Norway Gets Foot In The U.K. Door

No doubt encouraged by the fact that 10 Norwegian acts were set to play Brighton’s Great Escape Festival May 15-17, the country’s music export office has opened a London branch.

Jonas Verbner, who heads the new operation in west London, says there’s such a wealth of exciting talent coming out of the country at the moment that the Norwegian Embassy has agreed to fund the satellite office.

"A lot of what is happening in Europe still centres on London, with many Scandinavian acts having agents that are based here. We think we can better help the Norwegian acts by having a presence here and getting closer to the London scene," he explained.

The Lionheart Brothers, Accidents Never Happen, Ane Brun, Dylan Mondegreen, Ida Maria, Ungdomskulen and Sigh & Explode are among the Norwegian acts at Great Escape.

Each year the Brighton festival focuses on a European country, and Jon Mcildowie of MAMA Group, one of the event’s major supporters, says Great Escape has always been able to depend on cutting-edge talent from Norway.

"With the launch of Music Export Norway’s London office this year and the emergence of some new and exciting bands we feel the timing is perfect to make Norway our lead country for The Great Escape Festival & Convention, 2008," he said.