Sudden Lights

SUDDEN LIGHTS

Sudden Lights is a Latvian indie rock band, founded in 2012 in Riga. The band consists of vocalist Andrejs Reinis Zitmanis, drummer Mārtiņš Matīss Zemītis, guitarist Kārlis Matīss Zitmanis, and bassist Kārlis Vārtiņš.

In February 2023, the group won Supernova 2023 with the song "Aijā" and represented Latvia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023.

Sudden Lights Par mums

meet the band

Andrejs Reinis Zitmanis

Andrejs Reinis Zitmanis

vokāls, ģitāra, taustiņinstrumenti, klarnete

Kārlis Zitmanis

Kārlis Matīss Zitmanis

ģitāra, mutes harmonikas, piebalss

Kārlis Vārtiņš

Kārlis Vārtiņš

basģitāra, piebalss

Mārtiņš Matīss Zemītis

Mārtiņš Matīss Zemītis

sitaminstrumenti, piebalss

history

2012

2012

The group was founded in 2012 by Andrejs Reinis Zitmanis and Mārtiņš Matīss Zemītis when they were both studying at the Pāvuls Jurjāns Music School in Riga. They were joined by Kārlis Matīss Zitmanis and Kārlis Vārtiņš.

In 2015, they won the upcoming musician competition First Record (Latvian: Pirmā plate) at Riga State Gymnasium No.1.The top prize was the opportunity to record a song. The band used it to record their first single, "Tik Savādi". Their later creative efforts culminated in a debut album, preceded by the singles "Priekšpilsētas valsis", "Laikmets" and "Šajā sētas pusē", which were immediately given air time by Latvian radio stations.

2017

Priekšpilsētas

On September 22, 2017, Sudden Lights presented their debut album Priekšpilsētas (Suburbs), comprising 10 songs in Latvian and English. The band's first self-organized concert, in which they performed songs from the album, took place at the Daile Music House in Riga on April 12, 2018.[3] The band was joined on stage by Latvian musician Tīna Šipkēvica. The album brought the band a Golden Microphone 2018 nomination for Best Debut.

2018

LTV Supernova 2018

The band took part in Supernova 2018, Latvia's national selection competition for the Eurovision Song Contest 2018, with their song "Just Fine", the closing track of their debut album, and placed second. Initially, the group failed to qualify for the semi-finals, but the LTV jury chose them as a wild card qualifier. The group then performed in the final and finished in 2nd place.

2018

Brainstorm Tin Drum Tour

While presenting the album About the Boy Who Plays the Tin Drum (Latvian: Par to zēnu, kas sit skārda bungas) on a concert tour, Latvian pop-rock band Brainstorm announced that Sudden Lights would accompany them on their Latvian tour as the support act for all five concerts. 60,000 people attended the closing concert of the tour at the Mežaparks Open-Air Scene in Riga.

2019

second studio tour and concert tour

After releasing the singles "Negribu piezemēties" and "Dzīvnieks", the band announced their second album Vislabāk ir tur, kur manis nav (The Best Place is Where I'm Not Around). The album was released on October 11, 2019. The album was produced by Jānis Aišpurs, with whom the band had already collaborated on several singles. In late February 2020, the group began their first concert tour in Latvia. They performed in Valmiera, Liepāja, and Alūksne before the COVID-19 pandemic forced them to cancel the closing concert scheduled for March 20 in Riga.

2022

third studio album and collaborations

The band's 2020 collaboration with Astro'n'out, the song "Haosā", won the Golden Microphone 2021 Award as Radio Hit of the Year. In January 2021, the band started work on their third studio album together with producer Jānis Aišpurus. The first single of the album was "Klusumi", which was released in April 2021. Outside of writing the album, on which the band collaborated with the singer Annna remotely via Zoom, the song and radio single "Aizņem man vietu" was recorded.

In August 2021, the next single of the forthcoming album single "Siltas vasaras ēnā" was released. This was followed on February 25, 2022 by the release of the single "Laternas".

The band's third studio album "Miljards vasaru" (A Billion Summers) was presented on May 13, 2022 in the Small Hall at Splendid Palace, with the band giving a small concert and presenting a documentary film about the production of the album.

The album was nominated for the Latvian record award Zelta Mikrofons 2023 as best pop album. The concert recording and album's design were also nominated, and two songs were nominated for the People's Choice award.

2023

2023

2023, the group placed second with the single "Laternas" in the Latvijas Radio 2 song contest Muzikālā Banka. Sudden Lights participated in the Supernova 2023 contest organized by Latvian Television with the song "Aijā". The group won the competition and thereby gained the right to represent Latvia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023.

The band went on a promo tour and performed at Moldova's Etapa Naţională 2023 followed by a performance at the Barcelona Eurovision Party and concerts in Tel Aviv, Amsterdam and Madrid. Latvian DJ [Ex] da Bass and Makree each released a remix of "Aijā". They performed fourth in the first semi-final on May 9, but did not qualify to the grand final

2024

nejauši kadri - new album..

Sudden Lights turns the next page in their career and releases the first song "nejaši kadri" from the band's upcoming studio album next spring.