A festival of music discovery focused on local, regional and European scenes, in 2022 MENT returns to its traditional three-day format with an international conference, which regularly attracts hundreds of professionals from all over Europe.

This year, MENT is joining forces with the Austrian festival Elevate and Slovenian festival Druga godba, which will curate part of the programme and participate in the conference. In collaboration with Tresk Festival, MENT is also organising an international record labels fair.

The concert programme, spread across 15 locations, includes 80 acts from 25 countries. Characteristically eclectic and stylistically daring, the lineup ranges from hip-hop and pop icons in the making, singular singer-songwriters, exceptional indie, rock and punk acts, exploratory folk and adventurous post-jazz outfits to offbeat sonic experimenters and representatives of various European electronic music scenes.

For the grand Wednesday opening at Kino Šiška, the acclaimed American singer-songwriter and producer Yves Tumor is making their Slovenian debut as the main act of the night. Among the many exciting acts performing on Thursday and Friday, we find the Ukrainian hip-hop icon Alyona Alyona, French avant-pop artist Oklou, UK singer-songwriter Martha Skye Murphy and virtuoso Austrian keyboardist Dorian Concept.

Visit www.ment.si for more information.

#LINEUP

37 NEW ACTS:
Slovenian trap/hip-hop boy band .TRAVNIK, activist Macedonian indie punk 21 VEK, Austrian bass enthusiast AWO OJIJI, charismatic art punk trio BALANS, experimental drummer/producer duo C.O.R.N.!, Hungarian folk meets electropop ДEVA, virtuoso keyboardist and producer DORIAN CONCEPT, accordion and tuba duo DOVČ-KRMAC, youngblood of Slovenian electro DVIDEVAT, new wave of French rock ÉQUIPE DE FOOT, Austrian experimental techno FINGERS OF GOD, veteran Austrian selector FRANJAZZCO, hard-hitting Slovenian rapper FRAW BLANKA, Slovenian jungle ambassador FUJITA PINNACLE, unpredictable and playful Slovenian DJ GABI98, outstanding grunge/post-folk singer-songwriter GAŠPER LETONJA, Belgian indie/math rock trio HEISA, Slovenian master of string instruments IZTOK KOREN, post-traditional Circassian music JRPJEJ, new face of Ljubljana’s electronic queer scene KATCHA, Serbian alt rock/indie phenomenon KOIKOI, creator of avantgarde visuals LIARA T’SONI, explorers of hypnotic soundscapes LIP ROUGE, entrancing Italian neo-soul LNDFK, sweet & hypnotic electronica NOT EXACTLY LOST, Serbian techno/house/breakbeat selector OLGICA, Slovenian violin prodigy OSKAR LONGYKA, apocalyptic Hungarian electronic music POLLDARIER, promising Slovenian singer-songwriter POPOTNIK, Slovenian pianist, composer and producer ROK ZALOKAR, progressive death metal outfit SIDEREAN, garage sound of new Belgrade SITZPINKER, multi-faceted and extravagant Austrian performer TITUS PROBST, Czech avant-pop trailblazer TOYOTA VANGELIS, jazz-flavoured post-rock meets electronica TUKAN, Austrian DJ USCHI ULTRA and future Slovenian avant-pop star ZEVIN. 

THE FIRST 42:
Ukrainian hip-hop icon ALYONA ALYONA, Slovenian post-folk multi-instrumentalists ANA KRAVANJA & SAMO KUTIN, dreamy French shoegaze BRYAN'S MAGIC TEARS, Austrian producer and jazz drummer CID RIM, German "brunch pop" act DAS BISSCHEN TOTSCHLAG, lord of psychedelic rhythms DJ FITZ, psychoactive post-jazz ECHOES OF ZOO, Austrian progressive pop FARCE, Serbian indie/alt rock youngsters GAZORPAZORP, indie quartet from the Amsterdam underground GLOBAL CHARMING, Slovakian avant-pop/jazz fusion GOD AND EVE, explorer of modular soundscapes HRTL, Slovenian industrial/synth-pop duo IT'S EVERYONE ELSE, Dutch electronic music adventurer JACQNOISE, Hungarian jazz/hip-hop/fusion trio JAZZBOIS, rising stars of Slovenian pop rock KOKOSY, Japanese tribal-psych trio KUUNATIC, Serbian magnetic tape sorcerer LENHART TAPES, emerging UK singer-songwriter MARTHA SKYE MURPHY, French-Japanese visual and sound artist MIKA OKI, Lithuanian avant-pop singer/producer MONIKAZE, Balkan folk meets noise rock NEMEČEK, Slovenian bluesman NIKO NOVAK, French avant-pop artist OKLOU, German-Swiss krautrock/post-punk alliance OMNI SELASSI, slacker music with an Adriatic vibe PITAJ KLINCE, new gen Italo disco PLANET OPAL, Slovenian leftfield hip-hop duo PTČ, Italian kiwi pop representatives QLOWSKI, French avant-dancehall-via-R&B collective QUINZEQUINZE, Slovenian rapper and dancer SAHAREYA, Polish activist duo SIKSA, Czech post-punk noisemakers SINKS, Belgian AV electronic duo SKY H1 & MIKA OKI, Slovenian transgenre trio SPIRAL MIND, Macedonian avant-jazz ensemble SVETLOST + ODRON RITUAL ORCHESTRA, Bosnian bedroom pop SVOJE, Czech synth experimentalist URSULA SEREGHY, Estonian dream pop duo VERA VICE, Slovenian modular techno duo WARHORSE, American singer-songwriter/producer YVES TUMOR and Romanian art rock/electro-pop act ZIMBRU.

