Fans of alternative, beat and pop rock should attend a concert of the wonderful Latvian band Brainstorm. Musicians perform their hits in English, Russian and Latvian. They contain notes of romance and at the same time beautiful rock. The Brainstorm group was founded in the late eighties, but reached its peak in popularity by the 2000s.
Composition of the group
The group was created in a small Latvian town. All its members were familiar from school years and were friends. The composition includes five people, and their names are unchanged. Only in connection with the death of the bass player was the composition replaced. But this is all conditional, as the musicians emphasize that they always remain unchanged elements of the collective. Today the group includes:
- Renars Cowpers, vocalist and guitarist for Brainstorm.
- Maris Michelsons is all multi-tool related tools.
- Janis Ubalts, the constant guitar player.
- Kaspars Horn, drummer.
There was also Gundars Maushevics, bass. But he died, he was replaced by Ingars Vilyums. He has been replacing the bass player for more than ten years, but has not yet become a permanent member of the group.
Brainstorm Group: First Steps
The musicians released their first single in the ninety-second year. And the following year their first album, Vairāk nekā skaļi, was released. One of the most popular and sought after songs was the song “Winter”. Subsequently, a video clip was shot on her. At the beginning of their career, musicians played alternative music, but the following years were not entirely successful. After reviewing their views, the group returned to its original style - mainstream.
An album called Veronika was released, he was especially fond of the teenage environment. Such compositions as “The Gardener” and “Orange” were on the first lines of the charts. Subsequently, the group signed a contract with one of the most famous studios. This is a record company called Microphone Records. Collaboration with her brought world fame to musicians. And the album "Everything is exactly as you wish" was sold out in a matter of days. He became in the history of the group "gold".
Popularity Maybe
The Latvian rock band for several decades carries to the masses and promotes love. This can be judged by the world famous composition Maybe, which was included in the album Kaķēns, kurš atteicās no jūrasskolas. The album was released in 2001, and to this day the song occupies high positions, it has become an unchanging classic in world music. The composition was translated into several languages: Russian and Latvian.
At first there was no name for the song. There were only lines that began with the keyword. The song had several options, and also changed its name. But Renars Cowpers constantly doubted all the proposed names of the composition. And after a month of writing, the whole team jointly approved Maybe. According to the musicians, no one expected that the composition could “shoot” like that and rapidly gain popularity. Fifteen years later, it is also relevant. Her lyrics penetrate to goosebumps, and the vocalist’s voice touches the deepest strings of the soul.
Group Creation History
It is already known that the Brainstorm group was formed back in 1989 in a Latvian town. But, as the story goes, the musicians have known each other for a long time. So, vocalist Renars and drummer Kaspars went to the same kindergarten together. There they were also in the same group. Children are often involved in all events related to performances. When the guys decided to gather in a group as teenagers, the logic served as the basis for the selection of team members. Future musicians proceeded from the fact that it was necessary to assemble a composition in which there would be all the necessary elements, such as:
All musicians were from the same school, only studied in parallel classes. A few months later, a new member, Maris Michelsons, joined the group. He was a year younger and owned keyboards, an accordion. During the year, the composition of the group was fully formed. Musicians often rehearsed in the registry office, they were given a room there. The name of the group also appeared by chance. Aunt Kaspars contributed to this. Returning from her next trip, she exclaimed with an exclamation that “it's just a brainstorm”! Everyone liked it, and so consolidated. Only in their native Latvia is the group known as Prāta Vētra. Also, years later, when the musicians began touring Europe, they changed their names. This was due to the fact that their Latvian is very difficult to pronounce.
Tragic loss
The group was gaining more and more popularity. In 2000, she performed at Eurovision and took third place, showing that in Latvia there are also high-level musicians. But in the history of the group, not everything is as cloudless as it seems at first glance. May 2004 turned out to be fatal for musicians. During this period, one of the founders of the band, Gundars "Muminins" Maushevics, a bass player, perishes. He was 29 years old, and he was supposed to receive a diploma of university graduation, but fate decreed otherwise.
The musician died at night in a car accident on the highway Riga - Jelgava. Now he is considered a "heavenly" member of the group and recorded in its composition. Of course, the musicians quickly enough found a new bass player. But he still has not joined the group. The musicians suffered a very difficult loss, a composition written in memory of Muminsh testifies to this. Its name is Space Muminsh and to a trembling quiet voice of Renars convey all the feelings and emotions that people who have lost a loved one experience.
Break and new band hits
Since 2005, the Brainstorm group has taken a break from work. During this period, several covers were released together with the “Curlers” group. After a break for three years, the musicians released a new album, "There Should Be Something." The producer of it was the famous Latvian rap artist. The audience perceived the release of the new album ambiguously. Most fans did not like the experiment with hip-hop music. Others, on the contrary, expressed the opinion that in this way the group took a big step in development.
Some radio stations refused to air the new Brainstorm album, but this fact did not prevent him from becoming double platinum. Video clips were shot for some compositions. Also one of the directors of the videos was drummer Caspars Horn. In the video, he showed his vision of the group and the performances of musicians.
Brainstorm Performances
In 2009, the musicians went on tour. It was planned to visit several cities of Latvia. The final city on the tour was Riga. The performance of the Brainstorm group was amazing, about forty-five thousand people came to watch, enjoy and listen to them. All spectator fans were of different ages, but they were united by one thing - Brainstorm.
The group also often visits Russia and performs songs in Russian, English. But it does not have much popularity. Concert tickets are not sold as widely as in Europe. The musicians participated in several Russian television shows and performed their popular songs there. One of them was A Day Before Tomorrow.
Brainstorm: Songs
Discography "Brainstorm" has about a thousand compositions. Also, for its entire existence, the group released seventeen albums. Almost all of them are recorded in three languages: Russian, Latvian, English. The most popular are:
- Vairāk nekā skaļi (1993);
- Veronika (1996);
- Starp divām saulēm (1999);
- Online (2001);
- Kaķēns, kurš atteicās no jūrasskolas (2001);
- A Day Before Tomorrow (2003);
- Years and Seconds (2010).
And to this day, the Brainstorm group is developing, striving to bring new things to its work and keep up with global trends.