Last autumn, singer and pianist Katrina Gupalo released her version of Raimonds Pauls’ mega-hit “Par Pēdējo Lapu”. Now, a new and more danceable version of this song has been created in collaboration with Normunds Rutulis aka N’Works. It will be a perfect fit for the anticipation of spring, which this year is approaching us with extra hopes and promises.
“I was very surprised when I suddenly received a message from Normunds Rutulis. He is an artist with enormous amounts of charisma, and when we met in a photo shoot that took place before the stricter restrictions were announced, I was in awe. I felt very similar again when I unexpectedly received the new remix in my Facebook messenger’s inbox. In my original version, “Par Pēdējo Lapu” sounds quite painful and even melodramatic. However, Normunds had combined my voice with completely different – very positive and even playful – moods,” reveals Katrina Gupalo.
N’Works aka Normunds Rutulis: “It is always nice when the first draft of the remix instantly makes your body move and your soul fly. That is exactly what happened with this song – thus the result is melodic and quite rhythmical. I am very glad that the first collaboration with Katrina has been successful. I really hope that dance music lovers will like it as much as we do. In addition, the remix is available in both Latvian and Russian.”
Chris Noah releases lyric video for his single “Only Words”. The track is about how in many situations people can be selfish and do things that benefit them but present it like they’re doing it for the other person. “Words are only words – they can make people feel a wide range of feelings, however, they’re kind of useless if you can’t back them up with actions,” explains Chris. Noah’s 2nd EP “Distance”, which was released in 2020 and includes “Only Words”, is nominated for Latvian Music awards in the category “Best Pop Album”.
Regarding the writing process, Noah explains: “Usually the stories behind my songs are influenced by my own experiences, but “Only Words” is inspired by seeing one of my best friends go through a rough patch in his relationship. It’s interesting to observe this type of situations from the sidelines, it’s definitely easier to see the big picture.”
“Only Words” is produced in collaboration with London-based producer Kristofer Harris (Bears Den, Belle and Sebastian, Ghostpoet etc.) and the lyric video for the track is made by a Latvian graphic designer Didzis Bardo.
Chris Noah is a Riga-based recording artist who gracefully combines indie rock with catchy pop. Noah first gained attention with self-released singles “River” and “Fall Through” – receiving praise for his distinctive vocals, relatable lyrics and a strong sense of melody from a variety of blogs including Indie Air, AlexRainBirdMusic, Uranium Waves, Comeherefloyd, Aofd3, Mystic Sons, York Calling, Wolf in a Suit and many others.
The band “Rihards Libietis Orchestra” has published a new musical composition and music video from the upcoming album “Willful Blindness”, due to be released in late spring 2021. Author of the composition is Rihards Lībietis, and the idea for the music came last spring, during the first self-isolation period. “Driftwood Island” tells about movement and passage of time, but not in their obvious sense – more like driftwood on the shores, having experienced an unimaginable journey before ending up there.
“In this work I feel a very strong feeling of roots and introspection. Everything around us is in constant and unpredictable motion and it is unbelievably important to not lose your footing and self-reliance in all the unforeseen changes. Although it was not initially planned when working on this composition, the worrying events in the world can also be felt in there,” says Rihards Lībietis.
“Driftwood Island” was filmed at the seaside on a winter day and captures the powerful and moving emotions of the music. The video was filmed and directed by Laima Jaunā.
“With this video I tried to bring the viewer in the world of dreams and illusions: where surreal landscapes, mirroring sky and band members as dreamy characters lure the viewer in never-ending thought labyrinths with every frame,” the feeling of the video is described by its director Laima Jaunā.
“Driftwood Island” is the second single from the band’s upcoming fourth album “Willful Blindness”, set to release in late spring 2021. The album’s themes will be about self-responsibility and acceptance of personality’s shadow side. Composition was recorded in “Amfo Music Studio” Riga by Toms Lisments.
Rihards Libietis Orchestra is a quintet performing instrumental, dynamic world music, mixing influences from African, Middle Eastern and Latvian Folk Music with Blues and Jazz. The band was formed in 2015, and has released 3 albums, the newest “Reflections EP” came out in Fall of 2018. Rihards Libietis Orchestra regularly performs in the Baltic area. The band consists of Rihards Lībietis (guitars), Gints Smukais (guitars), Jānis Polis (bass), Erna Daugaviete (cello) and Matīss Repsis (percussion).
Humour rock band “Pirmais Kurss” releases new single “Izbrauciens” from the second studio album “Interkurss”, which will reach the audience on March 9. The new album will be a musical reflection in 14 parts about the beauty of love and misery in the lives of young men. Single “Izbrauciens” can be heard on the most popular music streaming sites.
Authors of the lyrics and music is “Pirmais Kurss”. Song mix – Arnis Račinskis. Producer – Dāvis Mazurenko. Master – Kaspars Ansons and Krišjānis Geidāns.
