Tired of formulaic music industry Conferences, Daniel Nordgård, Lily Armstrong and Andy Inglis decided to do something about it. This is Sørveiv Conference, attached to the Sørveiv Festival. Kristiansand Norway, 28-29 October 2016. Here is our mission statement. Here are our Speakers. Our Program will be announced very soon.

Friday 22 April
0930-1200 (please arrive by 0915)
Observatoriegata 1B, 0254 Oslo (map)
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Jenny Hval
An artist and occasional writer, based in Oslo, but working with an American label and team (plus some assistance in the UK). Jenny has always worked outside of the mainstream industry, which is part of the reason why she’s still making and playing music. She’s released five solo albums and various collaborations over the past ten years, and is already considered a “veteran” by the Norwegian media. She’s toured a lot outside of Norway, learning about how many audiences actually want to hear unconventional music – and about the financial difficulties involved in performing it for them

Kine Sandbæk Jensen
Kine is co-founder and creative director of KOSO, an all-female record label, creative collective and club night based in Oslo. She’s also known as artist and producer Pieces of Juno

Rachael Robb
Stolen Recordings is an independent record label based in London, was founded by two musicians; Paul Jones and Merida Sussex, and an artist, Rachael Robb. Stolen’s first release was in May 2005. In 2009 they founded a publishing company, in association with Beggars Music, called Stolen Publishing. Stolen’s releases include albums by Thomas Cohen, Bo Ningen, East India Youth, Pete and The Pirates and Serafina Steer. Paul Jones left the label in 2012 to concentrate on music. Stolen won Best Small Label at the inaugural AIM Awards in 2011, and were also Huw Stephens DIY Label of The Year in 2008. Rachael Robb trained as a fine artist in Melbourne, Australia and paints in her spare time

by:Larm, CMJ, The Great Escape, Eurosonic, European Music Fair, Iceland Airwaves, Festival Congress Cardiff, SPOT, ILMC… the music industry likes to talk.

I also like to talk, and I’d like to help the music industry to talk more clearly, more passionately, in a voice other than that of a middle-aged white man. So if you will permit me, here are ten suggestions for all you seminar-bookers out there:

1.
Make sure your panelists are adept at publicly speaking, and that they are engaging on their subject. Either have met them before you book them, or ask for a sixty-second video of them speaking about a chosen subject. If they’re not enthusiastic and passionate about it, why should you expect your audience to care?

2.
If your panellists are speaking to an audience that doesn’t share their native language, suggest they moderate the speed of their speech, be mindful of their diction and vocabulary, and avoid colloquialisms where possible. Their job is to be understood

3.
Make sure they know how to use a microphone to address both their fellow panelists and the audience. It’s surprising the number of people who don’t. I’m one of them, but I’m learning. Before the start, have the moderator remind them to speak clearly to the audience, and be sure that your PA is powerful enough to enable the audience to hear the quietest of the speakers, all the way to the back of the room

4.
Make sure your panel is balanced and socially reflective. If you can’t find any women to appear on the panel, look harder. Lots of women work in the music industry. If you’re really struggling to find women to speak, you’re still not looking hard enough. And if, finally, you absolutely could not find any women, no matter how hard you tried, resign. If you haven’t resigned yet, go back to the start and repeat the process with people of colour and those from LGBTQ+ communities.

5.
Make sure no one on the panel is friendly with or works with anyone else on the panel. There’s no surer way to stifle debate. And make sure your moderator is prepared to ask rigorous questions if they need to be asked

6.
The audience vastly outnumbers your speakers, and their collective experiences more than likely vastly outnumber the experiences of your speakers. Include the audience in the conversation. Leaving five minutes at the end for questions isn’t enough

7.
Have the moderator and panelists talk on email in the days before the panel, and agree on topics and the course of discussion. It doesn’t sound like there’s a whole lot of that going on

