11/09/26 - rma at by:larm + REEpERBAHN + irish music week
POSTED BY ROB
Hi everyone its been a little while since we last updated and I thought we had best update on our current plans for the month ahead. As i write this we are in Oslo at By:Larm Black where we have our showcase partnership in place with the festival to have an RMA selected band showcased at the festival. For our first venture into Norway we selected a champion of the RMA pipeline, Lo Rays.
Glasgow pop-metal act Lo Rays appeared over a year ago at our first ever Alternative Escape showcase and have went from strength to strength. I signed them on the back of watching them perform in the Cat House, Glasgow, supporting North Atlas whilst scouting them for the Alt Escape lineup. From playing our stage at the Alternative Escape they gained large amounts of industry interest and also secured their first ever European show at our festival partners Pro Weekend in Castellon, Valencia and I have also been able to secure them live representation a label and publishing completing their team. The band performed in Krypten Located in the candle-lit basement bar of Kulturkirken Jakob, the venue provides an atmospheric, intimate setting specifically suited for underground metal, punk, and hardcore acts. For the festival, by:Larm Black split its programming between Kulturkirken Jakob's main hall and the dark Krypten space downstairs. The band were really well received and were amongst a really strong line-up and this venture for them will hopefully open up more opportunities for them to perform within the Nordic regions. For us this festival is one of the most ideal festivals to showcase Rock and Metal acts to our sector of the industry because almost everyone is here in attendance a strong delegation from labels, booker’s, agents and more. We have had some brilliant conversations and the conference is one of most ideal places for us to make people more aware of the work we continue to do. The team at the festival are great and Norway really have given us a warm welcome we hope also to book a Norwegian act as part of our partnership with the festival and have them perform at our Alternative Escape showcase.
Photos to Follow in due course..
Reeperbahn
Next week Emma will be attending Reeperbahn where we will present our curated RMA lineup at Heavy Reeperbahn’ (details on poster below). The lineup includes Swartzheim, DOGBITE, DeadWax & Pentastone. Heavy Reeperbahn will be in its first year of infancy and we are delighted to be part of it in bringing this great lineup of talent together. If you are around at the festival please go check out the line-up and make sure you reach out to Emma who will be on site and delighted to chat to you about our work.
Reeperbahn runs from 16th - 19th of September
IRISH MUSIC WEEK
Finally a the end of this month I will be attending Ireland Music Week in DUBLIN and hope to scout some great Irish talent. We have not yet had some Irish bands/artists submit into our pipeline and we are keen to get this into motion. Ireland has produced some great bands/artists over the years and we hope to assist the next generation of Irish Rock/Metal acts to break through.
Ireland Music Week runs from 30th Sept to 2nd of October.
28/06/25 - rma at nxne 2026
O Canada!
The team traveled to Toronto for NXNE right after SXSW and we felt so welcomed by the Canadian rock and metal industry. Our stage was held at the storied Bovine Sex Club downtown and it felt like the venue was made for us. Several of the panels at NXNE were focused on the case for booking Canadian artists, and our showcase was a great example of why the music industry should look at Toronto for talent.
Our Canadian bands included A Primitive Evolution, Phantom High, and The Divine Project (who you might recognize from our Alternative Escape stage this year). We couldn’t go over there without taking first class UK talent, and Blood Dealer fit in nicely with our new Canadian friends.
In addition to putting on our showcase stage, we expanded our team! We would like to welcome JJ Tartaglia and Rae Chatten, and they will form our RMA team in Canada. They were an integral part of our showcase’s success and we’re looking forward to working with them as part of the team going forward..
We also took another new recruit over with us Roxy Kraber who we have had on as part of our UK team for a few months now and she really has hit the ground running. Shes been an important piece of the machine for us and without her over the past months we really would of been up against it. More can be read about Roxy, JJ and Rae on our TEAM page.
RMA @ NXNE 2026
FEATURING :
Photos by Rae Chatten
Photos by Rae Chatten
Photos by Rae Chatten
Photos by Rae Chatten
15/05/2026 - RMA AT THE ALTERNATIVE ESCAPE & SXSW LONDON 2026
Following the success of a very busy start to festival season, we first want to apologise for the lack of recent updates. Things have been moving at a relentless pace behind the scenes, and we're pleased to say that the year has got off to an incredible start.
Our festival season began with our second consecutive year hosting a Rock and Metal Alliance stage at The Alternative Escape, running alongside The Great Escape Festival, this opportunity was made possible thanks to the support of Arts Council England, and we were proud to showcase some of the most exciting emerging rock and metal artists from the UK and beyond.
