Category: News

On 6th November, Latvian recording artist Chris Noah releases a deluxe version of the EP “Distance” which came out on the 20th March. Alongside the original songs from the EP, the deluxe version includes recently released single “This Is The Night”, its live acoustic version as well as a stripped-down version of a fan favourite River.

““This Is The Night” was recorded after the release of EP “Distance” and even during the writing process, I felt that it would fit very well with the other songs in the EP. It’s not only strong as a single, but it also serves as a great addition to EP “Distance” and gives the necessary contrast between the songs,” says Chris.

“This Is The Night” was released on 23rd October and came out with a music video.

Regarding the inclusion of the acoustic tracks in the EP, Chris comments: “I write most of my songs on my acoustic guitar and only during the production process, by adding various instruments and other bits and bobs, the characteristics of the recording are shaped. It’s great to have big production and it’s always fun to do that, but sometimes it’s worth returning to the basics which for me is my voice and guitar. Doing a live recording is always special as there’s room for natural noises and you also seem more vulnerable as a musician since there’s less editing. I think it might reveal a new side of me to people who follow my music. The stripped-down version of “River”, which is included in the EP, has become a fan favourite at gigs where I don’t play with a full band, and this version gives a rawer feeling to the story behind the song.”

On 6th December, despite the ongoing situation in the world, Chris Noah is playing two shows in one of the most beautiful cinemas in Latvia – Splendid Palace. Chris will be showcasing his talent to his rapidly growing fanbase in his homeland, whilst taking all the necessary precautions to stay safe.

“Taurud” is a singer and songwriter from Jurmala, Latvia, currently based in Manchester UK. On the 12th of August, he is releasing his debut single which is the first taste from the 2021 upcoming album.  “I Keep Loving You” is available on Spotify, Apple Music, Deezer, and other streaming services.

Debut single “I Keep Loving You” talks about true unconditional love.  “Taurud”: “It’s a song about feelings that makes us human, those feelings which can literally bend our reality. Feelings that can turn black and white into colour, feelings that can awaken us from sleepwalking. Suddenly everything is real. So often we’ re trying to put each other in these invisible boxes to fit for us and if we can’t our feelings alter. This song is about the love we are ready to give regardless of someone’s shortcomings or pain they cause. I hope it will become people’s song and others will use it to tell someone how much they love them. I wrote it for that.”

Listen to “I Keep Loving You” here

“Taurud” is a culmination of dreamy and heartfelt sounds, experimenting with different levels of intimacy. Taurud touch acts as a refuge for those who need a break from the busy world whizzing by. It’s that feeling of being seemingly adrift in the sea of our own realities, losing yourself, hitting rock bottom and finding your feet once again. His music attempts to shine a little light into a dark room, with a desire to spread hope, love, and peace throughout.

A musician who grew up listening “Pink Floyd” and, “Queen” from age of 5 says about himself: “I’m someone who learned everything himself. Never had teachers who’ d show me how to write songs or play guitar. I started writing when I was around 15 in my first band. Still doing it really really impulsively. Very often I can’t sleep cos I have to create a new song.  It feels like I’m like an athena who is receiving signals and just writing them down, often it doesn’ t feel like I am actually writing it. Everything is energy and is vibrating on different frequencies. Theoretically, we all are music.”

“Taurud” is releasing his debut single this year. It’s the beginning of very focused work to introduce Latvia and other countries to his art. Currently working on his debut album with top musicians from Manchester, recording at “The Big Red Studio” with Jake Evans who’s collaborated with so many great musicians including “New Order”. The upcoming record will include 8 original songs. “Taurud‘ says: “We are recording it all live man, like back in the day. We are capturing real moments in the studio. It’s such real music. I’m so excited.”

On November 16, 2020 a synth-rock band Dani Ryan from Riga released a new single called „Komett”. This single is the third release from the band’s upcoming album „PARTY !”, which will be out very soon – just a week after the single.

The song was released along with the music video, which was filmed and edited independently by the participants of the Dani Ryan project. It took three days to shoot the video – a team of 7 people was involved in the filming process. However all further processing of the filmed material and its editing was done by Dani Ryan’s lead singer –  Daniil Ravinsky. Daniil was also responsible for creating all the visual effects and animation in this and previous music videos of the band.  According to various calculations, the budget of the music video ranged from 20 to 35 euros, including food and drinks for the film crew and paying for taxis to deliver all the necessary equipment to the filming locations.

The plot of the video refers the viewer to the first single and music video of the band – RADIO ANNA. The song and the video tell us about the story of the main character Anna and her journey into outer space. Both the song „Komett” and the music video for it will tell us about what happened in Anna’s life before her travels and about the sacrifice she had to make to make her dream come true –  become an astronaut.

„Komett” focuses on the difficult choice between a dream and a happy, but ordinary life, the emotions of two people and, of course, love.

