Patryma

Patryma are a four piece alternative rock band from the Caernarfon area.

Starting out as a bedroom project between vocalist Sion Foulkes and guitarist Daniel McGuigan, Patryma developed into a full band after the pair worked on a sound that they were excited to play live with Rhys Evans and Daf Jones joining on Drums and Bass. Singing in their native Welsh language Patryma are here to represent the Welsh language in the heavy music scene.

Two Tonne Machete

TWO TONNE MACHETE are Em, Ro and Dave from North Wales. This new feminist punk band are renowned for their uncompromisingly raw, high energy, euphoric bangers. Debut singles TRAP and BLOCKS received international praise and featured on both BBC Introducing and Radio X in late 2022 & early 2023.

In an interview, Joe Talbot from IDLES spoke of his desire to ‘cut through apathy and dark times like a TWO TONNE MACHETE.’ They adopted this as the bands name as it echoed their own ferocious direction and DIY punk ethics.

Currently unsigned, the trios ability to make mosh pit anthems has already been received with adoration. They band say ‘we only do bangers’ and this is undeniable.

XTIE (Hong Kong)

XTIE (pronounced X-T) is a Hong Kong singer, songwriter, and music producer. Aptly describing her music as “cosmic pop”, XTIE weaves shimmery yet sophisticated pop beats with candid stories about the universe. Her candy-pop beats are often characterized with sweeping melodies with vocal chops, mellow chilled-out vibes, and euphoric dance-floor moments.

As a self-produced artist, her production credits include stellar-level acts and TV shows from Hong Kong. Her singles have peaked at no.1 across radio stations in Hong Kong and Taiwan. XTIE recently played at Ear Up Music Festival 2023 at MacPherson Stadium.
Apart from her own releases, XTIE’s credits include sensational acts from Hong Kong; currently, she also writes and produces for A-Pop / K-pop markets. She also garnered support from Billboard ID, MTV Asia, BBC Radio, Wonderland, NOTION, Line Today TW, SCOUT Mag, etc.

“Not only gifted with warm jazz-tinged vocals, she also writes, arranges, produces, and performs her songs that are shimmering.” MTV Asia

Invisible Architecture (Hong Kong)

Formed by Alan Kwan (guitar), Matt Young (drums) and Jordan Gheen (keyboard), Invisible Architecture is a contemporary jazz group that explores the boundaries of jazz with musical elements like ambient and electronic. Their debut album Between Now and Never has won Best Instrumental Album Producer for the 33rd Golden Melody Awards, and three other nominations for Best Instrumental Recording Album (Technical Category), Best Composer (Instrumental Category), and Best Instrumental Album.

The band name, a tribute to Italian novelist Italo Calvino’s Invisible Cities depicting 55 imaginary cities, expresses the desire to use their music to create ‘architecture’ that does not exist in the palpable world and serves as a vessel for the spirits of all urban realms.

Bedroom Party (Hong Kong)

Bedroom Party is an electronic music duo formed by Lilong and Tami Ramu in 2020. Aiming at downtempo, dreamy party music and hopes to bringing it live in forms of live band and DJ, their music style varies from electronic to alternative, and synth pop to dream pop.

The two members met in university and formed their working style by producing separately in their own bedrooms. In 2020, Bedroom Party released their first two singles ‘Club’ and ‘Drift Away’. After focusing on live performance in early 2021, the group released their debut EP “Cubes” in July.

Prune Deer (Hong Kong)

A Hong Kong instrumental band formed in 2013 who mixes Instrumental Rock, Post Rock and Math Rock with unique charms of Hong Kong.

With the albums ‘Solid Transparency’ (2015), ‘Chemistry’ (2018) and ‘Insufficient Postage’ (2019), Prune Deer has gained rising popularity through performances in Asian regions, such as Hong Kong, China, Japan and Taiwan. Throughout the years, they have collaborated with artists from Japan and Taiwan, bringing in the Japanese and Hakka languages.

Also, they make a constant presence in various music festivals, including FRIENDSHIP. ONLINE (Japan), Post Rock Festival (China), More Than Music Festival (China), Wake Up Festival (Taiwan), BeastieRock (Taiwan), Clockenflap (Hong Kong), wow and flutter (Hong Kong) and Corona Sunset Festival (Hong Kong).

Black Maracas (Spain)

Black Maracas are a Spanish three piece who bring their sabbath drenched stoner rock all the way from Madrid, and it’s one not to be missed.

Noah and the Loners

Punk teens Noah and the Loners have something to say and they are saying it loud! Noah’s powerful songs capture the zeitgeist of Gen Z – from personal tracks on teenage love and his experience of toxic masculinity as a trans man, to political blasts at racism, corruption and the climate crisis. The band’s sound is influenced by OG legends X-Ray Spex, The Clash and Buzzcocks, along with the alternative stylings of Idles, Paramore and Frank Carter and the Rattlesnakes.

Noah and the Loners’ live shows are full of fire and fury, forged in iconic venues from London’s Dublin Castle and O2 Academy Islington to Liverpool Sound City. Standing politely in the corner watching the band play is NOT an option!

