volfgangs Dārziņš with poetry by Bulat Okudzhava, Alexander Galich and Osip Mandelstam. During the concert the recently composed piece for piano “Vairs nekad!”, dedicated to Ukraine, by Aivars Kalējs will have its premiere.

Continuing the festival on June 3, Katrina Gupalo, Andrejs Osokins and Roberto Meloni will present a concert program full of temperament and warmth containing French, Spanish and Ukrainian songs, music from movies as well as piano pieces by Gerorge Gershwin and Claude Debussy.

The “Concert of the Soul” on June 4 featuring mezzo-soprano Ieva Parša, pianist Iveta Cālīte and Urkainian bayanist Irina Serotjuk, Katrina Gupalo with a string quartet and a choir and festival initiator Andrejs Osokins will be the first concert at the Anglican Church after its reconstruction. The program will include Latvian and Ukrainian folk music, songs by Katrina Gupalo, Emilis Melngailis and Kristaps Pētersons as well as music by Ukrainian composers Volodymyr Zubytsky and Myroslav Skoryk.

The festival will finish with a special highlight on June 8 when Latvian and Ukrainian musicians and actors will perform together on one stage. During the first part of the concert we will hear Dita Lūriņa, Raimonds Tiguls, Katrīna Gupalo, Ukrainian clarinetist Nazar Hizhyi and Andrejs Osokins. The second part will feature Latvian-Ukrainian duets, trios and groups created especially for this festival, establishing new and artistically fascinating cooperations that might otherwise never have happened. Among the Ukrainian musicians will be singers Larisa Shelest, Anastasiiya Yatsenko, Anastasiiya Vasilenko, Evgeniya Nasonova, violinist Valeriiya Mustafina, pianist Artur Nikulin, Jazz pianist Edgars Vilcāns and more who will be joined by Katrīna Dimanta, Ralfs Eilands, Gints Smukais, Rihards Lībietis and other Latvian artists. The final performance will be the song “Resistance” by the united artists of “Latvia for Ukraine”.

Larisa Shelest, singer and participant of the festival, explains: “My hometown Berdyansk was completely occupied by the Russian army. For almost two month now there has been no gas or heating, they are running out of medicine, food is incredibly expensive and it is exceedingly difficult to buy petrol. It is almost impossible to get out of there due to the active military operations happening close to the borders of the city, many roads are mined or destroyed. Newborns receive Russian citizenship by force. Recently Berdyansk shut down all mobile communications and the internet, so I can‘t contact my parents there anymore. I don‘t know when or if I will ever see my family and friends again. Every single person‘s  support in Latvia or elsewhere in the world helps us to gain freedom, return home and rebuild our country!”

One of the biggest partners of the festival, the shopping center „Spice“, stresses that there is no place for war in our modern world and that we all together need to find ways to support not only the victims of the war but also each other.

“In these challenging times we stand up for peace and freedom. For the people of Ukraine. Therefore we are grateful to the organizers of Andrejs Osokins‘ Freedom Festival for their initiative and are happy to be a part of this event. The guests of the festival will not only help the people of Ukraine but hopefully find some much needed peace of mind thanks to the versatile program and the talented artists,” says Iveta Priedīte, head of the shopping centers „Spice“ and „Spice Home“.

Entry to the festival will be free of charge to all refugees from Ukraine currently living in Latvia. The festival team invites them to send an e-mail in Ukrainian or Russian to edgars_vilc@ukr.net in order to get free tickets.

The festival team is grateful to the artists and partners, thanks to whom all proceeds of the ticket sales can be donated to supporting Ukraine.

The program of the festival and ticket purchase can be found at all “Biļešu paradīze” offices as well as online: https://www.bilesuparadize.lv/lv/custompage/3074. When purchasing tickets for the festival no service fee will be charged. More information about the festival can be found on this website: www.alartists.com.

 

On Tuesday, June 28, Jannsi’s single ‘Perfection Is Gone’ was released, where indie rock sounds are a tribute to attempts, efforts, and struggles, when it is not always possible to achieve a perfect result. 

“The song is about the seeming perfection we see in other people’s lives, social media and stories, which disappears when the cameras are off. About reality, which is not glossy,” says Jannsi.

Previously, Jannsi published a three-song EP “Zilonis” (Elephant) – his manifesto that our prejudices and what we hear from like-minded people should not be the reason why we oppress our neighbors. The song “Brīvību Ukrainai” (Freedom for Ukraine), was a means of maintaining sanity at the time when the Russian army began attacking Ukraine.

