The Polish Audience Loved the Hungarian boebeck at NextFest

With the support of HOTS – Hungarian Oncoming Tunes, boebeck participated in NextFest in Poznań, Poland. The singer spoke with us about preparing for the showcase, the trip itself, and the experiences they gained there.

How did your collaboration with HoTS begin?

I got in touch with Kedves Péter, project coordinator of HOTS, after we parted ways with our management and became an independent band. I attended one of HOTS’s consultation sessions where I explained to him and Petneházy Flóra — the program office’s project manager — that although we absolutely did not want to lose our “domestic footing,” we fundamentally see ourselves as an export-oriented band, so maintaining some sort of international presence is important to us.

We all know that in Hungary, Hungarian-language lyrics have the advantage, and there isn’t a huge market for English-language songs. But since I personally prefer writing in English, our songs are in English, and because of that, international orientation feels natural for us.

Péter and Flóra approached us with complete openness and support, and a cheerful collaboration developed between us. As with many other bands working with them, they regularly drew our attention to events worth applying for, and they also recommended us to showcase festivals as part of Hungary’s music export efforts.

What is the main significance of showcase performances?

The main significance is that if we participate in one of these events in a particular country, our chances increase of later being invited to regular — non-showcase, market-oriented — festivals or clubs there. We can also connect with many bands we otherwise might never cross paths with.

Participating in these festivals increases our visibility, which in turn expands our audience, increases our listener numbers, and therefore raises our market value.

Tell us about your latest showcase experience — NextFest!

This was the best-feeling showcase experience of our lives so far; we came home incredibly happy.

Our band is already very close-knit, but we arrived in Poznań especially synchronized and cheerful because we had spent a lot of time together on the tour bus beforehand. Before our NextFest concert on April 25, we had performed in Prague on April 17 and in Pécs on April 19.

We played at an Irish pub called The Dubliner, which has fantastic acoustics, so technically the concert sounded excellent too.

To my great joy, we also got to perform after our friend band I Love You Honey Bunny — usually it’s the other way around, with us playing before them, since they’re a bigger band than we are.

But the reason this became the best-feeling showcase experience of our career is also because Polish audiences are incredibly welcoming. They approached us with curiosity, interest, and kindness, and — similarly to our concerts in Liverpool and Germany — we had a particularly strong audience turnout.

The article says the Polish audience “loved the Hungarian boebeck” at NextFest. What made the audience special?

Not to mention that they were an exceptionally conscientious audience. They wrote reviews of every band, describing what they liked and what they didn’t. So far, we’ve only received positive feedback, which naturally makes us very happy.

I think we played one of the best concerts of our lives.

How successful was the event in terms of networking?

We attended every networking event that seemed useful, and we met quite a lot of industry professionals, several of whom we hope to continue collaborating with in the Polish scene. That was another very positive experience.

How can you measure the positive impact of showcase festivals?

It varies completely depending on the showcase itself.

The contacts made at NextFest will probably lead to more positive and constructive results than, for example, those made in Lithuania, because Poland is geographically and culturally somewhat closer to Hungary. It’s easier to share the community-building experience of Central and Eastern European identity with them.

The impact of showcases also depends on whether we bring someone along to represent the band — for example, a manager, booker, or promoter — and how actively that person works on networking and audience building.

At the same time, the growth of our social media following reflects quite well whether a particular concert was a smaller or larger success.

Photos: Viktor Schifter

This article was originally published on kultura.hu.