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The Asteroïds Galaxy Tour, energizing crowds at Montreux' Jazz Cafe-Photo, Jared Bloch

Montreux, Switzerland - In the afterglow of the musical smorgasbord that is July in Switzerland, I am left wondering, what’s next? Of all the shows I had the pleasure of seeing last  month, one of the highlights was the Scandinavian Night at the Montreux Jazz Festival hosted by Spot on Denmark.

Spot on, a joint venture of the Danish Rock Council (ROSA) and Music Export Denmark (MXD) partnered with the Montreux Jazz Festival this year to highlight emerging Danish music talent including bands, As in RebekkaMaria, and The Asteroïds Galaxy Tour (whose song “Around the Bend”, was recently featured in an Apple iPod Touch commercial).

I had the chance to speak with Spot on representative Christian Buhl prior to the concert and to ask him more about the Spot on Festival which takes place each May and has been staged for the past 15 years in in Aarhus, Denmark.

According to Buhl, Spot functions “… as a musical clearinghouse and spends approximately 2 million Euros annually to develop and promote Danish acts.” The festival spotlights over 100 bands and artists over three days, including rock, pop, metal, folk, world music, jazz, hiphop, singer/songwriter, r&b and electronica performers. Festival acts are selected from over 800  applicants including up and coming Danish bands as well as regional talent, Buhl said.

Spot on also includes conferences and seminars on current issues in the music business. The festival draws around 6,000 music fans a day including 1,000 representatives from the industry, according to Buhl.

As in RebekkaMaria, electropop with a voice to back it up-Photo, Jared Bloch

The Spot communications partnership with the Montreux Festival helps to promote Danish bands such as Asteroïds, and  As in RebekkaMaria at the European level, while highlighting new talent at the Swiss festival as well, Buhl explained. The two bands were selected for Montreux by a Swiss music jury. Buhl, who is based out of Brussels, noted that the Spot Festival opens with 10 bands from outside of Denmark and that the Montreux partnership provides an opportunity to scout for Swiss and European talent as well.

What’s next? GenevaLunch coverage of Spot? Stay tuned, and get your tickets early as the festival is well established on the music circuit.

Read all of our Montreux Jazz Festival reviews.

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