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David Bowie’s two best albums would occur at two pivotal junctures in his life: the summit of his ego and the short-lived dissolution of it. The former, reflected in The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars, was an extravagant, gothic masterpiece that dared the listener to imagine that its ridiculous premise and equally ridiculous main character actually existed, a self-image that Bowie spent the next 5 years thoroughly running into the ground. To this very day, the “Ziggy” iconography is the image of him that persists. Most people probably think “Space Oddity”, “Ziggy Stardust”, and “Let’s Dance” were all on the same album. What made this era of his career so frustrating was that rather than build on this persona and prove that it had some musical, artistic worth, Bowie seemed content to ride this current until, presumably, the world had grown completely sick of the act. Following “Ziggy”, fans would be treated to three facsimile albums that did little to innovate his image nor his sound of varying degrees of quality. Aladdin Sane was a decently competent record that saw Bowie trying to “Americanize” the Ziggy persona, which mostly amounted to slapping on some hard rock textures and calling it a day. Pin Ups was a pathetic showcase of song covers that many of his detractors still rally towards as evidence of the unoriginality at the core of Bowie’s creative output. Diamond Dogs was a return-to-form for an artist who desperately needed a new angle entirely. This began an awkward middle period where Bowie struggled to move on from the Glam Rock scene entirely, which, largely by his own hand, had completely lost its proto-punk, underground sheen in favor of mainstream success. That being said, his next album, Young Americans, was even more mainstream than what had preceded it. The album’s biggest track “Fame” gives it away – Bowie was now embracing his celebrity status, and with it came certain excesses that would erode his soul and diminish his capacity to embrace the romantic.

Many would say that Station to Station was the second and last album of this phase, but I would say that the Young Americans era was hardly a phase at all, a false-start that preceded Bowie’s real next fascination – the New Wave. Through the likes of Brian Eno and Iggy Pop, Bowie had found a new field which he could project his persona onto and help breathe life into, which began with the aforementioned Station to Station, an album far too complex, psychedelic, weird, and self-contained for me to get into in this review, as well as Pop’s own The Idiot. One likes to imagine that it was through this artistic reinvention that Bowie was finally able to take a look at his surroundings: a scorched-earth of media attention, cocaine addiction, and, at the center of it all, a depressed, addled mind that had given up hope. With all this in mind, he packed up for then-splintered, bleak Berlin to clear his head and begin work, at long last, on his other best album which I teased at the beginning of this increasingly bloated, overwrought review.

Low is very nearly the direct antithesis of “Ziggy”, which marked how weary Bowie must have grown of himself. In contrast with that album’s erotic, sensual swells, tight riffs, and bold, glamorous production, this album is cold, mechanical, weird, and sad. This album was still written in a pre-Unknown Pleasures world, so we’re never pushed up against the abyss and crushed; instead, we get a record with a milder effect. We clearly pick up on Bowie’s scattered, tortured mind without the music ever directly clueing us in on his psyche. Fitting, considering like most of us, Bowie didn’t have much of a clue of what was occupying and weighing on his mind either. If this was your first Bowie record (which, in my case, it was), you would be forgiven for not understanding what all the hype was about. This album is desolate and gives no indication of the artist’s larger-than-life ego. All the same, it is an incredibly self-absorbed record, just one divorced from the pretentions that plagued the better part of a decade’s worth of musical output. Instead, Bowie meditates on his personal failings, viewing himself more as a spineless, unlovable cuckold on tracks like “What in the World” and “Breaking Glass”. The somber “Always Crashing in the Same Car” is one of Bowie’s few truly relatable tracks, which seems him finally confess to how badly he has been managing his life and the Nietzschean flat-circle of regrets he seems to keep finding himself knee-deep in. “Be My Wife” and “A New Career in a New Town” embrace more optimistic, hopeful notes. Worthy of note is how Bowie would eventually sample the latter in his very final track “I Can’t Give Everything Away”, which similarly paints an idea that even after death, there is hope for whatever comes next. I should mention that “Be My Wife”, which comes it at roughly 16 minutes into the album, is the last track which has any lyrics. I wasn’t kidding about how lonely and sparse this album feels, and a large part of that is owed to the sheer lack of lyricism on this record. Notably absent is Bowie’s typically absurd, existential poetic waxing, in fact, many of the lyrics don’t even rhyme. This is a mental landscape album which prioritizes feeling and atmosphere over baroque theatrics.

