Latvian electronic trio Bandmaster have shared their new single 'I Might Get High Tonight'.
Bandmaster is an electronic trio from Latvia whose music incorporates danceable beats, overdriven analog synths and vocal hooks. The band features one of the country's leading DJs/producers (Rudd), producer Andis Ansons and a notorious battle rapper VIŅA (“she” in Latvian, real name Zelma Jegere).
We had a chat with the trio about the new track, their hiatus and what's coming next...
Hey Guys! Introduce yourselves and tell us something interesting about the band!
"Hello! We are an electronic music trio - Zelma, Andis and Rudd. Zelma is a locally notorious battle rapper. Latvian public-service radio was fined 8000 EUR for airing her battles."
Where are you from?
"Rudd and Andis are from Riga - capital of Latvia, Zelma lives in the countryside."
How / when did you meet each other and start making music? "Rudd and Andis met in high school and started making electronic music on cracked music software quite a while ago. After one of his DJ sets Rudd met Zelma at an afterparty in her native town and asked to record a demo right there on the spot (true story)."
Is there anyone that plays a massive influence on you guys musically? "Yeah. Sound wise - Royksopp, The Chemical Brothers, Modeselektor / Moderat. Zelma listens to sad depressing old music."
How would you sum up the world of Bandmaster in a sentence?
"Organised melancholic chaos."
What’s been the band's career highlight so far?
"If we need to choose only one thing - then opening for "The xx" two nights in a row must be it. The promoter said that of all the bands they pitched to the management, they chose us, so that was cool. We got to meet Romy and Jamie and also played in front of the largest crowd so far."
What would be your dream place to play? "Sonar Festival in Barcelona."
You’ve just released your track ‘I Might Get High Tonight’. How has the reaction been so far? "It has been going very well, thank God! We are getting a lot of love from around the world. It is very humbling. After all - this is our first piece of new music in three years, all three of us are behind this song 100%, but we didn't know how our listeners would react after such a while."
Tell us a little about the track! "We came together for a creative camp in the countryside. The idea for the track came out of what would be your typical electro 1/16 arpeggio bassline just messing around on a Korg MS-20 mini. At first we intended to sample a phrase "Rhythm Is Destroyed" from Alvin Luvier's sound piece "I Am Sitting in a Room" Paradoxically, “Rhythm Is Destroyed” was the working title for this track despite the four-to-the-floor rhythm pattern. After a while Zelma came up with the ideas for the hook and the chorus. And after that we finished writing the song together."
This is your comeback track following a 3 year hiatus. Would you say the band has developed or have you kept the same distinct sound?
"We have developed as writers and producers most definitely, but our love for analog synthesizers, Zelma's voice and lyrical themes is what we believe defines our sound."
What can we expect from you guys next? "We cannot play live, so that sucks. And we don't want to do any of the online stuff. We have written a bunch of songs, so we will release some of them in the foreseeable future and then we have to finally do it - release an album some time next year.
Listen to 'I Might Get High Tonight' HERE Instagram: @bandmastersound
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