Sobe’s chronology begins with April 2000. This is when the band’s first phonograms came into existence – Võta Mind Kaasa (Take Me Along) and What Are Friends For were recorded in Tartu. Appreciating the desire of liiiz, the then vocalist of the group, to sing in English, an English version of Võta Mind Kaasa was produced, which later on became the title track of Sobe’s first album, Love Pioneers. The song attained unexpected popularity and was soon included on Estonian hit collections. This inspired the band to set new goals – a long-playing album, and thus, long hours in the studio.
In the newspaper Postimees (28.07.2000), reviewer Berk Vaher found Sobe to be ‘pop perfecto’. Sobe meant a minimum level of pretence and an optimal amount of work, it was respectful to friends and new audiences alike, it was convincing and it preferred to move along the crossroads of styles, avoiding both platitude and excessive profundity.
After two years of work in the studio, Sobe’s debut album Love Pioneers was released by METRONOM Productions as its very first production. The album included 14 tracks, a majority of which were written by the tandem mel/mathura. The record also included a video to As I Burn For You (directed by Asko-Romé Altsoo and Marti Savi, produced by mel), a song that remained one of the most-played tracks of Estonian radio stations for several weeks. Other singles of the album were Love Pioneers and Moon in the Mind, the latter included a video of the track (directed by Asko-Romé Altsoo and Siret Roots, produced by mel). The remarkable booklet design of the album was created by Kalle Müller, by using his personal photo collection. Soon the project received another complementation in the form of mathura’s soft pastels, viewable at www.hot.ee/mathura.
From 2000 to 2003 Sobe were liiiz (Liis Mäesalu), tom (Toomas Leis), mel (Meelis Leis), ats (Marko Sirila), paul (Paul Daniel) and antti (Antti Perli). 2004 and 2005 were years of leaving, searching and finding: with the help of guest vocalist Sirli Hiius (Sarah), the band performed their new track, Look In My Eyes, at the 2005 Estonian Eurovision Finals. Light, released at the close of 2005, made use of the iridescently beautiful voice of Liisa Nõmme. As a background voice, Liisa appeared with Masquerade on Elmar’s Dance Night Vol.9.
In 2006, young Andre Hein joined Sobe as its new vocalist. Andre is from Haapsalu and with Ursel Oja, he studies jazz and pop at the Heino Eller Music School in Tartu. In addition to fresh and distinctive timbre, the young vocalist abounds in musical ideas that find their expression in his personal song creation (in English and Estonian) and guitar playing. Young and promising Laur Joamets has delved even deeper in the world of guitar. He has been enriching Sobe’s musical soundscape for several years already. For live shows, another author of lyrics, Margo Peetsalu, has joined in on bass, while the drums and percussions are applied by producer Meelis Leis. Sobe’s hits can be listened to at Songs.
Sobe is the sum total of the tastes and minds of its members, free of compromises in momentary popularity. In Estonian, the word Sobe means ‘befitting’, ‘right’, ‘nice’.