In the single, all instruments and vocals were performed by the musician himself, while mixing and mastering were provided by Jānis Locs. “Perfection Is Gone” is available on major music streaming services.

Jannsi, whose real name is Jānis Uplejs, is an indie rock singer from Latvia, who previously played in various groups and compositions. With the group “Riverfall” he once performed together with the great guitarist Armands Alksnis, as well as participated in the TV show “X Factor Latvia”, getting to the “chair challenge”. Jannsi cites Nothing But Thieves, Twenty-One Pilots and The White Stripes as his most important musical influences.

Authors of the music and lyrics: Kristina Morins, Arturs Osipovs, Aleksandrs Solovjovs and Marks Ivanovs. Music Production: Aleksandrs Solovjovs, Sol Recording Studio.

“The work on the song coincided with the start of the pandemic. Uncertainty – could be described as what is happening around,” Arturs says.

“A person easily, and especially at such a time, succumbs to someone else’s influence, forgetting about himself and his true desires. The title of the song is “Ask Yourself”. If you have lost your way or are entangled in the web of other people’s games, just slow down and formulate the main questions for yourself. “Who am I?”

Because sometimes the question itself is more important than any answers.”

From May 11, 2022, the new track “Ask Yourself” is available on all major online streaming services.

At the end of the 2022 midsummer celebration, the group JAUDA released their latest studio album called EPILOG. The new release is a mini-EP with five covers of well-known songs and an electronic experimental “outro” track called Epilogue.

After the second studio album “Under water”, which was released in English, the musicians started to implement an old idea, because working on the third studio album with original songs was a very difficult task in the pandemic conditions, so as such an intermediate stage between the second and third studio album, it was decided to record five songs, which the band believes have created a turning point in the music scene in their time, as well as being close to the band members. The musicians say that more than ten songs were selected in total, but as time went by, only five songs passed the selection, which grew more organically with the band’s sound. In general, the sound of the mini-album includes a synthesis of rock music and electronic music, allowing for experiments with the sound. Mini EP includes songs from bands such as Jumprava, Jauns Mēnes, Aurora and Līvi.

The band members say  big thank you to the songwriters for the powerful songs and collaboration that allowed us to accomplish what we have done..

Currently, the group JAUDA continues to actively perform at festivals in Latvia, as well as in Lithuania and Estonia. To find out more about the upcoming concerts, follow the information on the JAUDA group’s Facebook and Instagram profiles.

The group JAUDA is: Daniels Levickis(drums), Dainis Paeglis (bass), Gatis Pastars (guitar).

Local rising hip-hop star, nineteen year-old artist Amanito has released his third studio album “Fifth Dimension”. Together with the album he also released a lyric video for the song “Mirror”

Band “Sudden Lights” in a special atmosphere at the cinema “Splendid Palace” presented their third studio album “Miljards vasaru”, available on all streaming platforms. At the same time, the special guest of the album’s concert tour was announced – one of the most promising Latvian hip-hop rapper of the new generation Zeļģis.

In the album “Miljards vasaru”, musicians go through a wide range of emotions from sunny nostalgia to electrifying power. The album was made in the band’s creative camps far away from the city noises, it is permeated by dreamy and unhurried diving events that you would like experience again and again. The album contains of 10 songs in a summer mood, trying to capture the infinity.

With the release of the album, the band’s latest single “Pāris neuzņemtu foto” is released. The band’s soloist Andrejs Reinis Zitmanis explains: “Pāris neuzņemtu foto” is probably the most summery song of all time. It tells the story of two people sparkling interactions. Despite the fact that we are living in an age where almost every step we take is on the Internet, however, there are emotions that we would like to be immortalized not in our devices but in our memories.”

Latvian singer/songwriter Patriks has released his debut album “PENUMBRA” to bring the listeners through an emotional rollercoaster based on a touching story from the songwriters’ personal life.

 

As Patriks says: PENUMBRA is a conceptual album, the main motive is love. Throughout the album love evolves, it faces challenges and then it vanishes. PENUMBRA is the moment between light and darkness, and that represents the emotional state after falling out of love and becoming strangers with the person was Your closest just a moment ago.

Patriks himself produced the whole album and currently is waiting for the summer to finally perform these songs.

Patriks is a singer/songwriter from Riga, Latvia. He identifies with such genres as R&B/Soul, Alternative Pop, Singer/Songwriter, Bedroom Pop/Lofi Hip-Hop, Neo Soul and others.

