Aarzemnieki started life as a one man project. German Jöran Steinhauer first became interested in Latvia after watching Brainstorm take third place for Latvia upon their debut at the 2000 Eurovision Song Contest. He travelled to Latvia on 2005, to the town of Tulsi as part of an exchange programme. This later led to Jöran working as a volunteer for charitable projects. His love for music also brought him into the Latvian selection in 2008, where her performed the entry More than 27 with his former group Axlina.

Fast forward five years and back home in Bochum, Germany, Jöran composed a song titled Paldies Latiņam! (Thank You, Lat), which quickly went on to become something of a Youtube phenomenon. The overwhelming response made Jöran pack his bags and relocate to Riga, to see what the future held for him. During autumn 2013, Aarzemnieki grew into a fully fledged band, with the addition of drummer Raitis Vilumovs, pianist and composer of Cake to bake Guntis Veilands and violinist and vocalist Katrina Dimanta.