So what makes this album any good? After all, so far I have seemed to only cover what this album lacks from his previous works. I’ve probably painted a picture of an album that so minimalist that it’s downright interchangeable with just about any album by any other artist. However, this is where the beauty of the album becomes apparent. By neglecting the side of himself we were “supposed” to see, the mostly phony alien-sex-god performance act, we see another side to the man, the ineffable mental inner-workings that then inform us that all along, the man really did see the world in this way. This album isn’t just far removed from the Ziggy persona, it exists on a galaxy that haven’t even picked up on those radio signals yet, and yet, the album pops with joyous, twinkling synths and quirky musical textures that paints a world that is rich, complicated, and completely wonderful all the same. Maybe this album is the planet that Ziggy Stardust came from and all along, this is what he was trying to tell us about but could not show us.

This quirky, lovable, arty first side which could scarcely be called pop music quickly dissolves into its B-Side. One of the perks of listening to this album on vinyl is that you would have to swap out one disc for another, giving you time to imbibe what you had just heard and prepare for what’s to come. When listening to this album on your streaming service of choice, the stark tonal change between “A New Career” and “Warszawa” happens so swiftly that you aren’t just caught off guard, you barely notice what’s taken place. So before listening to this album, I humbly suggest that you give yourself a minute or two between Side A and Side B, in order to fully appreciate what’s going on between them. And yet, all that being said, there’s only so much one can do to prepare for the B-Side of Low, which is completely unlike anything Bowie had made up to that point (and not even that much like his interpretation of the same concept on “Heroes”). Earlier I said we were done with the lyrics, which is actually only technically true. There are lyrics on “Warszawa” and “Subterraneans”, sort of. They are presented in this made-up language, archaic sounding language that communicates only what it sounds like it communicates. The concept and effect predicts Sigur Rós a very impressive 22 years in advance. As for the music itself, the Brian Eno (who, for the record, co-produced the album) influence is so apparent some have accused Bowie of just letting the man take over from this point. This couldn’t be further from the truth, however, the music feels almost like a continuation of Before and After Science. Bowie’s contribution to this sound was a heightened sense of emotionality and scale. This feels like Koyaanisqatsi if it were shot on fucking Mars. “Warszawa” is a choral hymn that sounds like its in a state of slow and permanent collapse. “Art Decade” is a mysterious voyage through an underwater cavern. “Weeping Wall”, which echoes some of Steve Reich’s minimalist compositions, married alongside Terry Riley’s proto-electronica. It’s a purely emotional piece that, fitting with its name, sounds like a wall of scattered tears. Lastly, “Subterraneans” is a spare, slow departure from this album’s world, one that is both sad in sound and in its reflection that the album has played its last hand and is now, sadly, over, destined to be spun again on some other lonely day.

When I first listened to this album, my impression was that it was intriguing yet lopsided. I’m not still convinced that the latter isn’t true to some degree, but having lived and grown alongside this album, I’ve come to see where the ends between its two sides meet: both with the effort of the album, being the ablution of Bowie’s ego, and with the feel of the album, with its lonely yet beautiful, rich, alien world. You could listen to this album and forget other people exist. Most notably, you could forget that David Bowie exists, which is why, whatever I’ve said about its music, is what makes this album such a meaningful statement. It’s a journey into the mind of someone more myth than man, in much the same way as the old great composers likely attempted to accomplished with their more reflective pieces. And much like the old masters, this album, too, is destined to be viewed someday as just another chapter of the David Bowie Mythos, assuming it hasn’t already. However, even peering past the narrative pomp surrounding it, a thoughtful inspection of Low reveals it as Bowie’s most touching, personal moment, which is something that should be preserved and remembered as long as the artist who made it is similarly preserved and remembered. If “Ziggy Stardust” is the album that explains why Bowie ever became an icon in the first place, Low is the album we should use to explain why we’re still talking and thinking about him after all these years.

“Welcome to the Power Show”: The Horn ‘Do It Now’ (and Do It Well) on Catchy, Punchy, & Unapologetic Debut

Catchy, punchy, and unapologetic, The Horn’s debut EP ‘Do It Now’ sets a high bar for the British indie rock newcomers as they seize the day through song.

Stream: “Do It Now” – The Horn

Ever wonder what it’s like to seize the day through song?

