words: Nikki Wright
Sofia once again became the focus of the
regions music industry for the second edition of the South-East
European Music Event (SeeMe). The event launched in May last year
and is the only event in the region that is for dance music industry
professionals and electronic music fans. The event is held at the
historic Central Military Club, which is one of the earliest monumental
buildings and conveniently located in the centre of the city.
I was keen to see how the things had progressed since the events
launch and soon realised that I had only scratched the surface of
the real situation in the region on my first visit.
Day 1 started with a panel discussing issues of copyright and royalties
and there were translators so everyone could understand what was
going on, which was fantastic. The discussion was attended by the
Deputy Minister of Culture and Bulgaria’s collection agency
Profon. From the off it became clear that illegal downloading is
a major problem that needs better regulation, but Profon argued
that there was no mandate to collect money from downloads. To highlight
the problem the panellists were asked to write down their favourite
track to see if it could downloaded illegally before the end of
the panel. Sure enough over half the tracks were found! Unbelievable!
There is only 1 legal download site in Bulgaria called MP3.bg and
they are also targeted by the illegal downloaders. They told the
panel that after 5 minutes of putting new tracks online, they are
found on illegal sites and their sales stop. Music fans from South
and Eastern Europe also have problems trying to use established
download sites such as iTunes and Beatport as their credit cards
are often not accepted, which does not encourage the use of legal
sites.
After an explosive start the panels continued covering topics such
as; The future of dance music in South East Europe, Music production
and a demo feedback session headed up by Saw Recordings head honcho
Hector Romero. There was also a market focus on The Netherlands
with advice on how to break into international markets. Panellists
included Richard Zijlma from the Amsterdam Dance Event and top Dutch
DJ’s Lucien Foort and Laidback Luke. The Dutch ministry of
culture had also supported the event and helped fund a Dutch DJ
night to showcase talent from the Netherlands. Let’s hope
the Bulgarian Ministry of culture gets behind their local artists
so SeeMe can showcase up and coming talent at other international
conference in the future.
After the panels everyone gathered in the Ballroom of the Central
Military Club where we were treated to a live performance from local
dance act Planet Magic Live and US house singers Keith Thompson,
Darryl D'Bonneau and Georgie Porgie. I also got pulled on stage
to dance with Georgie when he sang ‘Life Goes On’ for
his big finale. Very embarrassing but good fun all the same! Keith
and Darryl also joined in and trio brought the house down with their
impromptu triple act.
After a quick bite to eat it at the restaurant next door, which
became the unofficial meeting point for SeeMe participants, it was
time to hit the official opening party at 4KM. Bush II Bush, Hector
Romero and Satoshi Tomiie were playing in room 1 and there was also
a local DJ playng called Vesselin who caught my attention. He played
a mix of uplifting progressive and tribal house and is also resident
at Sofia’s top house club Chervillo.
Room 2 was hosted by GLAM from Amsterdam and showcased the best
Dutch DJ’s including Ryan Marciano, Sunnery James, Lucien
Foort and Laidback Luke. Lucien played the final set of night and
the crowd loved it so much that they wouldn’t let him stop
and kept cheering him to play one more. Lucien invited all the Dutch
DJ’s into the DJ Booth and they were all jumping up and down
with the crowd. It was insane.
After partying hard on the first night and drinking too much of
the local drink Rakya most of the participants found it difficult
to make the 1:30pm start and the panels on day 2 started late. Discussions
covered topics such as promotion, running a record label, digital
music sales and a workshop with Dan Tait from Pioneer showcasing
the DVJ and giving participants the opportunity to get hands on
and have a go.
After the panels we went to the Ballroom to watch the finals of
the Amnesia dance competition heats in the Military club ballroom.
The prize was to dance at Amnesia for the summer season and competition
was fierce, as were the dancers outfits!
Then it was off to 4KM for the second night of partying. Amnesia
hosted room 1 recreating the clubs atmosphere for SE European clubbers
to experience in Sofia. DJ’s providing the authentic Ibiza
vibes were Amnesia resident Les Schmitz, Benjamin Bates (Dance4Life)
and DJ Acim (Selecteddjs.com) from Serbia. Room 2 was hosted by
Fokused who treated us to Christian Cambas from Greece, Jimmy Van
M and Philipp Jung from M.A.N.D.Y was the highlight of the night
for me. Hybrid were also playing at the Escape, club but I didn’t
have time to check them out and I was having too much fun where
I was.
After 2 days of networking and 2 nights of partying, it was hard
to stay alert for the last day of panels. The discussions kicked
off with how websites have changed the music business and and continued
with music and brands, music conferences and festivals, the importance
of radio and running a successful nightclub which featured representatives
from the Ministry of Sound who gave advice on building a club brand
and putting on parties around the world.
With the panels at an end it was time to let our hair down and
get ready for the closing parties. We hadn’t been lucky with
the weather this year as it had rained every day and tonight was
no exception. But it didn’t dampen our spirits and I was looking
forward to seeing Lottie and Fergie play. The Ministry room was
decked out with banners and balloons which proved popular with the
crowd who all wanted to take a piece of Ministry of Sound home with
them. Dan Tait from Pioneer kicked off things with a DVJ set, followed
by Chris Bailey from Ministry of Sound Radio. The highlight for
me was Lottie who totally rocked it and won hoards of new fans in
SE Europe. I have never seen a DJ surrounded by so many photographers
before and the whole place went off when she dropped a remix of
the Gossips ‘standing in the way of control’.
In the other room Fergie hit the decks on Bulgaria for the first
time. The crowd gave him a warm welcome and were constantly passing
him flyers to sign as well as bottles of beer! Techno is hugely
popular in Bulgaria and Fergie became their new hero before handing
over the decks to Ade Fenton. Other DJ’s playing that night
were Robbie Riveria at Yalta and Wally Lopez at the PR Club and
for the die hard there was an after party at Chervillo with local
DJ’s Steven, Vesselin and Vityaz.
I was really impressed with this year’s event and believe
it has helped cement the region’s place on the world dance
music map. There were a lot more industry professionals from other
countries in SE Europe and I made a lot of great new contacts from
Romania, Serbia, Greece and Hungary. The level of professionalism
and hospitality shown by the SeeMe organisers was second to none
and I am looking forward to coming back in 2008.
The scene in Bulgaria and SE Europe is really starting to explode
and there are many great clubs and talented new DJ’s and producers
in the region. DJ Lion is one who has released tracks on Relaxator
Records which is the first and only Bulgarian vinyl label and I’m
sure it won’t be long before others break through into the
international music scene. So watch this space!
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