IR

IR is an alternative rock band based in Vilnius, Lithuania. Formed in 2003, IR has stormed the young Lithuanian alternative scene, winning several local band contests including the most prestigious Naujas Kraujas and Euro Rock Vilnius 2004, among others. After the original line-up broke up in 2005, the founding member and front man Germanas Skoris continued the IR drive with different semi-international line-ups until it stabilized in the current shape.

During just three years of its existence the band's music has been compared by fans and local media to about a dozen rock acts, stretching from Placebo and Smashing Pumpkins to Nirvana and Foo Fighters, which only suggests that IR actually do have an original style of their own. With this in mind, and having a wide range of musical influences, the band members themselves won't go into any deeper definitions than just "rock", leaving it up to the listeners to figure out for themselves.

In the winter of 2005, the band signed a record deal with Zona Music, which resulted in their debut album Now or Never. Released in the fall of 2005, it took the band’s career to a new level. The album received very positive feedback from numerous reviewers, both local and foreign, agreeing that it is one of the best alternative rock records to come out of the Baltic States. "The album has a drive from the beginning on. [...] Amazing quality so early in the band's history" wrote Overhook Music from Finland.

Despite a neglectful stance towards the rock format in the Baltic media, tracks from the album managed to enter several local charts. For three weeks, the video for the song "Idol” stood at number one on the Baltic Top 30 – a unified weekly chart conducted by several Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian radio stations and TV channels, and the ballad “Maybe” topped the charts at Mazeikiu Aidas radio station. “Maybe” is also in rotation on the new alternative radio station Opus 3.

IR is a hard-working live band, playing various local events and clubs. They opened for Tito and Tarantula at the Rudstock 2004 festival, toured in Germany, Poland, Latvia, the Netherlands and the UK. IR has won the Best Rock Artist of the Year award and Now or Never was nominated for the Best Album of the Year at the Lithuanian alternative music awards A.LT. The band was the featured artist of the week at ubl.com, an international independent music website, and will be a cover artist on the next issue of the popular Gramofonas music/hi-fi magazine. They have recently played numerous unplugged shows, not just in club venues but a live on-air radio performance as well. The band is currently preparing for a spring 2007 tour of Europe.