One of the Most Important Latvian Songwriters You've Probably Never Heard Of: Mārtiņš Freimanis
From Grunge to Pop, From an English Teacher to a Rock Star & Performing in Eurovision !
Whilst Latvia is a small country, and not very well known, Mārtiņš Freimanis (1977-2011) is without doubt one of the most famous Latvian musicians and songwriters who deserves to be highlighted. Freimanis is a very beloved musician in the country. Alongside, writing songs, he released a poem book Zālīte Truša Dvēselei (2004), he wrote music for the musical Autoplanēta (2005), starred in a musical "Kaupēns Mans Mīļais"(1998). Also he starred in TV series "Neprāta Cena" & "UgunsGrēks" (and wrote tittle songs “Satīties Sapīties” un “Un Varbūt Mēs”) and movies "Man Patīk, ka Meitene Skumst"(2005) and "Dancis pa Trim"(2011) that came out on big screens after his unexpected and early death in 2011. A monument dedicated to him was placed in the Misiņkalnas cemetery in Aizpute and also a commemorative plaque was unveiled at the musician's childhood home.
If you are a Eurovision fan you might recognize him from Latvia`s 2003 Eurovision entry F.L.Y. - ‘‘Hello From Mars’’. Not only did Freimanis write the song and perform it, he also wrote the song ‘‘The War Is Not Over’’ which was Latvia`s entry for Eurovision in 2005 and landed in the 5th place [we will talk about this later in the post]. F.L.Y released their one and only album Never Look Back in 2003. We offer in this post to take a listen to some of his music and find out more about him, and hopefully you`ll discover new music that you`ll enjoy as much as we do. :)
Tumsa
The band`s history starts in 1991 in Liepāja, Latvia. ‘‘I was less than fourteen years old when, walking down the street, I thought I wanted a group called Tumsa [transl. Darkness], and so I have lived half my life in complete darkness’’ explains bassist and founder of the band Jānis Daugalis (Mazvērsīte, 2018, p.47).
1994 was the year that Daugalis joined Fēlikss Ķiģelis and his group called Katapults, in which guitarist Haralds Drekslers was also a member of. The same year ‘‘Skumjais Prieks” was recorded and the band changed their name to Tumsa and made their debut on Latvian music show -Mikrofona Televīzijas Vakars. Also, the band`s drummer Matīss Pavītols was called into army and he was replaced by Kaspars Boroduško. After a year, Ķiģelis left the band and founded the rock band Melnā Princese.
The end of 1995 and the guy who ‘‘‘Looks like Kurt Cobain’’ !
But it was the end of 1995, when Tumsa asked 18 year-old Mārtiņš Freimanis to join the group. Freimanis was born in Liepāja, Latvia but spent his childhood in Aizpute. He had a troubled upbringing. Mārtiņš mentioned episodes that he had not eaten for several days and hid in a closet while his mother who was an alcoholic reveled with the suitors. He gnawed eggshells so as not to die of hunger.
For a while he strongly considered a profession in biology, even planning to become a chemist or an archaeologist, or a scientist. Notably, it was his biology teacher that taught him how to play the guitar. However, he did end up going to Liepaja University for English philologists and later become an English language teacher at Liepāja State Gymnasium.
‘‘Looks like Kurt Cobain’’ in relief the band expressed when they saw their new singer (Mazvērsīte, 2018, p 50). Not only did Freimanis look like Cobain at the time, with his bleached hair but their debut album ‘‘Putni’’ (1998) [transl. ‘‘Birds’’] was influenced by Nirvana and Whitesnake. Whilst grunge was mainstream in the United States in the 1990s, it`s influence also extends to Latvia. The songs might not be straight-up copies of Nirvana`s style, however there was influence. In our interview with Latvian rock musician and frontman of Dzelzs Vilks - Juris Kaukulis, he explained how many grunge bands appeared one by one in Latvia and people copied Kurt Cobain`s style:
‘‘With grunge music, truly bands appeared one by one. In school rehearsal rooms everyone tried to sing and look like Kurt Cobain…Kurt Cobain was the biggest figure. And also Soundgarden, that influenced everyone the most. Just for the youth, self-destruction was an important thing. That was in the highest level. For myself, it left a big influence’’
Tumsa had crossed paths with Freimanis before as he had performed in festivals and bars. In a festival in Cīrava, he performed with an ensemble. In his ensemble, Freimanis and his friends never sang well-known or popular songs, but only self-composed songs, which formed his fame as a songwriter. He become the main composer of Tumsa and would later write songs for notable Latvian acts Putnu Balle, Lauris Reiniks, Yana Kay and Gunārs Kalniņš.
