from Vilnius became the favorites of Lithuanian philology students due to their often acoustic, intimate sound and poetic lyrics. Airija (the name is Lithuanian for Ireland) from Alytus skillfully combined rock music with Irish folk melodies. Leader of Airija Darius Mileris currently resides in Dublin, Ireland and plays similar music to that of his former band in an outfit called Nojus. Also during the 1990s, Fun-Punk bands Kamštis from Utena and Armatūra from Vilnius had huge success. 2000s In the early 2000s, several new names appeared on the scene, including Britpop-influenced Lemon Joy, Merlin and Biplan. Lemon Joy and Merlin drifted to the side of pop/electronic music shortly after the release of their debut albums, while Biplan have stayed rather successfully with rock. SKAMP is one of the most popular bands in Lithuania since its inception in 1998 and is well-known abroad. SKAMP blends Pop, Rock, Hip Hop, and Reggae genres into a unique alternative sound. Pop-rockers Relanium formed in 1999. After signing a contract with Koja records, the band was renamed Laura And The Lovers. In 2005, Laura And The Lovers participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2005 with a song titled Little by Little, but failed to achieve significant success . 2005 marked the beginning of the recovery of Lithuanian rock music. The number of rock festivals has increased while new bands are slowly finding their way into the Lithuanian media, not to mention the hearts of the listeners. These include funky Saulės Kliošas, Bitės, and Inculto; rockers IR, Brainers, Gravel, Sportas, Arbata amongst others. The Lithuanian gothic scene is not very big, but has strong support from Lithuanian Goths. There are several bands representing this style. Siela and Mano Juodoji Sesuo are considered the pioneers of gothic music in Lithuania. Saprophytes, from the small town of Pabradė play emotional metal with lucid references to New York metallers Type O Negative. Many rock bands claim folk influences. Žalvarinis is a folk metal band from Vilnius. Their music is typically very slow-paced with exclusively Lithuanian lyrics. Another folk-rock band Atalyja is worth mentioning in this context. Annual rock music festivals include Mėnuo Juodaragis (summer festival of Baltic culture, alternative music, folk music and experimental music), Kunigunda Lunaria (gothic/darkwave/industrial festival in Vilnius); Naujas Kraujas (new bands' festival); Kilkim žaibu (Baltic folk, pagan and black metal festival); DevilStone (Extreme rock'n'roll). Labels Zona The first independent record company of Lithuania, Zona, started