SKY DRY TEA

Thanks for this week's band suggestion go to Liva Dzene who recommended a great band from Riga, Latvia. On first listen, SKY DRY TEA don't exactly have a typical Latvian sound to their music - they sing in English and plan to extend their success across Europe with their next album. However their experiences in Latvia, where they have already played several festivals and shows, certainly shape the band. E&M interviewed SKY DRY TEA to find out what inspires their music and how they want to conquer the rest of Europe!

E&M: To give us an impression of your music - what is characteristic for your sound?

SDT: Of course every band is working on their own specific sound and finding a sound is a working process. To be honest, it's hard to specify what we sound like, we just do what we feel sure about and always keep playing and listening to whether we actually like what it sounds like. I think that is most important and if you're sure about your sound, the audience will feel the same.

E&M: You recently changed your band name from 'enas' to SKY DRY TEA. What inspired the change of name?

SDT: We’re actually still performing as "enas" in Latvia. That name was working well in our country and it's still working. But as we are working hard to go further and beyond borders to get a wider audience we decided not to translate our name into English. It would be "The Shadows" and as we all know, bands with such a name already exist, so we decided to come out of the shadows and rise closer to skies and call ourselves "SKY DRY TEA".

E&M: You are already quite successful in Latvia, your first album was even nominated for the Latvian Music Award. Do you have any advice on how to make it that far as a new-comer band?

SDT: Our road has never been easy; it's been full of hard work, and we built it piece by piece. But now we can say: "Yeah! We did something really good!" The way to our debut album took more than three years and before the album release we released four songs as radio singles, and then two more songs after the album came out. Our advice would be – do what you love to do, and do what you can do the best, do it from your heart and let others believe that this is what you were made for!

E&M: And which musicians have inspired your work the most?

SDT: We all have different influences, but they are all mostly rock music, blues and world music artists. If we had to choose something it would be Snowpatrol, Keane, Coldplay, U2, Kings of Leon, The Beatles, Sting and Jimi Hendrix.

E&M: You said you're working to gain an international audience. So, what would be your favorite European city to play a show in?

SDT: Budapest! But of course it there are so many great European cities we'd like to play, Berlin is very beautiful and Paris is absolutely charming. And there are many more!

E&M: And who is your favorite unknown band from across Europe?

SDT: Of course we will stay loyal to our friends and colleagues – Latvians! Maybe you have even heard of these bands, our favorites are "Instrumenti" and also "Goran Gora and The Yrs."

E&M: Hmm. We'll try and get an interview with them! So what's coming next for you guys?

SDT: We're working on a new album! The studio recording processes are going to take about a year. We have just released a second single called "Wrong song". If everything goes according to plan the album should come out at the end of this year.

E&M: Do you write your songs all together?

SDT: Yes, we often work together when it comes figuring out an arrangement. Our vocalist Lauris Valters usually writes the lyrics. But right now we are working on new material and there is lot more teamwork in this early phase.

E&M: And how do you come up with your lyrics, do you write about things that actually happened to you?

SDT: Of course, that's what people call inspiriation! Well, I guess it depends. There are some lyrics about what has been happened, some lyrics about emotions and feelings, and a little bit about fantasies of course. We also write about things that are big topics for our world. Take the first single from our second studio album for example. It is called SEVEN and talks about the G7 countries which want to rule the world.

E&M: So, what does Europe mean to you?

SDT: Frankly, I don't know. Europe is the place where we live. Europe and the Europe Union are of great benefit for studies abroad. Actually, Europe is a peaceful place with a great platform for the whole world when it comes to music business.

E&M: Thank you for the interview and I'm looking forward to hearing the new album!

For more SKY DRY TEA check out their website http://www.myspace.com/skydrytea. - Europe and Me

It's hard to find much information online about Latvia's Enas, but I just found this clip and I have to say I'm very impressed. The song is in English and the production (audio and video) is first rate. "Seven," released a few months ago, is like Keane meets Pearl Jam, or something. A very cool pop song with a rock edge that I can't stop listening to today. - europopped