We are supporting the presence of 33 showcase acts and all the more industry professionals from Austria, Iceland and Belgium at Eurosonic Noorderslag 2023 (18-21 January 2023).
PRESS: Interview or an unplugged session, we will coordinate it for you! Reach out and we will propose a handpicked shortlist for your needs! Alternatively, browse the roster yourself below. Contact: Ida Sällinen saellinen@factory92.eu
INDUSTRY PROFESSIONALS: We have a selection of exclusive networking opportunities where you can meet and mingle with your international colleagues in a friendly and often delicious settings during ESNS, see below! You can also browse below what our rosters' international acts look for business-wise - or you can ask for personalized tips to make the most of your ESNS 2023! Contact: Ida Sällinen saellinen@factory92.eu
B2B NETWORKING EVENTS
T H U R S D A Y 1 9 T H
Introducing Musika Peripherika Brunch
11:00 By invitation only, express interest
European artists, media, and supporting organisations! Start your ESNS-Thursday with an informative exclusive brunch getting to know the EU-funded project Musika Peripherika, innovative European audio-visual and music project that will produce a TV series, music recordings, and drive transparency in distribution rights.
Austrian Heartbeats Reception
13:00 By invitation only, FULLY BOOKED!
Meet the Austrian delegates over free lunch! Very limited spots.
Record In Iceland Reception
15:00 By invitation only, express interest
Iceland Music invites you to an exclusive high-level networking event during ESNS to celebrate their campaign called Record in Iceland, which benefits all who are interested in having recording costs cut up to 25%, just for doing it in the breathtakingly inspiring surroundings of Iceland! We will explain all in its simplicity at the Reception.
Belgium Booms Drinks
17:00-19:00 SIGN UP
@ The Social Hub, Boterdiep 9
Free Belgian beer, finger food, and place packed with nice people only! This event stays on ESNS crowds' networking must list year after year.
F R I D A Y 2 0 T H
jazzahead! networking lunch
13:00 By invitation only, express interest
Meet the jazzahead! team and other jazz-crossover-scene key players over free lunch at ESNS and learn how the Bremen event could become your leverage!
ALL ACTS
Spotify playlist | Youtube playlist
Browsing tip: Press CRTL + F and write "rock", "label" or whatever describes you!
Arny Margret (IS) Folk, indie
Arny Margret is a 21-year-old singer-songwriter from the Westfjords of Iceland. Her music can best be described as indie folk although Arny Margret has clearly made a sound of her own. Arny has spent the last year touring across Europe and the US, supporting Blake Mills, Leif Vollebekk, playing Newport Folk Festival, Iceland Airwaves and more. She released her anticipated debut EP to critical acclaim in February and now she’s released her debut album, ‘They Only Talk About The Weather‘.
Looking for: live opportunities (EU, US, CA), label (US)
Showtime: Wed 18 JAN - News cafe - 20:45-21:25
Thu 19 JAN - Lutherse Kerk - 21:20-22:00
Avalanche Kaito (BE) Griot noise, post punk
Avalanche Kaito (Glitterbeat) could be described as “grrriot_punk_noise”. Burkinabe singer Kaito Winse - surveyor for some time of the Brussels underground scene and last born of a family of Burkinabe griots -, meets the drummer / pure dataist Benjamin Chaval and the anarcho_electric guitarist Nico Gitto. Kaito, the guardian of the ancestral griot tradition, rubs shoulders with the multiform approaches of Benjamin Chaval and Nico Gitto in an explosive combination.
Looking for: digital PR/marketing agency, streaming performance optimization
Showtime: Wed-Thu night 19 JAN - VERA - 01:15-02:00
Aze (AT) Indie, R&B
Apart from each other they are Beyza & Ezgi, together they form Aze. Since 2020, the duo provides us a nonchalant insight into their deepest inner selves with their sound mix between sad & sexy and the charming, yet playful lyrics. Their debut "Hotline Aze" was released in June 2022 - the concept album is a psychopharmacological cocktail of RnB, indie pop and dream rock that's easily activated with one quick phone call to Aze's hotline +43 664 99 82 13 33 - lines are running hot, call if you dare.
