SCOTLAND AT TGE
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SCOTLAND AT TGE -
15-18 May, 2024
Brighton, England
We’re heading back to Brighton from 15-18 May 2024 for The Great Escape! 🏖️
Full details below, and drop us a line if you’re at the event and want to connect 👋
Scotland’s Networking Reception At The Great Escape
Thursday 16 May
17.30-19.30 I RSVP Here
Connect with Scotland's music industry and showcasing artists and enjoy a selection of Scottish delicacies at the Old Ship Hotel!
Join Wide Days and Creative Scotland at the Old Ship Hotel on Thursday 16 May from 17.30-19.30, to connect with key figures from the industry and the Scottish artists showcasing on Thursday and Friday!
Deep-fried confectionary and haggis will be served, along with soft drinks made from girders.
BRÒGEAL
Melting together indie rock and traditional celtic folk, Brògeal are a Falkirk-based five piece who are set for a break-out year in 2024. Forming in Falkirk out of the ashes of high school bands, Brògeal came together over their love of Scottish and Irish folk music, punk and garage rock, adding banjo and mandolin to electric guitars, finding their own unique voice on the way.
The last twelve months has seen the band emerge as one of the best live bands in the UK, touring with the likes of The Mary Wallopers, Spector and The Lathums.
Conscious Pilot
Founded by Joe Laycock and Jack Sharp as a successor to theatrical punk group Cheap Teeth, the pair birthed the project from their joint love of immersive, beat-driven soundscapes and an exploration of subtle shifts. Featuring members of Catholic Action and Big Girls Blouse, the band aims to urge the listener’s ear into progressively choppy waters whilst simultaneously grounding them in firm lyrical soil.
Gallus
GALLUS bottles that sense of anticipation, the idea that anything could happen. Throwing back to the days when responsibilities were few, anticipation was high, and opportunity was around every corner. The band combine the energetic bounce of Sports Team with the tongue-in-cheek running commentary of life in 2022 of Yard Act and the introspection of contemporaries Fontaines D.C. After forming in a pub of the same name, the Glasgow Indie–punks have made their way to the summit of Scotland’s underground music scene. The band formed under unorthodox circumstances; after failed attempts to get their previous musical project off the ground, cousins Paul and Eamon Ewins recruited school friend Barry Dolan as their frontman after seeing him in a college play, despite little to no musical background. It was his dynamism and energy that drew them to him, and it was these characteristics that the band grew famous for.
Jacob Alon
Jacob Alon is a Scottish singer-songwriter with a profound gift for storytelling. Both intimate and devastatingly introspective, his music is touched by a rare timelessness. Drawing fair comparisons to artists such as Jeff Buckley and Rufus Wainwright, Alon’s sound cuts through the air with his powerful and haunting vocals, intricate guitar playing, and pensive, poetic lyrics.
Alon was born and raised by a young single mother in the quiet suburbs of Dunfermline, Fife, between the winding woods and industrial park mystics. He learned his first piano piece from his mum for a school show at age 9 and later picked up the guitar at 15, enchanted by the intimate, somber beauty of wizards such as Nick Drake and Adrianne Lenker.
Alon began writing songs in school as a way of making his friends laugh but never considered a career in music possible until much later. While studying medicine at university, Jacob found himself deeply confused and unhappy, only finding joy when making music.
Lauren Mayberry
Lauren Mayberry still remembers what it felt like to sit alone in her teenage bedroom, headphones on, listening to artists like Tori Amos and Fiona Apple as if it was some kind of private spiritual practice. At 15, she was already playing in bands, and although there was plenty of music she and her male bandmates could agree on, she knew from experience that they would just tease her if she tried to get them into Tori or Fiona or PJ Harvey or Kathleen Hanna. She says, “It was a lot of confessional female singer-songwriters, and I thought of them like, ‘These are my friends who live in my headphones.’”
Ahead of last year’s 10th anniversary of Chvrches’ groundbreaking debut album, The Bones of What You Believe, Mayberry felt reflective in a way she hadn’t anticipated. Looking back at all of the incredible moments of personal evolution and musical growth during these years with the band, she realized that she still had a creative wall she needed to push through.
