And that’s a wrap on ESNS (Eurosonic Noorderslag) 2023! MAZ, Francis of Delirium, and TUYS, all made Luxembourg proud through their performances throughout the Groningen, Netherlands-based showcase festival. For Francis of Delirium and TUYS, this was their first live-and-in-person event at ESNS after being presented digitally the past two years due to the pandemic. MAZ on the other-hand (selected with Luxembourg’s public service radio station 100,7) made his ESNS debut.
“It was an honour to be at Eurosonic this year,” said MAZ. “I’ve played a lot of showcases around Europe over the years, yet everywhere you go, ESNS is always talked about as ‘the spot to be,’ so I was really glad I was chosen to perform.”
We kicked off the festival week on Wednesday, January 18th with a late-night News Café session featuring psych-pop band TUYS, who have been part of the ESNS Exchange program for a couple of years now. Playing at ESNS not only means playing at the festival in January. Acts that played at the festival also are a part of the ESNS Exchange programme. ESNS Exchange, the European Talent Exchange Programme, was introduced in 2003 to make the ‘exchange’ of European artists across Europe possible on a greater scale than ever before. An initiative of ESNS, ESNS Exchange facilitates the bookings of European acts on festivals outside their home countries and generates extensive media exposure for these artists in cooperation with Euroradio, export offices and local media (our local media partner is 100,7). This way, ESNS Exchange aims to give a boost to the international careers of European artists.
Yann Gengler (Bass and singer) of the band mentioned they “had the chance to play at least three ESNS Exchange festivals last year through the program (Iceland Airwaves, FOCUS Wales, and Reeperbahn Festival). It was an amazing experience to perform shows and get to meet new artists and professionals in various markets.”
We continued on Friday with three more shows. Francis of Delirium performed a few songs to a packed Plato Records Store performance in the afternoon followed by their official ESNS showcase at the mythical and sold out VERA. The band’s two shows arrived off the back of their live performance last year at ESNS’s Music Moves Europe Talent Awards, of which the band was nominated.
“We got to come up to Groningen to perform at the awards ceremony, however due to the pandemic the city was completely shut down, so we didn’t get to perform in front of an audience.” Lead singer and guitarist Jana Bahrich mentioned. “So it was really exciting to be at ESNS23 this year and to see the city buzzing with the eclectic mix of acts playing around the city.”
MAZ finished the musical portion of the week with a full house of fans and delegates at the Grand Theatre Main, a strong performance that Dutch public broadcasting company, RTV Noord, gave an “11/10 (!).”
WHAT THE MEDIA ARE SAYING
“It’s the weekend and everyone feels [the enthusiasm], because there is plenty of dancing and jumping. Also by this reviewer.’ His verdict: 11/10 (!).” – RTV Noord
“Francis of Delirium ripped through an impressive show of 90s inflected alt-rock with all the fervour and grit of a teenage nightmare.” – The Line Of Best Fit
“…[Francis of Delirium] showed some real emotion in ‘Quit Fucking Around’ that really clicked. Bahrich is only 21, there is still room for growth. What she has already said makes us look forward to more.” – HUMO
“At the Grand Theatre, MAZ delivered an energetic show and wowed the room with an epic performance. His rhymes came as if from the flint. His stylistic jumps from rap to metal to emo kept one on edge. We are curious how things will continue for our famous rapper.” – 100,7
We’re kicking off 2023 with one of the most exciting showcase festivals of the year! MAZ, Francis of Delirium, and TUYS, are all headed to ESNS (Eurosonic Noorderslag), which is set to take place live-and-in-person from 18-21 January, 2023. Francis of Delirium and TUYS both were presented digitally during the festival’s online conference the past two years due to the pandemic while MAZ (selected with Luxembourg’s public service radio station 100,7) will make his ESNS debut. This will be a unique year in that it’s the first time ESNS has confirmed three Luxembourgish acts at the annual event (in years past only two were sent).
More info on each of the artists can be found here.
Discover the schedule below.
