30 January–1 February 2019

KINO ŠIŠKA / AKC METELKOVA MESTO / ORTO BAR / OLD POWER STATION / LJUBLJANA CASTLE / HOSTEL CELICA / SLOVENIAN CINEMATHEQUE / KLUB K4

The fifth edition of the winter festival of music creativity, taking place at various venues in Ljubljana from 30 January to 1 February 2019, is announcing its first performers – 24 acts from 17 countries. MENT Ljubljana, named Best Small and Best Indoor Festival in Europe at the beginning of the year, is doubling down on the awarded titles by celebrating the exciting concert scene from all over Europe.

The already familiar concert venues are joined by the Ljubljana Castle, with the conference programme also heading to new territories. It will offer insight into the limitless possibilities of the Chinese music market and explore the significance of boutique festivals, sustainability, going green and, last but not least, equality. We are happy to announce the first keynote interviews with Claire O’Neill, cofounder of the non-profit company A Greener Festival, which awards the A Greener Festival Award, and Natasha Padabed, owner of the More Zvukov agency and an exceptional curator.

From post-punk to dream pop

MENT Ljubljana will host one of the more important guitar bands of the decade, Denmark’s Iceage, who released their fourth album “Beyondless” this year via Matador Records, Slovenian group Katalena, who draw inspiration from the legacy of Slovenian folk songs and are presenting their seventh album “Človek ni zver/Man Is Not a Beast”, independent rock duo Peter Kernel, nominated for Best Live Act at the Swiss Live Talents awards, and Zagreb-based art rock band Porto Morto, whose self-titled debut Croatian media have dubbed one of the biggest music surprises in the country. Meanwhile, Lewsberg will show us what the protagonists of the alternative music renaissance in Rotterdam sound like.

It It Anita, another in a line of crazy Belgian post-punkers, are coming to the fifth MENT, along with French post-metal outfit Celeste and Dutch punk explosion Charlie & The Lesbians. We’ll catch a dose of post-punk and psychedelia from the British Squid, Lithuanians Shishi will provide the right amount of rap, surf, soul and post-punk, wrapped in childlike cheekiness, and Ukrainian duo Ptakh_Jung will wow us with post-rock, noise and elements of grunge combined with contemporary classical music. The Serbian Turisti are coming to Ljubljana from a number of dance, jazz and experimental music destinations, young Belgrade-based trio Vizelj  resonates with the echoes of the plentiful history of the Serbian guitar scene, and Czechs Zabelov Group create complex cinematic music, accompanied by samples and acoustic instruments enhanced by electronics.

Italians Bee Bee Sea will serve up chaotic rock ‘n’ roll, while Spaniards Mohama Saz will treat us to Tuareg-like hypnotism and Arabic colourfulness, influenced by Anatolian psychedelic rock. German duo ÄTNA overflows with energetic and dark pop, Slovenians 7AM are forecasting a lo-fi storm, and Norwegians Aiming for Enrike swirl with the interplay of broken jazz and beautiful noise. French singer Jeanne Added is conquering stages with catchy and sensuous pop, which has also won her the Deezer Adami Award, Portuguese artist Surma draws electronic soundscapes in her own dream world, jazz knowledge and influences, as well as a catchy pop sensibility run through the veins of the Austrians Schmieds Puls. Slovenian quartet NOAIR glide on the waves of alternative pop, while Banjaluka-based singer-songwriter Sir Croissant makes music at the intersection of art pop, Sevdah and folk music.

Seeking innovation in music conference programmes

In its fifth year, MENT will host its first think-tank, clearly titled “Making Music Conferences Great Again“, with a group of music professionals looking for ideas on how to improve and innovate music conferences, presenting the results at the conclusion of the conference programme. As an extension of this consulting group, the roundtable discussion “How to Escape the Showcase Bubble” will question the role of showcase festivals, their many focuses, and especially the role of creators in this increasingly popular event discipline. At the introductory roundtable discussion, the listeners, who often remain just a statistic at such events, will take centre stage. We’ll discover a new – regional! – network of publishers, learn about sync in Europe, and discuss mental health in the music industry, whose inhumane hours, pressures and instability take their toll on even the sturdiest of us.

We’re also announcing the first two keynote interview guests. Claire O’Neill is the cofounder of the non-profit company A Greener Festival, which awards the A Greener Festival Award, while Natasha Padabed is the owner of the More Zvukov agency, which represents a number of exciting, primarily Eastern European acts, who play all over Europe and further abroad. Natasha is also known for being an exceptional curator of the Russian SKIF, Ethnomechanica and Electro-mechanica festivals.

7AM (SI), AIMING FOR ENRIKE (NO), ÄTNA (DE), BEE BEE SEA (IT), CELESTE (FR), CHARLIE & THE LESBIANS (NL), ICEAGE (DK), IT IT ANITA (BE), JEANNE ADDED (FR), KATALENA (SI), LEWSBERG (NL), MOHAMA SAZ (ES), NOAIR (SI), PETER KERNEL (CH, CA), PORTO MORTO (HR), PTAKH_JUNG (UA), SCHMIEDS PULS (AT), SHISHI (LT), SIR CROISSANT (BA), SQUID (GB), SURMA (PT), TURISTI (RS), VIZELJ (RS), ZABELOV GROUP (CZ)

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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.