Recently, touring Latvian concert halls with one of Latvia’s most famous musicians, this year’s best Latvian instrumentalist, guitar virtuoso Gints Smukais, “Daddy Was A Milkman” says it is incredibly interesting to play his music in various formats.
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This August, both musicians can be seen at the cultural festival “Purpurinis vakaras” in Anykščiai. “The first time we played at the festival with the band was a few years ago, we performed in an industrial space, in the courtyard of a factory. I remember eagerly awaiting the concert, the festival had a special magic for me. I had never been there, but imagined it in purple, with sprinkles of wonder. The industrial space is interesting and unique, but I am glad to have the opportunity this year to play with Gints on the main festival stage in Dainuva Valley. I find it very beautiful that the festival is filled with diversity,” says the musician.
The performance of “Daddy Was A Milkman” and guitarist G. Smukais at the big festival “Purpurinis vakaras” group concert can be seen on August 14. Before the festival, Laisvė Radzevičienė spoke with I. Pociūnas.
– Over a decade, the name „Daddy Was A Milkman“ has become recognizable. Still, it seems to defy all communication rules – it is quite hard for Lithuanians to remember, long, and in a foreign language. At the same time – very unexpected. Ignas, can you remind us of the story behind its origin?
– There was an English pop group “Frankie Goes to Hollywood,” maybe they planted the idea..? I always liked more curved, non-standard names.
I did not plan a musical career, I just decided to record a few songs in the studio to see how they sounded. They sounded quite nice, so my friend, music producer Vitas Vaičiulis, and I decided to show them to music editors on the radio. Before sending them, Vitas thought that just writing “this is Ignas and his song” was neither here nor there. It would be good to come up with a stage name. After a few minutes of thought, I combined two important things to me – that I am a father of two children, and that one of my many jobs in the United States was working in a dairy.
– One might think that your life stages are reflected not only in the name..?
– If the creativity is sincere, it cannot not reflect life. Everything is reflected – what is beautiful, what hurts, what saddens and what delights.
– Nothing can be invented in creativity? If you try to tell listeners invented life stories, do they sound unreal?
– Not at all! After all, dreams, for example, are real, memories are real. It does not matter that some are yet to happen, and others have already passed. I agree, there is a lot of fake creativity – some create for money, for streams, more and more artificial intelligence is involved. Still, inside us – people who love each other: men and women, parents, friends – there is plenty of material for creativity. Experiences, feelings, dreams.
– We live in quite interesting times. On one hand, this is the best stage in Lithuania’s history, on the other – in this abundance it is easy to lose oneself, uncertainty is felt. Even those who have everything – recognition, economic well-being – experience anxiety, get lost in searches. Do you find something to lean on?
– It has always been like this: if there is no bigger trouble, this is it. To live well and understand that we live well, not much is needed. I am from a generation that remembers how people went to defend our freedom on January 13 – my father near the Press Palace, my mother glued paper strips on windows so they wouldn’t break. No one enchanted me, I have not forgotten anything, I know who breathes down our necks, anxiety has a reason. On the other hand, this awareness allows enjoying every day. And if we understand this, nothing can disturb our balance. But there will always be those who find it hard to understand and accept reality.
– Do you think music can dispel restless thoughts?
– Music has the power to help, but it also has the power to intensify sadness. I have favorite performers – the band “Fink,” Australian singer RY X. I notice that on my joyful days I do not want to listen to some of their songs, they pull me into sadness. Maybe because they associate with the time when I used to listen to them?
– When creating, do you think you have a mission?
– For me, creativity is a very personal and very selfish process. I never think about what others will feel listening to my songs. I write for myself about what is beautiful to me, what lies on my heart – this is my emotional discharge, self-expression. Still, we feel many similar things – both difficult and easy. It is very beautiful that people, not knowing each other, have so much in common and exchange energy at a concert, rejoice in each other, at the same time realizing both their similarity and uniqueness.
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– They say children do not lie. Are your son and daughter the first listeners of your creativity?
– Earlier they were more interested in what I was doing. Not all creativity, more the songs in Lithuanian, songs for children, but there are works they have neither heard nor will hear, they are simply not interested. If you ask whether children’s comments on my songs are justified, I have no doubt they feel the atmosphere, mood, energy well, they do not even need to delve into the lyrics. It is true that children are like litmus paper, you can check if you did well.
Now they already have their musical directions, their hobbies and say: “Dad, this is your music.”
– And do you listen to what they listen to?
– I put some into my playlist, later, even when we are not together, I listen. Sometimes we send each other songs we like. I have also grumbled: “What are you listening to?!”
– How do you manage to keep your line and backbone in a changing world?
– I have two ways of creating. I write some songs at home with an acoustic guitar. Later in the studio, we look for how to dress them. Sometimes we start with music in the studio, the music dictates the mood, a theme starts spinning in the head.
The creative stage is very different from what we call concert joy. Many people like to write songs, paint pictures, but do not want to show them to anyone, they just enjoy creating. I also did not think I would want to play concerts until we gradually created the whole program. To be honest, for the first few years I did not enjoy concerts, each caused huge stress, I could not relax on stage, enjoy, savor the music. Later, over time, I learned to enjoy it.
– What was the turning point?
– When before a concert I realized that if I am afraid, do not want to, I can just not play, no one forces me. Nothing will happen if I forget a word, miss a note. Not a tragedy, that’s not why we gathered! If people wanted to come to the concert, let’s enjoy together. Everything becomes simpler when you shed the burden of expectations.
My musical path was not traditional. I did not finish music school, conservatory, or music academy. At one point, I asked my father to let me into music school, but I left it myself. I wanted to play the trumpet, but had to do solfeggio, sing in the choir, and play the piano. After a while, I started riding the number 7 trolleybus in circles around the city, and after a few weeks the teacher called my father to ask where I was.
– What is meant to happen cannot be avoided?
– Maybe so, everything has its time. Yesterday we went fishing with my son, in the car we talked about choices – where to study. I remember myself as a high school graduate – I had no idea what I wanted. And how can you know at that age?! If only someone had advised me, taken off the pressure and explained that not everything depends on which university you graduate from. Even if it does not happen as you thought, it is not a tragedy, there are many paths.
– If you had to make choices again, would you repeat everything the same?
– In short, I would change nothing. Everything was very interesting and still is interesting. More difficult events help to understand much more, we are here on this earth to learn something and return with that knowledge to where we came from. Everything that happens has its reasons and lessons, leads us where we need to experience and see. I definitely do not say it could have been better, I am happy to have experienced what I had to experience.
– You mentioned lessons. Have you learned or discovered anything new this summer?
– This summer I am already tired of learning. It would be good to take a vacation for a while (smiles).
– A difficult time?
– Every harder cycle teaches you to better handle the next, even harder cycle. Still, everything resolves and does not last forever. If it seems that everything is very good, wait a bit, it will get worse. And vice versa: if everything is black, be patient, it will get better. I believe that good always wins.
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