{"id":3761,"date":"2025-12-28T09:50:03","date_gmt":"2025-12-28T06:50:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nottoday.media\/en\/?p=3761"},"modified":"2025-12-28T09:50:06","modified_gmt":"2025-12-28T06:50:06","slug":"from-panel-block-kitchens-to-clubs-and-rehearsal-spaces-a-guide-to-the-latvian-underground-with-pasha-and-gosha","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nottoday.media\/en\/emigration\/from-panel-block-kitchens-to-clubs-and-rehearsal-spaces-a-guide-to-the-latvian-underground-with-pasha-and-gosha","title":{"rendered":"\u201cFrom panel-block kitchens to clubs and rehearsal spaces\u201d \u2014 a guide to the Latvian underground with Pasha and Gosha"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Latvia is a country we often know little more about than its Baltic landscapes, Soviet-era apartment blocks, and post-Soviet everyday life clashing with European routine. But in this article, Pavel and Gosha\u2014punks from Latvia\u2014have agreed to give us a guided tour of the local underground. What sounds are coming out of Latvian clubs and kitchens, what the scene lives for, and who is driving it\u2014read all about it in this new feature from nottoday.<s>media<\/s>.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Pasha and Gosha<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-size:30px\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/pidari.bandcamp.com\/\"><strong>PIDARI<\/strong><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/nottoday.media\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/0040085939_10-1-769x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4143\" style=\"width:840px;height:auto\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>PIDARI<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p> <iframe style=\"border: 0;width: 100%;height: 120px\" src=\"https:\/\/bandcamp.com\/EmbeddedPlayer\/album=72791202\/size=large\/bgcol=ffffff\/linkcol=0687f5\/tracklist=false\/artwork=small\/transparent=true\/\"><a href=\"https:\/\/pidari.bandcamp.com\/album\/pidari-n-k\">PIDARI N\u0100K by PIDARI<\/a><\/iframe> <\/p>\n<p><strong>Gosha:<\/strong> These guys play <strong>Jazz crust<\/strong>. The vocalist, a guy named Dave Raven, also uses a clarinet in their songs. The guitarist loves psychedelic sounds; he has his own group called <strong>Marlboro Advanced Blue<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Pasha: <\/strong>Actually, just <a href=\"https:\/\/advancedblueband.bandcamp.com\/music\"><strong>Advanced Blue<\/strong><\/a>. Their music is truly interesting, and we sincerely recommend giving it a listen.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Gosha:<\/strong> In <strong>PIDARI<\/strong>, the guitarist is great at holding the audience&#8217;s attention and setting the pace: one moment it&#8217;s <strong>d-beat<\/strong> with lots of screaming and a heavy sound, and the next second it\u2019s a calm, jazzy transition. Good guys, great show, and they have a hilarious album where they released <strong>13 versions<\/strong> of the song <strong>Pidari n\u0101k<\/strong> (&#8220;The Faggots are Coming&#8221;).<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-size:30px\"><strong><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/sistersnostrils.bandcamp.com\/\">Tavas M\u0101sas N\u0101sis<\/a> <\/strong>(&#8220;Your Sister&#8217;s Nostrils&#8221;)<\/strong><\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/nottoday.media\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/a3016639790_10-1024x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4144\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>Tavas M\u0101sas N\u0101sis<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p> <iframe style=\"border: 0;width: 100%;height: 120px\" src=\"https:\/\/bandcamp.com\/EmbeddedPlayer\/album=2369781389\/size=large\/bgcol=ffffff\/linkcol=0687f5\/tracklist=false\/artwork=small\/transparent=true\/\"><a href=\"https:\/\/sistersnostrils.bandcamp.com\/album\/kad-tu-irsi\">Kad tu *irsi (?) by Tavas M\u0101sas N\u0101sis<\/a><\/iframe> <\/p>\n<p><strong>Pasha:<\/strong> Their music is, you could say, ironic\u2014even post-ironic. At their first performance, they called their genre <strong>&#8220;n\u0101ves met\u0101ls&#8221;<\/strong>. It\u2019s not exactly &#8220;death metal&#8221; in the standard sense, but literally &#8220;metal of death.&#8221; In reality, it\u2019s not metal at all, but something more like <strong>synth-pop<\/strong>. But the guys are really cool.<\/p>\n<p>My introduction to the Latvian scene actually started through the lead singer of this group\u2014he&#8217;s the one who brought me in.<\/p>\n<p>In the old photo, there are three of them, but the lineup has changed countless times; at one point, I even played bass with them. Now there are six or seven people, and they play something between <strong>synth, ska, disco, pop,<\/strong> and <strong>rock.<\/strong> Their production is top-notch\u2014they do almost everything themselves.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-size:30px\"><a href=\"https:\/\/pukis.bandcamp.com\/\"><strong>Gr\u0113c\u012bgie Partiz\u0101ni<\/strong><\/a> <strong>(&#8220;Sinful Partisans&#8221;)<\/strong><\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/nottoday.media\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/mlarge_280cf5fa.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4145\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>Gr\u0113c\u012bgie Partiz\u0101ni<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p> <iframe style=\"border: 0;width: 100%;height: 120px\" src=\"https:\/\/bandcamp.com\/EmbeddedPlayer\/album=1212964358\/size=large\/bgcol=ffffff\/linkcol=0687f5\/tracklist=false\/artwork=small\/transparent=true\/\"><a href=\"https:\/\/pukis.bandcamp.com\/album\/nas-trok-o\">\u0112nas trok\u0161\u0146o by Gr\u0113c\u012bgie Partiz\u0101ni<\/a><\/iframe> <\/p>\n<p><strong>Gosha:<\/strong> This is <strong>folk punk<\/strong>, and probably the most classic version of it. The lead singer used to play in many underground projects, including <strong>Zintnieks<\/strong>, where he was actually on drums.