Musical runway leads to Trenčín

NEW alternative bands from Slovakia and its surrounding countries will perform at the seventh annual Runway music festival starting at 16:00 on August 14 at the Trenčín Castle.
"The best of the new Central European rock scene will be there," promise the organisers of the event from web magazine the Music Revue.
Over 580 bands from Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Austria, and Germany submitted demos that have not yet been officially published by the magazine this year.


RUN to Trenčín for a good show.
photo: Peter Lazár

NEW alternative bands from Slovakia and its surrounding countries will perform at the seventh annual Runway music festival starting at 16:00 on August 14 at the Trenčín Castle.

"The best of the new Central European rock scene will be there," promise the organisers of the event from web magazine the Music Revue.

Over 580 bands from Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Austria, and Germany submitted demos that have not yet been officially published by the magazine this year. The staff selected the best ones, taking into consideration the variety of music styles and genres of the scene. The festival's aim is to "brisk up and contribute to the music scene, as well as to create a place for searching for and introducing the most interesting newcomers".

Runway 2004 will feature two representatives of metal genre - the Polish Mortis Dei playing orthodox death metal and the Austrian band Noise Victim performing in nu-metal style full of energy and excellent musical stunts. The German group Meroe will embody dynamic hard rock and the Czech group Mroš & The Voices will combine modern rock with electrical dance music. The Slovak alternative scene will be represented by guitar rock band Kolowrat (pictured). The festival's 1997 discovery, the Slovak band Desmond, will be the festival's special guest.

"Each of these bands brings a unique interpretation of the music style it plays; great music stunts matter too of course," said organiser Martin Kukučka. "[Listening to them] will be a special experience for all those who not only want to have fun but also hear quality music."

The hundreds of demos that the magazine receives annually prove that there is constantly something interesting going on within the alternative music scene, often resulting in unique authenticity and good quality.

"The Central European alternative music scene lives its own life outside the stressful world of commercial pop music," said Kukučka. "Most of the bands realise that their musical existence is a 'long distance run', so immediate success for them is neither a matter of course nor a necessity. It's a fact though, that if there is something really interesting, creative, and original going on within contemporary music, it's inside this musical community.

"Sometimes it happens that some of these bands cannot resist the craving for media glory and so they adjust their work in order to succeed. For most bands, however, self-realisation and expression of music and artistic opinion are the most important priority. This is partly the reason why the level of the official Slovak pop and rock scene is 'incompatible' within a European context, but yet the top alternative music scene is comparable with the most interesting European bands. Such examples are Bratislava's band Appendix and Nitra's Miscellane, which performed at Runway 2002."

Tickets to the festival cost Sk100 (€3) and will be on sale the day of the festival at the Trenčín Castle. For more information on the bands and the festival visit www.music-revue.sk/runway.html.


By Zuzana Habšudová

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