There’s an irresistible excitement and urgency radiating throughout The Horn’s debut EP. Their passion is as infectious as it is intoxicating, and while this is only the very beginning, you can’t help but get the sense that this group is bound for big things. “This is our time when we shine,” frontman Jonny Taylor sings, a rush of electric energy building up around him as he and his bandmates commit to make their dreams a reality in real time. “This world is ours, so let’s do it now.”

Demon Slayer (Kimetsu no Yaiba) Ope…

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Demon Slayer (Kimetsu no Yaiba) Opening 1 Cover | Gurenge by LiSA

It’s inspiring to hear a band so effortlessly come into their sound, as is the case with The Horn’s four-track introduction: Catchy, punchy, and unapologetic, Do It Now sets a high bar for the British indie rock newcomers as they seize the day through song.

Do It Now – The Horn

This is our time when we shine
When we’re gonna have our laughs
This world is mine, no not forever
But for now, we’re in our prime

This world is ours, so lets do it now
It’s not gonna last, so let’s do it all
Do it now

Independently released October 12, 2022 via Little Big Horn Music, Do It Now is at once brand new, and several years in the making for The Horn. Founded by former Friends of Gavin band member Nick True (whose past includes touring with R.E.M. and headlining The Smiths’ first London show) and multi-instrumentalist Danny Monk, the band has expanded to comprise singer and guitarist Jonny Taylor, keyboardist Ed Cox and drummer Alex Moorse.

Together, the London-based five-piece make music that they’ve dubbed “Britpop-infused indie,” with bright, buoyant melodies and captivating lyrics coming to life through a charming and churning guitar-driven sound.

“So this is the first EP,” frontman Jonny Taylor tells Atwood Magazine. “Last year Danny (lead guitar, engineer) asked me to come into the studio and do some session singing for this new project. Nick had written all these songs – one of them in the ’80s; that really piqued my interest, because realising ‘Passion’ was like bringing a time capsule to life: Words and melody written in the past, and now we were producing and tweaking them. It’s been a unique experience. ”

“It had started to get to the point where me Danny and Nick had achieved a sort of symbiosis in the studio, which was exciting. Hopefully some of that collective personality and  energy comes through in the record; cheeky lyrics and energetic guitars.”

The Horn © 2022

The Horn’s songs truly are a testament to music’s timelessness.

“The record is a culmination of a lot of time and energy, not just on these tracks but on working and re-working countless songs before landing on the chosen four,” Danny Monk explains. “Essentially, we weren’t ready to release something until we were super happy with the results. Nick and I started in my recording studio chipping away at a mountain of songs ideas that Nick had been sitting on.”

“One of the initial aspirations we had for the record was that we would do exactly what we wanted – no external opinions. I feel that’s pretty important when writing for yourself, otherwise things get messy and watered down. Does someone else think they know me better than myself? I feel we stuck pretty true to that.”

“We’re not particularly subtle people,” Monk adds with a laugh, referencing the EP’s title. According to bandmate Ed Cox, Do It Now is a message “to inspire someone to not take everything for granted and take action.”

As for the EP’s four songs themselves, every moment of Do It Now is as irresistible as it is memorable. The collection of “Passion,” “Always Late,” “Power Show,” and “Do It Now” feels painstakingly crafted to deliver the optimum mix of catchy sound and uncompromising, cathartic emotion.

The tension rises immediately on heated opener “Passion,” which also served as The Horn’s debut single back in June and has been one of their most popular releases to date. True to its name, “Passion” hits hard, with driving, dramatic guitar riffs and deep, seductive grooves demanding our undivided attention. Calling to mind the works of Blur, Arctic Monkeys, and The Strokes, The Horn pull from indie rock and British alternative’s past while simultaneously putting their own mark on the beloved genre.

“‘Passion’ has some of my favorite lyrics,” Monk says. “I was born in London, and they perfectly reflect living in a big city like this and the disillusionment that can come with it. Everyone’s here, but not present in the moment…”

Took a back seat
Breathed a sigh of relief
Love the heart beat of my city
Can’t look at you too pretty
Where’s the passion where’s it now?

From Bond St to my old St
The people out there who love you
Are the same ones who are killing you
So where’s the passion, where’s it now?