Looking for: label/licensing partner (UK, US, FR, CH, TR), booking (CH, FR, BENELUX, UK, TR)
Showtime: Wed 18 JAN - Forum Rabostudio - 20:30-21:10
Bolis Pupul (BE) Electronic
Fresh from acclaimed debut album with sidekick Charlotte Adigéry Belgium-Chinese musician Bolis Pupul explores themes of heritage and identity on his new solo two-track 12-inch ‘Neon Buddha’ - out now via Soulwax’s DEEWEE. The title track inspired by a dream Bolis had of a pagoda in Hong Kong featuring a contemplative Buddha made of neon lights. The music is similarly bright and exciting – an insistent acid squiggle giving the track the requisite Weatherall-friendly A Love from Outer Space chug.
Looking for: booking, press (WW)
Showtime: Fri-Sat night 21 JAN - Palace - 00:20-01:00
Catherine Graindorge (BE) psychedelic, experimental
Catherine Graindorge is a Brussels-based violinist, violist and composer. She worked with international artists such as Nick Cave, Warren Ellis, Mark Lanegan and Debbie Harry. In September 2022 she released a 4-track EP featuring Iggy Pop, The Dictator. Catherine’s music is a kind of psychedelic soundtrack: an immersive, intense and drone-like soundscape charged with underlying tension that needs to explode, just like a volcano on the brink of eruption.
Looking for: sub-agents (DE, AT, FR, other)
Showtime: Fri 20 JAN - DOT - 23:00-23:45
Clara! (BE) reggeaton
Following a passion for the empowering perreo that started in the 00s at her teenage parties in Galicia, Spanish MC and DJ Clara! blends revolt, sex and humor on reggaeton/rap mutant rhythms with a punk spirit and a feminist foundation. For this infectious and twisted take on the gender she joins forces with eclectic producers including Pearson Sound, Low Jack and Maoupa Mazzocchetti.
Looking for: label release (WW)
Showtime: Fri-Sat night 21 JAN - Palace - 02:00-03:00
Cobra The Impaler (BE) Progressive metal
Whenever the world needs a hero, mankind looks to be empowered by the hope of salvation from their idols. Whether they be gods, money, or other men, these idols are all worshiped in rapturous rituals designed to lift the worshiper from the drudgery of daily life and into higher spirits. Come to destroy these gods and their rituals is COBRA THE IMPALER: a hero without equal, a god among men, a champion of death, and a monstrous creature to behold.
Looking for: live opportunities, booking agency (outside EU)
Showtime: Thu 19 JAN - Mutua Fides - 20:45-21:30
Dienne (BE) Electronic, classical, avant garde, chamber music, ambient
The Belgian composer, vocalist, and multi-instrumentalist Dienne builds songs and soundscapes which portray the images and stories that play behind her eyes. Combining analogue instruments like the oboe, the piano, and the flute with reverb-drenched vocals and shimmers of processed electronic sources, she creates hazy pieces of music full of the melancholy of remembrance and loss. Her debut album Addio (2022) was released on Nicolás Jaar’s Other People imprint.
Looking for: label partners, publishers
Showtime: Wed 18 JAN - Simplon Up - 20:00-20:45
doppelfinger (AT) Indie, singer-songwriter, folk
The first songs that Clemens Bäre has ever written were never really meant to be heard by anyone. Music has always been his "place to go" when the outside world becomes too loud. In sound, the dark & honest songs are influenced by a deep admiration for classic folk singer-songwriters. In March 2022 he released his debut album "by design" under the name of doppelfinger. In his home country, doppelfinger is already seen as "one of Austria’s best singer/songwriters" (radio FM4) with "international claim" (the gap).
Looking for: label/licensing partner (US, CA, UK), booking (DE, CH, FR, BENELUX, NL, SE, DK)
Showtime: Wed 18 JAN - Lutherse Kerk - 22:40-23:20
ECHT! (BE) Electronic, fusion
Brussels band ECHT! is inspired by the concepts that you can find in electronic music and effects of musical production, they steal those languages and apply them to their music. With their totally home-made sound they play their set like a DJ would. Exclusively instrumental, the group is composed of a drummer, a keyboard player, a guitarist and a bassist. Combining electronic music styles like footwork, bizzaroid hip hop, trap with futuristic jazz and funk.
