c/o pop discoveries

Short for "Cologne on Pop," c/o pop is an established music trademark. Last year's attendance was approximately 30,000, with equal numbers expected in the current season. Norbert Oberhaus helped found the event, and Manuel Schottmüller put together this year's program.

DW: c/o pop is taking place for the 11th time. Was it founded as a reaction to the fact that Popkomm, a major music convention, moved to Berlin in 2004?

Norbert Oberhaus: Not just Popkomm but also the television channel Viva, the trade magazine Spex and many others couldn't resist the pull of Berlin. I and some of my colleagues didn't want to move to Berlin, though, so there was a certain defiance coupled with local patriotism. We wanted to stay in Cologne and fill the gap left behind by Popkomm, which had gone into decline by then. The first year we called c/o pop a "festival of electronic pop culture" to pick up on Cologne's long-standing tradition of electronic music.

Electronic isn't the only thing on the program. You've broadened the spectrum.

Oberhaus: Yeah, we had some guitar and indie bands right from the start, and people like Franz Ferdinand and Maximo Park, who didn't make strictly electronic music. And we opened it up to other styles and genres.

You've hit on quite a few unknowns who are stars today.

Oberhaus: Yeah, like Jan Delay. Coming fresh from "Absolute Beginner," a hip-hop band from Hamburg, Delay did a solo project here with us in 2005, long before he was big. And in our first year, Phoenix, from France, played for a couple hundred listeners. Two, three years later they were filling the big halls. That’s why they call us the truffle swine festival. We have a knack for sniffing out bands with potential. We owe it to ourselves to give young acts a chance, and that includes German music. On the other hand, we don’t leave out the big names - like Kelis this year.

How do you put the c/o pop program together, and how international is the lineup?

Manuel Schottmüller: It's always been international. But that's not the premise the festival is based on. Innovation is the key concept. We scope out the music field, look for trends and try to spotlight the top acts of certain scenes. This year's lineup has some such standouts: Mount Kimbie are pioneers of new dub in England, and in the US, Kelis' new album goes in completely new directions.

You also see innovation in a band from Cologne like Annenmaykantereit, or in Elbow from England, who got a huge amount of attention with their performance at the Olympics. Finding and highlighting these pioneers is what steers us. Then, of course, there are acts like Ton Steine Scherben, who were playing back in the Seventies… they're of course veterans who in their time were incredibly innovative. They help to close the circle.

What's "Chic belgique" about?

Schottmüller: It takes place in Cologne's "Belgian District," where the streets are named after cities in Belgium. We have free concerts in shops, boutiques and galleries there, mostly Cologne and regional bands.

Oberhaus: We don't want to duplicate other festivals where the bands play at noon in some dark club where nobody goes anyway. The intention with the Chic Belgique format was to pick a part of town where there's heavy daytime traffic and young music aficionados and take the bands there. You listen to music and buy a t-shirt.

What's the ethos for c/o pop?

Oberhaus: I think it's the challenge of reinventing ourselves. Cologne's venues have changed a lot in the past eleven years. Some have closed, others renovated or torn down. We're always readjusting to new circumstances. So we consider ourselves flexible.

Schottmüller: You see that in the program too. Reinventing yourself means you can always discover something new, and that’s what the people do here. Go hear big names like Kelis, and you'll know what to expect. But take in an act like Adult Jazz and you'll get something almost nobody else has heard, something emerging right now. I think that's what makes c/o pop so successful and attracts so many people.

What's your personal tip for your discoveries headed for the big stage?

Oberhaus: Warpaint are a good bet. Their charisma and sound will make them big in two or three years.

Schottmüller: My vote definitely goes to Adult Jazz. There's a lot going on there. They've been signed by Adele‘s manager. Not a bad start, and we’ll see where they take it now.

Suzanne Cords spoke with Manuel Schottmüller and Norbert Oberhaus. DW records a number of c/o pop events, and audio podcasts with artists of this festival can be heard and downloaded in the series "German Pop" at dw.de/music.