SaskMusic is pleased to return to Brighton UK for The Great Escape (http://greatescapefestival.com). Continuing our successful and longstanding partnership with Manitoba Music, Alberta Music, and Music BC, we will co-present a showcase under the BreakOut West banner at TGE on May 21 at Brighton’s “The Green Door Store.” This year’s BreakOut West showcase includes two Saskatchewan acts, Surf Dads and Queen City Stoop Kids, alongside Western Canadian artists Joe Nolan, The Velveteins, Living Hour, Yes We Mystic, and We Are The City. Surf Dads and Queen City Stoop Kids received official showcase invitations from TGE organizers this year.
The Great Escape is the UK’s premiere music business conference, bringing together thousands of music industry practitioners for three days of talks, panels, showcases, and business-to-business events. The convention runs alongside The Great Escape festival, “Europe’s leading festival for new music,” which showcases 400 bands at 35 venues during its run. The UK is the largest music market in Europe and acts as a barometer for buyers, media, and music partners around the world.
Surf Dads and Queen City Stoop Kids will appear at official TGE showcases (details below) before continuing on with their respective UK/European tours. These artists will also perform at the Liverpool Sound City Festival and industry conference from May 27-29, 2016, and Surf Dads at a special BreakOut West standalone showcase in London on May 23, 2016.
Artist Schedule
Brighton - The Great Escape
May 20 Queen City Stoop Kids 9:45PM Patterns (Upstairs)
May 21 Queen City Stoop Kids 1:00PM The Green Door Store (BreakOut West BBQ)
May 21 Surf Dads 1:45PM The Green Door Store (BreakOut West BBQ)
May 21 Surf Dads 7:15PM Sticky Mike’s Frog Bar
London - BreakOut West
May 23 Surf Dads 8:15PM The Forge (BreakOut West)
Liverpool SoundCity
May 29 Queen City Stoop Kids 6:35PM Cavern Stage (BreakOut West)
May 29 Surf Dads 8:20PM Cavern Stage (BreakOut West)
About Surf Dads: Originally separated by 2800 kilometres and a country apart, it was through iPhone demos that Surf Dads was birthed. Releasing three EPs over the span of three months, Surf Dads has proved to be a workhorse band. Touring relentlessly, their first year saw them play nearly 50 shows in 6 short months. They honed their skills on the road and have cultivated a live show that will have you dancing and leave you wanting more. Now working on a full-length debut, Surf Dads are ready for a busy 2016. Recommended if you like: Wavves, Weezer, Bully.
About Queen City Stoop Kids (https://queencitystoopkids.bandcamp.com/): a supergroup collective set to melt some faces off with doped out hip hop and ratchet beats. QCSK embrace one mentality: Friends Rule. Cocky on the mic, humble and ready to work, The Stoop Kids are on their grind and in a short amount of time have amassed a dynamic crew of the best local talent to be found in the #YQR.
About The Great Escape (http://greatescapefestival.com): TGE is the festival for new music, showcasing 450 emerging artists from all over the world in 30+ walkable venues across the city of Brighton UK. It’s the first place to discover your new favourite artist and see them in an intimate setting before they go on to headline major festival stages. TGE is also attended by the music industry who are on the hunt for the next big thing. A convention runs alongside the gigs, featuring insightful panels, topical debates, keynote speeches and networking opportunities in abundance. The Alternative Escape, Spotlight Shows, secret gigs, club nights and spontaneous collaborations all add to the festivities and make this weekend in Brighton one not to miss.
“If anyone had any doubts that The Great Escape is the most important UK music festival for new bands, new trends and making new friends, then they most certainly got knocked out of the water this year. 10 years in, and TGE went harder than ever before.”- Crack
“The Great Escape has established itself as the best place in Europe to discover new bands” - The Times
“The Cannes of the music world” - Steve Lamacq, BBC Radio 6 Music
About Liverpool Sound City (www.liverpoolsoundcity.co.uk): Nominated for best UK metropolitan festival for the fifth year running, Liverpool Sound City is an unrivalled 3-day festival of incredible live music and arts, capturing the city of Liverpool and reinforcing it as the cultural core of the UK. With a groundbreaking 2-day music and digital industry conference running in tandem, showcasing some of the most influential people from the creative industries, Sound City is one of a kind. Since its inception in 2008, Liverpool Sound City has grown into one of the most important and well-respected cultural events in the UK. Previous years have seen the likes of Bastille, The 1975, Royal Blood and Clean Bandit perform at the festival and an array of massive industry names speak at the conference, such as John Cale of The Velvet Underground, Seymour Stein (Warner Bros and Sire Records) and representatives from leading organizations such as Live Nation, Universal Music Publishing and Island Records.
About SaskMusic (www.saskmusic.org): SaskMusic is a non-profit association that stimulates growth and development in the commercial music industry of Saskatchewan through leadership, promotion, training, advocacy and partnership. We offer programming including artist consultations, workshops, marketing, artist listings, export assistance, networking opportunities and much more. We represent the four components of our industry: creative, interpretive, technical and administrative. Our artists and music professionals hail from across our province, and work in pretty much every genre you can imagine. We are a source of information and resources for both the public, and the music industry.
Participation made possible through Creative Saskatchewan's Market & Export Development Grant Program.
