In a garage beneath the venue Train, a group of passionate metal enthusiasts gathered during this year’s SPOT Festival for the SPOT Metal reception organized by Martin Boesvang. The approximately 40 people at the reception were gathered to discuss, among other things, how the genre can benefit from better collaboration across stakeholders.
“The goal is to help bands grow and gather voices from the metal community,” explained Martin Boesvang.
Behind tables with bowls of chips and a bar stocked with bottled beer, a small stage was set up using four pallets, which Martin Boesvang compares to the stages he saw metal bands play on in the 80s.
With the audience’s support for the genre, Train’s much larger stage later that day would set the stage for SPOT Metal. And although Martin Boesvang views the event with great enthusiasm, according to him, there should be room for the genre on the regular SPOT stage.
“We should be able to book more metal on the main stage, because down here we are a bit hidden under the carpet,” he noted.
Bianca Anhalt from the metal festival Slag-Town Slays, who was among the speakers, echoed the same sentiment.-It can seem closed off here, and if you’re curious about the genre but don’t know much about it, it can be intimidating and overwhelming to come down here, she explained.
In addition to addressing the challenges of attracting a broad audience to SPOT Metal, she pointed out that within the metal genre, people should improve communication and rely on each other more.
“I hope people can become better at collaborating. So instead of a lot of smaller metal festivals, we could collaborate on something bigger.”
As the person in charge of Slagelse’s metal festival, Slag-Town Slays, she emphasized that she misses better collaboration with others within the genre. She hopes to spread the genre more throughout the country, and that requires industry professionals to rely on each other.
“It’s the same audience that we’re fighting for, and I’d like to spread metal to people in the provinces too. So if we’re not going to end up taking the audience away from each other, we need better communication,” she said, adding that it would be beneficial to create a unifying organization, Facebook page, or similar for the genre.
After the various presentations, the reception continued with input from participants on how to give the metal genre a boost in Denmark, so that big as well as smaller artists can play on stages like Train in the future.
Text: Rebecca Mai Nilsson
Photo: David Robertson
I en garage under spillestedet Train samlede en gruppe passionerede metalfolk sig under dette års SPOT Festival til SPOT Metal reception arrangeret af Martin Boesvang. De omkring 40 mennesker til receptionen var samlet for blandt andet at drøfte, hvordan genren kan drage nytte af et bedre samarbejde på tværs af aktører.
“Målet er at hjælpe bands med at vokse og samle stemmer fra metalmiljøet,” forklarede Martin Boesvang.
Bag standerborde med chipsskåle og en bar bugnende af flaskeøl var en lille scene bygget op af fire paller, som Martin Boesvang sammenligner med de scener, som han har set metalbands spille på i 80’erne.
Med publikums opbakning til genren skulle Trains noget større scene senere samme dag sætte rammerne for SPOT Metal. Og selvom Martin Boesvang ser på eventet med stor begejstring, burde der ifølge ham være plads til genren på den regulære SPOT-scene.
“Man burde kunne få booket mere metal ind på almenscenen, for hernede er vi jo lidt gemt væk under gulvtæppet,” bemærkede han.
Bianca Anhalt fra metalfestivalen Slag-Town Slays, der var blandt oplægsholderne, stemte i med samme holdning.
“Det kan virke lukket her, og hvis man er nysgerrig på genren, men ikke kender så meget til den, så kan det måske være afskrækkende og overvældende at komme herned,” forklarede hun.
Udover at itælesætter udfordringerne med at få det brede publikum med til SPOT Metal, pegede hun i sit oplæg på, at man indenfor metalgenren gerne skal blive bedre til at kommunikere og trække på hinanden.
“Jeg håber, at folk kunne blive bedre til at åbne lidt op og samarbejde. Så i stedet for en masse mindre metalfestivaler, kunne vi samarbejde om noget større.”
Som ansvarlig for Slagelses metalfestival, Slag-Town Slays, understregede hun, at hun savner bedre samarbejde med andre indenfor genren. Hun håber på at få bredt genren mere ud i landet, og at det kræver, at branchefolkene kan trække på hinanden.
“Det er det samme publikum, som vi kæmper om, og jeg vil gerne brede metal ud til folk i provinsen også. Så hvis vi ikke skal ende med at tage publikummet fra hinanden, skal vi have bedre kommunikation,” sagde hun og tilføjede, at man med fordel kunne skabe en samlende organisation, Facebook-side eller lignende for genren.
Efter de forskellige oplæg fortsatte receptionen med input fra deltagerne om, hvordan man kan give metalgenren et boost i Danmark, så både flere store og små artister kan komme til at spille på scener som Train i fremtiden.
Tekst: Rebecca Mai Nilsson
Foto: David Robertson