Looking for: PR agency (DE, FR), booking extra (EU)
Showtime: Wed-Thu night 18 JAN - Simplon Main - 23:45-00:30
Eydís Evensen (IS) Post-classical
In line with the traditions of her homeland, Eydís Evensen achieved an outstanding feat of tonal expressiveness with her debut “Bylur” last year. The Icelander carefully plays her way through dreamy piano harmonies, sometimes solo, sometimes accompanied by violin, cello or trumpet, but always with a well-formulated melancholy and a drama that immediately wreaks havoc on one’s own soul. Evensen composed all her works in isolation, in the seclusion of the Icelandic hinterland or in her flat in Reykjavik.
Looking for: press and media (UK, US, EU)
Showtime: Wed 18 JAN - Akerk - 20:45-21:30
Florence Arman (AT) Pop
Florence Arman is an established singer-songwriter and no stranger to the international pop scene, having worked with artists such as Rhys Lewis, The Kooks, Barns Courtney, G-Flip, Bakermat, John Martin, filous and Harry Hudson to name a few. Over the last year she has established herself as one of the most promising newcomers with her intimate, yet witty and light-hearted artist project. She writes all her songs alone and works with a close team of producers to finish them. She comes from a family of English musicians, her father is a conductor and composer, her mother a vocal coach, one of her brothers a jazz guitarist and the other is a songwriter / producer. Arman released her debut EP in July 2021 and is now working on another 7 track EP that will be released this year.
Looking for: live opportunities (DE, ES, NL, FR, UK)
Showtime: Wed 18 JAN - Stadsschouwburg - 20:00-21:00
freekind. (SVN) Neo-soul, Hip-hop, R&B
When listening to the irresistible, r’n’b-jazz-pop-soul-single of "Visualize", you’ll find yourself wanting to see how Sara Ester Gredelj (vocals, piano) and Nina Korošak-Serčič (drums) bring their music to life. Their live performances are like collective group therapy with the songs sharing something that’s inside all of us. Their newest release “Happiness” is delivers its promise of happiness to fans of H.E.R., Jorja Smith, Arlo Parks or freekind. Sara was born in Croatia and Nina has Slovenian roots, but they met in Vienna, Austria, at one of Europe’s best art and music universities.
Looking for: festivals, venues
Showtime: Wed 18 JAN - Forum Rabostudio - 21:45-22:25
Fri 20 JAN - Coffee Company - 14:10-14:50
Good Wilson (AT) Indie pop, shoegaze
Good Wilson take you on a smooth ride on a sunny coast in a guitar-shaped cab. They drive over your sorrows and make sure the car won’t head towards the expected. Make yourself comfortable, sink into the broken-in, comfortable faux leather seats and fasten the velvet seatbelt. Prepare to depart from reality into Good Wilson's laid back, feelgood world. While Good Wilson’s singles are currently rotating on over 50 international radio stations, the self-titled debut album Good Wilson, written and produced by multi -instrumentalist Guenther Paulitsch, along with Mario Fartacek, Alex Connaughton, and Julian Pieber, came out in the midst of the pandemic in 2020 and already hit 2,5 million streams on Spotify.
Looking for: booking (GSA, UK, FR, CA, US), label partner (US, CA, UK)
Showtime: Thu-Fri night 20 JAN - News cafe - 00:55-01:35
ILA (BE) Indie
ILA is the moniker of 25-year-old singer-songwriter Ilayda Cicek. Her music is characterized by her unique voice and unadulterated emotions which unmask the inconsistencies of life. Expect a wayward, tender, and honest artist accompanied by Sam Smeets and Cas Kinnaer. Early 2023 the band starts recording their debutalbum with Michael Badger (King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard).
