Catalan music is the guest of honour at Brighton’s ‘The Great Escape’ festival

Brighton (ACN).- Catalan music is having a leading presence in the UK festival ‘The Great Escape’, which is Europe’s main event showcasing music bands and artists. ‘The Great Escape’ kicked off on Thursday in Brighton and will be run until May 12^th, with 30 stages, some 350 artists invited and thousands of music professionals attending. Each year, the festival focuses its attention on a country and organises a special showcase, bringing numerous bands from that place. In this year’s edition, music from Catalonia and the Balearic Islands occupy a special place, through the presence of ‘Catalan Sounds’. A total of eight bands singing in Catalan or in English will display their creations in front of music critics, lovers and concert promoters within the series ‘Catalan Sounds’. They are Mujeres, Me And The Bees, Seward, Amics del Bosc, Ninette And The Goldfish, Oso Leone, Furguson, and The Suicide Of Western Culture. Apart from the concerts, conferences and debates have been organised on Catalan music and festivals held in Catalonia (such as Barcelona’s Sónar or the ‘Mercat de Música Viva de Vic). ‘Catalan Sounds’ has been organised with the partnership of the Institut Ramon Llull (IRL), which is the public organisation promoting Catalan culture abroad, funded by the Governments of both Catalonia and the Balearic Islands. It is therefore the equivalent of the Goethe Institute, the British Council or the Danish Cultural Institute. Maria Lladó, IRL’s music coordinator, pointed out to ACN the importance of participating in ‘The Great Escape’, as “it is a unique opportunity to promote Catalan music bands”.

The British music festival with the greatest Catalan presence ever has already started. An institutional event has unveiled the series of concerts within ‘Catalan Sounds’, which not only will have a presence in Brighton but will also tour worldwide. Apart from the concerts, debates and conferences on the Catalan music scene will also find their space in Brighton, as this year the The Great Escape’s international attention is focused on Catalonia and the Balearic Islands. The festival’s previous international focuses have been Ireland (2011), New Zealand (2009), France (2007) and Canada (2006).

A first taste of Catalan music

The first small taste of Catalan music happened on Thursday during the institutional event, unveiling ‘Catalan Sounds’. Ninette and The Goldfish as well as Amics del Bosc were the two bands that played a small selection of their songs in front of journalists, concert promoters and lovers of indie-pop music. Nina Thomas and Cesc Mayor, who form Ninette and The Goldfish, sung two pieces in English. They were followed by the singer of Els Amics del Bosc, Josep Torelló, who sung two songs in Catalan.

Catalan music on the festival’s programme

The Catalan milestones start on Friday, with 3 sessions with Catalan professionals. One of them will be a conference exclusively dedicated to Catalan festivals, happening at 10.20 am, with representatives from IRL, Sónar, Primavera Sound and Mercat de la Música Viva de Vic (a Catalan equivalent of Brighton’s festival). From noon onwards, Mujeres, Seward, Furguson and The Suicide of Western Culture will play, all in a row, in the first true showcase of Catalan music at the festival. On Saturday afternoon, the other four groups, Amics del Bosc, Me and the Bees, Oso Leone i Ninette and the Goldfish, will play open air concerts. In addition, each of the groups will have their own individual concerts throughout the 3 days of festival.

The festival organisers were interested in Catalonia

The interest in Catalonia comes from the organising team of ‘The Great Escape’, who noticed that there are many Catalan bands and artists touring worldwide. Maria Lladó emphasised the importance of being present at this festival, since it is not only about concerts but there is also an important professional fair going on, which enables networking among all sorts of agents in the music world. Concert promoters will discover some of the eight Catalan bands present, and new opportunities may arise. In addition, Lladó emphasised that music professionals also noticed that Catalonia is very active showcasing and programming bands, with many festivals going on throughout the year, such as the aforementioned Sónar, Primavera Sound, or Mercat de la Música Viva de Vic. Since representatives from these Catalan festivals are also present in Brighton, new “exchanges between international festivals and those organised in Catalonia” may be set.

“A sweet musical moment”

Lladó explained that Catalonia is going through “a very sweet musical moment”, which attracts international attention. “I think the moment is very good, but also very delicate. We have a very active and prolific creative spirit, coming from many years of hard work” she said. However, Catalan music “needs to be very constant. There is a lot of competition. This year is Catalonia, next is Scotland, afterwards, Norway, etc… constancy is important” she stated. Furthermore, she added that the music industry needs to keep believing in Catalan music, “the festivals and the music labels”. However, due to the economic crisis in Catalonia, “the potential market is abroad”, she concluded.