TUYS | Wednesday 18 January
23:35 – 00:15 at News Café
Francis of Delirium | Friday, 20 January
20:45 – 21:30 at Vera
12:50 – 13:10 at Plato Record Store
MAZ | Friday, 20 January
21:30 – 22:15 at Grand Theatre Main
ESNS, the key exchange for emerging European music talent, is thrilled to welcome its visitors back to Groningen in The Netherlands. The festival remains one of the most important events for emerging artists each year, who have the opportunity to perform in-front of a selection of 4.000 delegates and around 40.000 visitors. The organisation also helps to stimulate and push the circulation of European music across the continent and beyond.
Artists who perform for Eurosonic are also added to the ESNS Exchange programme which helps to facilitate the bookings of European acts on festivals outside of their home countries and generate extensive media exposure for them in cooperation with the EBU (of which 100,7 is part of), export offices (including Kultur | lx – Arts Council Luxembourg) and local media. As part of ESNS Exchange, Luxembourgish acts Francis of Delirium, TUYS, and Klein, all of which have been part of the recent ESNS Exchange program, were able to perform at festivals like Reeperbahn Festival, Montreux Jazz Festival, FOCUS Wales, Maifeld Derby, and most recently all three at Iceland Airwaves.
After two years of the cancelled physical editions of ESNS (Eurosonic Noorderslag), Francis of Delirium and TUYS, both of which were represented digitally at the festival, have just been announced on the lineup for 2023. The two acts will join MAZ (selected with Luxembourg’s public service radio station 100,7) for the event live-and-in-person from 18-21 January. This will be the very first time that ESNS has confirmed three Luxembourgish acts at the annual event (in years past only two were sent).
ESNS, the key exchange for emerging European music talent, is thrilled to welcome its visitors back to Groningen in The Netherlands. The festival remains one of the most important events for emerging artists each year, who have the opportunity to perform in-front of a selection of 4.000 delegates and around 40.000 visitors. The organisation also helps to stimulate and push the circulation of European music across the continent and beyond.
Artists who perform for Eurosonic are also added to the ESNS Exchange programme which helps to facilitate the bookings of European acts on festivals outside of their home countries and generate extensive media exposure for them in cooperation with the EBU (of which 100,7 is part of), export offices (including Kultur | lx – Arts Council Luxembourg) and local media. As part of ESNS Exchange, Luxembourgish acts Francis of Delirium, TUYS, and Klein, all of which have been part of the recent ESNS Exchange program, were able to perform at festivals like Reeperbahn Festival, Montreux Jazz Festival, FOCUS Wales, Maifeld Derby, and most recently all three at Iceland Airwaves.
Want to join MAZ, Francis of Delirium, and TUYS at Eurosonic? Professionals can apply for financial support to attend via the Kultur lx “Support for mobility, research and career development.” Deadline to apply is Wednesday, December 28th. More details here.
From November 3 to 5, Luxembourgish acts, KLEIN, Francis of Delirium, and Tuys, descended into the beautiful town of Reykjavik for the first Iceland Airwaves festival since the pandemic. Kultur | lx has been planning their first iteration of “|lx finest – Sounds from Luxembourg” at Airwaves since the festival’s bookers saw KLEIN perform at Eurosonic back in January 2020, so it was a particularly special moment to see fans (new and old), along with a local and international industry (made up of bookers, managers, labels, and media), fill the venues of the three showcasing acts.
Each group had the opportunity to play a first slot on days 1 and 2 before the “|lx finest” showcase event, which took place on the third day at IÐNÓ (with a capacity of 350 people). The showcase was preceded with a networking reception for professionals attending the conference and included a small Luxembourgish delegation, made up of artists and festival bookers, as well.
One important feature of the festival’s conference is the wide range of international media present. The reaction on the shows, particularly for Francis of Delirium (who already have had a banner year), was among the strongest of any Luxembourgish presence at a showcase festival to date. Some of the top music blogs in the world covered the bands’ shows, with Stereogum proclaiming “Francis Of Delirium proved to be one of the most impressive revelations of the whole weekend…These were visceral, invigorating performances, some of the best of Airwaves 2022” while Loudersound said “when TikTok discovers Bahrich’s perfectly-pitched adolescent angst anthems, she’ll be flying.”