Looking for: label (BeNeLux/EU/WW), booking agency (outside BeNeLux)
Showtime: Fri 20 JAN - All Round Poolcentrum - 22:15-23:00
Kids With Buns (BE) Indie pop
Kids With Buns is a bedroom indie pop project, pushing the boundaries musically and thematically. Digging deep into their psyche and personal experiences, the young artists meticulously transform their honest feelings into music. Where their two minds collide, their music takes shape. A melancholic microuniverse takes shape when their pure yet distinctive guitars merge together with the androgynous voice of Marie and the silky tones of Amber.
Looking for: agent (WW), booking agencies (outside BeNeLux), promotion teams (outside BeNeLux), publisher
Showtime: Fri 20 JAN - Machinefabriek - 20:25-21:10
Lander & Adriaan (BE) live rave, fusion, improv
Lander (drums) & Adriaan (keys) brings you to a pleasantly disturbed realm of unguilty pleasures, sheer weirdness and pure excitement with their gently disturbed mashup of 90s dance music genres like Chicago juke, Detroit techno, UK-Funky and Classic rave with corny fusion and mundane jazz improv . ‘Post Nudism Rave’ they call it. Others call it ‘free rave’, ’confusi-trance’ and ’sophisti-rave’.
Looking for: booking agency (FR, DE), festival opportunities
Showtime: Fri-Sat night 21 JAN - Simplon Main - 01:15-02:00
M I M I (BE) electronica, hybrid, deconstructed, club
Maria Muehombo, known as M I M I is an interdisciplinary artist & curator based in Brussels. Born in Lusaka, she arrived in Belgium at a very young age. From clubs, raves to Art Galleries, M I M I's versatility will set the mood right in any setup. Her sets are tailored assemblages, collages channeled by her Afro-European cultural heritage and connexion to nature. Considering herself as ecocentric whilst looking towards forward-thinking movements.
Looking for: live opportunities (WW), agent or publicist (US, Asia), PR agency (WW)
Showtime: Wed-Thu night 19 JAN - Simplon Up - 00:30-01:15
M.Chuzi (BE) world, groove, jazz
True to its music-as-sauce philosophy, Brussels-based groove formation M.CHUZI makes world-wise sauce based on melting pot à la bruxelloise, an inviting mouthful of afro rhythms, funk, and prog jazz, combined with the spacey soundscapes of the Brussels metropole. M.CHUZI smothers every stage with catchy musical experiments in an authentic fashion, and recently released of their debut album ‘Papara’ on Sdban Ultra.
Looking for: management, live opportunities (FR, GSA, NL, UK)
Showtime: Wed 18 JAN - Blauwe Hemel - 19:45-20:25
MEYY (BE) Alternative R&B
Selected by BBC Radio 1 as Future Artist and tipped by i-D as artist to watch in 2023, London-based, Belgian-Korean creative MEYY seduces her audience with innovative aesthetics and ethereal soundscapes. With a blend of New Time R&B and progressive pop and a background in dance but also Civil Engineering, MEYY understands the manufacturing of worlds. An artist in demand, MEYY performed at SXSW and supported super star acts like Angèle. 2023 brings a new EP and her first European headline tour.
Looking for: label, publisher, festival opportunities (WW)
Showtime: Wed 18 JAN - Palace - 20:30-21:10
OSKA (AT) Singer-songwriter, indie, pop, folk
Growing up in a small village in Lower Austria, OSKA moved to Vienna at 18. She released her debut EP Honeymoon Phase in 2021 to critical acclaim. The five songs on the EP have amassed more than 5 million Spotify streams and won her the XA Music Export Award at Waves Vienna 2020, got her 5 nominations for the Amadeus Austrian Music Award in 2021 and 2022 (she won "Best Sound" in 2022) and a nomination for the Anchor Award at the Reeperbahn Festival in 2021, where she was discovered by the jury member Tom Odell who asked her to join him on his European tour. She followed the EP with her debut album “My World, My Love, Paris” in February 2022. With candor and charm, her authentic self comes through in honest lyricism and tender melodies. OSKA charmed audiences across Europe this year, playing around 100 shows. Besides her own tour through Austria and Germany, she joined label-mate Stu Larsen in spring for his tour, before linking up with Tom Odell as support act for his European Tour and Matt Simons and HAEVN for shows across the Netherlands.