#CONFERENCE

Adding to the list of already announced speakers, MENT reveals the names of all the guests and full programme of this year’s conference, which is dedicated to education, networking, professional debates, presentations of technological innovations and other current topics within the music industry and creativity.

On Thursday, the conference will traditionally take place in Kino Šiška, M Hotel and for the first time in the Computer Museum in the immediate vicinity. On Friday, it will be held in the centre of Ljubljana near Križanke Summer Theatre.

The MENT conference includes a special section dedicated to the electronic music scene. As part of the collaboration with the interdisciplinary Graz-based festival Elevate, which will curate Friday's programme at the clubs K4 and Zorica, there will be an interview with co-founders Ronald Oreski and Bernhard Steirer. The Berlin-based Croatian booking agent Nadja Bozic will present her booking agency Ekipa, whose roster includes names like Call Super, ANZ and Bruce. On the panel Prospects of the Slovenian Electronic Music Scene, various representatives of the domestic scene will share their views on the situation. The list of speakers also includes the representatives of two important European electronic music outlets, Ela Radić (Mixmag Adria, HR) and Freddie Hudson (Inverted Audio, UK).

The programme at the new festival venue in the Computer Museum will be dedicated to digitalization and new technologies. Bas Grasmayer (MUSIC x, DE) will talk about the potentials of Web3 technologies (blockchain, NFTs, DAOs) in the context of the music sector. The founder of the research and analytics platform Viberate Vasja Veber will present their tools for measuring activities on social networks and streaming platforms. Bojan Musulin (IDJDigital, RS) and Bojan Bojko (više manje zauvijek, HR) will go into the newer models of record labels. Joe Danher will speak about the work and role of Merlin, a digital rights music licensing partner for independent record labels, distributors, and other music rights holders.

The forum of EMEE (European Music Exporters Exchange) will take place in Ljubljana just before MENT, so the festival will be attended by many representatives of music export offices, including Corinne Sadki (Centre national de la musique, FR) and Virgo Sillamaa (EMEE, EE), who will also speak at the conference. The list of guests includes Brandon Rosenbluth (LittleBig, USA), the booking agent of names like Holly Herndon, Mouse on Mars and Aisha Devi, music sync veteran Markus Linde (Thag's Agent, DE) and award winning journalist, writer, musician and post-punk icon John Robb (Louder Than War, UK).

The conference will be attended by the representatives of various regional and European festivals: Sharpe Festival (SK), PIN Conference / Taksirat / D Fest (MK), Jazz:Re:found Festival (IT), Wrong Festival (BG), Tallinn Music Week (EE), ESNS (NL), Exit Festival (RS), BUSH - Budapest Showcase Hub (HU), Monkey Week (ES), Velvet Festival (HR), Lovefest (RS), Butik Festival (SI), Punk Rock Holiday (SI), Flaam Festival (SK), WONDEREST Festival (HU), Tak Brzmi Miasto (PL), and regional clubs: Kabinet Muz (Brno), Nova Cvernovka (Bratislava), KC Grad (Beograd), Kvaka 22 (Beograd), Močvara (Zagreb), Turbina (Budimpešta), rhiz (Dunaj), PPC (Graz), Nappali (Pecs), Moszkva Café (Oradea), Azimut (Šibenik), MC Pekarna (Maribor), Trainstation Subart (Kranj), MKNŽ (Ilirska Bistrica), eMCe Plac (Velenje), CMK (Koper) and many others.

The MENT conference traditionally offers a number of speed networking sessions. You will be able to meet the representatives of various Central European festivals and independent clubs as well as some important representatives of the Slovenian and Czech music industry. See the full programme and explore the list of conference speakers.

#TICKETS

Get your festival (concerts) or PRO PASS ticket (concerts + conference) here.

Lineup: https://www.ment.si/en/lineup2022/

Tickets: https://www.ment.si/en/tickets/

Website: www.ment.si

Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/320514776589229/

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M E N T Ljubljana. Produced by Kino Šiška. Conference co-produced by Sigic.
The festival is supported by the City of Ljubljana and the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia.