Giana Factory to collaborate with the hottest new Belgian act, School is Cool
|On 30 November Antwerp sensations School is Cool will do an intimate show for a selected few European music professionals followed by a special joint appearance with Copenhagen electropop trio Giana Factory during their SPOT On Denmark gig at AB Box.
School is Cool’s stunning debut album ‘Entropology’ went gold in Belgium and their memorable live performances are now turning heads also outside their native land. The SPOT team fell in love with the Antwerp act back in September. The word spread quickly in Denmark and things eventually led to the band befriending the Trentemøller-endorsed female-trio Giana Factory.
School is Cool singer Johannes Genard comments: “I like the fact that Giana Factory have this garage rock feel, even though they use electronic sounds. I really like their sound actually. We are definitely looking forward to working with them!”
Giana Factory’s Lisbet Fritze adds: “When we were asked to do this collaboration we did not hesitate… we love experimenting with new ways of playing music especially with new friends! We like the idea of musical collaborations, that you can keep on evolving and remixing the music in different ways – both on recordings and live.”
SPOT On Trading
But there’s more to this than artistic merit. SPOT Festival director Gunnar K. Madsen explains: “We’d love to help bands like School is Cool to succeed outside Belgium. Import is also export and for most professionals and artists international cooperations and trading are essential tools for making it out there. Belgium is in this regard a great partner for Danish music. Belgians have welcomed and helped develop many successful Danish bands such as Efterklang and Agnes Obel, and they have constantly over the years given birth to amazing bands such as School is Cool. So it feels very natural that a Danish band invites School is Cool on stage.”
School is Cool and Liège band Dan San will exclusively perform for a group of 60 music professionals from Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, UK, Netherlands, Austria, Sweden, Iceland and Luxembourg on the afternoon of 30 November. This performance takes place in the context of SPOT On Trading, a new conference jointly developed by SPOT On Denmark, Muziekcentrum Vlaanderen, Wallonie-Bruxelles Musiques and AB. Thus the Danish day at AB is developing into a bilateral event that also promotes Belgian music internationally.
Wouter Degraeve from Muziekcentrum Vlaanderen elaborates: “The objective of Spot On Trading is to inspire participants to enlarge their networks and create or discuss new opportunities and ideas. SPOT On Denmark has always been a good opportunity to get to know key people in the Danish music industry. In the future we want to create a larger and more active network and to keep on introducing Belgian bands to Danish professionals and get to know new Danish talent. The activities of SPOT/MXD/ROSA should inspire the creation of a fresh music export policy in Belgium.”
SPOT On Denmark BRUSSELS @ Ancienne Belgique (Boulevard Anspach 110) on 30 November from 7pm.