At SPOT Festival, tomorrow’s great artists sang and played their hearts out on the stages in front of an enthusiastic audience. At the same time, some of the key people in the music industry, who are rarely on stage, met in nine studios around Aarhus. Specifically, songwriters and producers gathered in studios in the corridor of the Conservatory and in a mobile studio at Godsbanen to do what they do best – create new music.
New studio on site
Precisely the mobile studio at Godsbanen has been a long-awaited addition to the framework that surrounds Aarhus Calling when it gets going. Together with SPOT, Aarhus Calling has for many years had a vision of putting songwriters and producers in the middle of the festival site, so that songwriters and producers can create hits directly from the core of the site ON SPOT – and not least let the audience witness a potential world hit in the making. This was particularly successful this year, when space was jointly found for a ‘studio on wheels’ at Godsbanen, where SPOT’s new area also unfolded.
A-listers from home and abroad
Aarhus Calling has been running the SPOT Festival since 2015, and this year was no exception. 12 promising Danish talents in songwriting and music production met with both Danish and international giants in the field, among other Danish A-list producers and songwriters such as Cutfather, Nicklas Sahl Samuel Ledet, Jeppe London and Celine Svanback.
In addition, the international line-up consisted of American Grammy Award winners and ‘billion club’ songwriters such as Ari Pensmith (Beyonce and Wizkid), Dewain Whitmore, Alma Goodman and Andre Rosario. With the team set in the City of Aarhus, three intense days started, divided into co-writing teams, where the goal was to create the next big Danish and international hits.
“Aarhus Calling 2023 was a good year for both the diversity, the Danish talents and the international A-list level”, says director of Aarhus Calling, Rewan Riko
A playground for talents
Again this year there has been a focus on finding the best Danish talents, and as something new, four talents of the year come from the urban environment in Aarhus – more precisely the four rappers/artists Shooter Belly, Dibset, Pay and Speedy. A mission that the urban environment should also have a prominent role at Aarhus Calling has long been on the drawing board, and Rewan Riko is happy that this branch of the music environment was now also represented as part of the talent lineup.
“For many years, together with our partners, we have worked to unite the commercial environment with the urban environment in Aarhus – and we finally succeeded with great success. I thank the boys for their extremely good energy and memorable studio performances and new urban hits”, says Rewan Riko at the end.
The team of A-list songwriters and producers consisted of:
Hight (UK), Cutfather (DK), Ari Pensmith (UK), Nicklas Sahl (DK), Alma Goodman (IS/US), Kewan Padre (UK), Harlee (UK), Elle Campbell (UK), Samuel Ledet ( DK), Libby Whitehouse (UK), Andrea Rosario US), Dewain Whitmore (US), Emil Harm (UK), Celine Svanback & Jeppe London (DK).
The selected talents and urban participants were:
Marcus Lundbak, Emma Seeberg, Simon Kavi, Jack Mensa, Gustav Boje Brun, Freja Debes, Mads Simonsen, Mathilde Caffey, Chris Chordz, Sara Gustafson, Shooter Belly, Dibset, Pay and Speedy.
Photo: Morten Frøslev
På SPOT Festival sang og spillede morgendagens store artister deres hjerter ud på scenerne foran et begejstret publikum. Samtidig mødtes nogle af de nøglepersoner i musikbranchen, som sjældent er på scenen, i ni studier rundt omkring i Aarhus. Nærmere bestemt samlede sangskrivere og producere sig i studier på Konservatoriets gang og i et mobilt studie ved Godsbanen for at gøre det, de er bedst til – at skabe ny musik.
Nyt studie på pladsen
Netop det mobile studie ved Godsbanen har været en længeventet tilføjelse til de rammer, der omgiver Aarhus Calling, når det går løs. Sammen med SPOT har Aarhus Calling i mange år haft en vision om at sætte sangskrivere og producere midt på pladsen, således at sangskrivere og producere kan kreere hits direkte fra kernen af pladsen PÅ SPOT – og ikke mindst lade publikum være vidne til et potentiel verdenshit in the making. Dette lykkes især i år, hvor der i fællesskab var fundet plads til et ‘studio on wheels’ ved Godsbanen, hvor SPOT’s nye område også foldede sig ud.
A-list fra ind- og udland
Aarhus Calling er siden 2015 løbet af stablen under SPOT Festival, og i år var ingen undtagelse. 12 lovende, danske talenter inden for sangskrivning og musikproduktion mødtes med både danske og internationale kæmpestjerner inden for feltet, blandt andre danske A-list producere og sangskrivere som Cutfather, Nicklas Sahl Samuel Ledet, Jeppe London og Celine Svanback.
Derudover bestod det internationale line-up blandt andet af amerikanske Grammy Award-vindere og ‘billion club’-sangskrivere som Ari Pensmith (Beyonce og Wizkid), Dewain Whitmore. Alma Goodman og Andre Rosario. Med holdet sat i Smilets by startede tre intense dage, fordelt i co-writing teams, hvor målet var at skabe de næste store danske og internationale hits.
“Aarhus Calling 2023 blev et godt år for både diversiteten, de danske talenter og det internationale A-list niveau”, fortæller direktør for Aarhus Calling, Rewan Riko
Talenternes legeplads
Igen i år har der været et fokus på at finde de bedste danske talenter, og som noget nyt kommer fire årets talenter fra det urbane miljø i Aarhus – mere præcis de fire rappere/artister Shooter Belly, Dibset, Pay og Speedy. En mission om, at det urbane miljø også skulle have en fremtrædende rolle på Aarhus Calling, har længe været på tegnebrættet, og Rewan Riko, er glad for at denne gren af musikmiljøet nu også var repræsenteret som en del af talent-lineuppet.
“I mange år har vi sammen med vores partnere arbejdet på at forene det kommercielle miljø med det urbane miljø i Aarhus – og det lykkedes endelig med stor succes. Jeg takker drengene for deres ekstremt gode energi og mindeværdige studio performances og nye urban hits”, lyder det til slut fra Rewan Riko.
Holdet af A-list sangskrivere og producere bestod af:
Hight (UK), Cutfather (DK), Ari Pensmith (UK), Nicklas Sahl (DK), Alma Goodman (IS/US), Kewan Padre (UK), Harlee (UK), Elle Campbell (UK), Samuel Ledet (DK), Libby Whitehouse (UK), Andrea Rosario US), Dewain Whitmore (US), Emil Harm (UK), Celine Svanback & Jeppe London (DK).
De udvalgte talenter og urban-deltagere var:
Marcus Lundbak, Emma Seeberg, Simon Kavi, Jack Mensa, Gustav Boje Brun, Freja Debes, Mads Simonsen, Mathilde Caffey, Chris Chordz, Sara Gustafson, Shooter Belly, Dibset, Pay og Speedy.
Photo: Morten Frøslev
