Global Metal Apocalypse
Connect With Us
  • Home
  • News
    • Alternative Music News
    • Metal News
    • Live News & Reviews
    • Other Music News
  • Reviews
    • Alternative Music
    • Film Reviews
    • Metal >
      • Metal II
      • Metal III
  • Interviews
    • Alternative Music Interviews
    • Metal Interviews
    • Music Related Interviews
  • Metal Scenes
    • Africa
    • Asia
    • Europe
    • North & Central America
    • Oceania
    • South America
  • Blogging
  • Extras
    • GMA Awards
    • GMA In The Press
    • Projects
    • Testimonials
  • Contact

Interview Interrogation: Pēteris Kvetkovskis from Skyforger (Latvia)

25/1/2019

0 Comments

 
Picture

Skyforger are arguably Latvia's most successful and well known metal band, here is a Pagan Metal band who have stood against the test of time since their inception back in 1995; previously known as Grindmaster Dead from 1991-1995. Since then many changes have taken place, with vocalist / guitarist Pēteris Kvetkovskis and backing vocalist / bassist Edgars Grabovskis being the only members from the original line-up, both of which also take on duties of playing traditional Latvian instruments; joining them are Alvis Bernāns on guitars and Artūrs Jurjāns on drums.

Their latest album "Senprūsija (Old Prussia)" which saw daylight back in 2015, is their sixth album and provides more evidence that Skyforger are more than just a metal band, they're dedicated at pushing more of their cultural heritage, folklore and history to the fore. This is even more so evident with their new music video 'Nothing Is Forgotten' which was released in celebratory honour of the 100th anniversary of Latvian independence. 

Peter was more than happy to chat to GMA about this momentous occasion, Skyforger's history, the importance of learning about one's national history and folklore, what makes Pagan Metal uniquely separate from the overarching Folk Metal genre and of course what metalheads can do in Latvia's heavily-steeped-in-history capital Riga. 

Picture

Skyforger has stood the test of time with seven albums and 24 years under your belt - will you be celebrating your 25th in style?

     "No, we don’t plan to celebrate 25 nor 30 years, if we will still be around, and have nothing more important to present our fans than retrospective on what we have done for all this years. But I hope not and that instead we get out new albums and new songs to show! Last year we did a concert dedicated to 20 years of our first album “Kauja Pie Saules”, but it was initiative from our friends to make such a concert happen, we just took part in there. However, it was all about the album, not the band. Personally I don’t like this kind of fake celebrations – who cares if a band is around 10 or 25 years, what matters is music they create. We do big shows when we have a new album out and could call it a “celebration”, but never cared about for how long band has been going."


How long did it take to make the latest video? Where was it filmed and who was involved?

     "Well, the idea for this video was floating around in the air for some couple of years. We wanted to dedicate a song “Nekas Nav Aizmirsts”, or in English “Nothing Is Forgotten” for all those nameless Latvian soldiers and riflemen, who make freedom of Latvia possible 100 years ago. Since we had exactly a centenary date coming up, there was no more time to waste. The video clip was filmed in various locations near Riga during the Summer and September / October of 2018. Then we put it all together in one month and release date was decided to be 18th November, the day of our 100th independence day, which is a very symbolic date. We invited a great upcoming actress Maija Arvena to join the video clip and also used a couple of excerpts from some famous Latvian movies, like massive war scenes which we could not film ourselves, And we ourselves, of course ha ha. You can watch video online in YouTube."


Along with the other Baltic countries, how did Latvia celebrate 100 years of independence?

     "Oh, there was a lot of stuff going on! Concerts, movies, various events, it is hard to name them all. The Government gave away money to special foundations, which took care of such events to happen. It was all around our country for some time. Needless to say it went on with high national pride and spirit. Also we had the annual Song Festival celebrations for one month. Skyforger also took part in these activities: we played a concert at the Soldier Remembrance Day on 11th November 2018, and most importantly, our biggest show ever – metal opera “Kurbads”, a whole spectacle based on our "Kurbads" album performed by dancers! You can watch it here: http://straume.lmt.lv/lv/kultura/kultura/kurbads/1001003"


Can people learn basic Latvian from your songs? Is it easy / hard to learn Latvian?

