The group “Jānis Ruņģis presentis” releases the second album / Article / LSM.lv

The group “Jānis Ruņģa’s Presence” has released their second music album, the group’s representatives informed. The album “Life” follows the release “Outside the Mind” two years ago.

Apartments by Jānis Ruņģs Presence

The new compilation of 12 songs “Jānis Ruņģa’s Presence” is announced with the single “Fiction” and its experimental video clip.

The group applies for the album “Dzīvitātes” as a “kitchen album”, because in cooperation with co-producer Mārtiņš Krastiņš, the recordings were often made in an extended kitchen equipped with professional studio equipment. “This album is like a pool filled with buckets,” said Mārtiņš Krastiņš. “It’s saturated with countless small experiments – from pulse to pulse.”

Commenting on the word “life” used in the title of the album, Jānis Ruņģis explained that life is any event – one lived day or adventure. A person’s life can also be considered a full-blooded life.

The first single of the new album “Fiction” is one of Jānis Ruņģis’ early teenage works, which only recently, as stated in the album application, “acquired the right to lie in the warming lap of the album.”

“In this time of uncertainty, when there are so many fictitious things in the information field, why not offer your own fiction?” asked Jānis Ruņģis.

Singer Miķelis Putniņš from the group “Ezeri” and string quartet “Nōna” also take part in the recording of the song, but the video was created by Oskars Artūrs Upenieks, who was given free rein to indulge in various experiments with colors.

“Together we came to several stops and directions,” he said. The title of the song “Fiction” describes its video quite well – there is something in it that can’t really be understood, and maybe what we see doesn’t really exist at all? Whether it’s a music video, an experimental video, or a song visualization, everyone can interpret what they understand. It may be all of the above, but maybe it’s just fiction… ”

Jānis Ruņģis is the author of all the music heard on the album, as well as the producer of “Dzīvību”. He sang songs, played guitars, electric bass and other musical instruments. The final mix and also the final processing of the sound has been performed by the already mentioned co-producer of the album Mārtiņš Krastiņš.

In addition to Jānis Ruņģis and the already mentioned Miķelis Putniņš and the string quartet “Nōna” (Līva Tomiņa (violin), Dita Celitāne (violin), Madara Tupiņa (viola), Sarma Gabrēna (cello)), other musicians have participated in the creation of the vocalist Kristīne Pāže and Marija Valmiera, saxophonist and flutist Deniss Paškevičs, double bassist Stanislavs Judins, drummer Rinalds Maksimovs, as well as clarinetist and guitarist Viesturs Melders and Matīss Runtulis, both of whom have also participated in the process of recording and mixing sound. The album uses texts by Jānis Ruņģis himself, as well as Elīna Veckaktiņa, Guntars Godiņš and Rainis. The author of the design is Ella Mežule.

About the group

The band “Presence of Jānis Ruņģis” was formed in 2012, when guitarist Jānis Ruņģis “grounded” together with drummer Ivars Arutjunjans and bassist Jānis Rubiks at the Riga Dome Choir School. At that time, the group’s title song “Ruņģa’s Presence” was made. “The Presence of Jānis Ruņģis” can also be considered as the solo project of the main culprit, but he still perceives it as a group whose members tend to change. In 2018, the group’s debut album “Ārpus mind” was released. This year, Jānis Ruņģis’ solo album “Yggdrasil” was released. Liene Linde’s and Armands Začs’ documentary “Presence”, for which Jānis Ruņģis created original music, also saw the light of day.

The album “Dzīvojumi” was made in cooperation with the State Cultural Capital Fund, as well as with the association LaIPA. Jānis Ruņģis is also especially grateful to the studio “AMFO”, Ventspils Creative House and forest bunker, where the new sounds were crocheted.

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