Eurosonic Noorderslag is the largest and most significant showcase festival in the European live music industry. The next edition of the Dutch festival will take place on January 13 – 16, 2016, in Groningen, Netherlands, featuring perfomances by Europe’s freshest up-and-coming music artists. The festival gathers the most important music industry protagonists, such as festival organizers, bookers, music promoters and pop experts, from across Europe to get an idea of the most promising acts on the market. As part of the European Talent Exchange Program (ETEP), Austria will be present with seven local acts playing the role of musical ambassadors.
With the amazing opportunity to showcase their talent in front of such a vast expert audience, the festival line-up includes the Austrian acts HVOB, Julian & der Fux, Leyya, filous, James Hersey, Mieux and Schmieds Puls.
Links:
Eurosonic Noorderslag | www.eurosonic-noorderslag.nl
European Talent Exchange Program (ETEP) | www.etep.nl
AUSTRIAN SHOWCASES
(in alphabetical order)
FILOUS
FILOUSPerformance Date: Wednesday, January 13
Time: 23:00 – 23:45
Venue: Huis de Beurs, Groningen
Performance Date: Thursday, January 14
Time: 00:30 – 01:15
Venue: Paradigm, Groningen
Unlike other electronic music artists, filous plays every instrument on his own – an unusual approach that has already earned him many admirers and an ever growing online listening community. Hailed as the breakout star of the electronic dance music scene, filous has been making a name for himself by reinterpreting and deconstructing existing tracks and adding his own spin on the music. On his recently released debut EP “DAWN”, filou enlisted the help of fellow musician James Hersey for the track “How Hard I Try” – right from the bat the single debuted at #3 on the Spotify Global Chart and #7 on the U.S. Viral Chart and has been streamed more than five million times since its release.
Links: filousmusic.com | soundcloud.com/filous
HVOB
HVOBPerformance Date: Wednesday, January 13
Time: 23:30 – 00:00 (3voor12 Stage)
Venue: Vera, Groningen
Performance Date: Thursday, January 14
Time: 23:00 – 23:45
Venue: Grand Theatre, Groningen
Founded in 2012, HVOB (short for Her Voice Over Boys) belong to one of the most exciting Austrian pop discoveries of the past few years. Initially only known to a small circle of music connoisseurs, HVOB’s music career soon took off in breathtaking speed. The songs of Anna Müller and Paul Wallner are carried by rather restrained and minimalistic tunes, stylistically settled somewhere between house, electronica and pop, and accompanied by gentle and alluring vocals that are a guarantee for some goose-bump moments. Despite the catchiness, the overall sound is surprisingly complex and varied, and unfolds into a pleasantly warm and melancholic atmosphere with a timeless feel.
Link: hvob-music.com
JAMES HERSEY
JAMES HERSEYPerformance Date: Friday, January 15
Time: 21:30 – 22:15
Venue: Vrijdag, Groningen
James Hersey is a multi-talented singer-songwriter from Vienna, who writes his own lyrics, plays multiple instruments, produces his own albums and even directs his own videos. Already at the age of 17, he independently produced his first self-titled EP, which celebrated its first radio plays in Austria and caught the attention of various promoters and clubs. Steadily gaining more and more ground, James Hersey has recently collaborated with internationally renowned artists like Kygo, Dillon Francis and Filous on tracks like “Coming Over” and “How Hard I Try,” which each have amassed millions of plays on Spotify and Soundcloud. Things are looking bright for James Hersey, who also just got signed by the Glassnote Entertainment Group and with which he will release his next studio-produced album.
Link: www.jamesherseymusic.com
JULIAN & DER FUX
Performance Date: Thursday, January 14
Time: 00:30 – 01:15
Venue: Huize Maas Front, Groningen
The two Viennese producers Julian Hruza and Dominic Plainer, aka Lupo, aka Der Fux, knew each other for a while before they decided to launch the duo project Julian & Der Fux in 2012. The first single “Speckbrot” and its video (featured at the Crossing Europe Film Festival in Linz and the Vienna Independent Shorts Festival) was an instant success, laying an excellent foundation for future ventures. Several hit singles and successful collaborations later, Julian & der Fux have just recently released their debut album “Vanille”, which is currently climbing the charts and blowing it up in Austria.
Link: jhruza.com/julian-der-fux
LEYYA
Performance Date: Friday, January 15
Time: 22:00 – 22:45
Performance Venue: USVA, Groningen
Chaos vs. Routine, Woman vs. Man, Art vs. Pop — the sound of Vienna-based electronic-pop formation Leyya creates a foreign yet familiar surrounding; spherical, floating, but also violent and impulsive. The experimental combination of vocal melancholy and electronic beats makes its softness sound edgy and creates comfort zones, just to push you out of them into the vastness of the unpredictable. The creative duo of Sophie Lindinger and Marco Kleebauer has released its debut album “Spanish Disco” in May 2015, with critics comparing their sophisticated, detailed and profound sound to Portishead’s “Dummy”.
Link: www.leyya-music.com
MIEUX
Performance Date: Friday, January 15
Time: 20:45 – 21:30
Performance Venue: Platform Theater (Patio), Groningen
Labelled as two of Austria’s most forward thinking producers, the duo Mieux started out as a fun project dedicated to the tweaking of r’n’b and rap classics. Meanwhile Mieux’s music and their impressive live shows have sky rocketed in only a short period of time and are making waves far beyond Austrian borders. Their latest EP „Are You Happy“ was just released in May this year, receiving world wide praise from the likes of Lefto, Gilles Peterson, testpressing.org and many more.
Link: mieuxmusic.com
SCHMIEDS PULS
Performance Date: Thursday, January 14
Time: 23:45 – 00:30
Performance Venue: Grand Theater Up, Groningen
Following the virtue of „less is more“, the music of the trio Schmieds Puls focuses on the essentials: the peaceful beauty of a gently played guitar, the soft rhythm of drums, the subtle and slighty jazz sounding bass, and Mira Lu Kovacs‘ unmistakably delicate voice elevating each song to new heights. Creeping under your skin with every tone, there is never a lack of dramatic, deeply sad, more lively, or just heart-wrenchingly beautiful moments.
Link: www.schmiedspuls.com