‘Cause there’s a passion in me
A burning passion in me
So don’t pressure me with love
What a feeling like I’ve never had before

– “

Passion,” The Horn

“I wrote this song in the 1980s,” Nick True shares. “At that time I was so full of passion about music, fun, life, everything, things were new and the chorus reflects that. I bought this song to the guys and we re-shaped it as a band, we modified it and made it a song for now, so it’s a song that started around 1987 and finished in 2022. That’s quite cool – I’m very proud of it, as you can imagine, and very happy that Jonny and Danny added their magic to make it what it is now.”

“The video is a funny story because we weren’t originally going to do one. When you release your first single and it suddenly goes well, you just think, ‘F*** it, we have to put something out.’ We basically threw Jonny in the back of a car and filmed him for half an hour while the head of our management team drove aimlessly through Soho. In the end, it captured the song perfectly (sad to say the car didn’t make it out of that shoot, breaking down in the middle of Cambridge Circus on the final take).”

The Horn ‘Do It Now’ © 2022

The Horn dwell in a space of intimacy and connection on the moody “Always Late,” a brooding slow-burner that “glows inside and outside, and goes from a humorous beginning to something more existential and sad,” Taylor says.

The high energy returns with the cinematic “Power Show” and anthemic title track “Do It Now,” two instant classics that are sure to be staple of The Horn’s shows for years and years to come. “While the lyrics are something of a warning and tell you not to get complacent, the music is more jovial and happy which is a fun juxtaposition,” Cox says of the smile-inducing ‘Power Show’; Alex Moorse adds that it’s “about resisting tyrannical power structures and not being enticed by their surface level appeal. ”

The cult are coming after you
Their watching every (little) thing that you do
Plotting (and scheming) how to recruit you
All to brainwash
(And suck, the blood out of you)

So please stop and question
What is their intention
Who’s pockets
Are they gonna line

So Be careful what you wish for
Even though, you thought your in the know
Cults forever grow
The same old power show
Welcome to the power show

– “

Power Show,” The Horn

The Horn © 2022

The Horn close their first record on an undeniable high with “Do It Now,” the catchy, spirited, and rousing anthem that inspires its listeners to take risks, go for the gold, and simply do it now. As Moorse describes, “It packs a punch and immediately grabs your attention, [and] it doesn’t take itself too seriously, which I think reflects the personality of the band.”

“This song is my driving North Star,” Nick True says. “It’s about making the very most out of life and pushing yourself. You only have one go at it. so what are you waiting for?! Get on with it!” Quite frankly, we couldn’t say it any better ourselves.

“Without you always wanting it to, this song gets under the skin like a knife and stays with you for days,” Taylor adds. “But really I think it expresses the frustration, which is perhaps that of not being allowed to do something, waiting in line, or just the sheer impatience of what it is to be a human being on this planet.” His lines are crisp, clean, and rife with passion:

This world is ours
So let’s do it now
It’s not gonna last
So let’s do it all
Do it now

The Horn ‘Do It Now’ © 2022

The Horn are planning to make this year even bigger than the last, with a full-length album hopefully arriving in the near future.

Whenever and however that happens, the five Brits will be busting down 2023’s doors armed with a set of energizing, inspiring songs that stir, smolder, and soar. Do It Now is indie rock at its finest – an enviable, thrilling foundation that sets the tone for what we can only hope is a long and prosperous career.

Or as one writer at indie music webzine Turtle Tempo recently commented, The Horn is our new religion.

“I hope listeners like the songs, of course, and they want to hear what comes next,” Nick True shares. “It’s set the band up to believe in what we are doing especially as we are now working on the album. The biggest highlight (for me) has been the musical collaboration between the five of us.”

“Perhaps it’ll motivate people to just do the thing they should have done a long ago,” Jonny Taylor adds. “That would be cool.”

No matter what, Do It Now is shameless introduction to The Horn’s raw energy, laying a strong foundation and setting the pace for what’s to come. Experience the full record via our below stream, and peek inside The Horn’s Do It Now EP with Atwood Magazine as the band goes track-by-track through the music and lyrics of their debut EP! Without a doubt, The Horn are seizing the day through song.

