History

In 1986 it was little more than a fun musical battle in De Oosterpoort between ten Belgian and ten Dutch acts. ‘It started out as a festival for people in Groningen, but has become one of the main platforms in the Europan music sector,’ says Peter Smidt, involved in the very first days of Noorderslag and now working as its creative director. He takes us for a guided tour through more than twentyfive years of Dutch pop history...

Fun and games

Of course Holland won this Holland-Belgium battle. It was easy with only Dutch media writing about it. But still, in a time when Dutch pop music was perceived as inferior, it was good news. Peter Smidt: ‘Everyone was surprised to find that these Dutch bands were really great, it was an eye-opener for everybody.’ The second year Noorderslag was a battle too, this time between the North and the rest of the Netherlands, and this edition gave the festival its name.
But Noorderslag really didn’t need this type of fun and games. As a showcase for promising and successful Dutch bands it was perfect. A look at the line-up throughout the years provides a fantastic view of the musical developments over the past twenty years. As early as 1988 we had the first Dutch hiphop (with a very young Extince among others), the musical confusion of the early 90s is shown by acts like Pater Moeskroen and Jacques Herb and the many surf and sixties punk bands of 1994 show how lively the scene was at the time.
In those early years you could have seen bands like Claw Boys Claw (no less than five times!), Fatal Flowers, Candy Dulfer, de Dijk, Urban Dance Squad, Osdorp Posse and The Ex. All names that will still ring a bell. Lesser gods like Ivy Green, Weekend at Waikiki, The Serenes and De Boegies played, as well as acts like the Hippies, the Ziffels, Deep Throat and the Wim van Bilband which are all (correct me if I’m wrong) safely forgotten by now.

Push forward

Noorderslag rapidly became a selling out and influential festival. More and more professionals from the music industry found their way there, making Noorderslag a kind of new year’s reception for the music industry. Which was only great in the light of the festivals target of helping the performing acts to greater success as much as possible. ‘Make sure that there are as many professionals there as possible, giving the careers of those performing a strong push forward’ is Peter Smidt’s prime effort. In order to help the professionals make best use of their time Noorderslag Seminar was started in 1993. ‘It’s just easier to talk at a seminar than it is over the dB’s of a band going full blast’ The initial figure of 300 participants has exploded into around 3000 participants from all over Europe.
In that same year a counter-festival of bands from Groningen was organised: the Noorderslagting, giving the seminar participants the opportunity to see some local talent the Friday before Noorderslag. Apart from local bands, Noorderslagting also hosted a couple of European bands. In 1995 Friday night became an official part of the festival. It got a friendlier name (Euroslag) and the emphasis shifted to European bands. Euroslag was an excellent tool in the aim of helping Dutch bands ahead. The presence of foreign bands provided the opportunity to promote Dutch bands through exchange deals. Peter Smidt: ‘The national market is too small for Dutch artists, so they have to try their luck abroad. For most bands this is very difficult.’ However Euroslag was also a target in itself. ‘The entire popular music industry is aimed at selling English or American products and there is hardly any interest in what is going on in Europe. European music that does not fit the Anglo-American picture hardly gets any attention.’

The name Eurosonic came up in 1999 when collaboration was started with European radio stations, united in the European Broadcasting Union (EBU): ‘They really liked the idea, but they had one small problem: ‘I can’t say the word ‘slag’ on the radio!’ Apparently it is English for whore.’ So the name was changed and since then Eurosonic is broadcast all over Europe. In 2011 the Wednesday night was added to the programme and with that Eurosonic Noorderslag pretty much had the shape it still has now.

Audience as the real winner

So where do you go from here? Peter Smidt: ‘Well we are not looking to increase the audience or participants numbers substantially and we don’t want to present much more bands. An audience can absorb only so many bands in one night. We don’t want to go to bigger venues, because a relatively intimate surrounding is often good for a band. What we do want is to expand media attention for both the artists and the event.’ This is done partly by the cooperation with the EBU, by the exchange project ETEP and by the many (foreign) professionals coming to the festival. ‘You can create an enormous platform this way. A great example is Kaizers Orchestra who played here two years ago. Their Eurosonic show gave them a lot of festival shows and airplay, resulting in a European tour. They’re an excellent example of the effect we are aiming for.’

By: Andre Dodde www.dtvi.nl

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