Folk Spot Denmark is a project created to give folk musicians and industry professionals the opportunity to talk together and create new contacts and collaborations. This year’s edition was no exception, and delegates from near and far made the trip to Tønder to experience Tønder Festival and the selected orchestras for Folk Spot Denmark 2023.
We have spoken to some of the delegates to get a little insight into their work with folk music elsewhere in the world, and their experience with Folk Spot Denmark.
Name: Vilius Arlauskas
Company: VšĮ Saulės muzika
Title: Manager
Based in: Vilnius, Lithuania
What was your purpose for participating at Folk Spot 2023?
My purpose was to get more acquainted with the Danish folk music scene as we are organizing a world music festival that has a strong focus on Nordic music. Also, my other aim was to get to know The Folk Spot organization and learn a bit from their long-lasting experience. I hope that we can collaborate in the future by creating new projects together that will help Danish and Lithuanian folk bands visit each other’s countries more often. I had a meeting with Rasmus Wehner where we discussed this topic and we both agreed to start looking for a format that could work to achieve these purposes. I hope our discussions will turn into actions and it will lead to projects.
What trends and tendencies do you see in folk music right now?
If I’m not mistaken there was only one band in the Folk Spot lineup that used electronic music in their live performance. I guess you can’t call it a trend, but I’ve seen folk bands incorporating electronics more often in other countries too. Another thing I notice is that a lot of new bands concentrate only on the music side of the performance. I’m not sure if this is a trend, but I’ve seen a similar situation in the jazz scene too where it looks like the musicians sometimes are playing for themselves. I do not argue that music is the most important thing, but I would like to remind bands about stage presence too. Of course, I believe that some bands could sound and look way different in an indoor venue or a venue with a seated audience. Anyway, it was very nice that all the bands had prepared something they could tell the audience in between the compositions. That was really appreciated.
What is your impression of the Danish folk scene versus folk music in Lithuania? (Differences and similarities)
I got the impression that the Danish folk scene is very professional. All the bands I’ve seen at the festival were very professional and interesting. There is no doubt that the instrumentalist level is very high in Denmark. You are lucky to have a good folk education system. By talking to the musicians I understand that the folk bands in Denmark usually do not have managers or people who could help them. We have a similar situation here in Lithuania. Only a few bands have managers. It is very important that the bands who seek professional careers have someone who not only searches for the gigs but also guides them and looks for opportunities abroad. Maybe this is one of the reasons why neither Lithuanian nor Danish folk bands do not have a strong presence in the festivals abroad. I think that this event really help to change this situation as I’m sure that some bands will get invitations to perform in the international festivals.
Did you make some new contacts relevant for your future work?
I’ve talked with the majority of the delegates during my stay. It was a pleasure to meet them and hear their experience. I hope that this trip will be the start of a long-lasting professional friendship with the delegates. I also hope to keep in touch with your organization and create a project together that could benefit both Danish and Lithuanian folk scenes.
Which were the best musical experiences during Folk Spot Denmark and Tønder Festival?
It is very hard to choose one band or an artist who I like the most. I could tell that most of the Folk Spot presented bands could fit our festival line-up. I guess it’s only a question of time before we will invite a Danish folk band again to our festival.
I want to stress the festival in general which was well organized and I was surprisingly amazed by the diversity of the audience. It’s something you should be very proud of and keep doing. Here in Lithuania festivals are usually attended by only much younger audiences and the organizers either do not concentrate on the older audience or are struggling to reach them.
Folk Spot Denmark er et projekt skabt for at give folkemusikere og branchefolk mulighed for at networke og skabe nye kontakter og samarbejder. Årets udgave var ingen undtagelse, og delegerede fra nær og fjern tog turen til Tønder for at opleve Tønder Festival og de udvalgte orkestre til Folk Spot Denmark 2023.
Vi har talt med nogle af de delegerede for at få et lille indblik i deres arbejde med folkemusik andre steder i verden, og deres erfaring med Folk Spot Denmark.
Navn: Vilius Arlauskas
Firma: VšĮ Saulės muzika
Titel: Manager
Land: Vilnius, Litauen
Hvad var dit formål med at deltage på Folk Spot 2023?
