Punkt Festival re-connects with 18th edition
Since 2019, Arts & Parts has been working with Punkt Festival – the Norwegian experimental ‘Festival of the Live Remix’. The brainchild of musicians and record producers Jan Bang and Erik Honoré, Punkt started in 2005 and is a unique, hugely respected annual three-day music event in Kristiansand, Norway. Across 18 years, it has attracted a cult following by featuring celebrated Nordic musicians, plus some of the most cutting-edge artists in the world, such as Brian Eno, David Sylvian, Laurie Anderson, John Paul Jones, Daniel Lanois and Thurston Moore.
In 2022, Punkt will launch a new label called Punkt Editions. This is an exciting development in Punkt’s history and will be a platform for Punkt related music, artwork and literature, organised as a sub-label of Jazzland Recordings. Punkt Editions will be an archive of 18 years of sonic experimentation, as well as a future-focussed label and arthouse. Releasing live and studio recordings from the vaults, as well as brand new recordings produced or curated by Jan Bang and Erik Honoré, its debut release ‘The Bow Maker’ is an album by Jan Bang and Dai Fujikura.
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Below is an extract from the Punkt Festival media release, issued on 27 April 2022:
In September 2022, Punkt Festival will re-connect with its international family for the 18th edition. The festival will make a return to original venue Teateret, taking over the entire building for its evening programme - a series of concerts and live remixes featuring a diverse array of exciting, experimental artists. This includes a tribute concert to Norway’s ground-breaking artist Sidsel Endreson, appearances from Bugge Wesseltoft, David Toop, Solveig Slettahjell, Dai Fujikura, Nils Petter Molvær, indigenous Sámi project Avant Joik, the launch of new label Punkt Editions and more.
The festival will open with a landmark concert on Thursday 1 September, seeing Punkt celebrate long-time friend and collaborator Sidsel Endresen for an extra special 70th anniversary tribute. Endresen is one of Norway’s most ground-breaking artists and has been hugely influential internationally, with a prolific and diverse career. The evening will feature many of the artists Endresen has worked with and inspired, including Bugge Wesseltoft, Nils Petter Molvær and Solveig Slettahjell, and more artists to be announced. Also, the same evening British polymath David Toop will be joined by Torben Snekkestad and Søren Kjærgaard, to perform as a trio for an exciting one-off concert.
On Friday 2 September, Punkt Editions will launch, with an evening concert with music Jan Bang and Dai Fujikura’s forthcoming album ‘The Bow Maker’. The evening will also feature Avant Joik, the incredible project from Maja S. K. Ratkje (vocals and live electronics) and Katarina Barruk (vocals/joik). Avant Joik blends joik – the traditional, indigenous Sámi singing form – with an electronic, experimental palette, evoking the eerie, contemplative atmospheres of the north, with live visuals by Matti Aikio.
Friday will also feature a new acquaintance to the Punkt family, Karja/Renard/Wandinger, a next generation Estonian/French/German piano trio, who performed at Punkt@Banlieues Bleues in Paris in April. Following on from Paris, the trio will again be live remixed by Bang, Honoré, plus Eivind Aarset.
On Saturday 3 September, Punkt will present this year’s commissioned work from drummer, composer and Jaga Jazzist co-founder Martin Horntveth’s new project Gouldian Finch. There will be a performance of the piece ‘Superego’, with a band consisting of Ståle Storløkken (keyboards), Petter Eldh (bass) and Martin Horntveth (drums and electronics), plus several guests including Oslo based rapper Vuyo.
The Saturday programme will also feature more next generation excellence, from the flautist Michaela Antalová and bassist Adrian Myhr, who as a duo released the stunning album ‘Zvony’ in 2021, plus Zenith Award winners Trio Heinz Herbert from Switzerland performing their intricate and energetic blend of rhythms and textures.
With live remixes a key part of Punkt’s DNA, alongside Bang, Honoré and Aarset, the electronics/spoken word trio Bendik Baksaas, Fredrik Høyer and Tobias Grønborg are also confirmed as remixers, with more special guest live remixers to be announced in the coming months.
Punkt Festival also has a daytime programme of Punkt Seminars, that will be curated and hosted this year by the hugely influential musician and author David Toop, to be announced soon.
Early bird tickets for Punkt are available now - Festival Pass (early bird-price 1490 NOK until 24 May) and Day Passes (Thursday 590 NOK, Friday and Saturday 690 NOK) are available here.
Programme & info: www.punktfestival.no
Punkt Design: Nina Birkeland. https://ninabirkeland.com/
Follow Punkt on socials: Facebook
For further information contact: Indy Vidyalankara at Indypendent PR on +44 7881 822571 / indy@indypendentpr.com