Category: News

The annual Christmas project “Snowman Express” featuring singers Ralfs Eilands and Kristīne Prauliņa will not take place this year, but Very Cool People have decided not to leave the audience without their beloved “Snowman Express” and offer a new Christmas single – “The Little Drummer Boy”.

The song, recorded in both Latvian and English, is based on the story of a little poor drummer, whose only gift for Christmas is a drum solo, which the group’s “little drummer”, Andris Buikis, delivers to all listeners at the end of the song. Elvijs Grafcovs together with Māris Jēkabsons has created new arrangements for the old holiday song, dressing “The Little Drummer Boy” in a very nice drum’n’bass stylistic suit. The new single was recorded in several studios in Latvia. The song was mixed at the “Ciemupe Productions” and mastered by Erls Holders in the studio “HDQTRZ” in Atlanta, Georgia, USA.

The recording was made by: Kristīne Prauliņa – vocal; Ralfs Eilands – vocal; Elvijs Grafcovs – guitar;  Māris Jēkabsons – tenor sax;  Kristaps Lubovs – bariton sax;  Laura Rozenberga – trombone;  Oskars Ozoliņš – Trumpet;  Māris Vitkus – keyboards;  Jānis Olekšs – bass;  Andris Buiķis – drums.

The video of the new single was filmed in several very colorful places in Latvia, from a small family shop in Stende to the city center of Riga and even the Pinki sleeping area. The music video was directed by Rimants Iržikevičs, who has made his debut in this genre.

Artwork made by Mārtiņš Legzdiņš and the music can be heard in all the streaming services and the best radio stations.

Latvian hard rock band “Everstate” introduces to a new single and a video Trying Times from the band’s debut EP “Inside Out” which contains 5 songs.

Trying times and the EP were produced by Greg Haver (Manic Street Preachers, Bullet For My Valentine, etc.), recorded and mixed by sound engineer Clint Murphy (Enter Shikari, etc.) at Sound Division Studios, Riga, Latvia. Masters were done by Ryan Smith at the Sterling Sound Studio in Nashville, USA.

The band’s leader and guitarist Uldis Blazevics says that “Trying Times” is a song about inner experiences that occur when a person searches for his identity and improves himself. It’s the “good pain” that a person expects and accepts because he knows that the outcome is expected to be positive and rewarding.”

The band’s EP Inside Out, as well as the single “Trying Times” are available on major music streaming websites such as Spotify, Amazon, Deezer, YouTube, etc.

2020 was not only a year of the pandemic, but also a year of jubilee of two Masters of classical music – Frederic Chopin and Ludwig van Beethoven. Even though this year has been very difficult for classical music and it was not possible to hold many concerts dedicated to the jubilee of Chopin and Beethoven, musicians all over the world, including Andrejs Osokins, are looking for creative ways to reach their audience and let the music survive. The project dedicated to the jubilee of Frederic Chopin came to life in cooperation with the Embassy of Poland in Latvia. It is a musical greeting that, by traveling virtually around the world, will reach the music lovers of the outstanding Polish composer and remind them of unchanging values.

“It is especially important that in a virtual environment, where there are so many pieces of frightful and tragic news, we also give people beauty, spirituality and harmony through art and music. This project will share the hope that we will endure. Music and art are the values that will give us strength. Chopin’s music contains everything I consider so crucial – the unrestrained temperament, subtlety, spirituality, spontaneity and tenderness, wit, danceability and elegance. One can listen to his melodies for evermore! So much time has passed, but human nature and soul remain unchanged,” says pianist Andrejs Osokins.

“The past 2020 has been a difficult one for all of us. We have to face many challenges and we are denied so many opportunities. However, in spite of everything, I would like to emphasize that this year has once again revealed the depths of creativity that are lying dormant inside of us. Thanks to the project “Musical Greeting”, which has been prepared in collaboration with the outstanding Latvian pianist Andrejs Osokins, we, despite the pandemic, are able to reach you with the help of Frederic Chopin’s music. May it bring you a ray of hope! Today, just as many years ago, when this music raised the spirits of Poles longing for freedom, let it inspire and herald a better future, even if we have to wait a while for it,” chargé d’affaires of the Republic of Poland, Consul Małgorzata Hejduk-Gromek.

