Mareks Bērents

Choosing the fate of a rock musician was similar to being a dissident. From the 60s, the Soviet Union tried to discourage and restrict the expansion of rock music by any means. They called it the “rotten fruit of degraded capitalism, demoralizing the minds of Soviet youth”. Despite that, rock music broke the wall – made a hole in the Iron Curtain – and gained the hearts and minds of tens of thousands of young people.Rock musicians were on the frontline of the rebellion against the Soviet regime. Despite censorship, they managed to deliver, in a hidden, roundabout way through lyrics and music, the spirit of nonconformity and freedom of choice to their audience. A film about Latvian and Soviet rock pioneers, their lives and destinies.

During the Soviet time, choosing the fate of a rock musician was similar to being a dissident.

The 1980s in music were marked by the maturation of the 1970s generation of musicians and the emergence of new rock bands in Latvia – Pērkons, Jumprava, Zodiaks, Dzeltenie pastnieki, and Zig Zag. Through their lyrics and later in more direct texts, the bands expressed their views on current issues of the time, such as freedom, independence, and occupation. Party officials did not like this very much, but they were no longer able to stop the process. The Singing Revolution had begun.

Choosing the fate of a rock musician was similar to being a dissident. From the 60s, the Soviet Union tried to discourage and restrict the expansion of rock music by any means. They called it the “rotten fruit of degraded capitalism, demoralizing the minds of Soviet youth”. Despite that, rock music broke the wall – made a hole in the Iron Curtain – and gained the hearts and minds of tens of thousands of young people.Rock musicians were on the frontline of the rebellion against the Soviet regime. Despite censorship, they managed to deliver, in a hidden, roundabout way through lyrics and music, the spirit of nonconformity and freedom of choice to their audience. A film about Latvian and Soviet rock pioneers, their lives and destinies.

Choosing the fate of a rock musician was similar to being a dissident. From the 60s, the Soviet Union tried to discourage and restrict the expansion of rock music by any means. They called it the “rotten fruit of degraded capitalism, demoralizing the minds of Soviet youth”. Despite that, rock music broke the wall – made a hole in the Iron Curtain – and gained the hearts and minds of tens of thousands of young people.Rock musicians were on the frontline of the rebellion against the Soviet regime. Despite censorship, they managed to deliver, in a hidden, roundabout way through lyrics and music, the spirit of nonconformity and freedom of choice to their audience. A film about Latvian and Soviet rock pioneers, their lives and destinies.

During the Soviet time, choosing the fate of a rock musician was similar to being a dissident.

During the Soviet time, choosing the fate of a rock musician was similar to being a dissident.

The 1980s in music were marked by the maturation of the 1970s generation of musicians and the emergence of new rock bands in Latvia – Pērkons, Jumprava, Zodiaks, Dzeltenie pastnieki, and Zig Zag. Through their lyrics and later in more direct texts, the bands expressed their views on current issues of the time, such as freedom, independence, and occupation. Party officials did not like this very much, but they were no longer able to stop the process. The Singing Revolution had begun.