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Pasha:<\/strong> They have a very <strong>DIY approach<\/strong> to everything. The singer actually lives in Riga, on an island, in some sort of handmade hut, growing tomatoes and all kinds of stuff. The guy is maximum <strong>DIY<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-size:30px\"><strong><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/zintnieks.bandcamp.com\/album\/no-aizkurienes\">Zintnieks<\/a><\/strong> (&#8220;The Sorcerer\/Healer&#8221;)<\/strong><\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/nottoday.media\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/277559499_1054343311846598_5329467869599435971_n.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4148\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>Zintnieks<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p> <iframe style=\"border: 0;width: 100%;height: 120px\" src=\"https:\/\/bandcamp.com\/EmbeddedPlayer\/album=2260008444\/size=large\/bgcol=ffffff\/linkcol=0687f5\/tracklist=false\/artwork=small\/transparent=true\/\"><a href=\"https:\/\/zintnieks.bandcamp.com\/album\/no-aizkurienes\">No aizkurienes by Zintnieks<\/a><\/iframe> <\/p>\n<p><strong>Pasha:<\/strong> Zintnieks. Yeah, cool <strong>stoner rock<\/strong> with female vocals.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Gosha: <\/strong>Totally agree.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Pasha: <\/strong>An album of four songs lasts an hour. One of them is 17 minutes long. The guy from <strong>Gr\u0113c\u012bgie Partiz\u0101ni<\/strong> used to play drums for them. They perform quite rarely, but they play great stoner stuff.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-size:30px\"><strong><strong><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/band-izsledzejs.bandcamp.com\/\"><strong>Izsl\u0113dz\u0113js<\/strong><\/a><\/strong> <\/strong>(&#8220;The Switch&#8221;)<\/strong><\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/nottoday.media\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/a1141489834_16.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4151\" style=\"width:840px;height:auto\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>Izsl\u0113dz\u0113js<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p> <iframe style=\"border: 0;width: 100%;height: 120px\" src=\"https:\/\/bandcamp.com\/EmbeddedPlayer\/album=503555933\/size=large\/bgcol=ffffff\/linkcol=0687f5\/tracklist=false\/artwork=small\/transparent=true\/\"><a href=\"https:\/\/band-izsledzejs.bandcamp.com\/album\/vilks\">Vilks by Izsl\u0113dz\u0113js<\/a><\/iframe> <\/p>\n<p><strong>Gosha:<\/strong> Izsl\u0113dz\u0113js is <strong>crust<\/strong>, even <strong>blackened crust<\/strong>. They got a new vocalist recently, around 2025. I was at the album presentation with him, and he really completed the sound. The band always sounded good, but now it\u2019s even better.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Pasha: <\/strong>To me, it all makes a perfectly good noise.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-size:30px\"><strong><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/tesa.bandcamp.com\/\">Tesa<\/a><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/nottoday.media\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/0018282925_10-768x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4152\" style=\"width:840px;height:auto\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>Tesa<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p> <iframe style=\"border: 0;width: 100%;height: 120px\" src=\"https:\/\/bandcamp.com\/EmbeddedPlayer\/album=868374702\/size=large\/bgcol=ffffff\/linkcol=0687f5\/tracklist=false\/artwork=small\/transparent=true\/\"><a href=\"https:\/\/tesamusic.bandcamp.com\/album\/c-o-n-t-r-o-l\">C O N T R O L by Tesa<\/a><\/iframe> <\/p>\n<p><strong>Pasha:<\/strong> Tesa is a legendary, very old team. What else can I say about Tesa&#8230; they&#8217;ve played everywhere it\u2019s possible to play. Solid <strong>post-metal<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Gosha:<\/strong> Every performance is a wall of noise&#8230; the amps are cranked to the maximum. They all play very tight.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-size:30px\"><strong><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/nekad.bandcamp.com\/\">NEKAD<\/a><\/strong> (&#8220;Never&#8221;)<\/strong><\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/nottoday.media\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/0040880609_10-1024x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4153\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>NEKAD<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p> <iframe style=\"border: 0;width: 100%;height: 120px\" src=\"https:\/\/bandcamp.com\/EmbeddedPlayer\/album=3939247544\/size=large\/bgcol=ffffff\/linkcol=0687f5\/tracklist=false\/artwork=small\/transparent=true\/\"><a href=\"https:\/\/nekad.bandcamp.com\/album\/amence\">Amence by NEKAD<\/a><\/iframe> <\/p>\n<p><strong>Pasha:<\/strong> Good <strong>neocrust<\/strong>. Heavy.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Gosha:<\/strong> Truly, indeed. Good. Powerful. So angry.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Pasha: <\/strong>Energetic. It\u2019s very pleasant to listen to this band. I think it\u2019s the only <strong>neocrust<\/strong> existing in Latvia at all.