The musical greeting includes two masterpieces by Frederic Chopin – “Nocturne op.9 No.2” and “Etude op. 25 No.12”. The video was created by Kaspars Kambars and Ainars Krauklis, recorded by sound director Aleksandrs Volks. It was recorded on Yamaha concert piano at the Piano salon @152 in Riga.

Pamirt is a dark music trio from Baltics that brings together musicians Kristiana Karklina (voice, piano), Edvards Percevs (drums) and Edgars Gultnieks (guitar, bass) previously known for their work with black metal act Eschatos. This collaboration started as a solo project of Kristiana, but soon after Edgars and Edvards joined to add guitar textures and rhythm. Most part of this album was composed while residing in Berlin in fall of 2018 where Kristiana goes often to work on music.

“It was a new experience for me to have the control over all artistic decisions while making this record over a period of almost 2 years. My academic background is in art history so visual arts also play a great role in making of this record. About a month before the world entered the state of global health crisis, we created album art for Mausoleum. We wanted to create a sense of grotesque, lonely celebration, inspired partly by Pushkin’s work “A Feast in Time of Plague” and personal experiences while working in the field of contemporary art. Needless to say that we could not even imagine how prophetic this work will be,” says Kristiana.

Mausoleum was nominated for The National Latvian music awards “Zelta mikrofons” as The Best Experimental record of 2020.

On December 21, when many gurus and spiritual leaders predict the beginning of the new world, Taurud comes out with a new song ‘I’m Changing’. Listen to it on Spotify, Apple Music, Bandcamp, and other platforms.

The title ‘I’m Changing’ undoubtedly sets the expectation of what the song is about. Taurud describes: So here we are at the end of 2020. What’s ahead of us is still unknown. However, one thing we all feel and know for sure is that things are changing rapidly. Universal energy and information always have been flowing through me, and I feel it so vividly that we are approaching something incredible no matter how hard it might be to believe it right at this moment. It’s time to get rid of everything that no longer serves us, it’s time to take the wheel and steer towards the light with confidence. This song is a mantra that will help us along the way.

Every one of us goes through many different experiences and we always look back and reflect on them by the end of the year. It’s a special moment. You can feel a bit of that festive vibe in the song. It’s a collaboration with Tom Stott from Manchester band LUX. (Listen to their latest single here) Tom Stott plays keyboards on all Taurud’s tracks and they are going to continue working on records together.

We can expect more inspiring music from Taurud next year as he promises some surprises as well. His journey began in August with the song ‘I Keep Loving You’ was followed by ‘I’ve Been Carrying My Past Lives With Me’ in November and, ‘I’m Changing’ is the one to wrap this year up. The song is about what I feel is the most important right now – our growth – says the artist himself.

As October drew to a close, the first duet of Markus Riva and Samanta Tīna, called “Man nesanāk” (I Can’t Succeed), saw the light of day. It has quickly become a favourite among audiences and caused great interest in the pair beyond their homeland Latvia. The music video for “Man nesanāk” is out now to complement the track.

The initiative and the idea of the story belong to Markus, while the visual identity of the music video was entrusted to director Pavel Trebuhin with whom Markus has worked for many years. Samanta’s favourite makeup artist Jana Kozlova did the makeup of both stars, and the music video was shot at E. Fon Trompowsky Quarter.

Several exclusive “Fyodor Golan” outfits are featured in the video – the brand, characterized by brave designs and bold colours, was created by Latvian-born designer Fyodor Podgorny, and it’s adored by such celebrities as Lady Gaga, Madonna, Rita Ora, Blackpink and others.

“It’s easy to work with Samanta – I’m very happy she had trust in my ideas and felt confident appearing in the video in a different mode than usual,” says Markus. “Being in a frame with her feels ecstatic – cameras love Samanta, and every second of the video is electrified with her charm and energy.”

“I like to be in charge, so at first it was difficult for me to go with Markus’ ideas and trust his choice of stylists and video crew, but I did it, and I am extremely happy with the result. The stylists did a fantastic job, and the outfits we wore were fabulous; I got to know new designers that I will keep working with. The team was very professional, and I am very satisfied with this cooperation and what we have achieved,” adds Samanta.

As reported earlier, “Man nesanāk” is the third single from Markus’ upcoming studio album in Latvian, set for release this autumn. The production of “Man nesanāk” was supported by the grant of the Latvian Performers’ and Producers’ Association (LaIPA).