Since signing to Marshall Records; the youngest band ever to be signed to the label, Noah and the Loners released their debut single ‘Teenage Tragedy’ which saw support from the Kerrang! Chart, Amazing Radio, Radio X, and BBC Radio 6 Music.

Guineu (Catalonia)

The composer and singer from Terrassa Aida Giménez hides behind Guineu, a music project of indie pop in Catalan with a riot girl attitude, which mixes fine melodies and trashy tendencies to give shape to what we can label as #cuquitrash and that drinks of the punk of the 80s, the new wave of the 90s and drags the pop trends of the 2000s.

In just over 2 years Guineu has recorded a debut album entitled ‘Forats negres’, has sung with Rufus T. Firefly after winning the Movistar+ Rookies contest, has collaborations with Joan Colomo, written the song of the year with “Putu Any” (finalist of the Cerverí Award 2021 for the best song lyrics) and played Primavera Sound 2022, thus establishing herself as one of the most interesting projects with more personality in the Catalan music scene at the moment. In 2023 Guineu will present a new album ‘Una sacsejada’, a collection of round songs based on precise melodies, without flourishes or any extra note in a jumble of influences ranging from the guitar sound of the 90s, synth pop of the 80s and the latest trends in global music and where the word POP is written in capitals.

Los Premios (Spain)

A peculiar mix between psychedelic rock, Lo-Fi Pop and Afro-Cuban rhythms define Los Premios’s sound, a new musical project formed by Pablo Silva, Victor Vila, Pablo Laborde and Borja González-Ayllón. Inspired by the title of the first Cortazar`s novel, the first EP of the Valencian group was produced, recorded and mixed entirely between the rehearsal room and Silva’s house, during the months of confinement.

Since the album release in November 2021, the band has been playing live, improving his live sound with jamming skills mixed with precious arrangements, catchy choruses and voodoo trance rhythms. They have played at Nautico de San Vicente(Galicia) as winners of Sonidos Mans contest.

They have also taken their live show to Madrid (El intruso), Zaragoza (Sala López) and various stages of Valencia (Loco Club, 16 Tons, La Pérgola de la Marina…). At this moment Los Premios are focused on creating and producing what will be their first LP while they keep on playing live.

Valentinskka (Spain)

Choreographer and dancer, VALENTINSKKA brings with her music a mystic atmosphere where dance and performance have a lot of presence. Originally from Buenos Aires and living in Spain, she blends influences from hip-hop, trip-hop, techno to tango and bossa nova.

The Crying Room is the name of her multidisciplinary show.

Perfectparachutepicture

One of Sheffield’s most prominent up and coming rock acts in recent times, Perfectparachutepicture are armed with a catalogue of juggernaut riffs, pounding rhythms and wonderfully catchy melodies. Kyle Ernest (drums and vocals) and Edward James (bass) are the duo that make up this exciting two-piece unit, taking huge strides throughout the UK rock scene with a string of thumping singles, and a live show leaving audiences clambering to see the band again. Heard on BBC Radio 1, BBC Radio 6 Music, Radio X and Amazing Radio.

Isa Leen (Portugal)

Rita Sampaio is a 26-year-old musician, composer, producer, and songwriter based in Braga (Portugal), signed by Cosmic Burger under the name Isa Leen. Her career started in 2012 when she joined GrandFather’s, founded by her brother and fellow musician. In the following years, the band came to release two LP’s and one EP, three European Tours, stepping on international stages in the likes of Waves Vienna and Sziget Festival in Hungary.

In 2019, Rita gave form to IVY, her debut solo project. In this new skin, she released one album and one EP, with which she toured around the country until the pandemic came around and interrupted live shows. During this quieter and uncertain period, Isa Leen crafted her mind, body, and soul. She is born from the urge of exploring new sounds, colors, and landscapes, on a path towards a sound that defies categorization because of how complex it is for her. One that is layered and imbued with the diverse influences that have shaped her artistic vision over time.

It is in this new endeavor that the artist truly sees herself shift. Isa Leen is no longer about healing, sorrow, heartbreak, or something like an autobiography in the shape of a record or song. She’s restless, political, and complex, without abandoning the inherent
simplicity and triviality the world presents us with. She is also after the feeling of emancipation and autonomy since the first tracks that have been released are composed and produced by the artist herself, with the French producer and musician Sébastien Forrester participating in the co-production of the tracks.

The artist released two tracks: What Do You See?, the debut single of the project, and água-mãe, which was released with a music video directed by Ângela Bismarck. Both the song and the video explore themes of motherhood, roots and sense of belonging.

Trypas Corassão (Portugal)

TRYPAS CORASSÃO is a Brazilian duo based in Lisbon, Tita Maravilha and Cigarra, an aesthetic and political project of hybrid creation between electronic music and performance. The body that carries several memories and unmemories of violence and now has the power of change in their hands. Therefore, the unravel of borders, defrontiers, re-borders of genre and expression, through the languages of sound from different borders of Brazil and the world, such as funk to jungle, easy-listening chewing pop, folk local culture, historical samples, the over dramatic and the post-romantic. Urgent bodies of marginalized women and trans fury in a hybrid and sensual proposal, the Brazilian duo brings a live act full of noise and creamy appeals.