Lizzie Reid
Lizzie Reid’s music, so far, is an open exploration of the young Glaswegians experiences of love, loss, identity and modern life. Her debut EP ‘Cubicle’ was released in January 2021, and included the singles ‘Tribute’, ‘Seamless’ and ‘Always Lovely’, which racked up plays across XFM, BBC 6 music and BBC Radio 1
LVRA
Born in Edinburgh to Chinese parents, 23-year-old singer and producer Rachel Lu emerged in 2020 under the moniker LVRA (pronounced loo-rah), an artist who draws from the molten core of industrial, hyperpop and deconstructed club music to crystallise a sound that’s both anthemic and experimental. Influenced by the likes of Grimes, Eartheater, LCY, Two Shell, Breaka and SOPHIE – LVRA is part of a new wave of artists providing a vital vision of club music that’s equally suited to the stadium as the basement. The critically acclaimed artist won the inaugural Sound of Young Scotland Award in 2021, Amazon Music’s Step Up 2022 and has gained plaudits from the likes of DMY (Artist to Watch ‘23), Radio 1, BBC Introducing, Radio 1 Dance, DJ Mag, PAPER, DIY, The Line of Best Fit and more.
NATI
Hailing from a quaint coastal haven in Scotland, NATI. has amassed nearly 2 million digital followers, sharing stages with legends like Newton Faulkner, and Simply Red. Her cap6va6ng live-streamed shows enthralled fans worldwide, inspiring her to embrace music full-6me. Last November, her triumphant UK journey le^ sold-out imprints across Scotland and England, culmina6ng in a monumental headline performance at Cel6c Connec6ons. Cra^ing hear_elt original composi6ons, NATI. has headlined fes6vals, with her debut EP ‘Older’ released last October. From bedroom guitar sessions to global acclaim, NATI. embodies the journey from dream to reality, with her much anticipated sophomore EP on the horizon.
Quiet Houses
Edinburgh duo Quiet Houses have kicked off 2024 with ‘What My Heart Is For,’ a dreamy pop return signalling a new wave of material. Formed by Jamie Stewart and Hannah Ellio, the duo gained acclaim with 2021’s EP ‘Big Town’ and continued their rise with 2023’s ‘Since July.’ Bonded by their love of pop and a romantic outlook on life, the duo have built a musical identity centred around lush soundscapes and conversational songwriting. They credit bands such as Alvvays and Wolf Alice as current inspirations, while paying homage to their Scottish roots by also noting Blue Nile and Teenage Fanclub.
Shambolics
Hailing from Fife, Scotland and formed in 2018 Shambolics have been building a reputation as a must see band. Cited by Alan Mcgee to be ‘ already one of the great Scottish bands’ he went on to sign Shambolics in 2019 to his latest Creation Records incarnation Creation23 label they went on to release their debut single ‘Chasing A Disaster’ which went in at No 2 on the UK Official Vinyl Charts.
The Big Day
Creating their own trajectory and tearing up the rulebooks come The Big Day. Pushing the parameters of their sound and vision, The Big Day are gradually becoming one of the most identifiable and iconic acts in the Scotland. The ambitious and unafraid four piece have released only three singles to date but are fast becoming the name on the tip of everyone’s tongues. Creating spirited indie-pop bangers taking influence from the likes of The Killers, U2 and Bleachers, The Big Day are emphasising quality over quantity.
Water Machine
Flooding out of Glasgow in 2022, Water Machine quickly gained a reputation for their weird and wonky art-punk, winning hearts with sing-along songs about dogs, struggling artists and the housing crisis. The world of Water Machine is a swirling eddy of melodic bass lines and volatile guitar, driving rhythms thumped out on a sparse kit with cowbell flourishes, all the while narrated by sardonic social commentary and silly stories. A band with pop sensibilities and indignant punk urgency, these oddballs dart from sweet C86 to spiky post-punk, often within a single song.
Zoe Graham
Zoe Graham writes songs that sound like doing push-ups on the moon: heavy, but with an unmistakably light touch. Hers is a velvet voice, occasionally back-brushed.
Influenced by artists including St Vincent, Kate Bush and Beck – Zoe’s writing has all the intimacy and vulnerability of the therapist’s chaise longue, but with the door flung wide open for others to listen in. Guitars curdle with loungy synths and tautly machined drums.
Zoe has previously supported artists including Jenny Hval, Lo Moon, Kawala, Kate Nash, Rae Morris, Fatherson & Hamish Hawk.
our international programme is supported by Creative Scotland