Compared to last year, both our reach and our footprint have grown significantly. This showcase featured artists representing not only the UK, but also Spain, Denmark and Canada, highlighting the increasingly international nature of the RMA community and the growing demand for greater rock and metal representation within showcase festivals.
The industry turnout throughout the day was exceptional, seeing so many agents, managers, promoters, festival bookers, media representatives and other music professionals engaging with the artists was incredibly rewarding and demonstrated that the work we have put in over the past year is beginning to bear fruit.
However, our vision for RMA has always extended beyond industry networking. We also want our events to be a place where rock and metal fans can discover their next favourite band, connect with like-minded people and celebrate the incredible talent emerging from our scene. Once again, the fans turned out in huge numbers, filling the venue throughout the day and creating an atmosphere that perfectly reflected the passion and strength of the grassroots rock and metal community.
To everyone who attended, performed, supported, partnered with us or simply helped spread the word—thank you. Your support continues to help us create new opportunities for emerging artists and strengthen the global rock and metal community.
RMA @ THE ALTERNATIVE ESCAPE
FEATURING :
LORETTA’S - (SPA)
Photo Credits @guynamedfawkes
MATTED - (UK)
Photo Credits @guynamedfawkes
MEGAN BLACK (UK) -
Photo Credits @guynamedfawkes
the divine project (CA) -
Photo Credits @guynamedfawkes
DEADWAX (UK) -
Photo Credits @guynamedfawkes
OMOIA (UK) -
Photo Credits @guynamedfawkes
PARADISE FELL. (UK) -
Photo Credits @guynamedfawkes
SIXTH WONDER (UK) -
Photo Credits @guynamedfawkes
GREYSIGHT (UK) -
Photo Credits @guynamedfawkes
swartzheim (UK) -
Photo Credits @guynamedfawkes
SXSW LONDON 04/06/26
Riding the momentum from that, we headed straight into SXSW London for our first year as co-curators. We were hosted by the brilliant Dream Bags Jaguar Shoes — a venue that genuinely felt built for rock and metal. Small, sweaty, and packed with energy, it nailed the atmosphere we were aiming for.
The festival itself was an immersive mix of music, technology and film, and it absolutely delivered from the crowds to the wider programme, SXSW London really set a new benchmark, and we were proud to be part of it. From day one we were connecting with global music industry delegation and even discussing new collaborations and partnerships for the longer term. The major thing for us was once we shouted out to people you guys turned up and filled the room we had people from all over the industry and people attending who did not work in music but were just there to show support and find out more about our work as well as a vast majority of heavy music fans.
RMA @ SXSW LONDON
FEATURING :
CELAVI (WAL) -
Photo Credits @guynamedfawkes
RABBIT CULT (fiN) -
Photo Credits @guynamedfawkes
LO RAYS (UK) -
Photo Credits @guynamedfawkes
BREAK FIFTY (UK)
Photo Credits @guynamedfawkes
10/05/2026 - blackstar backline partnership
We’re massively excited to announce our partnership with Blackstar Amplification, who will be providing backline support across our showcase placements worldwide whenever required. Blackstar are a company we genuinely believe in, not only because of the quality of their gear, but because they share the same ethos as us when it comes to supporting grassroots artists and helping develop the next generation of talent within the rock and metal scene. Forming this partnership was a complete no-brainer.
We’re incredibly excited to have Blackstar’s long-term support, which will allow us to further strengthen what we offer artists performing on our stages by providing world-class backline for them to perform with.
25/03/26 - showcase partnership announceD with sxsw london + SAMAS
It feels like it’s been a while since our last post—but in reality, it’s only been a few short weeks, and an incredible amount has happened in that time.
We’re proud to share that we’ve recently announced our showcase partnership with SXSW London, where we’ll be presenting five outstanding acts. The full lineup will be revealed soon, but we can say that four of these artists were selected from the wave of submissions we received through our Alternative Escape application process. The level of talent coming through has been nothing short of exceptional, and we’re excited to help bring these artists to a wider stage.
Being part of the second year of SXSW London is a huge moment for us. It marks another step forward in our journey and adds to our growing list of showcase partnerships as we continue to champion the best in rock and metal from across the scene.
We’re also excited to announce a new partnership with the Scottish Alternative Music Awards. This collaboration connects our music networks to create new pathways for artists, with a strong focus on artist development, international export, and meaningful network exchange.
Alongside sharing opportunities with our community, we’ll be helping introduce Scottish rock and alternative artists to a wider international audience. We have long admired the important space the Scottish Alternative Music Awards creates for heavy music, and together we hope to strengthen connections and support the next generation of artists.
