One might be forgiven for thinking of Lithuania as a musical wasteland. Yes, we're still waiting for the first major international breakthrough of a Lithuanian pop artist. And yes, Lithuania's main contribution to rock encyclopaedias so far has been the fact that one can find a monument to Frank Zappa in its capital city of Vilnius.
Five decades of Soviet occupation (one government-controlled record label, obligatory patriotic Soviet songs in every notable artist's live repertoire until the perestroika) mean that the Lithuanian music business, as we know it, exists for only 17 years. The country's music entrepreneurs are still on the learning path, and recording studio facilities can't match those of Western Europe or the United States. However, as this compilation hopefully shows, what the musicians of this small Baltic country lack in practical means, they make up for with their creative ideas, enthusiasm and ambition.
Take Gravel, for example. A band that had been told a hundred times that britpop is not exactly the kind of thing the small market of Lithuania (3,5 million people) is ready to embrace, Gravel soldiered on nevertheless and became a music sensation of 2006, recording one of the most exciting Lithuanian albums of the year. Or Milky Lasers – an „electro-punk-jazz“ curio whose ambition led to a recording contract with „Phazz-A-Delic“ (label established by De-Phazz, mighty players of German electronic music scene).
Or Andrius Mamontovas – a rock icon for 20 years, constantly reinventing himself and playing to audiences all over the world, this singer released two albums, secured a publishing deal with a Hollywood-based company and invented LT United – a Lithuanian supergroup that gave one of Eurovision's most controversial performances of all times. All in the span of 12 months.
Situated in the geographical centre of Europe, Lithuania is subjected to musical influences from both East and West, and the mix is often inspiring. Lithuanian radio charts nowadays feature, among other things, r'n'b produced by African and Irish musicians (Skamp), breezy latino pop by a Columbian born songwriter (InCulto) and reggae (Hokshila). Record sales are rising, local bands increasingly get a chance to support the touring international stars (like Sting, Simply Red, Seal, Marilyn Manson), and collaborations with Western songwriters are being developed (the results are so far enjoyed by young singers Amberlife and Augustė, to name a few).
What's interesting is that instead of choosing the path of trying to conquer the cheesy pop oriented Russian market, more and more local acts perform in English and make a strong effort to keep in touch with current music trends of the Western world, while managing to keep that special Baltic element, quite often influenced by the long tradition of Lithuanian folk music.
Interest in popular music is at all-time high at the moment, with thousands of people gathering to watch local music awards ceremonies and music acts filling halls all over the country. Wide scope of most popular performers is represented on this database by a selection of top acts.
2006 brought Lithuanian artists another reason to believe in the possibilities of expanding their appeal beyond the borders of this small Baltic country. In September, MTV Baltic channels were launched in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, together with the “Best Baltic Act” nomination of MTV Europe Music Awards. This will surely fuel the formation of Pan Baltic music market, where the biggest stars of each country will enjoy the attention of fans from all three states. Acts like Inculto also received healthy airplay on MTV Europe and received interest from Western labels and booking agencies.
Keeping this in mind, the future seems bright for Lithuanian pop/rock. We have no doubts some of Lithuanian artists could stand on the same level with music from some of Europe's biggest names. Time will tell if any of these artists here will make it really big. Meanwhile, this is your „who's who“ guide of Lithuanian pop and we hope you'll take some time to explore works of the performers featured. You might actually find a journey through Lithuania's pop and rock music landscape quite rewarding.