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stream/purchase THE HORN here ::

Stream: ‘Do It Now’ – The Horn

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Inside Do It Now ::

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“I wrote this song in the 1980’s, at that time I was so full of passion about music, fun, life, everything, things were new and the chorus reflects that. I bought this song to the guys and we re-shaped it as a band, we modified it and made it a song for now, so its a song that started around 1987 and finished in 2022. Thats quite cool, im very proud of it as you can imagine and very happy that Jonny & Danny added their magic to make it what it is now. The video is a funny story because we weren’t originally going to do one. When you release your first single and it suddenly goes well you just think fuck it, we have to put something out. We basically threw Jonny in the back of a car and filmed him for half an hour while the head of our management team drove aimlessly through Soho. In the end, it captured the song perfectly (sad to say the car didn’t make it out of that shoot, breaking down in the middle of Cambridge Circus on the final take).” – Nick True

Always Late

“Everyone loves this song when we play it live. The chorus is simple and it’s one where we always invite the audience to join in. the first time Jonny asked the crowd to sing along was a shaky moment because we had no idea what the response would be but hearing those lyrics sung back from the whole crowd at Paper Dress Vintage (London, UK) was one of our greatest moments so far and now I think that’s a point in the set we all look forward to” – Ed Cox

Power Show

“Lyrically this track is straight out of the gate, embracing the dark nature of the large and seemingly impenetrable organisations that make up our daily lives. The church, the government, the 1%… take your pick. This is all about laughing in the face of your own destruction. Production wise this was a lot of fun, shoving wurlitzer pianos through guitar amps amongst other things – all designed to get a fizz, crackle and pop.” – Danny Monk

Do It Now

“Bit of a band mantra, this one. I think this was the next one completed after Passion. Everything about the track had to be immediate, no hanging around. I ended up coming up with the intro guitar riff when Jonny and Nick told me they wanted a guitar intro as fast as possible. I chose three notes that were the easiest to play and refused to play anything else until a subsequent chord in the progression forced my hand. Fortunately they went for it…” – Danny Monk

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stream/purchase THE HORN here ::

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The Horn ::

Brainstorm band: we do not position ourselves as Latvian ambassadors in Russia

Latvian musicians talk about upcoming concerts, collaboration with Alexander Petrov and love for Soviet music

Brainstorm band is the only representatives of the Latvian post-Soviet scene widely known in Russia . Their own songs and duets with Russian performers are actively rotated on the radio and sounded in films, and concerts invariably gather full houses.

In the spring the musicians will come to Russia with a tour in support of the recently released album “A Year Without a Calendar”. Fans will still have to follow the calendar: on March 2, Brainstorm will perform at the Tinkoff Arena in St. Petersburg, on March 4 at the Moscow Adrenaline Stadium, then in Tula, Voronezh, Rostov-on-Don, Krasnodar, Ufa, Barnaul, Novosibirsk , Tomsk, Krasnoyarsk, Pskov, Veliky Novgorod, Tver and Kaliningrad.

A couple of weeks before the tour the musicians came to Moscow. The group came to the meeting with a TASS correspondent not in full, but representative line-up: vocalist Renars Kaupers, guitarist Janis Jubalts and multi-instrumentalist Maris Michelsons. Conventionally, the interview also includes Latvian lugers, whose performance at the Beijing Olympics periodically interrupted the conversation. nine0009

— You are already at home in Moscow. What do you usually visit? Where can you be found? Let’s hand over passwords-attendance.

Janis Jubalts: Let’s just say that we used to walk more. I remember going to the circus a couple of times.

Renars Kaupers: It was a long time ago, Magik (as the band members call Janis – TASS note). We sometimes go to theaters, museums, of course.

Janis Jubalts: By the way, we have been to the Museum of Modern Art more than once. nine0005

Renärs Kaupers: We mostly go to hotels. Still a very tight schedule when we arrive. When I have a free moment, I don’t even want to go out somewhere. Moreover, Moscow is not the easiest city, where you quickly go somewhere, you have to go, all this takes a lot of time.

– For a while, we all could not walk and travel at all. After that, you released the album “A Year Without a Calendar” in an unusual format – like a video concert. Did the pandemic and the ban on live performances have any effect? nine0009

Renars Kaupers: Exactly. Music was born in the first year of the pandemic. Especially a lot of it was born in the head of our drummer Kaspars, which happened not so often before. And he “started” us too, that it’s time to write new songs. We did it remotely, everyone recorded in their own corner, and our producer Povel in Sweden mixed it all quietly.

Janis Jubalts: This is the first such experience for us. Before, we always tried to write together in the studio: drums and bass, then other instruments, then Renars sings. And this time we didn’t even meet. For me, as a guitarist, it was very strange. There was no that emotional explosion that happens in the studio: “Done! Leave!” There were many musical doubts. nine0005

Renars Kaupers: A lot of things happened in your inner world.

