Lucius
The incredibly powerful voice of diminutive singer Karina Gretere fronts this five-person group from Latvia. The press has compared the Lucius sound to the Cocteau Twins, though the group use only acoustic instruments to perform their own intricate and carefully arranged songs. The first promo CD-single Little Barefeet is released in early 2000, to be followed by an album later in the year.
Tell me about your history? How did you get where you are now?
Andrey and Pavels met when they were both students of Latvia’s most acclaimed guitar player Andris Karklinsh (who now resides in Spain). Finding they both shared a common interest in contemporary guitar music, the two formed the group Lucius in February 1996 and recruited the three other members to perform live at Latvia’s annual summer music festivals.
In July 1996, Lucius played at the Mustard & Honey Music Festival (held annually in the Latvian town of Madona), and won three separate awards for “best group”, “best female singer” and “best cello player". The following month, Lucius played at the Amber Of Liepaja Music Festival (the largest of Latvia's festivals, held in the Baltic Sea port of Liepaja), where their performance was once again critically acclaimed.
A cassette recording of Lucius' music was released in Latvia in October 1996. It attracted considerable attention for the group's highly original sound - melodic, contemporary songs created using all acoustic instruments.
Lucius played more concerts in Latvia during 1997, culminating in an appearance at the Bildes '97 festival in December. Part of this performance was filmed and shown on Latvian TV in January 1998, accompanied by an interview with members of the group.
Karina Gretere writes the intriguing lyrics (in English) of the group's songs and performs them in a vocal style that spans the full breadth of expression. Karina’s incredible vocal abilities have already attracted international attention, and she is presently studying music full-time in England.
The group chose the name Lucius because they felt it fitted their music perfectly. It is the name of a fish in latin ("exos lucius") and also the name of an ancient philosopher. Lucius say that it intrigues them to combine these two very different meanings in the one name.
Asked about their uniquely acoustic music, Lucius say: "We all come from different musical backgrounds and we have different musical tastes. When we play together, we each have different feelings. Those differences contribute to the diverse sound of the music. Because of that, it makes it difficult to define our music precisely. The basic idea is that we make acoustic music......without the need for electric instruments."
