Metaltalks: My band is awesome, now what?

Open for delegates and festival goers

How do I navigate my potential career as a rock star? With home studios being more and more professionalized, and with an ever-open online library that can further empower musical knowledge and skills, we see more exciting new artist than ever before. How can you make sure you stand out in the crowd, and what are the key points to focus on when growing your band/music?

Moderator: Kjersti Brochs (Virgin Music)

Participants: Runa Strindin (Midgardsblot), Jagger (Summer Breeze Open Air), Dan P. Carter (BBC Radio 1 / Spinefarm Records)

Kjersti Brochs is a label manager with Virgin Music Group, where she's the day-to-day contact for around 50 labels across all genres and size. She is also doing Social Media for the festival Beyond the Gates. Before this, she worked at Indie Recordings for nearly 10 year, doing marketing, release planning and more.

Runa Lunde Strindin is the founder, owner and artistic director of the Midgardsblot Festival in Norway and has been working as a promoter and festival producer for the last 15 years. She’s been a board member for the Norwegian Live Organisation(NKA) anda juror for the Metal category at Norwegian Grammies “Spellemann”.

Chris ‘Jagger’ Jägerhas been working in the scene for more than two decades. From publishing a fanzine during the mid-Nineties to joining a monthly metal magazine in ’98 and becoming the editor in chief later on, he made his first steps in the live music business in 1998. During that year the magazine realized its second indoor festival that later became a well-known Open Air in South Germany. In 2012 he joined Germany’s second biggest metal festival SUMMER BREEZE Open Air. As head of booking, project manager and networking specialist he likes to push and advance the festival as well as travel and meet people all over the globe.

Daniel P. Carter is the host of BBC Radio 1’s flagship show for heavy music, The Rock Show, where he has been for the past 18 years. Reflecting on his role, Carter shares, “I’ve been fortunate to support a creatively diverse music scene, spanning subgenresfrom pop punk to black metal and beyond. Being able to play challenging music and provide a platform for some of the most beautiful and abrasive songs is something I love and take seriously.”

In addition to his hosting duties, Carter serves as the Director of Artist Development at Spinefarm Records, where he plays a pivotal role in helping artists achieve their full potential.

In 2016, Carter launched the podcast “Someone Who Isn’t Me”, featuring in-depth conversations with artists such as Maynard James Keenan (Tool/Puscifer), St. Vincent, Tobias Forge (Ghost), Chelsea Wolfe, and Einar Selvik (Wardruna). Since 2014, he has also curated days of the Festival Republic Stage (formerly ‘The Pit’) at the Reading and Leeds Festival, showcasing a wide rangeof artists from Mastodon to Yung Lean.

As a visual artist, Carter has created album artwork for bands including HIM, Behemoth, and Dillinger Escape Plan. His artistic talents also extend to music production, where he has crafted remixes for bands likeMy Chemical Romance and Puscifer. As a songwriter and musician, Carter has enjoyed significant success, with top ten singles, a number one hit, and over a hundred million streams to his name.