très.b, photo: courtesy of the band
Polish artists performing at the event span the hottest young talents on the scene: très.b, Brodka, Kamp!, Daniel Drumz, Teielte, Pictorial Candi, Enchanted Hunters and THE KDMS.
The showcase of Polish music has been organised by the Adam Mickiewicz Institute, in close collaboration with the Great Escape, and it forms part of the Institute’s ongoing programme for the promotion of new Polish music under the headline Don’t Panic! We’re From Poland.
As Europe’s leading festival for new music, the Great Escape takes pride in enabling a handpicked selection of new artists to perform in front of incredibly varied, influential audiences. Poland has had a strong presence at the festival since 2008 with a wide variety of exciting artists including Paula & Karol, Novika and the Lovefinders and Bueno Bros performing for festival goers and key industry peers. The years of cooperation between the Adam Mickiewicz Institute and the Great Escape now bear fruit, and the Poland is the festival’s major international focus and a special guest at the event, while the Adam Mickiewicz Institute is the festival’s main international partner.
très.b, Brodka, Kamp!, Daniel Drumz, Teielte, Pictorial Candi, Enchanted Hunters and THE KDMS will perform individual concerts, and some of them also play as part of the Don’t Panic! We’re From Poland showcase. The concerts are accompanied by discussion panels for specialists working in the music industry.
Select artists featured at the Great Escape in 2013:
très.b
très.b is an international formation with Polish singer Misia Furtak, Danish/English drummer Thomas Pettit and Dutch/American vocalist/guitarist Olivier Heim, also known for his solo-project Anthony Chorale. After forming in Denmark, the band made a name for themselves in the Netherlands, first self-releasing their EP Neon Chameleon, then the full-length album Scylla and Charybdis. Both releases were very well received, with Dutch music magazine OOR writing that "Melancholic pop has rarely sounded nicer." In another review, OOR stated that "Misia Furtak sounds like a mixture between Björk and PJ Harvey."
Brodka
Brodka, as Monika Brodka goes by, is known for her unique brand of "folk power with punk energy", is one of the acclaimed young Polish recording artists, with gold records, critical praise and industry awards. She launched onto the Polish music scene with a bang as the winner of Polish Pop Idol in 2004 at the age of 16. Eight years and three award-winning albums later, Brodka has strayed from her pop-music start and is developing into a mature, alternative electro-pop artist.
The key to her success is her fresh, experimental approach, pushing the envelope in commercial pop that continues to attract the masses - and her personal style has made her a fashion icon featured in major magazines. She recently recorded a mini-album, Lax, in Los Angeles, and played at New York City’s CMJ Festival. Brodka recently visited Chicago, where she performed a concert on the 16th of March 2013. The album Lax features songs in English, and gives a glimpse into Brodka's future plans for an LP.
Daniel Drumz
Hailing from Kraków, Daniel Drumz is a young DJ who brings energy and excitement to his live sets. With an innate love for hip-hop, spanning a range of genres from funk to soul, Daniel Drumz keeps audiences coming back for more since his emergence in Poland a few years ago.
An accomplished turntablist, Daniel Drumz has won accolades for his skills behind the decks, including the league title for the Vestax POPDJ 2003, as well as opening for some of the world’s biggest and best hip-hop acts including Jay-Z and De La Soul. Daniel Drumz is also an established and renowned producer who has recorded with a vast range of artists. His EP Sleepless State Of Mind is out now on U Know Me Records.
KAMP!
Smooth synth-pop trio KAMP! are very popular in Poland. With only one EP released to date, and their self-titled LP available only in Poland, the show at this year’s the Great Escape is a step towards the band’s stronger international presence. Their warm, layered production, hit flavoured melodies and hazy melancholic vocals are already gaining them a niche global fanbase.
Teielte
Teielte’s sound demonstrates how hip-hop’s instrumental realm is closely related to club, dance and electronic music. Homeworkz points to the links between these seemingly distant styles, which isn’t necessarily an effect of Strzelczyk’s musical interests alone. The ties between these genres are rooted in the history of club music. The rhythm can easily shift to a complicated break beat that gets even the most jaded toes tapping.
Pictorial Candi
The lead vocalist of top alternative Polish band Paris Tetris, Candelaria Saenz Valiente, has embarked on a wild musical joyride with her latest solo project. She wasn't going for perfection but for a direct, punk feel that sounds like a tape recording. She is natural and full of zest and admires the likes of Daniel Johnston and R. Stevie Moore, who is known for recording quickly and starting on new songs at a brisk pace. They avoid over-perfection and go for a natural sound that doesn't require hour-long tuning.
Enchanted Hunters
The trio makes dreamy acoustic songs that bring to mind Northern American folk bards. Artistically, they have much in common with American psychedelic bands. Arrangements of their musical miniatures – songs usually last about 2 and a half minutes, with the longest around 4 minutes – are modest and imaginative, and owe much to the flute, rendering the atmosphere of their music unreal, introducing an air of fairy-tale magic.
THE KDMS
Their debut record features songs that seem as if they were pulled out straight form a New York disco of the 1980s. If not for a few production tricks one wouldn’t recognize that these tunes were actually created in the 21st century. Stephane Girard of residentadvisor.net has called their sound "the kind of non-ironic, let's-slap-that-bass-like-there-is-no-tomorrow disco that isn't 'nu' or 'old', just slightly dated and timeless at the same time".
The Great Escape Festival is a major music festival that covers all genres of music and is held in the city of Brighton every year over three days in May. It kick-starts the festival season, introducing some 15,000 music lovers to the key artists and sounds of the year. Since being founded in 2006, the Great Escape has been firmly established internationally as the U.K.'s leading event for showcasing new music, with over 300 bands playing in 30 venues over three days.
There is also a music industry convention section to the event, which is attended by over 3,000 delegates each year. The 2011 and 2012 conferences were programmed by the team from music industry publication CMU. Speakers have included Michael Eavis, DJ Shadow, Paul Epworth, and representatives of companies such as Beggars Group, Ticketmaster, PRS For Music, Universal Music Group, Topspin and others.
For more information about the festival and tickets, see: mamacolive.com/thegreatescape
Editor: Paulina Schlosser
Source: press release, mamacolive.com/thegreatescape