Looking for: booking (WW outside AT)
Showtime: Thu 19 JAN - Akerk - 20:45-21:30
Psychonaut (BE) Psychedelic, postmetal
The success of Psychonaut's debut album 'Unfold The God Man' has proven that Psychonaut are a force to be reckoned with. With the release of their sophomore album 'Violate Consensus Reality', the Belgian three-piece take you on a visceral trip into our collective human consciousness. An impressive album which cements PSYCHONAUT's standing as aspirants to the throne of the contemporary European progressive / postmetal community.
Looking for: festival opportunities, live opportunities (outside EU)
Showtime: Fri-Sat night 21 JAN - Mutua Fides - 01:15-02:00
Ramkot (BE) Rock
Ramkot is above all one of the most promising young Belgian rock bands of the moment. With an EP release show at a packed concert hall of Vooruit (Ghent) and a crammed tour schedule across Belgium and the Netherlands (Pinkpop, Paaspop, Rock Herk,...)The release of their first EP was an instant hit. Single 'Red' received a lot of airplay and the band also won 'De Nieuwe Lichting 2021' with this song. In February 2023, they will present their long-awaited debut album, with an impressive club tour.
Looking for: label (FR, DE, CH, UK), live opportunities (SP, IT, Eastern EU)
Showtime: Wed-Thu night 19 JAN - Huize Maas Front - 00:30-01:15
RORI (BE) Pop
The young Belgian artist RORI started her solo project in 2020. With her first EP released on february 3rd, she decided to sing exclusively in French. Her songs reveal a great love of pop culture and her influences: the teenager who devoured Nana mangas while listening to the opening chords of Artic Monkeys’ ‘Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino’. First single ‘Docteur’ is a modern pop song that offers a raw, unadorned look at her everyday problems.
Looking for: booking agency (FR focus, WW)
Showtime: Thu 19 JAN - Huize Maas Front - 20:00-20:45
Sam De Nef (BE) Indie, alt folk, alternative
24-year-old Sam De Nef from Antwerp, Belgium released his solo debut album Dawn/Dusk to critical acclaim in the fall of 2022. His imaginative indie rock and evocative alt folk songs are meticulous but uninhibited. ‘There has to be a certain amount of chaos, or it just doesn’t work’, Sam summarizes his modus operandi. Sam is a songwriter, a singer and a musician, but he’s a sketch artist at heart.
Looking for: booking agency (WW), management
Showtime: Wed 18 JAN - Lutherse Kerk - 20:00-20:40
Σtella (GR) Pop rock
Σtella (née Stella Chronopoulou) is a pop singer-songwriter, musician and visual artist from Athens. She makes her Sub Pop debut with the mesmerizing album ‘Up And Away’, joining forces with producer Redinho for an old-school pop paean that also touches on Greek folk. She has released four albums now and collaborated on the music for the Opening Ceremony of the Baku 2015 European Games. Σtella has played shows in the US (SXSW), France (Europavox), the UK and Germany.
Showtime: Fri 20 JAN - Werkman College - 21:50-22:35
Takeshi's Cashew (AT) Psychedelic cosmofunk
Highway, dancefloor, solitary beach - Takeshi's Cashew soundtrack every scenario. Wildly combined and arranged with flair. Somewhere between music school strivers and anarcho band, the six musicians test melodic and rhythmic boundaries. Only the biggest nerds know all the instruments that Takeshi’s Cashew drag to their gigs. Lovely melodies, funny flutes, various percussion and selected old-fashioned synthesizers with a constant breeze of echo catapult the listeners back into the ideal hippie world, only to bring them back down to earth shortly afterwards. Their debut album "Humans In A Pool" (2021) will soon be followed by "Enter J's Chamber" (2023). On their second LP Takeshi’s Cashew mix groovy rhythms with electronic beats and 70`s psychedelic rock - recorded all analogue and shining in strong colours. What exactly is Psychedelic Cosmofunk all about? Go see it live!