Holy Nothing (Portugal)

Holy Nothing is a transatlantic band. An electronic trio, based in Porto, that joins Pedro Rodrigues (vocals), Nelson Silva (keys) and the Brazilian musician Angelo B (vocals and bass) to create a unique mixture of electronic dance music with south-American warm rhythms. From Portugal to Brazil, this collective create unpredictable dialogues between vintage synthesizers and Bahian guitars, groovy drum machines and pandeiros. This combination creates enigmatic and energetic live shows, with unusual fusions between dense environments and tropical vibes.

These shows led them to play in several of the biggest Portuguese venues and some of the most recognized showcase festivals worldwide such as Iceland Airwaves, Eurosonic Noorderslag (Netherlands), Waves Vienna (Austria) or SXSW (USA).

After the release of their first EP (Boundaries, 2014), and their acclaimed debut LP (Hypertext, 2015), Holy Nothing’s latest album – Plural Real Animal (2020) – is a tribute to plurality and cultural globality. This album was built by a lot of people, old and new friends, with very diverse backgrounds. The act of multiplying references is the fundamental characteristic of “Plural Real Animal” where Holy Nothing proudly assume the differences between each one of the collaborators involved – BaianaSystem (BR), Barbatuques (BR), Moullinex (PT) or Rui Maia (PT).

False Hope For The Savage

Cardiff 5 piece post-rock magicians False Hope For The Savage are a special band that you all need to experience at FOCUS Wales 2023!

James and the Cold Gun

Championed by BBC Radio 1, and also selected for SXSW this year, James and the Cold Gun are an exciting new rock band from Cardiff, building lots of momentum, and one not to be missed at the festival!

Hause Plants (Portugal)

Indie rock group Hause Plants, formed in 2020, is the product of teenage years spent in nightclubs and bars surrounded by live music and indie rock bands every weekend. Growing up, they were just as influenced by The Strokes, Yeah Yeah Yeahs and The Rapture as they were influenced by the cool kids in Bairro Alto and Graça, the hipster neighbourhoods of Lisbon’s nightlife, wearing leather jackets and skinny jeans, singing their favourite Arctic Monkeys’ lyrics as if there was no one else around, shaping the city’s thriving DIY scene the Hause Plants’ members were a part of.

The Brooklyn-based, Lisbon-born band consisting of Guilherme Machado Correia, João Nunes da Silva, Dani Royo and João Simões, are set on pioneering a modern take to the music they grew up on. While the band finds influence in the classic indie rock bands they grew up listening to, their inspiration comes from more contemporary artists who, like themselves, are set to reinvent guitar music in the 21st century, like Nilüfer Yanya, Tomberlin, Wet Leg, Turnstile and The Garden.

SUN (France)

SUN is a singer-songwriter, guitarist and actress. Catchy toplines, colorful visuals, feral screams and double pedal drums, her Brutal Pop could be the hidden child of St Vincent and Gojira. She debuted on the big screen in 2021 in a leading role in the feature film « Tom Medina » by Tony Gatlif, selected at Cannes Film Festival 2021. In the movie she acts, sings her own songs and plays her sparkly Telecaster. She also wrote five tracks of the soundtrack.

SUN opened for Ayron Jones, Betraying The Martyrs, Travis, Nina Hagen, Shonen Knife, Shanon Wright, Dagoba…

She has performed in several showcase festivals in Europe and Japan : The Great Escape (UK), MaMA (Paris), Tokyo Beyond (Tokyo), Trans Musicales (Rennes), Future Echoes (Sweden), Wave (Austria), MMVV (Spain), MIL (Portugal), Spike (Bulgaria).

In September 2021 SUN was awarded the FAIR Prize, the most important French prize for modern Music.

Upcomings tours are in Laos / Japan, Germany / Scandinavia and USA.

MOJA (Japan)

There’s nothing quite like the explosive Tokyo based duo MOJA, and all those lucky enough to have seen them live before will agree. One not to be missed!

IMMERSE

IMMERSE conquer lifes battles head on with a smile. The Bristol quartet take pride in touring their energetic live performance throughout the UK & Europe. Behind their fun exterior, these four lads have always taken an empathic & positive approach to creating music. With two albums under their belt, IMMERSE have a strong catalogue behind them which has rewarded them with a loyal fanbase. Fresh from shows with Dragged Under, To Kill Achilles, Values and Death Blooms, and following on from their huge single ‘Chemical’ UK’s Immerse released second single ‘Self Destruct’ on in June 2022. The band have previously had support from the likes of Rock Sound, Metal Hammer, Kerrang, Total Rock Radio, Idobi Radio, Dead Press, Gig Radar, BBC, Dreambound, Triple J, Moshville Times, Distorted Sound Magazine, V13, and landed plenty of official playlisting with Spotify, Deezer, Apple Music, Digster, Filtr and more. The band have amassed over 2.2 million streams on Spotify alone across their previous two albums.

Dresden Wolves (Mexico)

Introducing Dresden Wolves, an explosive post punk duo all the way from Mexico.

  • Winner of Best Festival for Emerging Talent at UK Festival Awards


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