The band told him to bring rock vocals to their music : ‘‘Now you will sing rock! Try to roar, does not matter how, but no more of those sweet melodies’’(Mazvērsīte, 2018, p 50). However, most of the six of the band`s albums fall into the pop-rock category. In regards to style, most of the songs have a dramatic element to them, showcased either lyrically or musically. In ‘‘Neprāts’’ Freimanis uses lyrical and musical juxtaposition (which is the ultimate technique of Nirvana and Cobain, take for example the up-beat-catchy ‘‘Lithium’’. It is a semi-autobiographical song about being deserted by your parents). Freimanis sings about madness, end of the world, heaven and hell, yet the chorus has a catchy-cheerful-upbeat-pop melody:
‘‘We have been waiting for the end of the world for the tenth century;
Is it not madness with sanity, satan with angels there,
A beggar or a king, hell or paradise,
I rush headfirst into the burning sky
I can't stop, madness is inside of me’’
He was also influenced by Queen and their dramatic compositions, which can be heard also in ‘‘Šūpuļdziesma Slepkavam’’. The dramatic, dark ballad in the chorus repeats ‘‘Sleep my angel, sleep my bloody, the day is still far, sleep my bloody friend’’. Not surprising as the tittle of the song literally means ‘‘A Lullaby for a Murderer’’.
‘‘As heavenly gentle as the birds that fly into the windows,
It must be your end, so bloody and sweet;
So planned and beautiful as a death sentence,
And roses will be scattered under your feet,
Your path leads to hell, so glum and passionate, streets full of souls’’
Bassist Jānis Daugalis remembers that at first Freimanis really wanted to write songs in English and ‘‘that was his aspiring motive- straight to the world market, like all new groups at that time.’’ (Mazvērsīte, 2018, p. 52). Even songs in English like ‘‘Lucky’’ talk about heaven and hell through a pop-rock approach: ‘‘I am so damn lucky you wouldn't believe, Devil hates me, I have so lucky life, I guess cause God doesn't know me.’’
One of the most popular songs from Tumsa are ‘‘Kad Ēģiptē Sniegs’’ and ‘‘Lai Būtu Tā’’. Have a listen to these songs :)
‘‘But when in Egypt snow melts along the skin like milk,
She believes in a miracle, Who else?
And the morning wakes up in her like a lost defiance;
And if you count to three, Become free’’
Tumsa toured not only in Latvia, but Lithuania, Estonia, Belarus, Sweden, Norway and Ireland!
Putnu Balle
Freimanis formed Putnu Balle in 2002 and it consisted of members of children’s pop group Dzeguzīte: Valters Frīdenbergs, Kristiāna Stirāne, Kārlis Būmeisters, Paula Ķiete, Elvijs Bušs and Līva Kalniņa. This was a major success in the country and Freimanis wrote most songs for the two albums of the band - Sapņu Pārdevējs (2005) and Mr. Andersen Nemelo (2007) [transl. Dream Seller (2005) and Mr. Andersen Don`t Lie (2007)].
Most of the songs sound like positive, light, feel good pop songs. ‘‘Sapņu Pārdevējs’’ un ‘‘Spārni un Vējšs’’ are constantly played on Latvian Radio, and the band is still truly really poplar. Back in middle school we even had to sing both of these songs in our schools ensemble. Two of the songs in the first album are written in English. ‘‘Another Creep’’ talks about a broken heart and the desire to ‘‘find the true you, right in you’’
"The War Is Not Over" and 5th place in Eurovision
The second song on the album in English is "The War Is Not Over". Despite the serious subject of the lyrics, the music is not dramatic, sinister or sad. If anything, it sounds the contrary- optimistic, peaceful and happy. In 2004, Freimanis wrote the song and gave it to Latvian beloved musicians Valters Frīdenbergs and Kārlis Būmeisters, known as Valters & Kaža (members of Putnu Balle). The song won the Latvian National selection and represented Latvia in the international Eurovision contest in 2005, held in Kyiv, Ukraine.
After the semi-final, Valters lost his voice and subsequently, at the dress rehearsal, he did not sing the entire song. In the grand final, he sang parts of the song one octave lower than they should've been. The last chorus was also translated in sign language. Despite having a considerably large lead during the voting stage, they finished in 5th place with 153 points. This success opened up a wider audience in the Baltics for both the author and the performers. Notably, in 2008, the Danish band Michael Learns To Rock covered the song on their album Eternity.
‘‘I slowly walk into the night around
To see how dreams of people die
They gently fall from windows all around
And crash against the ground like glass
And I'm so sorry I'm so helpless in this angry world
If only I could change it for one day
The war is not over everyone knows it
It's just a reason to make us believe
That someone's the loser someone's the winner
To make us believe that's the way it should be
But I don't wanna believe’’
The duo provided the Latvian commentary for the Eurovision Song Contest in 2011 and Valters Frīdenbergs was also Latvia's spokesperson at the Eurovision Song Contest 2012. He was part of LTV’s commentary team from 2011 to 2017. After Freimanis’ unexpected death, Valters Frīdenbergs became the new frontman of Tumsa between 2011 – 2018. However, On 17 October 2018, it was announced that Frīdenbergs at the age of 30 had died of a two-year long battle with cancer.
Hola , En España Se Sigue Mucho El Festival De Eurovision , ( Tengo Que Confesar Que Me Horroriza Éste Festival ) , Pero No Había Oído Hablar Jamás Éste Grupo. Después De Escuchar Algunas Canciones Me Han Sorprendido Favorablemente. Gracias Por Compartir Éstas Buenas Historias. Un Saludo.