Life and death celebration in Durbe

Riga - “I was sprawling beside the pond drinking my beer on a hot summer day, when the idea of making a festival here slipped into my mind,” remembers Mikus Magone, when asked about Zemlika’s beginnings in Durbe. Zemlika Festival is a pioneer for medium-sized musical and harvest events in the Liepaja region, and this year it will be held from Oct. 28-29.

Durbe, with its ancient roots, is a small town, 25 km from Liepaja, founded around 1260. The population there is less than 600 (which is, in fact, the smallest municipality in Latvia), so it seems to be a challenge for independent events label as SKYR, Zemlika’s organizer. The idea of the festival is mainly based on enthusiasm of the locals, together with Durbe City Council and its establishment. The last weekend of October is related to the so-called Day of Simjuds that features the celebrating of the souls of the dead. In Latvian mythology the dead were greeted with food and drinks to honor their lost souls. It is somehow a revolutionary step to make an event in the seemingly dark and isolated time, as is October in Latvia. Magone also adds that “a routine event planning started to be boring for me. You know all the places and all partners for renting lights and technical support. To be honest, I have mixed feelings about the audience in Riga. People are so used to comfort and a great choice of events that they do not even bother to walk 200 meters to the event place. I mean, you got used to everything, and this issue makes me think that I need to change the rules of my work.”

Zemlika is financially supported by several national and cross-border cultural foundations, as well as foreign embassies - including the Swiss Arts Council and State Culture Capital Foundation (SCCF). “The issue is financial tools, rather than finding the money. We try to avoid any kind of corporate relationships in order to set up a free choice for our visitors. You do not have to listen to what banks or beer sponsors have to say; in this offering their products and visitors are listening to them in the same vein. These side effects have annoyed me, so I this time did not invite corporate types to my party,” points out Magone. Also, local business people and authorities have believed in the Zemlika idea, offering empty shop spaces, supporting it with advice. When asked about the biggest problems while organizing Zemlika, Magone mentions the so-called ‘Latvianism,’ with its self-righteous attitude. “People should be more open to objective truth about what they hear or know, be more critical about themselves,” thinks Magone.

However, Zemlika is not a unique example of such events. Yes, in Latvia it is for the first time based on experiments. Still, a mixed rural and urban environment in cities, such as Reykjavik, is common for years. Iceland Airwaves hits it on the head while finding analogies to Zemlika. Magone explains the meaning of Zemlika: a colorful mix based on the quiet environment in Durbe and world events influences. He says that this experimentation makes sense for local people, at least for that time. “If at least a few people get impressed by the gigs, that is the best of it, to see that Zemlika makes an impact for those who see independent musicians maybe for the first time in their lives,” notes Magone.

Zemlika consists of music, seminars and eating, of course. On Oct. 29 in Durbe Culture Center a seminar of independent music will be held. Several Icelandic and Estonian event organizers and label owners will speak about the future prospects of legal issues and music distribution for indie organizations. This might interest those who, let’s say, wish to distribute their music abroad at an adequate price. Library Tapes (Sweden) are the main headline to support the musical part of Zemlika. David Wenngren is a solo artist who derives his influence in the current academic music, mentioning John Cage as a predecessor and one of these influences. Also, spacious piano use in his work is a trademark of Library Tapes. For electronic music lovers Buwette (Switzerland) and Dunian (Latvia) are worthwhile artists to see. The first one, Cederic Streuli, that’s his real name, establishes similar feelings as do Panda Bear, for example. Something danceable, but most likely atmospheric, and, I might add, suits best for small, but airy and simple events space (a shop, cattle-shed or garage, why not?).

Dunian is mostly known as a Latvian bedroom producer, versus the DJ who got noted first from BBC Radio 1 by Mary Anne Hobbs, who promotes new talent in the electronic world. Arturs Liepins got noticed in Latvia by music blog lovers soon afterwards. Currently, he continues to play shows, including the recent Skanu Mezs here, in the Riga Tobacco Factory. His music is mature and outlines heavy ’90s dance music influences in its best meaning. There will be something for folk lovers, too. Kaspars Dimiters will perform together with his son Jekabs, in order to show some songwriting pearls from the hope chest of “The Dimiters” (the family of Dimiters -father and son, just in case someone did not get the hook). Also Ilgi from Latvia, well known as a long-lasting post-folk ensemble will show some alternative meanings of ‘Latvianism’- dark, sometimes even psychedelic folk music with lots of Latvian folksong lyrics.

Tickets can be purchased at: www.bilesuserviss.lv.