Double Faced Eels

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Double Faced Eels
Double Faced Eels.jpg
Double Faced Eels at concert, 2008
Background information
Also known asDFE
Origin Riga, Latvia
Genres Alternative rock
Years active2000–present
MembersMārtiņš Gailītis (Marka)
Reinis Straume
Viktors Maslovs

Double Faced Eels (DFE) is a rock band from Riga, Latvia formed in 2000.

Riga City in Latvia

Riga is the capital, the largest and primate city of Latvia. With 632,614 inhabitants (2019), it is also the largest city in the three Baltic states, home to one third of Latvia's population and one tenth of the three Baltic states' combined population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the Baltic Sea. Riga's territory covers 307.17 km2 (118.60 sq mi) and lies 1–10 m above sea level, on a flat and sandy plain.

Latvia Republic in Northeastern Europe

Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. Since its independence, Latvia has been referred to as one of the Baltic states. It is bordered by Estonia to the north, Lithuania to the south, Russia to the east, and Belarus to the southeast, and shares a maritime border with Sweden to the west. Latvia has 1,957,200 inhabitants and a territory of 64,589 km2 (24,938 sq mi). The country has a temperate seasonal climate.

Contents

Biography

The band's debut single To Take Breath reached the number one position in Radio SWH Top 40 which guaranteed them a place in one of the most competitive music shows in Latvia – Radio SWH Top of The Year (2004), starting off their road to success.

In the same year DFE participated in several competitions involving new bands, and collected a succession of prizes : 2nd place in the well known Liepājas Dzintars (Amber Of Liepaja) festival; Best Vocal, Best Guitar, Best Drummer and The Best Band at the Tu Esi Pamanīts (You Have Been Noticed) talent festival. Thus, they quickly gained recognition in the Latvian music scene. Their next single Prasīt Aizmirsto (2005) also reached the spot in most of the radio charts in Latvia. But the biggest breakthrough was when they released their single Zilais Valis which went straight to the number one position in every chart it was played in 2005. It became a true number one hit in Latvian music.

In Summer 2005, the most popular band from Latvia, Brainstorm, offered DFE to be the warm–up band for their Four Shores album tour. Subsequently, DFE played in 3 Brainstorm shows one of which was in Riga, Mežaparks in front of 40,000 people.

Brainstorm (Latvian band) Latvian band

Brainstorm is a Latvian pop/rock band. The band became popular internationally in 2000, when they finished third in the Eurovision Song Contest 2000 with the song "My Star".

Mežaparks Neighbourhood of Riga in Northern District, Latvia

Mežaparks is a neighbourhood of Northern District in Riga, the capital of Latvia. It's located on the western shore of Lake Ķīšezers. The name is literally translated as "forest park". The park was built in the early 20th century and was originally called Kaiserwald. It was one of the world's first garden cities. It had large number of Art Nouveau and Eclectic villas for upper class inhabitants of Riga. During the Second World War, the Kaiserwald concentration camp was located in this park, and many Jews, Gypsies, communists, and other opponents of Nazi rule were murdered in these woods.

DFE released their debut album in Winter 2005 having a very successful tour in Latvia and success in several TV music shows and competitions.

In 2007, the band released their second album Kurš gribēja nogalināt Džūliju? Nezinu, bet trāpīja mums (Who wanted to kill Julia? I don't know, but they hit us).

In 2009, Briģis, Veinbrants and Ķesteris left the band. After that, Darius Petrauskas and Viktors Maslovs joined the band. To round up the roster, Double Faced Eels held a guitarist competition. Out of the 100+ competitors, Reinis Straume (previously of Disfunk, New Old) was chosen as the band's new guitarist. Shortly after, Ronalds Briežkalns joined the band in Petrauskas' stead.

The band released their third album Vēl patiesāk in 2010.

They participated in the selection for Latvia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 with their song "Fire", in which they placed 4th.

Current lineup

Past members:

Discography

TitleYear
Zilais valis2005
Kurš gribēja nogalināt Džūliju? Nezinu, bet trāpīja mums2007
Vēl patiesāk2010

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