“Pirmais Kurss” is a group of normal young people who play cool music in their free time. In their ten-year existence they have played concerts all over Latvia and released the album “Problems”, which tells about sore topics – unsuccessful purchase of a new car, barn construction process, hair and internet problems. They play original music and some masterpieces of Latvian music. Intars Busulis: “World group no. 1 in Latvia”
Hit the dance floor with Carnival Youth as they release Bel Tempo’s remix of “Only the Moon Can See the Sun” with a glitchy remake of the original music video. The remix sharpens up the song, which appears on Carnival Youth’s 4th and latest album “Good Luck”, with the indie electronic duo’s signature spellbinding beats and gives a whole new spin to this procrastination anthem.
In the upcoming months, Carnival Youth will be releasing more remixes of “Good Luck” songs, all created by Latvian masterminds of electronic music. Emils Kaupers from Carnival Youth explains: “About a year ago we thought it’d be a cool idea to create a “Good Luck” remix album. We called up a few of our friends – artists and eventually came to a very colourful bunch. We gave them absolute freedom; they could choose the song themselves and do with it whatever comes to mind. Add new musical structures, use only the voice tracks, or remake songs beyond recognition. The results are very different and interesting. We believe that “Good Luck” has gained a new parallel life and we’re glad to say that the first of the remixes is our friends’ Bel Tempo interpretation of “Only the Moon Can See the Sun”.”
“Our remix is a tip of the hat to Caribou – one of Bel Tempo’s greatest inspirations, says Andis Ansons of Bel Tempo. “It refers specifically to his song “Sun”, which begins with that phrase.” Julijs Melngailis adds: “Bel Tempo and Carnival Youth go way back, and it feels like a circle completing an eclipse now that we’ve created a remix for “Only the Moon Can See the Sun”. What makes this occasion more fulfilling is the fact that I also took part in their “Only the Moon Can See the Sun” music video – we’ll let you guess where I come in.”
The Latvian indie band Carnival Youth is one of the most successful new generation bands from the Baltic region. Carnival Youth fuse neat melodic lines with the energy of alternative rock and indie music, while their emotion range varies from youthful melancholia to pure, bright joy. Since the formation of the band, Carnival Youth have released five records, from which the latest one – “Good Luck” came out in August 2019.
Rock band JAUDA has released its latest music video for song “Deep inside”. This is the fourth single from upcoming album. Song “Deep Inside” is the story of the hardest battle in our life. Despite the fact that many people in our life come and go and often we must face them, they are not our real enemy. The realy enemy is somwere deep – deep inside .
Song was written in JAUDA music studio in autumn of 2020 and later in november/december music video was filmed. This time the main music feeling is energetic, rocking, inspiring and even a little bit aggressive. Cold forest, dark chess game in interaction with a thrilled beat creates a feeling of restless, just the same feeling when you trying to run away from yourself.
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).
The coolest Latvian jazz-funk band, “Very Cool People”, does not intend to stop its flow of creativity; the band is releasing a new single dedicated to the group’s trumpet player and kebab tycoon – Oskars Ozoliņš.
The band’s biggest fans have already heard the tribute to Oskars as VCP have played the song in all the concerts that were possible in these unusual times. The group’s spokesman and guitar guru, Elvijs Grafcovs, explains that he wrote the song to call Oskars to sound checks. “It is vital from time to time, as he is often late for sound checks. Being the owner of a kebab empire and a kebab mogul is time-consuming and Oskars regularly flies to Abu Dhabi and Ankara to find out the latest trends in kebab recipes and implement them into his powerful brand – Oskar’s Kebab, his fast food empire which stretches from Helsinki to Casablanca and from London to Ankara,” says Elvijs.
“This story probably sounds very delicious, because it turns out that there are people who have really been looking for Oskar’s kebabs,” says Elvijs with a tireless smile on his face. “I have told this story on Latvian and Lithuanian televisions, as well as at festivals and concerts in Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Romania, Hungary and Germany. For example, one Lithuanian fan was very angry that Oskars was not in one of our concerts (Andris Augstkalns played with us instead), because Very Cool People’s “Oskar!” had become his favorite song, so he came together with the rest of the crowd and desperately tried to call Oskars, however … He also met us afterperforming at the “Nida Jazz” festival in August last year and shouted desperately: “Oskar!!!”