      "Hmm hard to say, but I doubt it would be possible to learn basic Latvian just from our songs - few words, sure, but not the basic language, you need some dictionary for that. In my opinion the Latvian language is hard to learn - could be a lot harder than German, English, or Russian. We had a lot of those ķ, ļ, dž, ž, š and a/ā, i /ī, u/ū and so on. Very few words built on a Latin base like English or German have and even then those words are borrowed from languages I mentioned. So it would be quite difficult for foreigners to learn and pronounce words like kaķis (cat) or dzelzsceļš (railroad) ha ha I bet!"

Picture
Old Town, Riga / Source: TripAdvisor

With your lyrics are you hoping people would pay interest in Latvian history and folklore?


     "Sure we do! That is one of our goals! That is why we have everything translated into English and even more – we always add some explanations and stories for people to understand what it is all about. Just check our website, it is full of explanations about what we sing and what we tell: http://skyforger.lv/en/"


Do you have any favourite songs from the albums you have done?

     "No, they all are like my children, everyone is equal in the eyes of the father ha ha. But honestly, I never listen to my music at home. Probably it is because I hear those songs differently to anyone else from aside or they were in my ears already for so many times when I created, recorded and performed them, so I had enough already. Therefore I can’t name you any specific song I love from Skyforger, sorry."


What is it in your opinion that makes Folk Metal, or in your case Pagan Metal that bit special?

     "Hmm, I can tell you what makes our music special, but if you ask how those (Folk / Pagan) styles stand out, I have a hard time today to tell something original here. So-called Folk Metal of late reminds me more of Power Metal than what it was (Folk) when it all started. Today I see Folk Metal as jolly Power Metal hymns with pathetic pompous choruses and of course bagpipes playing along the band, add here Odin and Vikings ad nauseam and you’ll get the picture. It is funny that even non-Folk Metal bands now sing about Vikings and add that folky stuff in their music. Like when you have Judas Priest and Saxon singing about Valhalla!

It is to the point that we as Skyforger feel a bit shameful to be named as Folk Metal band. I know it will sound like bragging, but here are a few things that makes us stand apart: we sing in our language, we sing about our Baltic heritage and history instead of Vikings, we try to play a more aggressive and grim style of music, we do real research about what we sing. So maybe it is better, in our case, to call it Pagan Metal. I know, I maybe take it all a bit too serious, but then again that is my personal attitude to the music."



For Metalheads visiting Riga, what sights / attractions could you recommend? What venues? Best alcohol drinks?

     "Old Town of course - there is a lot to see, all that medieval style most of metalheads would love. Then there is the Ethnographical Open Air museum on the outskirts of Riga. What else… probably the folk club-pub Ala, with live Latvian folk music and dances and something like 30 kinds of beer. The Folk music shop Upe (you can buy traditional folk instruments there) and ancient jewellery shop “Baltu Rotas”. Some traditional food places, like Lido Dzirnavas. For best alcohol – beer - there is no better stuff here as we have old beer traditions. I can recommend Bauskas, Tērvetes, Valmiermuiža beers as good ones one can buy in shops and then there are countless craft beers in places like Labietis. Two of the best places for Metalheads to hang around with metal music and like-minded people inside is the tavern “Zobens and Lemess” and café Leningrad. If you come in Summer (June) we have our own Pagan Metal festival 'Zobens Un Lemess' or 'Kilkim Žaibu' festival in neighbouring Lithuania. So this is what comes into my mind right now."


What plans does Skyforger have for going into 2019? Are there any greetings you wish to send out to friends, family, fans, etc?

     "We started to work on new songs, but I guess a new album will be out only in 2020 as it still goes slow due to not enough of free time and just one rehearsal in a week. But at least it is started! Then we have some great festivals ahead and few concerts here and there for this year. For example Party.San festival in Germany. Maybe some more opportunities will arouse as the new year is just started!

