Paula & Karol photographed by Andrzej Barabasz
Don't Panic We're from Poland is back at the Brighton festival with a musical showcase of concerts from electro pop star Novika & The Lovefinders, neo-folk band Paula & Karol and experimental electronica DJs Bueno Bros
Bueno Bros is a DJ duo that's been making significant headway in the United Kingdom since their performance at last year's The Great Escape Festival. Marcin and Michał are indeed brothers who play with all different kinds of music. Marcin started out as a producer who would make music only to hide it away in a drawer. His brother Michał made a name for himself as a DJ in Poznań and other Polish cities before they two moved to London. They break beats in a way that blends mechanical sounds with a romantic pulse and have been compared to Radiohead. They aver that most music made by young artists ends up discarded and they want to "break the tendency and create a space for musical recycling for these pieces to gain a new quality". They publish their music on their online Pink Kong label and invite other artists to sample unused tracks and make new music out of something that would otherwise disappear. Their sound ranges from minimal to complex experimental electronica, mostly giving away their music for free online and performing live act sets. Recently they released a track called B-Cider mastered by London-based producer Jerome Schmitt of Air Mastering, available for free download at pinkkong.pl/b-cider.
Novika is one of the most recognisable pop stars on the Polish club scene. She has been making music since 2004, releasing her first record in 2006 on her own label Beats Friendly. The track Finally off that album was praised by musical adventurer, tastemaker and BBC host and DJ Gilles Peterson in his Worldwide show for BBC and was released on international compilations from Tom Middleton (The Trip 2) and Towa Tei (Motivation Five). Her latest record is titled Lovefinder, an energetic mix of club and pop music that was the fruit of many distinct collaborations with different producers and styles. The track Miss Mood has been remixed in four different ways by four Polish bands/producers (Kamp!, Seb Skalski, Last Robots, Bodizio).
Straying from the pop and club spectrum, Paula & Karol present a new take on folk music, with an upbeat, bubbly style, witty lyrics and a sound that continues to grow as the band gains speed. Established in Warsaw in 2009 by Candadian-born Paula Bialska and Polish-born Karol Strzemieczny. Since then they've grown to include more members and more instruments as they've grown to become major players on Poland's alternative music scene, winning praise from local critics and even The Guardian. The concert is part of the band's international promotional tour for their latest album Whole Again, which kicked off with a concert at the SXSW Festival in Austin Texas earlier this year.
Bueno Bros, Paula & Karol and Novika take the stage at The Great Escape as part of the Don't Panic We're From Poland showcase put together by the Adam Mickiewicz Institute, aimed at promoting young Polish musical talents across a range of styles. Previous Don't Panic initiatives showcased bands like Camero Cat, Sorry Boys, Neo Retros, Moja Adrenalina, Magnificent Muttley, The Lollipops, Kamp!, Oszibarack, The Newest Zealand, Rosemary's Kids, Twilite i Skinny Patrini, Konstantine's Lake District, Eric Shoves Them In His Pockets and Coldair. The showcase has brought these promising young musical talents to major international music festivals like Austin's SXSW, Germany's Juicy Beats, France's Europavox and previous editions of The Great Escape.
The Great Escape was founded in 2006 and has since established itself as one of Europe's most important festivals for new music from across the world. Leading music magazine NME called it "Glastonbury by the sea". Taking place over three days each May in the seaside city of Brighton, the event kicks off the festival season in England, gathering about 15,000 people to discover more than 300 bands. This year's edition takes place between the 10th-12th of May.
Don't Panic We're from Poland at The Great Escape - Programme
Friday 11th of May
Paula & Karol
9 pm - 9.30 pm
The Hub- Jubilee Square
Friday 11th of May
Novika & The Lovefinders
9.30 pm - 10 pm
Psychosocial Ground Floor
Saturday 12th of May
Novika & The Lovefinders
1 pm-3.30 pm
Komedia
44-47 Gardner Street,
North Laine, Brighton, East Sussex, BN1 1UN
Saturday 12th of May
Bueno Bros
8 pm, 9 pm, 10 pm
Corn Exchange
See more on the festival at escapegreat.com
Editor: Agnieszka Le Nart
Source: press materials