Dear media partners, dear colleagues,

73 acts - more than ever before - have applied for the fourth round of the ANCHOR – Reeperbahn Festival International Music Award. Five of a total of six new talents were announced today by the ANCHOR board of international media and music industry representatives.
No other country currently produces as much good music as Australia, our partner country this year. So we are all the more looking forward to the extremely strong Australian presence at Reeperbahn Festival with numerous receptions, networking events and last but not least around two dozen companies and 17 bands and artists from Down Under.
In addition, there are another 42 acts to be announced in the music programme today – amongst them some well-known names.
Frehn Hawel

Hamburg, 20. August 2019

The first five contestants for ANCHOR 2019
The ANCHOR – Reeperbahn Festival International Music Award is an accolade for young acts on their way to an international career. It will be awarded by international and prominent jurors, who will be amongst the audience at the nominees' performances, during the gala at St. Pauli Theater on Saturday, 21 September 2019. The presenter duo Hadnet Tesfai and Steven Gätjen will present the award show, in which we expect a very special performance by the two ANCHOR Jurors Kate Nash and Peaches in addition to a concert by Dermot Kennedy, before the jury announces the winner of ANCHOR 2019.
What sounds simple at first, however, will be the result of many heated discussions. Because it definitely won't be easy for this year's ANCHOR Jury to decide on a winner. The jury was introduced in New York in June and consists of producer legends Tony Visconti (David Bowie) and Bob Rock (Metallica, Mötley Crüe), the artists Peaches and Kate Nash, the Australian TV and radio presenter Zan Rowe as well as Beatsteaks singer Arnim Teutoburg-Weiß. They will choose a successor for previous winners Albin Lee Meldau (2016), Jade Bird (2017), Tamino and Faces On TV (both 2018) from among the six nominees for 2019.  The first five of a total of six candidates for this year's ANCHOR Award have already been determined. 

The first ANCHOR nominees 2019:
Rapper and producer alyona alyona (UA) sounds like no other artist currently with her DIY sounds, also managing to convey her messages into the hearts of an audience not familiar with her mother tongue.
The thrilling female pop-punk quartet The Hormones (CN) is no longer a well kept secret thanks to their furious live shows in their home country. They combine concentrated high-voltage energy with clever melodies.
The cool and crisply-produced electro pop of Monika Engeseth alias Moyka (NO) is extremely catchy, the rich beats and versatile voice of the young artist effortlessly lining up one catchy tune after the other.
Dreamy and psychedelic, the duo Feng Suave (NL) impresses with atmospheric guitar sounds and delicate vocals and show they can also create their own retro-futuristic, world-class pop gems.
Anyone who can win the attention of The Cure frontman Robert Smith must be doing something right: The experimental post punk of DRAHLA (GB) arises from playing with the contrasts between calm singing, multi-layered rhythms and skilfully placed saxophone interludes, creating a musical experience far off the beaten track.

Country partnership 2019: Australia
This year's partner country Australia has consistently produced new acts and artists who have succeeded in careers worldwide. For several years now, many new and exciting musical impulses have emerged from Down Under. One of the reasons may be the successful work of the Australian music export office Sounds Australia, undoubtedly one of the most industrious institutions in the world, which is celebrating its tenth anniversary this year.
Appropriately, this year's focus is on Australia's music industry. The Australian activities in the German market begin already on Monday, 16 September with THE AUSSIE BBQ BERLIN in Fluxbau, before continuing on Wednesday, 18 September at Reeperbahn Festival. With live shows from 17 Australian acts, receptions, panels, networking sessions and the now legendary THE AUSSIE BBQ showcase in Molotow, which is particularly big this year, our 2019 partner country will be setting programmatic milestones at Reeperbahn Festival for the entire four days. Australia is already prominent at the DOORS OPEN opening event with Dope Lemon performing as one of the musical acts and the participation of TV and radio presenter Zan Rowe on the jury and Maria Amato, managing director of the Australian association of independent record labels on the board of ANCHOR 2019.  

Glenn Dickie (Export Music Producer, Sounds Australia) on the country partnership 2019: "This year, Sounds Australia is celebrating 10 years of fast-tracking Australian music success globally and what better way to help celebrate than to bring the party to Hamburg as part of Reeperbahn Festival 2019. We have worked closely with the team for many years now who have helped us to promote the excellent talent coming from Australia to the German market and beyond. This year will see the largest number of Australian artists and industry to ever participate in Reeperbahn Festival. We look forward to meeting as many people as possible, doing business and we hope you will join us for a three stage extravaganza at THE AUSSIE BBQ at Molotow." 

The following Australian bands and artists can be seen at Reeperbahn Festival in 2019:
Dope Lemon, MID CITY, Olympia, The Delta Riggs, Pierce Brothers, RVG, Ali Barter, You Am I, DOBBY, Winterbourne, The Stroppies, The Rubens, Press Club, PLANET, DZ Deathrays, Jacob Lee, Steph Grace. 

On Friday, 20 September, the extremely popular THE AUSSIE BBQ is taking over the Molotow including Backyard, Club and Skybar to present 16 bands and artists as well as delicious grilled food. THE AUSSIE BBQ is the best opportunity to meet representatives of the Australian music industry during the live shows of Australian acts.

This playlist offers a foretaste of the Australian acts of Reeperbahn Festival 2019.

42 new acts in the Reeperbahn Festival line-up 2019
Only four and a half weeks left until the 14th Reeperbahn Festival finally starts! 42 new confirmations in the music programme whet the appetite for four days of live music.  

For more than two decades, Leslie Feist (CA) has been creating her very own vision of music mixing contemporary indie rock and heart-warming folk poetry as an effective remedy for the ups and downs of life. Creative dreamwalker and multi-instrumentalist, ex-member of Broken Social Scene and popular collaborator with the greatest independent artists of her time. The concert takes place as part of DOORS OPEN, the official opening show of Reeperbahn Festival 2019.
Angelic vocals and larger-than-life production have turned the ambient pop of the 23-year-old Aurora (NO) (photo) into a European music phenomenon from whom much can still be expected.
Always sunny and hymn-like, the Boston quartet American Authors (US) combines alternative rock, indie pop and folk elements to create rousing soundtracks of their own lives.
German electro pop without Berlin's Mia. (DE) with their singer Mieze Katz? Unthinkable! At Reeperbahn Festival the band presents new material and will enchant St. Pauli with their digital glamour in no time at all!

Also confirmed: ALASKALASKA (GB), Rachel Chinouriri (GB), SHATTEN (DE), Low Island (GB), Luca Fogale (CA), Jesse Mac Cormack (CA), Ren Harvieu (GB), Kiddo (SE), Blaue Blume (DK), Lydmor (DK), Alexander Oscar (DK), King Kross (DK), The Elwins (CA), Gediminas Gelgotas (LT), Ilse DeLange (NL), DiRTY RADiO (CA), Alexandria Maillot (CA), Ponteix (CA), Marissa Burwell (CA), Neon Dreams (CA), T. Thomason (CA), Soran (CA), TEKE TEKE (CA), Basement Revolver (CA), Skye Wallace (CA), Lost Cousins (CA), Celeigh Cardinal (CA), The Royal Foundry (CA), Laurent Bourque (CA), Alex Henry Foster (CA), Booty EP (CA), Living Hour (CA), Begonia (CA), Leela Gilday (CA), Shauit (CA), Artificial Pleasure (GB), Cortney Dixon (GB), Bang Bang Romeo (GB).