Drinking Music is a nationally known independent music contest for emerging artists and bands. It has a fifteen-year history and today has hundreds of participants. Registrations for this edition end on June 2nd, at the end of which a jury made up of over 70 members – including experts, professionals and music enthusiasts – will select 80. The six finalist projects will then be chosen and will perform live during the final evenings scheduled in Brescia in October.
In the past Drinking Music has awarded artists who have subsequently established themselves on a national level such as Angelina Mango, La Representative di Lista, Ginevra and I'm a dog. The objective has always been to bring out a new generation of artists and to achieve this the organization has also launched a new event this year. We talked about it with the creator Paolo Dusi, also taking the opportunity to discuss the past, present and future of the musical contest. What has changed with the advent of streaming? What are the differences between Gen Z and those who preceded it? How have the spaces in which it is possible to emerge changed? How does a contest manage to become an intermediary for a career that necessarily involves live performances which are increasingly difficult to access?
Can you tell us how the contest was born and how it has evolved over the years?
Musica da Bere was born fifteen years ago from the desire for discovery and the desire to get involved of a group of kids with a passion for music and the idea of organizing a valuable cultural event that would bring new proposals to their territory. At the first edition we received 70 registrations. Over the years we have grown and, thanks also to the help received from many organizations who believed in the project and supported us, we have become a reference for the entire national territory, with over 600 artists and bands registered in the latest edition and names like Angelina Mango, La Representative di Lista, Ginevra or Iosonouncane among the awarded artists.
Along with the competition, the type of artists and bands participating in it has also changed. Trends and fashions change. Everything changes, as is natural. In your opinion, has the attitude of those who want to stand out also changed? What differences do you find compared to 15 years ago? Is there more awareness? Do you dream less?
Over the years, musical genres and styles of reference have changed. What remains constant is the desire of the new generations to communicate and in this the language of music is certainly among the strongest and most expressive. When we started in 2010 Spotify hadn't yet been launched in Italy and social media wasn't that widespread either. To register for the first edition, some artists had sent us the CD and the hand-filled form by post. Since then, many dynamics have changed both in terms of the ways in which we listeners enjoy music and in terms of the paths that young people choose to undertake to try to emerge and make themselves known to the general public.
The artists we have awarded in the latest editions of the competition have greater awareness of their intentions and in general are very attentive to their image, to how to best propose and communicate their project on social media, building a constant dialogue with their fan base.
Just as the typical artist who participates in a contest changes, so too could the expectations, budget and goals of those sponsoring prizes like yours change
Our aim always remains the same, that of giving new talents the opportunity to emerge and grow. The goal is to make Musica da Bere increasingly a meeting point between different artistic, personal and professional experiences, which can come into contact and build collaborations and creative synergies even beyond the confines of our competition.
For this reason we have decided to organize a new free event dedicated to listening, to give emerging musicians the opportunity to meet and talk face to face with professionals in the music sector (producers, musicians, promoters, journalists…), have the own music, tell your story and receive useful advice.
The first edition will take place on June 22nd, during the Brescia Music Festival, thanks also to the help received from Rockit, Doc Servizi and the Municipality of Brescia and if you follow us on social media you will soon have all the details.
It's been news in recent weeks that 30 years after the first Oasis tour, only 6 venues (out of 15) are still open. A trend of the restriction of spaces in which to play live which also concerns Italy and is closely related to the fact that emerging today is more complex even just compared to the pre Spotify era…
Unfortunately, this is news that is not new to us and that we are hearing more and more often. And this is not a problem so much for big names and internationally renowned artists who will always find a stage on which to perform, but for emerging artists, who have to make themselves known and are finding it increasingly difficult to find spaces in which to perform.
Unfortunately, the situation is similar in our area too and there are fewer and fewer entities that are able to offer live music and that want to bet on the new generations. The companies that resist receive various requests every day, but do not always have the time and the possibility to verify their quality.
For this reason, contests have become increasingly important for emerging musicians, because they give space and attention to new proposals and are a fundamental opportunity to gain experience, make themselves known and build new contacts.
For our part, we have decided to create a Live Network of venues and festivals spread across the national territory that share our same values, to allow the winners of the contest to carry out a promotional tour that goes beyond the borders of the province.
Do you have any anecdotes from past seasons that you often remember and tell?
There are many anecdotes and memories in fifteen years… I could tell you about when in 2019 i Camillas they came to be presenters at the finals in Latteria Molloy and, with their unique and paradoxical style, they made the whole place laugh out loud, which was sold out that evening, and also brought a smile to Alberto Ferrari of the Verdenajoking about his dark circles.
Or when in 2016 we had some very young Nuclear Tactical Penguins among the finalists but we didn't even have a photograph of them, because they weren't able to perform on the stage in Piazza Loggia, in the center of Brescia. In fact, at the time of their performance, a real storm broke out and the Fire Brigade also arrived in the square. For this reason we had to stop everything and have them perform alone in front of the jury in a room, while we were trying to solve the problem in the square.
Let's hope that the Nuclear Tactical Penguins have forgiven us for this and will no longer hold a grudge against us. We were young… We learned a lot from that experience and since then we have chosen to hold the finals in a closed venue, where it is possible to make the artists play at their best and without risks, regardless of the weather conditions.
How do you see Musica da Bere in 15 years?
In addition to the contest, we would like Musica da Bere to become a point of reference for those who want to make music their profession, offering moments of meeting and training with artists and experts in the sector. If I imagine Musica da Bere in fifteen years there is a place, to which I am very attached, where I have always dreamed of one day being able to see our finalists: the Vittoriale stage, in Gardone Riviera, home of Gabriele d'Annunzio. An enchanting place, full of history, where one of the first Italian “Rockstars” lived and where it would be nice to be able to listen to our “music of the future”.
Have you ever thought about a format like New Scene on Netflix?
That of New scene of Netflix is certainly a very successful format that has found a way to involve younger people. However, we are convinced that Musica da Bere, in addition to being a contest, is also a moment of meeting and aggregation to discover new music on stage, meeting other people who share the same passion and the desire to discover something new. Fewer likes, more live!
Antonio Santini for SANREMO.FM