There was nothing left but to ask him to record a video message for Oskars which was so emotional & true that we decided to use it as an introduction to the new single, replacing the words of outrage of this southern fan with the sounds of Oskars’ trumpet.” The energetic single comes together with a no less enthusiastic video. It is the story of social inequality within the group. All Very Cool People members are equal, but some are more equal than others. In the clip Oskars goes to a concert in a separate car & in addition, he also has a separate back stage area. The video also depicts the group’s view of the current situation in Latvia and the world caused by the pandemic. Most restaurants and other quality catering brands are denied the opportunity to work. The only ones that continue to operate successfully are fast food restaurants. As you know, food is a big part of the local culture, as is music anddance. Accordingly, the culture of many nations of the world is currently suffering, so in the commercials accompanying the single, VCP are ironic about the advertising campaigns of large corporations and the stories of their lucky employees in these companies.
The group has gone even further and has created the Oskar’s Kebab corporate design logo with the advertising slogan: “Oskar’s Kebab – Feast Like A Beast!”, as well as a webpage, and had branded napkins and t-shirts printed. “We also wrote the Oskar’s Kebab jingle and filmed Oskar’s Kebab commercials,” continues Elvijs. “In the commercial Oskars is portrayed as an Arab sheikh, the boss of the kebab empire. And logically the Oskar’s Kebab website is also up and running where you can try to place orders…”
Singer and pianist Katrina Gupalo has just released a new album of music by Latvia’s legendary composer Imants Kalnins “7 skumjas zvaigznes” (7 Sad Stars). It offers 15 popular songs, including three songs featuring English-language lyrics by Ojars Eriks Kalnins. Along with the album, Gupalo is also releasing a new video filmed in the United States based on the single “Take It or Leave It”.
“This album is very unique because it’s a concentration of energy and love that expresses itself through its musical and visual presentation. Presently all live concerts are cancelled for the time being and in order to produce this album, I sold my childhood home in Dikli, Latvia. And I don’t regret it for a moment because I am convinced this music will bring joy, inspiration, and love during this difficult pandemic period,” Katrina Gupalo revealed. “We created the album together with people who are very close and loved by me. For example, the cover illustration was done by my mother Vera Pauksa. The music video was created by my best friend, choreographer Gabija Birina, despite the fact that we live on different continents. Ojars Eriks Kalnins adds a totally new dimension to the album since he not only introduced me to Imants Kalnins’ songs in English, but managed to produce a new lyric for one song with great inspiration and lightning speed (“Butterfly’s Satiny Scent”). I am so grateful to everyone on my very talented team who helped bring this little wonder to life in such a short time!”
The album features a new single and music video based on the song “Take It or Leave It”, which was written 15 years ago but now appears in a totally new musical arrangement. The music video was filmed in Naples Roller Hockey, Veterans Community Park, Florida, USA. It is the joint effort of choreographer and dancer Gabija Birina and dancer Daniel White and tells a tale of unsettled human nature and the complex choices we must make in our lives. In their expressive performance, the dancers reveal a story about love and intimate relations, which are woven through by tenderness, hatred, pain and hope. The video was created by artists Akorede Amole (USA) and Vadim Glushkov (Latvia.)
“It’s been extremely gratifying to work with such a gifted artist as Katrina. She has breathed new life into Imants Kalnins’ legendary songs. She not only speaks to a new generation of fans, but is bringing Imants’ music to a broader international audience. “Take It or Leave It” is song about life choices we all face in a time of change. We may look to others for help, but ultimately we must each decide for ourselves,” said lyricist Ojars Eriks Kalnins.
Katrina Gupalo’s album “7 skumjas zvaigznes” was recorded live, with voice and piano as they would be heard in concert, without any post-production technical corrections.
The album includes both popular and lesser known – or even forgotten – Imants Kalnins’ compositions. For example, “Let’s Sing of the Rivers” is here with its original English lyrics, although most Latvians will recognize it from its popular Latvian-language translation “Ar straumēm uz jūru”.
Katrina Gupalo performs all the compositions with her own voice and piano arrangements, but with great respect for the composers’ original versions. The album was recorded with Super HD quality and was produced by Aleksandr Volk using his unique “Wolk Recording Technologies” microphones, which are sensitive enough to pick up the most subtle electro-magnetic vibrations. The recordings were made on a Yamaha C6 concert piano at the Music and drama space “OratoriO” and piano salon @152 in Riga. The album design was rendered by Anastasija Prola and Ilya Kolesnik, printed by “Skaistāk” and includes photos by Aleksandra Volk.
The album’s exclusive gold CD is available in limited numbers by ordering from Katrina Gupalo’s homepage www.katrinagupalo.com. The album can also be heard on all music streaming platforms, including Spotify.
The 22-year-old singer/songwriter has returned with his single ‘RUNNING’ to give his listeners a better insight on what story the upcoming debut album ‘PENUMBRA’ is based on. Patriks describes his new song: This song portraits the process after a breakup when you realize that the closest person you have is inevitably becoming a stranger, so there is nothing else to do except run away from all the pain and emotions. Patriks identifies with such genres as: R&B/Soul, Alternative Pop, Singer/Songwriter, Bedroom Pop, Neo Soul and others.
