BrainStorm was founded by Renars, Janis, Kaspars and Gundars in their native town Jelgava, Latvia, in 1989, when they were still at school and only 14 years old. The idea came from Renars when he heard Depeche Mode and thought it would be cool to start a band, and the choice of line-up was more logical than musical because they were all in the same class at school, and were working at the same factory that summer. They were also in the school choir. Maris, who's one year younger than the rest, joined a year later. Back then, not one of them could play an instrument well. But it was always going to be music. They started like any normal high school rock band 11 years ago, and are still together. They've all attended music school but only Maris finished it. Now BrainStorm is a job and a hobby together for them.

Originally, their name was BrainStorm, invented by Kaspars' aunt: she had seen one of their concerts and said it was a real 'brainstorm'. But afterwards they translated it to Prâta Vêtra, which literally means 'brainstorm' in Latvian. In Latvia they're known by everybody as Prâta Vêtra.

Six months after the band was founded, their first rehearsal took place in a local registry office. At first they had one original song (they never played covers) and a few fans at their school. In 1992 they released their first single, 'Jo tu naac' (As you're coming), which went straight into the Latvian top ten (it became #9), mostly thanks to fans from their native Jelgava. Their second single, 'Ziema' (Winter), became #2. Logically, they won 'Best Newcomer' at the Latvian Music Awards that year. As a result of their constant live playing, Prâta Vêtra have developed a loyal following in Latvia. Since the end of 1992 Aldis Hofmanis is the manager and the 'sixth member' of the band.

In 1993, the guys released their first, highly acclaimed album, 'Vairak nekâ skaïi' (More than loudly), and performed a vast outdoor concert in the center of Riga, the capital of Latvia. Their work was compared to U2, Simple Minds and R.E.M.

Unfortunately, their self-issued second album, 'Ziema' (Winter), which was released in 1994 and consisted mainly of western alternative rock with the use of trumpet and cello, seemed to confuse the audience because it was very different to the band's previous work, and the success was limited. Prâta Vêtra's popularity started to decrease again, and though they had their first international performances in Copenhagen, at the Rock Summer ‘95 festival in Tallinn, and at Ringfest in Köln, it was a difficult time and a long winter for Prâta Vêtra.

Autumn 1995, the band released one of their old and for some time forgotten songs, 'Lidmasinas' (Aeroplanes), which became Song of the Year on Radio Super FM, and is still the most successful single ever in Latvia. The band made use of the song’s popularity during the subsequent tour, by collecting ransom money for a Latvian aircraft being held hostage in Moscow. Prâta Vêtra were back in the game, and released the hugely successful album 'Veronika' (Veronica), returning to more mainstream, more joyful and melodic sound, followed by a 60-day tour around Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and Russia, performances at the Baltic Culture Days in London and winning the Grand Prix prize at the largest festival in Latvia, Liepajas Dzintars. The next single, 'Tavas majas mana azote' (Under my bosom is your sweet home) occupied the #1 spot of the Latvian charts for 9 weeks (including Christmas week), and became Latvia's best-selling single in 1996 - no other song was #1 for such a long time that year.

In 1997, Prâta Vêtra were signed to Microphone Records (the company representing EMI in the Baltic countries) as its hottest priority artists, and their next album, 'Viss ir tieði tâ, kâ tu vçlies' (Everything goes just as you like it) was one of the first records in Latvia to go gold. Also, the first album was internationally released.

In 1998, the guys received three more prizes at the Latvian Music Awards and their first international single, the English song 'Under my wing is your sweet home' (recorded in Germany and produced by Volkert Hinkel, guitarist of Fools Garden, known from the hit Lemon Tree), received prizeworthy airplay all over the Baltics and in Sweden, Finland, Russia, Slovenia and Turkey. At the end of the year, they recorded the first five songs for their first international, English album 'Among the suns'. They also became 'Grand Prix winner' and 'collective favourite' at the Karlshamn festival in Sweden. The media were excited and praised Renars' charismatic showmanship and vocal skills, but the band's breakthrough in Sweden didn't come as yet.

The Latvian version of 'Among the suns', 'Starp divâm saulçm', was released spring 1999 and became platina in Latvia five months later. All five singles from the album have reached #1 in local charts - 'Brivdienas nav manas laimigas dienas' went to #1 in the second week after its release! Renars says the lyrics on the album are kind of sad, as are most of Latvia's folk songs - but when partying, Latvians show their other face; the music on the album is happy, but there are many sad chords that touch your soul, while the happy ones don't; Renars reckons it's important to touch.

Finland already feels like home to the guys, as it's as green as Latvia, and the weather is alike.

The BrainStormers are always in for a party; in Latvia, people only go out on weekends, so it was quite a surprise for the guys when their first concert abroad on a weeknight sold out.

They've got a varied audience of teenagers, kids and adults.

Growing up, the five guys were all influenced by different artists. Gundars was a great fan of the Red Hot Chilli Peppers. Drummer Kaspars liked Nirvana and Radiohead. Renars liked Britpop. They all liked A-Ha from Norway. Renars likes Travis a lot at the moment. The last album he bought was 'Peace' by the Eurythmyics. The band's other favourite bands include Midnight Oil.

Their dream festival line-up would be: The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, U2, Depeche Mode, Metallica, Crowded House, BrainStorm.

The guys reckon the style of their CDs is pop or pop-rock, and their concerts are more like rock. Jonathan King, a well-known English music journalist, said that they play indie rock (individual rock).

BrainStorm write and sing in three languages: Latvian, English and Russian. They've done one song in Russian, but aren't planning to do more in Russian because that would be too much. They have got enough concerts already in two languages. Outside of Latvia, they only sing in English, and in Latvia, only in Latvian.

Somehow, they are often compared to Russian band Mumij Troll. Renars first saw a concert of this band in 1995, and thought that they were quite similar. Now the members of the two bands are good friends.

The guys supported Supergrass on their Danish tour in 2000, and think Supergrass and their music are great, as Supergrass are not into making a great show but it's all about their music for them.

According to BrainStorm, their lifestyle's rock'n'roll-ish enough for them, especially when they start travelling. There's often hard partying, actually they party every night. The intensity of the partying depends on the weather, their mood, whether they're tired or not, and the size of the concert. But partying till six in the morning is very usual. However, the guys don't touch drugs, only a little bit of alcohol.