Five more Australian acts added to The Great Escape

Image: Sydney band Gang Of Youths will perform UK’s The Great Escape

Five more Australian acts have been added to the UK’s The Great Escape festival (May 19 to 21). The conference and showcase event, acclaimed as one of the world’s best places to find new unsigned global acts, has just released its 100 latest artists to its list.

They join 450 acts from around the world over the three days in Brighton over 35 venues.

Gang of Youths (pictured) will follow their TGE appearance with four UK/European shows and six US shows between May 21 and June 15. Last month they played Auckland City Limits in New Zealand.

Sydney dance and post punk City Calm Down are riding high behind their impressive debut album In A Restless House. Announcing their TGE appearance on Facebook, they posted, “The issue is, will Lee (new drummer Lee Armstrong) get his passport in time? Come on Lee. You can do it.” The band yesterday began a 10-date national tour with the first of two shows at Sydney’s Oxford Arts Factory. Seven of the shows, which run until April 24, are sold out.

For busker and surfer Kim Churchill, who lives and travels in a customised surf van, it marks a return after two years to play England. Churchill put in a blinder of a set at Bluesfest Byron Bay last weekend.

Canberra/Seattle dream electronica duo Vallis Alps are combining their TGE set with a European/UK run in May that includes Amsterdam, Paris, Brussels, and London.

Blue Mountains, NSW singer songwriter Julia Jacklin goes to Brighton in the wake of a talked-about appearance at South By Southwest in Texas which gained label attention and comparisons with some of her heroes. The classically trained performer, who was inspired to become a musician after seeing a Britney Spears documentary, just dropped a new single Pool Party.

Previously announced Aussies include The Rubens, Methyl Ethel, Oh Pep!, Dorsal Fins, Gordi, Slum Sociable, Northeast Party House, Owen Rabbit, RyX, Brisbane electro performer Banff and Melbourne singer songwriter Cloves (Kaity Dunstan).

Kevin Moore, TGE’s Event Manager said: “It’s wonderful to be able to announce another 100 artists who will be taking part in The Great Escape 2016. We wanted to make sure this year’s line up was as exciting and as diverse as ever, championing emerging artists from as many genres as possible and I really do feel we’ve got something for every type of new music fan, no matter what you’re into.”

International names in the latest 100 announcement include SG Lewis, Loyle Carner, Zak Abel, Thomas Cohen, Gilligan Moss, Izzy Bizu, Cakes Da Killa and Beasts. This year, to attract a wider audience, the festival introduced a special Young Adult wristbands for those aged 16–17.

According to figures supplied by TGE, over 3000 industry delegates attend each year. 30% of them are from outside the UK, travelling from all over Europe, the US, Canada, Japan, India, Australia and New Zealand. 71% of them reported they had business success as a result of attending. 54% of delegates are buyers and 46% sellers.

They include A&Rs, agents, brand managers, broadcasters, colleges, composers, digital companies, distributors, event organisers, export offices, festival bookers, festival promoters, financial advisors, journalists, labels, lawyers, managers, marketers, merchandisers, music publishers, producers, promoters, trade bodies and venue operators.