Not long to wait now until Latvia’s Supernova selection hits our screens on February 8th! The one-shot final sees 9 entries lined up to compete for the ticket to be Latvia’s representative at the 65th Eurovision Song Contest in Rotterdam.
ESCBubble have caught up with all 9 of the finalists, and today we chat with the band “Bad Habits”, made up of lead vocalist, guitarist and harmonica player, Mārtiņš Balodis, Jānis Līde (electric guitar), Normans Barbal (percussion, drums) and Kristaps Grīnbergs (bass) who will be competing with their song “Sail With You”
Bad Habits, congratulations, and welcome to Supernova! The 9 chosen finalists this year come from such diverse genres of music, how would you describe Bad Habits, both the band and your music?
Thank you and thank you. We’re happy to be here (in Supernova2020). We think of ourselves with a made-up motto “ with fun on our minds and blues in our hearts”. And musically we follow this as well- we enjoy what we do and we’re not afraid to write fun or sad, more serious songs.
How is the country music scene in Latvia? Is it a growing market?
Well, who knows.! Country music’s been blasting national radio stations since we can remember ourselves, but the quality has grown, that’s for sure! It’s an important genre and has a special place in people’s hearts.
I’ve read the meaning of your song, and it brought a tear to my eye! That special feeling of having someone at home waiting for you should be appreciated a lot more than it is … Can you tell us more about the background of “Sail With You”?
The story behind the song is that being a child I spent summers with my grandparents in a beautiful city called Liepāja near the Baltic Sea. Long story short – I love them both, but now I have only my grandfather left who recently turned 90 years old. Appreciating my happy childhood and always taking an example and life lessons from him, this is a song for him and a reminder to the rest of listeners who should love their closest ones.
Your debut album “Bad Habits” was released in March 2019 to great critical acclaim, including a “Golden Microphone” nomination, how was that experience for you all?
Well first of all we really enjoyed process of writing it and also added electronic bits and pieces to spice things up a bit. We couldn’t be happier -people seem to enjoy it. News about the Supernova finals and our nomination came in about the same time, so we were shocked after being shocked. Surprised for the “Best Country or Rockabilly Album” nomination, but we humbly accept that.
I watched the fantastic video for your lead single from the album “Great White Night” – I was intrigued to see a special thanks going out to Quentin Tarantino at the end! You have to tell me what that is all about!
Thank you! Yes, thanks to Quentin Tarantino. We can’t tell you much, but he was involved.
BM Production our management team, led by Ieva Florence-Vīksne made an original script from real life events and we made it with Latvijas best cinema professionals. Great Night – Great work – Great Team!
I see that you are playing at the Trompet Taproom in Riga (this will sadly have passed at time of publication!), it’s a venue I have walked past but never visited. What is it like performing live in such a venue?
Welll… we’re here now writing these answers! Place is fully booked for tonight. We couldn’t be happier about this. The venue is quite small, and the audience is very close. Thing is, we bonded as a band playing small gigs in pubs so this will be no problem for us (and this is just 1 of 4 gigs this week!) BUT since this venue is considered home for local jazz cats, it has its own aura and audience. We don’t know what to expect but hopefully we all gonna have a great time tonight !
I read somewhere that you think that the Supernova 2020 final is impossible to predict (I have to agree with you!) What are your thoughts on the other competitors?
Uhh competition is tight! They all are great guys, musicians and all deserve to represent Latvia at Eurovision. Thank god we are not the ones to decide, because this task would be too difficult.
Thank you Bad Habits for chatting with us, and we look forward to hearing you live on stage at the Supernova finals on February 8th
You can watch their audition performance of “Sail With You” below, or listen to the studio version on this Spotify link
Who is your winner of Supernova this year? Vote in our Poll below, and keep following ESCBubble using our social media buttons to make sure you don’t miss a thing on the run up to Rotterdam.