As one of the world’s most extraordinary new music showcases, Iceland Airwaves ended up having one of the strongest and most diverse bills in the festival’s 20 plus year history, including Arlo Parks, Amyl & The Sniffers, and Metronomy. With Iceland’s natural wonders often claiming the title “the greatest show on Earth”, Iceland Airwaves was one-of-a-kind offering and Kultur | lx was very proud to be part of it.
WHAT THE MEDIA ARE SAYING :
STEREOGUM
Iceland Airwaves Made Its Real Deal Return For 2022
“Francis Of Delirium proved to be one of the most impressive revelations of the whole weekend. First with a set at Gamla Bíó early in the evening on Friday, then again at Iðnó on Saturday, the Luxembourg group brought a heavier, grungier interpretation of their early material to Iceland. These were visceral, invigorating performances, some of the best of Airwaves 2022 — and a promising glimpse of whatever Francis might pursue on their debut album.
LOUDERSOUND
“The real joy of Airwaves, however, is stumbling upon artists you’ve never previously heard of … such as Francis of Delirium from Luxembourg, fronted by vocalist/guitarist Jana Bahrich.”
“Performing at Gamla Bió the following evening, Francis of Delirium impress too. Louder elected to check out the trio after hearing 2021 single Quit Fucking Around on the festival’s smartly-curated Spotify playlist, and it’s a highlight, alongside 2020 single Circles, in a charmingly ragged set which calls to mind ’90s indie rockers Pavement, Belly and Arlington, Virginia’s Tsunami. When TikTok discovers Bahrich’s perfectly-pitched adolescent angst anthems, she’ll be flying.”
“Bright young guitar-pop out of Luxembourg. One of the two best singalongs of the festival.”
PASTE
15 Bands to See at Iceland Airwaves 2022 (Francis of Delirium)
“Paste hailed Francis of Delirium the indie-rock project of Luxembourg-based musician Jana Bahrich, as the Best of What’s Next in 2021. Bahrich’s sound splits the difference between Smashing Pumpkins and Caroline Polachek, as she told us at the time, ‘merg[ing] this grunge, ‘90s, guitar-driven stuff with more pop melodies.’”
ESNS (Eurosonic Noorderslag), the key exchange for emerging European music talent announces the first acts for its 37th edition line-up – the first physical edition after two fully digital editions. The organisation is thrilled to welcome its visitors back to Groningen in January 2023.
The first batch of artists have been selected in cooperation with NPO 3FM and European national radio broadcasters – collaborating within the EBU (European Broadcasting Union). Emo-rap artist, Maz, has been selected in collaboration with Luxembourg’s public service radio station 100,7.
Eurosonic remains one of the most important events for emerging artists of the year, who have the opportunity to perform in-front of a selection of 4.000 delegates and around 40.000 visitors. The organisation also helps to stimulate and push the circulation of European music across the continent and beyond. Artists who perform for Eurosonic are also added to the ESNS Exchange programme which helps to facilitate the bookings of European acts on festivals outside of their home countries and generate extensive media exposure for them in cooperation with the EBU (of which 100,7 is part of), export offices (including Kultur | lx – Arts Council Luxembourg) and local media.
Risen out of the ashes of early 2000’s Metal and Rock influences, MAZ is known for delivering a powerful and truthful message to his audiences with a determination to not only scratch at the surface, but to tear through it and see what lies underneath. With a sharpened musical and visual identity, the young rapper wants to give the voiceless not just a voice, but also an uncompromising vision and thus urging his listeners to drop the self-imposed masks and all other unnecessary superficialities to eventually find their true selves.
Want to join MAZ at Eurosonic? Professionals can apply for financial support to attend via the Kultur lx “Support for mobility, research and career development.” Deadline to apply is Wednesday, December 28th. More details here.
