Olive Mess
Encyclopedia
Olive Mess is a progressive rock
band from Latvia
singing in English
, one of the most famous Baltic
progressive rock
bands.
In 2001, the group self-released a demo recording made during a rehearsal, Live Without Audience. The main theme of the record was history of Medieval France.
Later in 2001 more members joined the group: Ilze Paegle (classical trained soprano singer), Lilija Voronova (keyboards) and Sergey Syomin (Archlute, Baroque guitar).
In 2002 the band was signed by the French
music label Soleil Zeuhl and released their debut album, Gramercy. The album consisted of 5 tracks and lasted more than an hour.
After the successful debut album, the band was invited to many important festivals, including InProg
2005 (where it had the honour to open the second day of the festival), Proguary 2005 and 2006 (Latvia
's first and most important progressive rock
festival), and BalticProgFest 2007 (the biggest Baltic
progressive rock
festival).
On 6 September 2007 the band announced that they had finished recording their second album, with the working title Cherdak. The band also said that the new album will be released on a new record label sometime in 2008 and will consist of 4 tracks.
In November 2007 the band went on tour to promote the upcoming album. The album itself was released in 2008 under the Italian
label Mellow Records.
Progressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
band from Latvia
Latvia
Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...
singing in English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, one of the most famous Baltic
Baltic states
The term Baltic states refers to the Baltic territories which gained independence from the Russian Empire in the wake of World War I: primarily the contiguous trio of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania ; Finland also fell within the scope of the term after initially gaining independence in the 1920s.The...
progressive rock
Progressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
bands.
History
The band was formed in 1998 by Denis Arsenin (bass), Edgar Kempish (drums) and Alexey Syomin (guitar).In 2001, the group self-released a demo recording made during a rehearsal, Live Without Audience. The main theme of the record was history of Medieval France.
Later in 2001 more members joined the group: Ilze Paegle (classical trained soprano singer), Lilija Voronova (keyboards) and Sergey Syomin (Archlute, Baroque guitar).
In 2002 the band was signed by the French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
music label Soleil Zeuhl and released their debut album, Gramercy. The album consisted of 5 tracks and lasted more than an hour.
After the successful debut album, the band was invited to many important festivals, including InProg
InProg
InProg is an international progressive rock festival held almost yearly since 2001 in Moscow, Russia.The festival was organised by the Russian Rock-magazine InRock....
2005 (where it had the honour to open the second day of the festival), Proguary 2005 and 2006 (Latvia
Latvia
Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...
's first and most important progressive rock
Progressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
festival), and BalticProgFest 2007 (the biggest Baltic
Baltic states
The term Baltic states refers to the Baltic territories which gained independence from the Russian Empire in the wake of World War I: primarily the contiguous trio of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania ; Finland also fell within the scope of the term after initially gaining independence in the 1920s.The...
progressive rock
Progressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
festival).
On 6 September 2007 the band announced that they had finished recording their second album, with the working title Cherdak. The band also said that the new album will be released on a new record label sometime in 2008 and will consist of 4 tracks.
In November 2007 the band went on tour to promote the upcoming album. The album itself was released in 2008 under the Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
label Mellow Records.
Discography
This list includes only official discography.- Gramercy (2002)(Soleil Zeuhl)
- Cherdak (2008)(Mellow Records)
Trivia
- The band named itself in honour of the 20th century FrenchFrench peopleThe French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...
composer Olivier MessiaenOlivier MessiaenOlivier Messiaen was a French composer, organist and ornithologist, one of the major composers of the 20th century. His music is rhythmically complex ; harmonically and melodically it is based on modes of limited transposition, which he abstracted from his early compositions and improvisations...
.
External links
- The bands official web-site (English)
- About the band at Prog Archives (English)
- A list with quotes from positive reviews on the album Gramercy (English)
- About the band at the FREE!MUSIC Project (English)
- About the band+interview with Ilze Paegle (Russian)
- About the band on another web-site (Latvian)