The lyrics to the song’s rap verse were written by Dani Ryan’s bass player Nikita Andrejevs, who also played the main character in the band’s new music video. An interesting fact is that at the time of writing the verse, Nikita had no idea what the song will be about and what kind of music it will have. All that was at his disposal – the rhythm and general theme of the future song , space precisely. This was done on purpose so that the already written lyrics and music would not be reflected in the lyrics of this rap verse.

The entire music video creation process took about two weeks – the same as it takes to review and approve a song for release on streaming platforms such as Spotify or Apple Music. The goal was to release a high-quality and interesting music video along with the release of the single. That is why the members of the Dani Ryan project invested in the creation of the video not only the maximum amount of their energy, sacrificing free time and rest after their day jobs, but also a piece of their soul.

The Dani Ryan team would like to express special gratitude for the magical mastering of the track to sound engineer Kaspars Greizis and the band Barta  for providing the filming location.

Dani Ryan was founded in 2015. In 2019, the band began its main activity, prior to this Dani Ryan changed members several times. At the end of last year Dani Ryan released its debut album OPEN.

The band core consists of three permanent members  – 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 release of Dani Ryan’s second album is scheduled for late 2020.

While real face-to-face parties are off limits, partying online has never seemed like a better idea – Markus Riva invites all party animals to the PURE POP DISCO global party! Join us tomorrow, April 24, LIVE from FANTADROM.

Dance hits, an interactive live chat, unique go-go dancers, tips for choosing the best drinks and snacks for the night, special guests from around the globe, a chance to vote for the best dance, contests, prizes and impressive technological solutions – join, dance, watch, relax!

Everyone will keep a safe distance at the event. The event will be hosted in Latvian, English and Russian.

Tickets to “MARKUS RIVA INVITES – PURE POP DISCO VIRTUAL PARTY” are available at Biļešu Serviss ticket store online – ticket prices start from 5 EUR. Join us LIVE on April 24 at 19:00 here.

PURE POP DISCO live stream is brought to you by  “UNTITLED originals” in cooperation with “Markus Riva Music” and conference hall Fantadroms.

The Latvian Soul, r&b band “Kristine Praulina & The Soulful Crew” in collaboration with Riga Gospel choir releases a single called “Mountains” and a video of it’s recording process. It’s the first single of their upcoming album. “Mountains” is now available on all the major music streaming platforms.

In 2018 Kristine Praulina’s dream of her own music came to life as she created the band that is now called “Kristine Praulina & The Soulful Crew”. The band has five members – Toms Mikāls (piano), Jānis Kalniņš (guitar), Valters Sprūdžs (bass), Kaspars Kurdeko (drums) and Kristine Praulina (vocals) and it performs original soul, r&b, singer songwriter, blues influenced music.

“Mountains” is the first single from the  band’s upcoming first full-length album. The song tells a story of a search for Light in the time of darkness, the power of faith and the beauty that comes from a heart filled with gratitude. Kristine says: “I wish that this song would be an encouragement in these peculiar and trying times – to stop for a moment and listen to the inner quiet, to hear your own voice and the voice of God. It is this eternal perspective and peace of heart that can give us true and lasting joy in our everyday lives and as the song says – it can “move mountains inside our souls”.

“Mountains” was written specifically for Riga Gospel choir for Kristīne has been a part of the choir since 2003 and is currently it’s musical director. Riga Gospel choir is where Kristine’s musical journey began. Kristine about her love of gospel music: “I fell in love with gospel music at the age of 12 and it still moves me deeply every time I sing or hear it. We (RGC) have been dreaming of our own music for some years now and this is our first leap in that direction. I couldn’t be more excited about this release for it unites my two main musical passions – soul and gospel music and let’s our work with The Soulful Crew and Riga Gospel choir flourish”.

“Mountains” (music and lyrics, vocal and choir arrangements) was written by Kristine Prauliņa and these are her first steps songwriting in gospel music genre. The instrumental arrangement was created together with the band. The song was recorded in “Mint” studio in Riga, Latvia in January 2020. Studio and mixing engineer – Toms Lisments. Mastered by Tom Woodhead (GBR). Video made and edited by Reinis Janulis.

Kristine Praulina has been on the Latvian jazz music scene since 2013 when she won the International Jazz Vocalist competition “Riga Jazz Stage”. She has been actively working as a soloist in Latvia and abroad with bands like the Latvian Radio Big Band, funk band “Very Cool People”, “Alaska Dreamers” and many more ever since. She has recorded two studio albums with the legendary Latvian Maestro Raimonds Pauls. In 2018 “Kristine Praulina & The Soulful Crew” was born. That same year the band released an EP called “A Warmer October” with four freshly written songs. In 2019 they released a song in Latvian called “Kopā”, along with a video.

Riga Gospel choir is an active perfomer in the Latvian music scene since 2006. The choir has performed all over Latvia and in Norway, Estonia, Great Britain, Germany and other European countries, as well as the USA (Chicago, New York, New Orleans and more). Riga Gospel choir performed with the Grammy winner, gospel super star Donald Lawrence in Riga, Latvia in 2019. They’ve had collaborations with Karen Gibson (creator and musical director of Great Britain’s “Kingdom Choir”) and gospel greats Cynthia Nunn, Malcolm Williams, Walter Owens and Terry Moore for the USA. Riga Gospel choir has won two gold medals in the World Choir games.