Guitar player David Laborier was selected to perform at Jammin’Juan, one of the most important showcase festivals in France and Europe, on November 3rd 2022. Taking place every year in Juan-les-Pins, Jammin’Juan gives artists the opportunity to introduce their projects to French and European professionals during showcases and meetings. David Laborier will present his latest project NE:X:T, released in 2018.
About David Laborier
David Laborier started playing the guitar at the age of 13. He soon developed a passion for this instrument and decided to become a professional musician after further studies at the Conservatoire of the City of Luxembourg. David then studied at the Berklee College of Music in 1995, where he graduated in 1999. An experienced guitarist, arranger and composer, David Laborier is a founding member of the Orchestre National de Jazz Luxembourg. He also played with the trumpet player Gast Waltzing and his band Largo, and he conducted several personal projects. His composition “Fast and Furious” from the album Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Band won the 2010 International Songwriting Competition in the jazz category. Three of David’s arrangements were featured on the album Sings by Beninese diva Angélique Kidjo with the Orchestre Philharmonique Luxembourg conducted by Gast Waltzing. The album won a Grammy Award in 2016 in the category “Best World Music Album”.
In 2018, David Laborier released NE:X:T, an album that features the medium sized sextet format and showcases a musical melting pot of jazz, pop, rock and experimental elements. It is a homogenous co-existence of musical styles resulting in highly accessible colours and atmospheres, rather than giving the listener the impression of an overdone and intellectual arrangement of notes. NE:X:T takes the audience to the stylistic edge of jazz music, even crossing all the boundaries of a classic instrumentation. The melodies of the tunes from NE:X:T sure have a contagious quality to them and will surely find an audience beyond the hardcore jazz aficionados.
In 2019, the album was nominated for two “independent Music Awards” (best song FUNK/FUSION/JAM for “Step Right Up!” and best jazz producer).
Available on WPR Jazz/MIG Music.
Line-up
David Laborier (guitar) – Marc Huynen (trumper) – Pierre Cocq-Amann (saxophone) – Sebastian « Schlapbe » Flach (bass) – Jérôme Cardynaals (drums)
More information on Jammin’Juan here.
As part of its promotion and touring missions, Kultur | lx – Arts Council Luxembourg is joining forces with the Shuffle Festival, organised by neimënster, on November 25th and 26th 2022. This event aims to introduce the Luxembourgish jazz scene through showcases, which will give artists the possibility to present their latest projects. For this edition, neimënster invited emerging jazz bands to join the line-up, as well as artists from abroad in the frame of artistic exchanges.
In order to ensure career development and touring opportunities, Kultur | lx invited a professional delegation from the European Jazz scene to (re)discover the diversity of Luxembourg’s jazz projects. This delegation consists of promoters, label representatives, bookers. These invitations to Luxembourg jazz showcases have existed since 2012 and have presented 53 Luxembourgish projects so far. This gave countless artists the opportunity to have collaborations on the international scale and contributed to the identification of Luxembourg’s jazz scene on the European scale.
Shuffle’s line-up
Friday November 25th
Daniel Migliosi 6tet – New Talent
Isis Apache Montero (ES)
Gast Waltzing „Peace, Drugs and Love“
The Aquatic Museum (Claire Parsons & Laurent Peckels)
Dishwasher_(BE)
Saturday November 26th
Arthur Possing 4tet
Jambal – New Talent
Tele-Port
Maxime Bender Universal Sky
Dock in Absolute
Neue Grafik Ensemble (FR/UK)
Conceived as a platform dedicated to exchanges and discoveries, Shuffle will offer the national scene the chance to meet the international delegation, notably through a speedmeeting session that will take place on November 26th. As part of its career development mission, Kultur | lx will also organise a workshop dedicated to the jazz market in France, in presence of French professionals. (Activities upon registration).
In order to show the diversity of the formats and aesthetics featured in the Luxembourgish jazz to the international delegation, Kultur | lx will also bring them to opderschmelz to discover Synaesthesia, a project by the trio Reis Demuth Wiltgen and Emile V. Schlesser created in the frame of Esch2022.
