Cologne: Reactions from the international music business – and from a Danish football pro

Thomas Venker, editor in chief, Intro Magazine:
I really liked the fact that we switched so frequently during the networking event – I also met some people from this area that I hadn’t seen for many years. Good to network so much and to meet the Danish representatives too, because maybe we’ll do something with a specific focus on Denmark in the future. The acts? Treefight For Sunlight were best – good tunes, good songwriting – until their Kate Bush cover, which was a little overblown. Vinnie Who – an uplifting acquaintance, and I liked them, but pretty soon they had played all their aces. Rangleklods reminded me of Miss Kittin & The Hacker and was probably a bit too monotonous. However, all three bands have great production, and I definitely like being introduced to three so diverse acts in one night. It gives me a definite feeling as to what Danish music is about.

Giovanni Trono, Music:LX, music export office, Luxembourg:
It was a good night. Great networking session, where we really got to talk with a lot of different people and in a great ambience – normally you always end up talking to other music industry people in a bar with loud music. So this session really gave some good contacts, which will hopefully prove useful later for some musical exchange. The music has been fine. The first band was quite refreshing. Vinnie Who demonstrated their usual, high level, but perhaps not quite as mind-blowing as at Transmusicales de Rennes, where I saw them two weeks ago in front of a much bigger crowd. Unfortunately I’m going to miss out on Rangleklods – we have a two-and-a-half-hour drive home to Luxembourg ahead of us…. 

Reinhard Allgeier, managing director, La Candela, agency:
The networking was a great success. You were given the opportunity to speak face to face with a lot of different branches of the business – you rarely meet as many as tonight. Yes, I have met a lot of people that I will definitely get touch with later. When it comes to the music, my personal favorite was Vinnie Who. I’m sure that band will be successful internationally – not just in Germany, but also in France – or some other countries. It was very inspired. Now they will be able to return to Cologne in the future on their own. They will have something that they can draw on and refer to. Generally speaking it is a good idea to focus on Cologne. It is an important area with plenty of media and music industry companies.

Philipp Carbotta, blogger, letsgethey.de:
This was a little barrier-breaking for me, and I was actually a bit nervous. You see, it was my first networking event, and I met numerous well-known people from the Cologne music business. But it went surprisingly well with a pleasant atmosphere and many interesting conversations for me. Treefight For Sunlight were nice – they had good tunes, and I really like the genre, but I don’t think they made it all the way through their gig. Vinnie Who created a really great vibe even if it is not really my kind of thing. They reminded me of Hercules and Love Affair. And I liked the fact that couldn’t tell if it was a boy or a girl at first….

Bastian Küllenberg, the magazine Crazewire as well as Zakk (venue):
Excellent networking party. Met a lot of interesting people, not just from Denmark, but curiously enough also from Cologne. The showcase was a bit more problematic as is often the case with showcases. I think Treefight ought to have played a much smaller venue. It would have suited their style a lot better. And Rangleklods might have been even better at a venue that would do justice to his beats and sound. The way things were the last two acts – Vinnie Who and Rangleklods – were by far the best and became a climax of this night.

Ken Ilsø, professional footballer, Fortuna Düsseldorf:
I was definitely happy with the music. I had been looking forward to hearing Rangleklods, whom I played a lot at home on the iPad. It was different here, but still great. And then Vinnie Who really surprised me. I had heard them in advance – especially their hit, but they played their material in their very own way. Generally speaking it has been nice to be in a different crowd for a change, and it has been fun to see how the promotion of Danish music works. But, now I’d better hurry back home to Düsseldorf – we have practice tomorrow morning.