Classical music hooligans DAGAMBA, in collaboration with the talented emerging singer Patrisha, releases a new single and video Stāvēt Tuvāk. It is a story about boarder abolishment, mutual unity un humanity against each other, that is especially important during social and physical distancing because spiritual values come first.

The leader of DAGAMBA and author of the music, Valters Pūce, tells: “To be honest, musical framework was created approximately one and a half year ago, and the initial idea was to depict the charm and uniqueness of coexistence of different cultures. Patrisha’s contribution allots topicality to our collaboration during self-isolation era, when it is more important than ever not to lose mutual humanity against each other.”

The video, directed by Dace Pūce, focuses on the same idea – even though we are asked not to go outside our homes without necessity, life goes on, musicians perform at home with their families, and  dream about the time, when empty streets will be filled with everyday hustle again and the world will return to its usual rhythm.

“This song was created at a strange time, when physical being around each other is forbidden, but is also  crucial to all of us. The message of “Stāvēt tuvāk”, just like the world around me, changed rapidly during its writing, but it seems that now it has become especially relevant. I am very happy and honored for this beautiful collaboration with DAGAMBA,” explains Patrisha.

Song available on digital streaming platforms

Along with blossoming cherry trees, “Audrú” wants to delight the audience with an upbeat song – “Mother Love”.

The song starts out serene, then becomes uplifting and creates an inspiring mood. Friends who have already heard “Mother Love” say that it talks about everything that is important. Maybe that’s why the song is a perfect soundtrack for these sophisticated times. It reminds us that we can always choose to see the good or simply not to notice it.

The song also has a video that captures moments from the adventures shared together in the recent years – inspiring trips, fun birthdays, rehearsals, walks in the rain and picnics by the sea. The video is like a journey through heartfelt memories while all we can do is wait until we can meet again.

Currently, the band is also working on their debut EP called “The Lighthouse Trilogy”. One of the songs from the album – “Over”, is already available to listeners.

“Audrú” – a bunch of friends – Ieva, Gita, Jurģis and Artūrs have been playing together for more than 3 years. Since then the band has crafted their own sound, for which they, jokingly, have coined the term “May-flower Grunge”. It features elements of indie-rock, indie-pop, American folk and vibes from music of the 90’s.

“Mother Love” was recorded and mixed at Hodila Records studio in Valmiera, Latvia, in the beginning of 2020. You can listen to other Audrú songs on the most popular music streaming sites.

Frontiers Music Srl is proud to announce that Latvian hard rockers Bloody Heels will release their new album, “Ignite The Sky” on July 10, 2020. Today, the band has premiered the first single and video from the album, ‘Criminal Masterminds’.

“”Ignite the Sky” has some pretty heavy songs, but at the same time there’s plenty of melodic stuff, harmonies and big choruses. I like to call this album “Dark AOR”, haha! We managed to blend everything we love about music, to be honest. But one thing is for sure, we’ve never felt such a strong connection with the songs before,” says singer Vicky White of the upcoming album.

Regarding the first single, White continues, “”Criminal Masterminds” is definitely one of our heaviest songs to date. It was also one of the last songs we wrote for the album, just a month or so before we headed to the studio. Me and Harry were waiting on the other guys in our rehearsal room, messing around with some different guitar tunings and came up with the main riff. Then Gus and Gunn came and the rest is history. It’s one of those songs that came together in just a couple of hours. We wanted to release this song as the first single because I think that it captures what Bloody Heels is about now. It’s a bit heavier and more in your face, but still quite melodic, with a big chorus and lots of harmonies. It’s quite different from anything what we’ve done before, but doesn’t abandon who we are.”

Latvian hard rockers Bloody Heels recently joined the Frontiers label’s rapidly expanding pool of young talent and one listen to their debut album will easily explain why the label HAD to sign them up. With nods to the great ‘80s hard rock scene, but also bordering on heavy metal (listen to those kicks drums on first single ‘Criminal Masterminds’), this band is a delightful mix of catchy and driving. With a great whisky-soaked sounding throat, vocalist Vicky White provides the perfect voice for the thunder and lightning that guitarist Harry Rivers, bassist Gunn Everett, and drummer Gus Hawk are raining down upon us.

Formed in 2012 in Riga, Latvia, Bloody Heels have a musical style that could be best described as a sort of missing link between Crashdïet and Crazy Lixx, with heavier elements like early W.A.S.P. and Kissin’ Dynamite. The band  have already made a name for themselves with the EP  ‘Summer Nights’ (2014) and the album ‘Through Mystery’ (2017). They’ve played shows all around Europe including Sweden, Finland, Norway, Germany, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Poland, Netherlands, Belgium, and the Baltic States.