Open cages

Vaidotas: "It seems to me that we, people, have gone the wrong way. Keeping birds not only without the possibility of walking, but even spreading their wings for the sake of a cheaper egg is hardly perceivable as "the right way."

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THE ROOP sing in Lithuanian for the first time and present an experimental video „Keista Draugystė“ („Strange Friendship“)

“We kept received questions why don‘t we sing in Lithuanian? The answer was quite plain – somehow the lyrics turned out in English. With this tune the opposite happened – it just wrote itself in the native language.” –band‘s leader Vaidotas Valiukevičius reveals.

The first Lithuanian THE ROOP's song. The video “Keista Draugystė” (“Strange Friendship”) is a dialogue between two people in a long-term relationship. It is a visual story about true, unstaged relation. Vaidotas and Deimantė, together for 10 years, were the only participants on the set. Adapting to the rhythm of the sun the man and the woman filmed one another for two days for exactly 3 hours to get that photographic play between darkness and light.

“In the video you can observe how natural lighting breaks the space, lights up or dims our bodies. I’d say it’s an experimental visualization when we were not tied to the end product while in the process of filming, simply being indulged in the “here and now” moment. While filming Vaidotas I totally forgot about myself and it was a liberating creative process.” – says Deimantė.

Pop rock band THE ROOP currently spend most of their time in the recording studio where they are finishing their second studio album planned to be released this October. 

What's next in music?

Early visit to LRT National TV's 'Labas rytas, Lietuva.' An acoustic song, a chat about What's Next in Music and Loftas Fest. And, by the way, today is our drummer's birthday! CONGRATS, Robertas!

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BEHIND THE CAMERA: Hello

Let's continue this column. A few curious facts about "Hello" video. The shooting took place at Pavėsis studio in Vilnius and lasted for four days. It wasn't easy getting all the characters on the same days at the same time at the same place. Sigita showed particularly big comprehension. She came right after her wedding all the way from Klaipėda! One more interesting thing - artists A. and R. Gataveckai used a special technique to paint the painting during the video, and this painting could easily fit in their exhibit “Autoportretai-homonimai” (Self-portraits-Homonyms). You can find more about these types of paintings here: https://tinyurl.com/y75hlbdl
After the shooting brothers decided to leave the painting as a gift. Vaidotas was extremely thankful for such a present. And now it's time to watch the whole "Hello" video by Pick a Story again.

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BEHIND THE CAMERA: Be Mine

Here we are going to tell more about what is left behind the scenes. What little and interesting thing hide there. And there are a lot!

Let’s start from our first video – “Be Mine.” This video’s purpose was to introduce us to the public. The initial idea was making the video without the scenes where the band is playing – we actually filmed them later. We had two reasons for filming these additional scenes. Firstly, members of the band were fixed and we couldn’t keep it a secret anymore. At first we were hiding the identities of the band members so that listeners would concentrate on the song, not the personalities. Secondly, once the editing was done, we noticed that some parallel action was missing – the band itself playing.

Pictures from the video reveal the initial idea to involve the band members into the story and to show their musical identities through specific details. Look at the pictures more carefully. Robertas is sitting in a café, drumsticks on the table. Mantas is playing a street musician with guitar in his hands. Vainius squatting next to his bicycle where at first we thought of showing a close-up of his fingers stroking bicycle wheel spokes as if they were thick bass strings. And the t-shirt of Vaidotas has a microphone picture on it. That’s how we presented all of the band members and their roles.

The final version has drifted a little from the original one but still delivers the main social idea. The duo of actress Severija Janušauskaitė and Victor Topol fascinated us.

Watch the video here.

International Day of Yoga

A few pics from acoustic show at the International Yoga Day event. It was visited by India's Ambassador Ajay Bisaria and Honorary consul Rajinder Kumar Chaudhary. Thanks to Gintautas from Mai Ram Yoga for inviting us. OM!

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Eurovision and us

New start of the week - fresh news! We decided to go to Eurovision song contest selection. We can say this publicly now. We have been asked a lot why aren't we participating? The answer was simple - we didn't have a suitable song. If such song is born and will have a (euro) vision with it, then we are in. And so it happened. See you in the selection event in half a year! ;)

PREMIERE! NEW VIDEO!