As always we want to say big thanks to everyone who supports our band, comes to concerts and listens our music – we appreciated it a lot! Thanks Global Metal Apocalypse for this interview and see you all soon around!"

http://www.facebook.com/skyforgerofficial​
0 Comments

    © 2011-2022
    Global Metal Apocalypse



    If you enjoy reading this content, please consider a donation

    Donate


    Archives

    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    May 2022
    March 2022
    October 2021
    August 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    December 2020
    October 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    March 2012
    December 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011

    Categories

    All
    Albania
    Algeria
    Alternative
    Atmospheric
    Australia
    Bangladesh
    Beautycore
    Belarus
    Belgium
    Bhutan
    Black Metal
    Bloodstock
    Brazil
    Brutal Death Metal
    Bulgaria
    Burma (Myanmar)
    Cambodia
    Cameroon
    Canada
    Cello
    Celtic
    Chile
    China
    Christian
    Cinematic Metal
    Classical
    Colombia
    Costa Rica
    Croatia
    Crossover
    Crust
    Cuba
    Cyber Metal
    Cyprus
    Czech Republic
    Dance Metal
    Dark Metal
    Deathcore
    Death Metal
    Denmark
    Djent
    Djentcore
    Documentary
    Dominican Republic
    Doom Metal
    Drone Metal
    Dsbm
    Ecuador
    Egypt
    Electronic
    England
    Epic Metal
    Estonia
    Eswatini
    Eurovision
    Experimental Metal
    Extreme Metal
    Faroe Islands
    Female-fronted
    Festival
    Fiji
    Film Score
    Film-score
    Finland
    Folk Metal
    France
    Funeral
    Gabon
    Germany
    Gibraltar
    Glam Rock
    Golden Gods
    Gospel Metal
    Gothic Metal
    Grindcore
    Groove Metal
    Grunge
    Guam
    Hardcore
    Hard Rock
    Hard Rock
    Heavy Metal
    Horror Metal
    Hungary
    Iceland
    India
    Industrial
    Instrumental
    International
    Iran
    Iraq
    Ireland
    Israel
    Italy
    Japan
    Jordan
    Kazakhstan
    Kenya
    Kosovo
    Kuwait
    Label Video
    Latin Metal
    Latvia
    Liechtenstein
    Lithuania
    M2TM
    Madagascar
    Malawi
    Mali
    Malta
    Medieval Metal
    Melodic
    Metal
    Metalcore
    Metal Hammer
    Mexico
    Modern Metal
    Moldova
    Music Video
    Namibia
    Neo Classical Metal
    Neo-Classical Metal
    Nepal
    Netherlands
    New Caledonia
    New Zealand
    Nicaragua
    Norfolk Island
    Northern Ireland
    Norway
    Nu
    Nu Metal
    NWOBHM
    Operatic
    Oriental Metal
    Pagan Metal
    Pakistan
    Panama
    Parody Metal
    Peru
    Pirate Metal
    Poland
    Pop Metal
    Portugal
    Post Hardcore
    Post-Hardcore
    Post Metal
    Power Metal
    Prog Metal
    Punk Metal
    Ragga Metal
    Rapcore
    Record Label
    Rock
    Romania
    Russia
    Samurai Metal
    Scotland
    Screamo
    Serbia
    Shred
    Singapore
    Slam Metal
    Slovenia
    Sludge Metal
    South Africa
    Southern Metal
    South Korea
    Spain
    Sri Lanka
    Stoner Metal
    Suriname
    Sweden
    Switzerland
    Symphonic Metal
    Syria
    Taiwan
    Technical Metal
    Thailand
    The Bahamas
    Thrash Metal
    Tour
    Trance Metal
    Uganda
    UK
    Ukraine
    USA
    Vanuatu
    Vatican City
    Vedic Metal
    Vietnam
    Viking Metal
    Violent Pop
    Visual Kei
    Wales
    Yemen
    Zambia
    Zimbabwe

    RSS Feed