Mit formål var at stifte nærmere bekendtskab med den danske folkemusikscene, da vi arrangerer en verdensmusikfestival, der har stort fokus på nordisk musik. Mit andet mål var også at lære Folk Spot-organisationen at kende og lære lidt af deres langvarige erfaring. Jeg håber, at vi kan samarbejde i fremtiden ved at skabe nye projekter sammen, der vil hjælpe danske og litauiske folk-bands til at besøge hinandens lande oftere. Jeg havde et møde med Rasmus Wehner, hvor vi diskuterede dette emne, og vi blev begge enige om at begynde at lede efter et format, der kunne fungere for at nå disse formål. Jeg håber, at vores diskussioner bliver til handlinger, og det vil føre til projekter.
Hvilke tendenser ser du i folkemusikken lige nu?
Hvis jeg ikke tager fejl, var der kun ét band i Folk Spot-serien, der brugte elektronisk musik i deres liveoptræden. Jeg gætter på, at man ikke kan kalde det en trend, men jeg har set folk-bands, der inkorporerer elektroniske elementer oftere også i andre lande. En anden ting, jeg bemærker, er, at mange nye bands kun koncentrerer sig om musik-siden af forestillingen. Jeg er ikke sikker på, om dette er en tendens, men jeg har også set en lignende situation i jazzscenen, hvor det ser ud til, at musikerne nogle gange spiller for sig selv. Jeg argumenterer ikke for, at musik er det vigtigste, men jeg vil også gerne minde bands om scenetilstedeværelse. Jeg tror selvfølgelig på, at nogle bands kunne lyde og se meget anderledes ud i et indendørs spillested eller et sted med et siddende publikum. Det var i hvert fald meget rart, at alle bands havde forberedt noget, de kunne fortælle publikum ind imellem kompositionerne. Det blev virkelig værdsat.
Hvad er dit indtryk af den danske folkescene kontra folkemusik i Litauen? (Forskelle og ligheder)
Jeg fik indtryk af, at den danske folkescene er meget professionel. Alle de bands, jeg har set på festivalen, var meget professionelle og interessante. Der er ingen tvivl om, at det instrumentalistiske niveau er meget højt i Danmark. I er heldige at have et godt folk-oplysningssystem. Ved at tale med musikerne forstår jeg, at folk-bands i Danmark normalt ikke har managere eller folk, der kunne hjælpe dem. Vi har en lignende situation her i Litauen. Kun få bands har managere. Det er meget vigtigt, at de bands, der søger en professionel karriere, har nogen, der ikke kun søger efter koncerterne, men også guider dem og leder efter muligheder i udlandet. Måske er det en af grundene til, at hverken litauiske eller danske folkebands ikke har en stærk tilstedeværelse på festivalerne i udlandet. Jeg tror, at denne begivenhed virkelig er med til at ændre denne situation, da jeg er sikker på, at nogle bands vil få invitationer til at optræde på de internationale festivaler.
Fik du nogle nye kontakter, der er relevante for dit fremtidige arbejde?
Jeg har talt med størstedelen af de delegerede under mit ophold. Det var en fornøjelse at møde dem og høre deres oplevelse. Jeg håber, at denne rejse bliver starten på et langvarigt professionelt venskab med de delegerede. Jeg håber også at kunne holde kontakten med Folk Spot-organisationen og sammen skabe et projekt, der kunne gavne både danske og litauiske folk-scener.
Hvilke var de bedste musikalske oplevelser under Folk Spot Denmark og Tønder Festival?
Det er meget svært at vælge et band eller en kunstner, som jeg kunne lide mest. Jeg kunne se, at de fleste af Folk Spot præsenterede bands kunne passe til vores festival line-up. Det er vel kun et spørgsmål om tid, før vi igen inviterer et dansk folkeband til vores festival.
Jeg vil gerne understrege festivalen generelt, som var godt organiseret, og jeg var overraskende forbløffet over publikums mangfoldighed. Det er noget, du skal være meget stolt af og blive ved med at gøre. Her i Litauen deltager festivaler normalt kun af meget yngre publikum, og arrangørerne koncentrerer sig enten ikke om det ældre publikum eller kæmper for at nå dem.