8.
Have them talk about positive outcomes, and try and direct the discussion in that direction. Have someone taking notes and then, when your conference is over, re-engage with the issues and see what can be done to bring about change, so we don’t need to sit here again in twelve months time, talking about the same problem that no one had the motivation to fix

9.
Don’t necessarily go for age/experience. Someone who’s worked in the business for one year has a year’s worth of experience, and it may be more relevant than the fifty-year old you’d planned to invite. Younger people are less burdened by ‘how things are done’ and are more likely to ask “Why are things done that way? Why can’t we do it differently?” Let’s hear from youth

10.
How many more times do we need to watch a younger white guy in thrall to an older white guy who’s there to talk about that time his guitarist threw the A&R man and eight grammes of coke into the swimming pool?

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“Bathed in the flickering glow of passing headlights and neon bar signs, Chris Smither’s roots are as blue as they come. There is plenty of misty Louisiana and Lightnin’ Hopkins in Smither’s weathered singing and unhurried picking. So fine.” – Rolling Stone

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There are such things as the cosmic blues. Janis Joplin once recorded a song by that name — she spelled it ‘kosmik’. But Chris Smither lives them, and his cosmic blues are on full display in ‘Hundred Dollar Valentine’, which traces its roots back deep into tradition, anchors its rhythms and textures in today. Smither’s 12th studio disc – released in June of 2012 on Signature Sounds – sports the unmistakable sound he’s made his trademark: fingerpicked acoustic guitar and evocative sonic textures meshed with spare, brilliant songs, delivered in a bone-wise, hard-won voice.

“If Neko Case, Madeleine Peyroux and Billie Holiday had a baby girl who grew up to front a rockabilly band, she’d probably sound a lot like Eilen Jewell.” – Washington Post

We brought her to London back in October 2011, and Lord knows we’ve missed her. We’re enormously pleased to welcome Eilen Jewell and her band back on 05 April 2011 at the beautiful Bush Hall.

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Since her official 2006 debut, ‘Boundary County’, Eilen has surveyed a wide range of traditional musical styles, from the folk and jug band leanings of her early recordings, through an album-length homage to Loretta Lynn and the country gospel of her work with The Sacred Shakers, right up to 2009’s Sea of Tears, which bristled with the electricity of ’60s UK garage rock and Chicago blues.

“A voice of real distinction that manages to transcend some powerful influences and pierce the fog long enough for her own point of view to emerge. Recommended to box-car riders everywhere.” – The Word

Her latest album ‘Queen of the Minor Key’ draws on everything from classic country (the fiddle-driven ‘Reckless’) to early R&B (the shuffling ‘Hooked’), with an emphasis on sounds from the seamier side of the tracks. With dirty sax riffs and low-slung guitars, the instrumentals that bookend the album – Radio City’ and ‘Kalimotxo’ – evoke the bump-and-grind exotica of vintage Southern California suburban saloons. Yet on the flipside, Jewell imbues slow, jazzy numbers like ‘I Remember You’ and ‘Only One’ with torch and tenacity that linger long past last call.

Eilen Jewell is the Queen of the Minor Key. Sad songs are her wealth and finery. Lend her your ears on 05 April, and you will quickly hear why her humble subjects admire and adore her more with each passing year.

Bush Hall
310 Uxbridge Road,
Shepherd’s Bush
London W12 7LJ

Walking map from Shepherd’s Bush Market tube (Hammersmith & City Line)
Walking map from Shepherd’s Bush tube (Central Line)
Walking map from Shepherd’s Bush rail (Overground Line)

7.30 doors
8.15 Eilen Jewell (45)
9.20 Eilen Jewell (45)

£12.50 at 5000tickets, WeGotTickets and TicketWeb
£15 door

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We’re back.

Or specifically, Andy is.

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Full details here.

