Double Faced Eels

Double Faced Eels
Double Faced Eels at concert, 2008
Background information
Also known as	DFE
Origin	Riga, Latvia
Genres	Alternative rock
Years active	2000–present
Members	Mārtiņš Gailītis (Marka) Reinis Straume Viktors Maslovs

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

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.

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

• Marka (Mārtiņš Gailītis) (lead vocals and guitar),
• Reinis Straume (lead vocals and guitar),
• Viktors Maslovs (bass guitar),

Past members:

• Ronalds Briežkalns (drums),
• Reinis Briģis (rhythm guitar and backing vocals),
• Eduards Veinbrants (bass guitar),
• Pauls Kesteris (drums),
• Darius Petrauskas (drums),
• Kristaps Ērglis (bass guitar).

Discography