PREMIERE! "Dream On" video shot with 8 mm camera. It was thrilling to adapt filming angles of the '80s & '90s and visual compositions combining pictures of band members and the sunny nature in Spring. All of this could not be possible without the talented cinematographer Zbigniev Bartoševič. Clothing was matched by Marina Žuravliova. Faces were taken care of by Jurga Kartu. For the location we thank demoded. Pictures of the nature by Patrick Müller and Zbigniev Bartoševič. Clothes from TRIBE by Marina&Donata, Zefyras, OHMY. Toys Jolanta Pakalniskyte ir Rimantas Burneika. Thank you!

WIP day and school

Vaidotas: Today I returned to my high school. There, along with representatives from LATGA Association, we gave a lecture about intellectual property on the occasion of WIP day. A few remarks:
1. A strange feeling emerges when you enter school - memories return and it feels like you're a teenager again.
2. I learned that teachers do not age.
3. Tenth-graders are excellent talkers!

Photos: Vilmanto Raupelio (Kauno diena) 

Back in school

Association LATGA is organizing a series of events "WIP day in schools: authors' lessons for the younger generation."

Vaidotas will also be holding a lecture in his school. More info in Lithuania's media.

New winds, new song

Kino Pavasaris | Vilnius International Film Festival opening evening went great! The theme of the festival is "New winds" and they have brought our new song "Dream On" into the show. Its official presentation is coming really soon along with a new video.

Music for the fashion show

"Mados infekcija" (Fashion infection) festival, launched last Friday, presented the late talented fashion designer Egidijus Sidaras' collection "City Pulse". Vaidotas created and adapted music for the show: "I felt responsible to link the clothes with the music, so that they beautifully complement each other. I believe it worked out."

Lithuanian mini tour HELLO / Lietuvos mini turas HELLO

Grupės „The Roop“ vaikinai skelbia koncertų datas – šiuos pasirodymus simboliškai pavadino mini turu „Hello“.

 „Mes supratome, kad per šiuos gerus dvejus kūrybos metus mes koncertavome tik festivaliuose arba užsienyje. Pats laikas mums aplankyti miestus, kuriuose dar negrojome. Norime pasakyti „Hello“ ten gyvenantiems. Mūsų laukia daug pirmų kartų“, – džiugiai kalbėjo grupės lyderis Vaidotas.

Jau kovo 11 dieną grupė pirmą kartą koncertuos Kaune, „Orixo“ klube. Vėliau, kovo 24 dieną pirmą kartą lankysis Šiauliuose, „Blic“ bare. Per melagių dieną, balandžio 1-ąją, nemeluos ir taip pat pirmą kartą surengs koncertą Klaipėdoje, klube „Raketa“. O balandžio 6 dieną grįš į sostinę ir pasirodys menų fabrike „Loftas“.

„Vilniaus koncertas bus įpatingas tuom, kad dalyvausime renginyje, kuris skirtas labai gražiai idėjai. Visi surinkti pinigai keliaus pirmajai Baltijos šalyse įkurtai fermos gyvūnų prieglaudai, kurioje gyvūnai auga be išnaudojimo ir be skerdynių“, – pasakojo Vaidotas.

„The Roop“ koncertavo ne tik visuose didžiausiuose Lietuvos muzikos festivaliuose, bet ir buvo pakviesti koncertuoti didžiausiame Baltijos šalių festivalyje „Positivus“. Taip pat koncertavo Rygoje (Latvija), Bonoje (Vokietija), Varšuvoje ir Gdanske (Lenkija).

„The Roop“ muzikos stiliai skoningai maišosi tarpusavyje: poprokas, rokas, indie, dance rock. 

Debiutinis albumas „To Whom It May Concern“ išleistas 2015 metų pabaigoje. Galutinius garso suvedimo darbus Australijoje atliko vienas žymiausių savo srities specialistų Leonas Zervosas, kurio dėka dienos šviesą išvydo tokių grupių kaip INXS, „Aerosmith“, „Maroon 5“ ir „Muse“ albumai.

Mini turo „Hello“ vaizdo anonsas:

 

Jelgava's show

We were sent a few photos from the International Ice Sculpture festival in Jelgava. It was -4 outside but our voices and fingers did not fail us. We felt warmth not only from the heaters on stage but also from all the people in the audience. Thank you!