This year marks 35 years since Rebel’s founding, and although the lineup has changed over time, the energy and rebellious rock'n'roll message remain the same.

"The band’s first creative period was associated with songs in English, but now we are focusing on music in Latvian,”continues Novikovs. "When we started, the goal was to break into the global scene – and we did it: we performed in the U.S., all over Europe, and for a long time in Singapore. Now, what’s important to us is making great music in Latvian. At first, it seemed like playing in Latvian would be a challenge – that it wouldn’t sound like it did in the early days. But thanks to an amazing collaboration with Igors Linga, who writes lyrics and produces the videos, we’ve proven that rock’n’roll and blues-rock can sound great in Latvian.”

I confirmed this myself by creating and performing songs in Latvian with Atis Ieviņš and Sabīne Berezina. Tracks like “Trumpis”, “Labi viss tev būs”, and “Atmiņu ceļš” put an end to my doubts. It was time for Rebel to return – and to turn up the guitars on stage again.
The first song offered by the legendary band is “Dejo!”. The music video was created by artist Jānis Bērziņš – not only his first video, but also a unique style never seen before in Latvia, as the entire animation was hand-drawn on paper.

Watch the music video on YouTube!

Jānis Bērziņš says about himself: “I’m Jānis, the fourth in a line of Bērziņš men. A true Kurzeme local. A multi-artist – any format suits me. If I haven’t done something yet, I’ll learn it in the process. Watching the finished clip, I’m truly happy with the result! The amount of animation done in such a short time makes up for the countless hours spent drawing and editing. I’m ready for new challenges!”
Concluding the conversation, Novikovs adds: “I want to thank my creative team – especially Edijs Gņedovskis and Igors Linga. I also received great support from Jurijs Širokovs and Juris Kristons. But the greatest support, strength, and motivation to return to Rebel came from my partner Diāna. See you on stage and on the radio waves!”