FESTIVAL SPOTLIGHT: VIVA SOUNDS
We go beyond the beaten path of the live circuit - find your new favourite festival!
Yeah, yeah, it’s a new feature, but the aim is always the same, just like with the album reviews and The Devil’s Month and the Label Spotlight and everything we do here: to look beyond the obvious, past what we are forcefed by mainstream media all day, and to find the really cool stuff and help bring it more to light. Now we’re doing it for events too, and the first recipient of our undivided attention is a quaint little festival in Gothenburg called VIVA SOUNDS, going at it since 2017, which is looking particularly fine this year. Read on for an interview with Mattias Tell and Gustav Påhlsson, two wonderful dudes who happen to be two of the main guys in the organization and production, which is in charge of Westside Music Sweden, and discover more about this eclectic and super creative festival.
“It’s pretty hard to look around every corner or pick up every stone to see if there’s something good there. But give me even more time and I’ll start throwing rocks like a maniac!”
- Gustav Påhlsson
Can you tell us about the origins of Viva Sounds? When did you decide to do a festival with these characteristics, and what were your original goals with it?
Mattias Tell: Gotta admit, there was no strategic masterplan behind starting Viva Sounds. In 2016 I had booked enough tours outside Sweden and been to enough events to see the benefits of international networking on the DIY-level, so the idea was just to see if it was possible to invite some nice folks to talk music and get friendly in our city, in Gothenburg, and see what could come out of it. So we invited some people and booked some shows, all on that same day/night. It turned out fine. And once that first event was done we set eyes to do it again, it was just so much fun.
Do you feel the event has developed well throughout the years? Are you achieving what you imagined you would, or has anything surprised you along the way in any aspect?
Mattias: Given the great feeling of the first one we did a similar thing in 2018, only with some more venues, some more talks and spread out over two nights. Worked again. For 2019 we stretched a bit higher and got more venues along for it and, gottas say, smashed it. Gothenburg is not a small town but it's not a big city either so we've always tried to build it inside out with the help of our own community and not put on a bigger costume than we can wear in style. 2021 and 2022, just more of that, growing organically and attracting more relevant partners to make an event that matters to more people. It's all about doing something good with people you like, for people you like, something people can be a part of and not a customer of. That people we don't know have gotten interested in what we do is a big and positive surprise. That we're on the radar of agents, labels and artists is nothing we expected and that people travel to Gothenburg to be part of Viva Sounds is mind-blowing.
I like how eclectic the bill usually is. Your “frontiers” in terms of genres and vibe of the bands seem to be very loose. How would you describe the scope of the event? Are you truly open to anything, or is there something you won’t do?
Gustav Påhlsson: I wouldn’t say we’re open to everything, ”a lot” is probably a better term for it. We want to create a festival for people with different taste in a more compressed area, meaning that if you like rock you should be able to see a couple of cool rock bands, if you’re into pop you’ll find the pop acts, and the same goes for punk, metal or something else - but either way you’re bumping into people with different musical taste, you see new bands you didn’t know you liked and you meet new people. And it’s not that we dislike the genres that we maybe not book that much of, it’s just pretty hard to look around every corner or pick up every stone to see if there’s something good there. But give me even more time and I’ll start throwing rocks like a maniac!
Can you remember some highlights from the past editions? Any performance that has surprised you positively, or that has been simply a smash hit, something like that?
Mattias: One personal highlight was when Pelle Nyhage from Super Puma Records (Daniel Norgren's label) explained their expansion on the international market place by saying that they are "just some guys living in shacks working with other people in other countries living in shacks", and that that made an understanding between them. That simple take on "people are people" is just beautiful, and so true.
Gustav: Having Bad Nerves from London over last year is definitely a highlight that lives on. To put on bands that later on keeps on growing and sell more tickets etc is always a positive, and I guess some sort of receipt - showing that what you do is working. But overall there are many highlights to remember, as well as every year when it’s not raining.
The conference aspect of the festival also seems very important to you. Within underground/indie/alternative music, networking and joining efforts seems to be the absolute marrow of our existence, doesn’t it? We really can’t do anything without each other, and I love how you provide a platform for people to do just that, get together and build more stuff. Would you like to talk a bit more about this side of the festival, how you put it together, what are your goals for it, all that?
Mattias: Totally agree, everything we do is done with other people involved and the conference is super important to us that way. And we hope to make it as important to the people from our city and the ones coming in. All our invites are done via the hand-shake model. We're not that interested in where you work, how high up in the so-called hierarchy one might be - we gotta have met in order for us to invite you. The vibe among people when here matters way too much to spread invitations randomly based on that other stuff. The whole idea is to have people we dig meet other people we dig and we truly believe good stuff comes out of that. It's so simple, really, I'd never invite people I don't know to my own private parties, why should I do that in this case?
Let’s look at the 2023 edition then - you already have quite a few exciting names on the bill – I love Firebreather in particular! – and there’s still more to come. Can you tell us what you expect some of the high points to be, and in general what can we expect from this edition?
Gustav: Bigger, better and stronger! Firebreather are just great, both music and personality wise. Them being from Gothenburg makes it feel even better and almost kind of weird that they haven’t been playing before. I guess they’re in their US tour bus too much! Personally I’m looking forward to Julianna Riolino and the young Gothenburg, soon-to-be-a-star, Nemo Sparding. As well as walking between the venues trying to catch as much as possible. And we got lots of more names to be added during the fall as well.
When looking at the future, do you see things in terms of expansion? Is getting “bigger” an ambition, or are you satisfied with the dimension the event has and its format, and you are more focused on tweaking it here and there to make an even better experience? (or both things, they aren’t incompatible!)
Gustav: ”Tweaking it here and there”; I’m definitely stealing that expression when it comes to describing Viva Sounds. That’s more or less exactly what we want. Maybe we add a small venue, maybe we put on a few shows in front of an aquarium, maybe we get a ferry - who knows? And that’s the fun of it all. As long as we don’t do the exact same thing every year, I’m sure we can come up with something fun! And with that said, there’s absolutely a desire to grow as well, but not to become as big as the ”big ones”. The big ones are fun and good, and since we already have that on the festival circuit it’s more important for us to do something different.
VIVA SOUNDS takes place in Gothenburg, Sweden, on December 1-2. You can find everything you need about the festival on the official site, including ticket purchase info. Stay tuned for more announcements.