On July 26, the Golden Microphone laureates’ concert will be held in the Dzintari concert hall, in which the group “Instrumenti” will also take part, which have always stood out at the annual award with carefully designed performances. While waiting for the concert, musicians Jānis Šipkēvics (Shipsi) and Reinis Sējāns (Reynsi) shared their memories.
In 2009, “Instrumenti” performed the song “Life Jacket Under Your Seat” for the first time at the annual Latvian music recording award. “We have to thank Elita (head of the music publishing house “Mikrofona išaridi” Elita Mīlgrāve – ed.) for trusting her. The performance of the year award was an important springboard for us. We were with panda heads then and later at the party I was talking to people who asked if I saw this cool performance? ” remembers Jānis.
“Instrumenti” has surprised the audience of the ceremony every time with specially designed performances, how did these ideas come about? “We used to write each other long, exhaustive e-mails, and our commitment was to make every performance special. Do not run to play something. You have to be at the level every time, you have to create the atmosphere of the concert both for yourself and for the audience, regardless of the number of the audience or the size of the stage,” reveals Reinis.
“Of course, the annual award event is like the “token night” of the musicians’ guild, where you can show what has happened to you this year. And the biggest challenge is to impress what works in your field. I hope that in the future “Zelta Mikrofons” will not only be a retrospective of the year, but every performance on that evening will encourage us to raise the bar!” says Jānis. “I think our brothers were surprised by the potpourri we created together with the director Matīs Kažu,” Reinis adds.
“Yes, when musicians ask me how you got it ready, it gives me that good feeling. I hope that there will always be that feeling in Latvian music when it will not be clear until the end who we are and how everything is happening,” says Jānis. We should also mention the performance of the song “Visa par váš”, which was made in collaboration with director Laura Groza, with the participation of actress Darta Daneviča and a “flying” boy.
One of the all-time memorable moments of the annual award is Andras Freudenfeld’s improvisation “If Fred had ideas!”, for which the band “Instrumenti” is largely to thank. The musicians remember: “The wheel of the stage is turning, we have to start playing, but we have a technical problem and there is silence. We invited the puck cutter to continue the movement and we ended up behind the scenes again,” says Reinis Sējāns. “People probably thought – a very laconic performance. Nothing is superfluous! ” laughs Jānis Šipkēvics.
Jānis Šipkēvics has received his first awards of the year, being the vocal group “Cosmos” in the categories of pop album and debut. He appreciates the awards as a significant change in status, especially for young musicians. Reinis adds that for musicians at the beginning of their career, the very fact that the radio is playing your song seems incredible. It should be mentioned that Gatis Zaķis, the most mysterious member of “Instrumenti”, also received the award for the debut of the year as part of the group “The Mundane” and 20 years later “Zelta Mikrofon” for his work as a studio producer.
It should be recalled that the group “Instrumenti” kept its identity hidden under masks at first. “The first time we got the award as ‘Tools’ we had panda masks. But it wasn’t us in the masks,” reveals Jānis. “Hairdresser Pers was one panda, Fabias Nils Íle was the other panda. In general, we are a very large family, now we are only discovering a couple of people,” says Reinis. He continues: “On another occasion, the ‘Instruments’ had recorded their acceptance speech on tape. “If we suddenly received an award, we would have already thanked all Latvian businessmen for their support. For all banks, all telecom operators. Absolutely everyone!” On the other hand, at another thanksgiving, a fragment from the “Modern Talking” song “Brother Louie” was played from the tape recorder.
It is interesting that Jānis watched the first annual award in person at the age of 15-16 as a spectator. The ceremony took place on Latvian Television “I remember very well how “100 debut” and “Mixeri” performed. I have a vivid memory of these performances”. Reinis adds that the “Mixeri” group were previously “100 debut” dancers until they realized they could do it themselves! “I remember that the group “Minuet” received a special award “Vecie Zaldati”. It was a long time ago. I wonder if we’ll ever get that “Old Soldiers” award? Maybe it will be restored someday!” suggests Reinis.
More than twenty Latvian music stars will perform at the “Zelta Mikrofona” laureate concert on July 26, including “Instrumenti”, “Prāta Vētra”, Laima Vaikule, Intars Busulis, Aija Andrejeva, “Dzelzs Wilks”, Lauris Reiniks, Ozols, “Astro’ n’out”, performing well-known, award-winning songs. There will also be premieres. Leaders of different stages of “Zelta Mikrofons” will also take the stage. Tickets for the concert can be purchased at ekase.lv
