The Lithuanian heavy metal giants Katedra have been flashing across my musical radar for nearly half my life—probably since 2005, when I first saw them live at the “Roko naktys” festival. I screamed “Mes jėga” (“We are the force”) at the top of my lungs, banged my head, and danced with the crowd to theirContinue reading “Ričardas Laginauskas of Katedra: “We Succeeded Because I Truly Believed in What I Was Doing””
Tag Archives: music
Ales Loverde: A Journey of Soul, Survival, and Song
From freeriding down Swiss mountains to singing his heart out on stage in Lithuania, Ales Loverde’s life is anything but ordinary. The Sicilian-born, Swiss-raised artist has lived through love, loss, near-death, and creative rebirth — and he channels it all into his music. We sat down with Ales to talk about his upbringing, the accidentContinue reading “Ales Loverde: A Journey of Soul, Survival, and Song”
Sherman Tan on Music, Loss, and Building a Home in Lithuania
Sherman Lucharl Tan Hoon Heng, better known as Sherman Tan carries a rich cultural heritage. Born in Malaysia to a Chinese father and a mother of Welsh-Indonesian descent, his identity has always straddled different worlds. Despite his Chinese roots, Sherman doesn’t fit the stereotypical image, a fact that has followed him throughout his life andContinue reading “Sherman Tan on Music, Loss, and Building a Home in Lithuania”
The Cosmogram: all the pieces are finally on the table
Who are you? Why are you calling yourself the Cosmogram? When I was a teenager, there was this cartoon called The Fairly OddParents—or something like that. Suddenly, this nickname “Cosmo” came to me. It was very random, so I took it in a funny way. Back then, around 2004 or 2005, there was a lotContinue reading “The Cosmogram: all the pieces are finally on the table”
Ignas Bautrėnas: as a metalhead from NYC, I couldn’t deny the importance of hip-hop
I have known Ignas since my adolescence as we met on gothic.lt forum. He striked me as someone who loves music and is a very kind and interesting soul. Years went by and we reconnected when he and his lovely wife invited me to become a content writer on ManoMuzika.lt. As I decided to startContinue reading “Ignas Bautrėnas: as a metalhead from NYC, I couldn’t deny the importance of hip-hop”
Žymantė Kupčiūnė: growing up in 2000s Šiauliai wasn’t for the faint of heart
As a girl from a post-Soviet block in the south of Šiauliai, who spent her teenage years living in a very different reality compared to what the current teenagers experience, I can definitely claim that growing up in Pietinis – the southern district of Šiauliai – wasnt for the faint of heart. I’m not sayingContinue reading “Žymantė Kupčiūnė: growing up in 2000s Šiauliai wasn’t for the faint of heart”
Tadas Kupčiūnas: playing the guitar is my kind of meditation
“The first electric that I’ve played on was some funky stuff from soviet 60s or 70s. My guitar teacher’s father had a couple of old soviet guitars that were playable, so I just tried those out. Later I acquired an old red Czechoslovakian “Jolana Tornado” – a fancy semi-hollow guitar for its era.
Membrice Joseph: my inner punk tells me not to it do like everyone else
Everybody in Šiauliai knew Membrice back in the early 2000s as that weird kid dressed all in black, with long curly hair and an acoustic guitar on his shoulder, busking in the boulevard and shouting out from his lungs. I certainly did as well, and I think he’s helped me a lot to in discoveringContinue reading “Membrice Joseph: my inner punk tells me not to it do like everyone else”
Svitlana Kostrykina: Going to Metal Gigs to Me is Like Visiting McDonald’s to Other People
I met Svitlana more than a year ago, in the spring of 2022. She had contacted the project I volunteered for at the time (“Sisters for Sisters”), offering to host a series of workshops on creative and therapeutical writing. I took the initiative and helped her organise a few of these events. However, our friendshipContinue reading “Svitlana Kostrykina: Going to Metal Gigs to Me is Like Visiting McDonald’s to Other People”
Deviant Generation 