Three Quick Ones Ahead of Ja Ja Ja Vienna 2017

The all-Nordic Ja Ja Ja festival will return to Vienna in January 2017, and we checked in with our local man, Hannes Tschürtz of Ink Music, for three quick ones about what’s going on in Austria at the moment. According to him, there is plenty to look forward to, and previous Ja Ja Ja Vienna acts have already started reaping the harvest of what they’ve sown.

1. What are you looking forward to the most regarding Ja Ja Ja Vienna 2017? Any new discoveries since last year?

As always: Far too many to be able to include all of them in a single festival night. Which also means we will once again have a high class line up – which is a great reason for everybody to come back to see new talent from the Nordics in Vienna in January!

2. Have you paid attention to how things went for bands who played the last event? Have you seen them in Austria (or anywhere else) since then?

Of course – this is part of the idea, and we share the love for Scandinavia not just for this event. Júníus Meyvant for instance managed to sell out his Vienna show this September in advance, after playing in front of an enthusiastic crowd at Ja Ja Ja in January. Also Vök (played 2015 edition) did really well after Ja Ja Ja throughout the region, also including neighboring countries. They managed to use Vienna as their hub to the east.

3. What’s the latest development on the Austrian market? Any new players who’ve emerged/merged or started growing a significant presence?

The Austrian market now looks completely different compared to five years ago. It’s a very long story, but in short: there is a whole lot more competition in both the promoter and agency market now. The festival market has seen wild changes within the past two years. The rise of local talent has led to a dramatic shift in the relation between once “small” agencies and “big” promoters. We live in interesting times, I must say.