“The course with Andy? Inspiring, (self)-critical, funny, keen, modern and absolutely relevant if you want to get a clear understanding on what the live music business is all about. One of the best lectures I have ever attended. Thanks Andy!”  – Lisa Blödorn, University of Agder, Kristiansand, Norway

Now in its third year, Andy is again working with MusicTank at the University of Westminster to deliver another series of lectures on the live music industry, covering everything from promotion to festivals, ticketing to new technology, tour and venue management among many topics. The Luminaire co-founder will delve into the live sector’s continually evolving ecosystem, embarrass himself with tales of his spectacular screw-ups over the past 23 years, and probably swear relatively frequently.

“A damned fine human, with decent principles and a refreshing honesty within a business plagued (at times) by individuals with the opposite characteristics. It was a real pleasure meeting him and a privilege to be there to listen to his opinions on what works, and what doesn’t.” – Gary Thompson, freelance promoter

Guests will include:
Sofia Hagberg, End of The Road Festival
Carina Jirsch, Schoneberg Concerts
Ruth Barlow, Head of Live, Beggars Group
Mark Muggeridge, Evil Genius Media
Ross Allmark, Old Blue Last/Birthdays/Vice
Dave Newton, WeGotTickets

More information and tickets here.

Glowing testimonials from those who’ve previously attended here.

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Some nice artwork here for our (and others) benefit gig for Jason Molina, 9th September. More here.

We’re very pleased to be involved with this show, conceived and hosted by Laurie McNamee, to raise money to help Jason Molina and his family meet some of the medical costs accrued in his struggle against the ravages of alcohol and drugs. You can read more about Jason’s situation here, a pretty honest account from a friend here and the latest word from Jason himself here. All those involved in this show have been close to Jason in some way, some of us fleetingly; in our case during his many shows at our old venue The Luminaire.

Laurie has amassed a fine cast of musicians who’ll come together at The Macbeth on 9th September 2012, as follows:

Alasdair Roberts
Emit Bloch
The Mariner’s Children (solo)
Dog Ears
Jess Bryant
Fierce County
Ali Warren
Rafaeli and The Real
Brigid Power-Ryce
Vintage Synths
Peter Delaney
Laurie McNamee
… and special guests to be announced soon enough

Alongside us, the show is being promoted by beware! the crows bite, The Local and Stroke Your Beard.

Doors 7.30
£15 at WeGotTickets

More information here

The Macbeth
70 Hoxton Street
London N1 6LP
Map here

Savages have finally announced the release of their first single, ‘Flying to Berlin / Husbands‘ through the Pop Noire label. Available as a download on 28 May, it’ll also appear as limited 7″ later in June.

“For Savages the intention was to create a sound, indestructible and musically solid, written for the stage, designed with enough nuances to provide a wide range of emotions. The songs aim to remind us that human beings haven’t evolved so much, that music can still be straight to the point, efficient and exciting.” – Gemma Thompson

Listen to ‘Husbands’ here. It’s a vicious, unrelenting, post-punk behemoth.
Read their interview on Pitchfork here.
Buy tickets for their first (London) headline show here.

Photo: Steve Gullick

The Tremolo Beer Gut
They love tremolo, they love beer and they’ve got guts. Man, if only every band’s name was so focussed. TBG are the world’s premier retro-surf-rock band and their records explode with original-yet-classic compositions, recorded boldly in mono, dual stereo and whichever way the band damn-well pleases. Live, they’re always a dangerous encounter.

Lars and The Hands of Light
This Copenhagen quartet released their first album ‘The Looking Glass’ in the spring of 2010, an exceptionally mature and coherent debut. The band has toured as opening act for The Raveonettes and Belle and Sebastian among others (who like them very much indeed).

Snake & Jet’s Amazing Bullit Band
Snake & Jet or Thor and Thomas, if you prefer. The only band that’s both laissez-faire and perfectionist, lo-fi and hi-fi.  Their first single, ‘Black Egg’ was Clash Magazine’s Track of The Day.

730 doors
830 Lars and The Hands of Light
930 Snake and Jet’s Amazing Bullit Band
1030 The Tremolo Beer Gut

Listen:

Facebook invite here.