This album is a mixture of different genres, but the merging component is the lyrics. Throughout his life Patriks has been inspired by artists such as: Frank Ocean, Bon Iver, Local Natives, Joji, James Blake, Rex Orange County, Still Woozy, Tom Misch, Mac Miller, Anderson .Paak and others.

The 15th edition of the international new music festival Tallinn Music Week (TMW) will take place in Tallinn, Estonia from 10th to 14th May 2023. The submission call for musicians wishing to perform at the upcoming event is open until 12th December 2022 via TMW homepage.

TMW 2023 welcomes artists from various genres across the globe. All applications will be reviewed by the TMW programming team, which includes representatives of both Estonian and international music organisations and experts on various genres and scenes. A confirmed line-up of around 150 artists will be announced from February to March 2023.

As the leading showcase of “tomorrow’s music, arts and ideas” in the Baltic-Nordic region, TMW has been presenting distinctive talent from both its homeland and across Europe since 2009. TMW is valued internationally for its diverse programme, a vast variety of genres and high artistic level, as well as the strong representation of the international music industry. TMW’s music festival is attended by an audience of about 15,000 people and its PRO programme, attended by 1,000 delegates, connects artists with industry experts via a programme of discussion panels, workshops and mentoring sessions.

Reviews in international media have recognised TMW as an influential event that opens up distinctive talent to wider recognition and audiences. The last edition of the festival which took place from 4th to 8th May 2022 has been featured in music and culture publications like MOJO, The Line of Best Fit, The Quietus, Loud & Quiet and The Clash, as well as in public broadcasting channels from BBC Radio 4 to Deutsche Welle.

TMW 2023 artist application is open until 23.59 (CET) on 12th December 2022 via TMW homepage.

TMW 2023 takes place from 10th to 14th May 2023. TMW 2023 passes are on sale at the TMW webshop. Until the end of May, the Festival Pass and PRO Pass are available at Early Bird prices of 35 euros and 100 euros respectively.

TMW 2022 conference panel recordings are available for viewing for TMW PRO and DigiPRO clients via TMW PRO platform until the upcoming festival edition.

TMW is organised by Shiftworks in cooperation with several partners and co-curators. TMW’s strategic partner in the field of music is the national music export office Music Estonia.
Tallinn Music Week 2022 in numbers

• 192 music festival performers from 28 countries
• 974 PRO delegates/music industry representatives
• 103 conference speakers
• 30 music showcase events
• 229 team members and volunteers in Tallinn
• 17,425 festival visits

Today, on June 1, Latvian band “The Bad Tones” published a new single “Sunny Side” from their homecoming EP “Back Together Forever”, which will see the light of day in late June.

The lyrics of the song speak about reflections that for a moment arise when we tend to be just so happy that various everyday obstacles seem insignificant and sometimes it’s even hard to believe in their existence. The message of the song is a wish to get into such moments more often and to find joy in simple everyday things. “Walking on the sunny side of the street, especially towards the sun, literally makes me smile. I narrow my eyelids and for some reason my teeth show and make a little weird smile. I wish having sunglasses would be more convenient for me, because I wear optics already,” Kalvis imaginatively shares his feeling about the single.

The first sketches for the single were captured during the band’s annual creative camp and was later recorded at the “Red House” studio in Riga, Latvia. Keyboardist Teodors Kerimovs also took part in the recording. The song was produced and mixed by Jaspers Ras and mastered by Rengert Eggink, who are the band’s friends and partners from their study time in the Netherlands.

“Sunny Side” is one of the five compositions included in the upcoming EP “Back Together Forever”, which will be out on June 29. “The EP’s title “Back Together Forever” speaks for itself. We see it as a turning point in the band’s history. Probably not in terms of sound or any other musical expression, but definitely in the dynamics of the band. This is the first recording made while all of us were in one country, one city, one studio. And here it is important to add that we met ten years ago,” tells Edvards.

Nature and blues inspired union was formed in 2012 and was named “The Bad Tones” in 2017. It is represented by Edvards Broders (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Rudolfs Ozols (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Alberts Levics (vocals, bass guitar) and Kalvis Slezis-Zalkalns (vocals, drums). Up until now “The Bad Tones” has released EP “Bad Tunes” (2018), studio album “Is It Good Enough?” (2019), live album “Ezera Skaņas” (2020), as well as the song “Nest”, which is also included in the upcoming EP.