Looking for: label (WW), booking (WW)
Showtime: Wed-Thu night 19 JAN - Blauwe Hemel - 00:00-00:40
The Haunted Youth (BE) Indie rock, dream pop
The Haunted Youth, the band of 29-year-old Joachim Liebens, has become a Belgian indie sensation in no time. The songs, often about the struggle of life but coated in gloriously dreamy guitars and synths, are therapy to Liebens, and strike a chord with indie lovers all over Europe and even the US. Every single is a hit and debut album Dawn Of The Freak is enthusiastically received by the critics and adored by the fans. With a red-hot live reputation to boot, The Haunted Youth are here to stay.
Looking for: booking agency (UK), live opportunities (EU), publisher
Showtime: Thu 19 JAN - Huize Maas Main - 22:15-23:00
Toupaz (AT) Techno, bass, UK, broken
Polyrhythmic finks, broken beats and atmospheric textures - Based out of Graz, Austria, Toupaz (also known as producer Awo Ojiji) has been quietly carving out his own lane in the leftfield techno & bass music world. Distinct, detailed and fundamentally genre-fluid, his oddball productions cross a range of stylistic influences and tempos, purpose built for the explorative DJ. The results are playful tracks with physical impact.
Looking for: any partners (UK, EU)
Showtime: Fri-Sat night 21 JAN - Simplon Main - 02:00-03:00
Tukan (BE) Electronic, indie, jazz
Somewhere between electronic music, jazz and post-rock, TUKAN unveils a percussive sound with a heady groove, taking you on a computerless electronic journey. With an analogical approach, TUKAN takes up the codes of electronic music and delivers an exhilarating sound, taking Tortoise, Badbadnotgood, Floating Points, Squarepusher and Lone as reference points. On the 18th November, they are set to release their debut album ‘Atoll’ via Magma/NEWS.
Looking for: label, publisher (WW)
Showtime: Thu-Fri night 20 JAN - Simplon Main - 01:15-02:00
UCHE YARA (AT) Alternative pop
UCHE YARA is a unique artist, which is hard to find. The 19-year-old multi-instrumentalist with Nigerian roots grew up in Austria and now lives in Berlin. Her profound songwriting and energetic live presence with a full band created the strong growing hype around UCHE YARA. Discovered by artists such as Marc Rebillet, Bilderbuch and Parcels, she started touring the very first day after graduating from school. Her first gig was at the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, followed by appearances at various tastemaker festivals. Together with the Austrian band Bilderbuch, she recently opened the stage for The Rolling Stones. Furthermore she will be performing at ESNS in 2023. All this happened before having released a single track. 2023 will be a successful year, as UCHE YARA opens up to the public with her music.
Looking for: booking (FR, UK, BENELUX), promoters (FR, UK, BENELUX), PR agencies (FR, UK, BENELUX), distribution partners (WW)
Showtime: Thu 19 JAN - Praedinius Gymnasium - 22:15-22:55
Wallners (AT) Indie pop
A family (four siblings) from Vienna. Producing mesmerizing songs somewhere in-between Rhye, James Blake, Lana Del Rey, or Daughter. Nostalgic lyrics combined with the look & feel of a cali surf gang. Three brothers on the instrumentation, held together by the unique voice of singer/sister Anna Wallner.
Looking for: booking, publishing, label and PR agency (all outside GSA)
Showtime: Wed 18 JAN - Simplon Up - 23:00-23:45
Zouj (DE) Pop
ZOUJ is all about finding the soul in synthetic sounds: “I’m trying to make my machines sound human by emulating errors, randomness and tempo ups-and-downs while i’m trying my best as a human to sound like a machine.” “Anxious Sleep” is the first single from ZOUJ the Leipzig based French / Morrocan / American producer Adam Abdelkader Lenox. After leaving quite the impression in the European underground circuit with his futuristic Noise Pop outfit Lingua Nada (think Black Midi meets Hot Chip) he decided it was time to venture down a different path. The mission? To discover and develop what modern pop music should sound and more importantly feel like. The result is the most genuine, surreal pop music you’ll hear this year. ZOUJ literally sounds like ZOUJ, and yet like so much more.
Showtime: Thu 19 JAN - Palace - 21:45-22:25
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