– Did such isolation benefit the material?

Renars Kaupers: We will be able to evaluate this only in 20 years.

If we talk about the video concert format itself, then at first there was an idea to play live and shoot one song, then three. And if three, then maybe that’s all? And Kaspars thought and proposed this format. We decided to create an imaginative world – out of nothing, in a hangar. They attracted a lot of people. And in five days they took it all off

Janis Jubalts: We could not play concerts, and meeting with the audience was possible only through the screen.

– There are many cities on the poster. Are there any of them where you will perform for the first time?

Maris Michelsons: Krasnodar. I don’t think we were there.

Janis Jubalts: Is this the southern part, where are the vineyards and the wine?

Yes.

Janis Jubalts: We were not there. We would remember the vineyard.

— Is it true?

Renars Kaupers: If anyone remembers that we were there, please contact us.

Maris Michelsons: And tell us where we were.

Janis Jubalts: And in what vineyard. (Everyone laughs.)

– Will the concerts of the tour repeat visually the album? nine0009

Renars Kaupers: We are moving towards this, we want it very much.

Janis Jubalts: We will bring everything visually and multimedia. There will be difficulties in bringing large decorations, but something will work out. Sasha Petrov – yes, but the girl with the horse will have to be abandoned.

– Alexander Petrov does not even have to be taken to Moscow. By the way, how did you get the idea to involve him in the recording of the song?

Renars Kaupers: We had the opportunity to sing “At Dawn” with Igor Zhuravlev from “Alliance” and Sasha Petrov, who read the lyrics. It turned out great. When we were writing the album, the song “Moya Luna” suggested some kind of speech, speaking word, instead of a saxophone solo.

— And what kind of dialogue does he read in the composition? Who came up with this?

Maris Michelsons: He sent us this as an option. I recorded audio on my phone and sent it. We said: “Everything is ready already. And everything is already written down. ” nine0005

© Brainstorm

— Do you have any ideas to do something similar with other Russian artists? Or a musical drama performance? After all, Renars himself has experience as a dramatic actor.

Janis Jubalts: We are only dramatic in appearance. But we are more mischievous. Like a good soldier Schweik. (Everyone laughs.)

– Soon your first Russian-language single – “Weekend” will be 20 years old. How did you – a Latvian group – come to the conclusion that in Russia you have a potentially large audience and you need to sing in Russian? nine0009

Renars Kaupers: Everything happened in a harmonious way, there were many events that we just followed. One of the main initiators of the fact that we can sing in Russian was our Russian friends. Ilya Lagutenko was the first to tell us: “Try to sing in Russian. ” This was back in the late 1990s.

Janis Jubalts: It was the song “Airplanes”.

Maris Mihelsons: Ilya was making some collection and offered to make our popular song in Latvia in Russian. nine0005

Renars Kaupers: What happened later with the guys from “Bi-2” – the song “Slippery Streets” – was already on a completely different level. The song became very popular both in Russia and in Latvia. Then our friend Misha Kozyrev offered to include in the film he was working on one of our songs, which in the Russian version became known as “Weekend”.

Good story with how we translated it. At first, we ourselves tried to put some lines: “We are leaving for cargo, we are waiting for the weekend.” But they showed them to Misha, the guys from “Bi-2” and “Quartet I”, Max Vitorgan, and everyone said: “Guys, we don’t say that. Let’s change it.” nine0005

Janis Jubalts: And they started arguing among themselves about the right thing to do. The discussion rose to such an emotional level that we even stepped aside.

Renars Kaupers: Then there was the song “Wind”, which was translated by the poet Sergei Timofeev. Since then, we realized that people really like it when we sing in Russian. It’s very important to us that they understand what the songs are about.

Janis Jubalts: There are some Russian fans who have learned Latvian to understand what we are singing about. nine0005

— How cool!

Renars Kaupers: This is phenomenal! And several girls even moved to live in Riga.

Janis Jubalts: Of course, this is all connected with us. (Everyone laughs.)

– Just cultural diplomacy in action. By the way, how do you feel about this term? To the fact that culture can bind the peoples of different countries.

Renars Kaupers: It’s wonderful.

Maris Michelsons: Sports diplomacy also.

– Do you consider yourself such ambassadors of Latvia in Russia?

