“Sometimes our own creations surprised us,” says Inguna Rubene, flute player, guitarist, bassoonist, and songwriter for 19 Gadi Pirms Sākuma (19 Years Before The Beginning). Created with the idea of lasting for a single performance, 19 Gadi Pirms Sākuma developed into one of the most delicate, intriguing groups in Latvia’s '80s and early '90s music scene. Formed in 1988, the band arrived at a time when the USSR was showing the first signs of unraveling. Latvia was still occupied, but experimental events organized by a generation of young artists started to challenge the boundaries of what was allowed. “19 Gadi Pirms Sākuma started because we wanted to prepare a musical program for an exhibition organized by Hardijs Lediņš, Juris Boiko (both from the band/performance collective NSRD) and other avant-garde artists at the Art Museum of Riga Bourse. “It could have remained as a one-time musical project if it were not for two journalists from West Berlin who were at the exhibition,” Rubene reveals. “They asked for the band’s album, but there was none.” From there the project quickly picked up momentum. The band: Inguna (vocal, flute, bassoon, rhythm guitar) Daiga Mazvērsīte (synthesizer), Ilgvars Rišķis (percussion) and Viesturs Slava (keyboards, guitar, programming, vocal); improvised a studio in Riskis’ apartment and with the modest equipment available to them set about recording.
Get notified the moment 19 Gadi Pirms Sākuma announces a new show.
New 19 Gadi Pirms Sākuma dates land in the app first
Follow once and we’ll tell you when a new date is announced.
19 Gadi Pirms Sākuma plays a delicate blend of experimental electronic music, new wave, and avant-garde sounds rooted in the late '80s Latvian underground.
Follow 19 Gadi Pirms Sākuma on Mood.
19 Gadi Pirms Sākuma originated in Riga, Latvia, in 1988 during the late Soviet era.
The band consists of Inguna Rubene, Daiga Mazvērsīte, Ilgvars Rišķis, and Viesturs Slava.