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Gosha:<\/strong> Yeah, I think so too. But they also perform rarely. Most of our teams perform rarely. Especially the older ones.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-size:30px\"><a href=\"https:\/\/smert.bandcamp.com\/\"><strong>&#8220;Smert&#8221;<\/strong><\/a> <strong>(&#8220;Death&#8221;)<\/strong><\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/nottoday.media\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/0017868398_10-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4154\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>Smert<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p> <iframe style=\"border: 0;width: 100%;height: 120px\" src=\"https:\/\/bandcamp.com\/EmbeddedPlayer\/album=2248287145\/size=large\/bgcol=ffffff\/linkcol=0687f5\/tracklist=false\/artwork=small\/transparent=true\/\"><a href=\"https:\/\/smert.bandcamp.com\/album\/alkopower\">ALKOPOWER by Smert<\/a><\/iframe> <\/p>\n<p><strong>Pasha:<\/strong> Smert. Well, this is probably the only <strong>d-beat<\/strong> band in Latvia.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Gosha: <\/strong>The vocalist from <strong>PIDARI<\/strong>\u2014this is his own band. You can see him clearly in the photo. This is also an old team: they\u2019ve been playing since 2015\u20132016. They were first called <strong>Woodoom<\/strong>, then they broke up, and now they\u2019ve started performing again.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-size:30px\"><a style=\"font-weight: bold\" href=\"https:\/\/sukib4nd.bandcamp.com\/album\/pasaul-m-kais-klusums\"><strong>S\u00fcki<\/strong><\/a> <strong>(&#8220;Autumn,&#8221; from the Estonian word s\u00fcgis)<\/strong><\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/nottoday.media\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/hq720.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4155\" style=\"width:840px;height:auto\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>S\u00fcki<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p> <iframe style=\"border: 0;width: 100%;height: 120px\" src=\"https:\/\/bandcamp.com\/EmbeddedPlayer\/album=2392857988\/size=large\/bgcol=ffffff\/linkcol=0687f5\/tracklist=false\/artwork=small\/transparent=true\/\"><a href=\"https:\/\/sukib4nd.bandcamp.com\/album\/pasaul-m-kais-klusums\">pasaul\u0113 m\u012b\u013c\u0101kais klusums by s\u00fcki<\/a><\/iframe> <\/p>\n<p><strong>Gosha:<\/strong> With <strong>S\u00fcki<\/strong>, it\u2019s very simple\u2014they are our homies.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Pasha:<\/strong> Yeah, good friends of ours. Excellent <strong>emo<\/strong>. I went to the same school as the guitarist, I can call him one of my best friends, so I highly recommend listening to them. \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n<p><strong>Gosha: <\/strong>I recommend listening because no one was doing anything like this in Latvia before. If you compare how they started to how they play now, it\u2019s gotten much heavier, more <strong>breakdowns<\/strong>. But not just that\u2014at the album presentation, there were even some acoustic, funny songs.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Pasha: <\/strong>Guys with huge potential, we recommend them.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Gosha: <\/strong>Totally support that.<\/p>\n<p><strong>P.S. And for those who want to know what was happening on the Latvian scene in the 90s, the &#8220;Odekolons 97\/98&#8221; compilation, which once came out on cassettes, will tell you that story.<\/strong><\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">https:\/\/youtube.com\/playlist?list=PLn5f-kh75ldfGiatzO24FmXcIgviusmT-&amp;si=F5qWmZixqY-L9ktI <\/div>\n<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Latvia is a country we often know little more about than its Baltic landscapes, Soviet-era apartment blocks, and post-Soviet everyday life clashing with European routine. But in this article, Pavel and Gosha\u2014punks from Latvia\u2014have agreed to give us a guided tour of the local underground. What sounds are coming out of Latvian clubs and kitchens, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3762,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[33],"class_list":["post-3761","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-emigration","tag-listening-in-emigration"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nottoday.media\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3761","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nottoday.media\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nottoday.media\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nottoday.media\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nottoday.media\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3761"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nottoday.media\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3761\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3763,"href":"https:\/\/nottoday.media\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3761\/revisions\/3763"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nottoday.media\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3762"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nottoday.media\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3761"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nottoday.media\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3761"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nottoday.media\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3761"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}