Renärs Kaupers: It sounds very loud.

Janis Jubalts: Maybe unconsciously.

Maris Michelsons: But we certainly don’t position ourselves that way.

Janis Jubalts: If a person meets someone from Latvia for the first time and that someone is us, then we create some kind of image.

And when there are concerts where people of different nationalities, religions, political views gather. And everyone can unite in song. It’s wonderful

Renars Kaupers

— Laima Vaikule and Raimonds Pauls are still well known in Russia. By the way, is he your friend? I read in your biography how he speaks kindly of you. nine0009

Janis Jubalts: Thank you for the word “friend”, it warms the soul so much. It seems to me that we were still listening to Raymond Pauls in our mother’s stomach. Raymond Pauls is not only pop music, but also for the choir, and jazz. His music is in our blood, like the English The Beatles. When we were just creating a group in our school years, we touched his golden fund: we used the mathematics of his song “Yellow Leaves” in our song “Airplanes”. And we became famous with this song. When he spoke with us, my oldest dream came true. There are no mountains on Earth that can be compared to the height I felt when we played this song together. nine0005

Renars Kaupers: It was 2018, a very big concert, 60 thousand spectators. And the performance of the maestro was a surprise for them. They just exploded!

— How did he agree?

Renars Kaupers: We were with the maestro at another concert where I sang his song. I announced it, and he interrupted me: “Okay, Renars, tell me better, when will we sing together with Prāta Vētra?” This is our Latvian name. And I immediately: “Maestro, this summer, welcome, we will have a concert.” I extend my hand to him, and he replies: “Wait, we still have to agree on the fee.” nine0157 (Everyone laughs.) He has a great sense of humor.

Maris Michelsons: He sat so modestly in the dressing room, generally the simplest one. He sat quietly, waiting his turn.

— Don’t you think that the artists of that generation are much easier to communicate than today’s emerging stars, millionaire bloggers?

Janis Jubalts: It seems to me that a precious stone only with time, when life polishes it, sometimes beats it a little, realizes that it should be simpler. nine0005

Renars Kaupers: Yes, life teaches you. And the longer you are in this area, the more modest you become.

Janis Jubalts: And you must remember those who gave you a hand. And those from whom you expected praise, but heard the truth. There is a lot of slyness in life, they say something to please, and there is no rational advice that would help you rise to a new level.

© Brainstorm

— Do you follow youth trends? TikTok, Reels. How often do you use social networks? nine0009

Maris Michelsons: Of course, everyone has social networks. Renars stayed on the push-button phone the longest.

— Why?

Renars Kaupers: I am stubborn and it is very difficult for me to accept new things. I need time.

Janis Jubalts: Even today we filmed a video for Reels. We try to participate in this, but only when we are together. We do nothing of the sort at home. We care about why we do it. nine0005

Renars Kaupers: It’s great for a group. Here we talked about languages, and this is exactly the language in which you can speak with today’s viewers, especially if you want young viewers to know about you.

— Do you believe that technology will soon compete with people in art? They will write music no worse, for example.

Renärs Kaupers: It is still something sacred for us, because it is human, emotional. But I am currently reading the book “21 Lessons for the 21st Century” by Yuval Harari, and he gives a lot of examples that we are too emotional and artificial intelligence will make many areas of our life as if infallible. What, on the one hand, we do not want, but quietly …

Janis Jubalts: Renars, but progress came from a mistake: Newton’s apple fell. From perfectionism it is difficult to identify something new.

Maris Michelsons: That’s why people don’t like perfection, something perfect. Our faces are not symmetrical. A crooked note will not make a concert bad. The concert is made by emotions, what you feel on the spot. What’s this? Hard to tell. Not the best singer in the world turns out to be the most interesting.

Janis Jubalts: Remember Adele’s performance at the Grammy Awards when she sang the dedication to George Michael. She then stopped, apologized for starting to sing crookedly. I don’t remember anything else from that award – it was so emotional. No intellect can evoke this feeling in me.

— Now is the pre-Eurovision period. This competition was also in your career, and it was successful – you took third place. Do not want to repeat and compete for the first?

Janis Jubalts: At one time we categorically answered that we would not.

Renars Kaupers: Not categorical now, but we didn’t seriously think about it. Now it has become very difficult. In those days there were no semi-finals.

Janis Jubalts: And Latvia participated for the first time. We thought we were going to a simple festival.