This year, Fifty Lab is inviting the most promising upcoming talents for three days throughout iconic venues in the heart of Brussels. A unique take on the traditional showcase festival, Fifty Lab takes recommendations from some of the most influential Belgian and international musical programmers (i.e. Primavera Sound, Down the Rabbit Hole, Montreux Jazz Festival, Pukkelpop, Couleur Café, and Luxembourg’s very own Siren’s Call Festival). The audience will discover the next musical crushes from all genres and nationalities.
Kultur | lx is proud to be presenting the first Luxembourgish artist at Fifty Lab, MAZ. Risen out of the ashes of early 2000’s Metal and Rock influences, MAZ is known for delivering a powerful and truthful message to his audiences with a determination to not only scratch at the surface, but to tear through it and see what lies underneath. With a sharpened musical and visual identity, the young rapper wants to give the voiceless not just a voice, but also an uncompromising vision and thus urging his listeners to drop the self-imposed masks and all other unnecessary superficialities to eventually find their true selves.
Want to join MAZ Friday, November 18th at Fifty Lab? Kultur | lx is inviting a small Luxembourgish delegation to attend the festival. Professionals can apply for financial support to attend via the Kultur | lx “Support for mobility, research and career development.” More details here.
MAZ at Fifty Lab
Friday November 18th
8:40 – 9:20 PM | L’ARCHIDUC
More information here.
M for Montreal (M pour Montréal) returns for a 17th edition this November 16-19, 2022. Now recognized as Quebec’s most important initiative for indie music exports, the event is renowned as a showcase festival and international conference, taking place every November.
Kultur | lx is proud to be presenting the first Luxembourgish artist at M for Montreal for the first time, C’est Karma. The showcase arrives in the context of a broader Luxembourgish presence in Québec this November. The country of honor at the CINEMANIA festival, Kultur | lx will also be making a presence at the Centre PHI on Thursday, November 3rd, where C’est Karma will also be presented. The event will offer local professionals the chance to meet the team and experience various aspects of Luxembourgish creation, between music, performance and dance (learn more).
With her third EP, “Amuse-Bouche,” Karma’s style is covered in noise/industrial and hyperpop influences. The daughter of two first generation immigrants, and supporters of feminist and LGBTQ+ causes, she approaches music as a tool for social change, also attacking the inaction on the climate crisis and the disparity between the filthy rich and the less fortunate (although she sometimes indulges in more sentimental remarks or mentions her love for pasta).
Join C’est Karma at M for Montreal on Thursday, November 17th at Quai des Brumes.
Thursday, November 17, 4 PM
at Quai des Brumes
4481 Saint Denis St, Montréal
Second show confirmed:
Thursday, November 17, 10:45 PM
at Casa del Popolo
4873 Boulevard Saint-Laurent, Montréal
Kultur | lx headed to Reeperbahn Festival for the first time since its inception from September 21-24, 2022, continuing Luxembourg’s celebrated Friday evening showcase and networking series (a former music:LX initiative for the Pop/Rock/Electro sector). The event/series has now been rebranded to “|lx finest — Sounds from Luxembourg” and featured three Luxembourgish artists, Francis of Delirium, TUYS, and The Ferocious Few, at HÄKKEN on Friday, September 23rd.
We kicked off the festival on Thursday, September 22nd with an evening N-Joy Bus session right off Reeperbahn’s famed Spielbudenplatz with The Ferocious Few, organised by NDR radio. We continued on the Friday with a networking cocktail with over 240 registered delegates, including a small Luxembourgish delegation made up of pros from den Atelier, Rotondes, BEAST, and Unison Studios.
TUYS starting the musical portion of the evening with a full house of delegates and local fans there to watch. It’s always a real feat to have a full house, especially on Friday during such a busy conference like Reeperbahn where you’re competing for attention and attendance with so many different events happening at once. We were so proud to see each of the three acts have a full house of pros/audience in attendance!
Concluding the week was Francis of Delirium, who performed their official Reeperbahn Festival slot on Saturday at Molotow, in connection with their Music Moves Europe nomination (and ESNS Exchange look). The show marked the band’s final date following their cross-EU/UK tour opening for Soccer Mommy.