4 Norwegian acts booked for The Great Escape

The Great Escape is one of the UK and Europe's biggest showcase festivals which takes place in Brighton, England in from May 10-13. The festival offers a solid seminar program with various networking opportunities, and attracts important industry professionals annually from all over the world. Music Norway has had an active presence at the festival since 2008.

Four Norwegian artists are booked for this year's festival; SKAAR, Ash Olsen, Tigerstate and Whammyboy. 17 Norwegian industry professionals will participate at the festival, including 9 participants from Music Norway's capacity building program, Masterclass.

On Thursday May 11, TONO (Norwegian collection society) organizes a gathering for the industry, and on Friday May 12 there is a Meet the Nordics brunch at Mrs Fitzherbert. Hope to see you there!

Read more about the artists here:

SKAAR

Friday, 12 May / 19:00 – 19:30 / The Hope and Ruin

Growing up surrounded by the stunning scenery of the island of Stord, Hilde Skaar knew early on she wanted to pursue a career in music – but kept it to herself as it seemed impossible. Evolving from Hilde Skaar to SKAAR turned out to be quite the journey. Between a multitude of influences and countless people voicing their opinions on what to do, she felt like she lacked a direction of her own.But over time, SKAAR developed a vision for every element of the creative process – even to the extent knowing that making things too polished does not fit her. She is an artist that can have one foot firmly placed in commercial pop and the other in an alternative/indie universe. Only 23-years-old, we see SKAAR becoming a Norwegian alt-pop artist with the ability to make a major international impact. Numerous singles have been A-listed on Norwegian radio; she has written music for the Netflix series ‘Home for Christmas’, as well as the motion pictures ‘Battle’ and ‘Askeladden.’

Ash Olsen

Thursday, 11 May / 19:30 – 20:00 / GREEN DOOR STORE

Friday, 12 May / 19:30 – 20:00 / SHOOSHH

When it comes to Ash Olsen, “not your average rapper” is something of an understatement. Most of the press surrounding the fast-rising 22-year-old Norwegian makes light of this, and with good reason. Born and raised on a farm in rural Fredrikstad, an hour south of Oslo, skateboarding was her passion as a young teen; music barely featured. But one listen to Tupac’s ‘Only God Can Judge Me’ changed her life; she went home, rapped along to it on YouTube, and was instantly hooked. She hasn’t stopped rhyming since.

Tigerstate

JUBILEE SQUARE

Friday, 12 May / 21:30 – 22:00 / PATTERNS DOWNSTAIRS

Tigerstate is an Oslo-based collective of musicians and singers which was founded in 2020. The core of the band is and eclectic gang of young musicians and other creative people, who after being in the same circle in the Oslo underground music scene decided to join forces on a common project. Their approach to what they do musically is organic anddemocratic, yet completely free. As long as the ideas are good, anything goes! From songwriting to the actual playing and performing of the tunes, Tigerstate is a collective in every sense of the word.

Whammyboy

Friday, 12 May / 18:30 – 19:00 / QUEENS HOTEL

Saturday, 13 May / 21:00 – 21:30 / WATERBEAR VENUE

Noah Johansen AKA Whammyboy is a 24 year old artist from the small Norwegian town called Moss. Growing up as half Vietnamese and half Norwegian, the young man felt as if he didn’t belong or fit in anywhere, and he lacked a feeling of affiliation and identity. Also, being a shy child, the last thing he imagined was rocking out on a stage and loving every minute of it. Noah first picked up the guitar at the age of twelve, and persuaded his father to teach him as much as possible. He immediately realized that playing music was a way of channeling his energy and expressing himself, and soon enough he became – in his own words – “addicted to the guitar.”