Renars Kaupers: Yes, we arrived in Stockholm, and then – wow! nine0005

Janis Jubalts: No idea. But we are watching, watching the qualifying round in Latvia. Interesting artists, top notch.

Maneskin proved that this is a real opportunity to break out.

Maris Michelsons: They fired, but that rarely happens.

Janis Jubalts: Yes, we and ABBA…

Renars Kaupers: We are such a trinity: ABBA, we and Maneskin. (Everyone laughs. )

– Not bad for 65 years of competition. Since we’re talking about history. Your band turns 33 this year, you’ve all been friends since your school days. How did you manage not to quarrel, not to scatter on your own projects? What’s the secret?

Maris Michelsons: I think one of the factors is that we got together very young. If we did this at a conscious age, then everyone would pull on themselves. nine0005

Renars Kaupers: More fun together. And when someone gets tired, the other will pull the rest. Do you know track cyclists? There are four of them, they go around in circles. The first pulls, and when he gets tired, he gets up fourth. The second at this moment becomes the first and pulls. We had periods when one emotionally and creatively pulled the other. Now, for example, the age of Kaspars.

Janis Jubalts: The main thing is that fame and all this did not fall on us in one day. We walked gradually, slowly. There were many twists and turns in life that we did not realize. Like Eurovision: we went somewhere, and it was three minutes in which the whole world saw us. nine0005

Maris Michelsons: When everything goes slowly but steadily uphill, it’s good for the psyche. This path is closer and closer to us.

Interviewed Anastasia Silkina

Welcome to the Stone Age!

Welcome to the Stone Age!

Anna
Rapoport

January 9, 2014
9626

“What happened when there was nothing?” ‒ first graders ask. And they themselves answer: “At first everything around exploded. Then dinosaurs appeared. And then people were very small and did not know how to do anything. Ancient history (more correctly, “prehistoric period”) attracts many modern children. But talking about it with children is very difficult. The encyclopedia “We live in the Stone Age” is an example of how to make primitive culture interesting and relevant for children of our time. nine0005

We live in the Stone Age: an encyclopedia for children»

Good book!
21

We live in the Stone Age»

Good book!
1

“If you lived in the Stone Age…” – this is how many pages of this short book begin. How would you dress in the Stone Age? Would you brush your teeth? What would you be called? Could you read and count? Music and dance, hunting and gathering, dwellings, camping, stone age fashion, your primitive family are just some of the topics covered in this children’s encyclopedia. nine0005

The publishing house addresses the book to children 7-12 years old. And this is absolutely correct addressing. Younger students are usually characterized by a very high level of cognitive activity; simply put, they are terribly curious, and “I want to know everything” is their motto. These children are open to knowledge, they experience a real intellectual “hunger”. But you should not swallow anything: not all the mental “food” that the child receives at this age is “too tough” for him. Sometimes poisoning happens. nine0005

The book “We live in the Stone Age” exactly meets the psychological, intellectual, emotional needs of children. The text of the encyclopedia is very informative, but at the same time it is not overloaded with abstract and incomprehensible information for the child. Here there is a minimum of dates and names, but a maximum of “living history” – one that can be touched, stroked, smelled. How did primitive people smell if they didn’t brush their teeth and take daily showers? How did they braid their hair? And what did you eat for dinner?

Not all information is provided in the text. Much is conveyed in the illustrations, which deserve special mention. Almost all the pictures are drawn specifically for this book, so the characters – members of a conditional primitive family – pass from page to page and are easily recognizable. Reconstruction drawings were created on the basis of real monuments of primitive culture, and therefore are completely historical. Parents can not be afraid that the child who reads the book will receive some wrong information.

Here is an example of a good popular science children’s book on a historical theme. Fortunately, many worthy books of this genre have been published in our country – suffice it to recall the translated “Day of the Egyptian Boy” by Militsa Mathieu, “Entertaining Greece” by Mikhail Gasparov, the interactive series “Living History” (“Battle of Borodino”, “Battle on the Ice”). In this series, the Walking into History series has found its niche. It consists of several thematic blocks. For example, in the “primitive” block, in addition to the encyclopedia “We live in the Stone Age”, there is a notebook with assignments and puzzles, a card game (“Once upon a time in the Stone Age” quartet), a historical story about initiation “Hey becomes an adult” and even carnival costumes .