It may be last week’s announcement but we’ve saved it so we can say UK Festival Award winning Best Metropolitan Festival 2023 , Dot to Dot have just announced the first artists on their lineup, with JOCKSTRAP to headline the 2024 edition of the event, along with 15 carefully curated ‘spotlight’ artists set to take to their stages. Known for bringing the most exciting talent from around the globe to Bristol and Nottingham city centres, Dot To Dot returns for another year on the 25th and 26th May respectively. This follows their hugely successful 2023 event, which saw Bristol sell out.
The award-winning festival once again continues to keep up their reputation of bringing attendees the hottest and most diverse artists on the rise, with the news that JOCKSTRAP top the bill for 2024’s May bank holiday party. The unique pop duo performed in 2022 and make their return following a hugely successful few years, including a 2023 Mercury Award nomination for their debut studio album ‘I Love You Jennifer B’. Their recently released follow up ‘I<3UQTINVU’ has received rave reviews from the likes of NME and Pitchfork. Refusing to confine themselves to any single genre, style or cultural reference point, and taking listeners on a wild ride jumping from powerful pop choruses to drill-inspired breaks, from classical violin to dancehall, Jockstrap are an exciting first announcement to front the acts heading to Bristol and Nottingham in May.
Having Jockstrap returning further up the line up, similarly to previous D2D headliners Yard Act, Squid and Sports Team is a trend D2D have continued year on year, representing the importance of rising talent to the event. Dot To Dot Festival booker Conrad Rogan explained this has been something they always strive for, saying ‘’The ethos of D2D is to make a platform for fresh artists that are on the rise and have huge potential. We love watching the growth many of the artists we select have, even just between the time we announce them for the line-up to when they play on our stages, then even further beyond that. We are so thrilled to have Jockstrap joining us, as they are a perfect example of this and have had massive success over the past few years since they last played at D2D in 2022. We feel that these initial, very diverse, spotlight artists also have similar futures amongst them, and we can’t wait to release more artists like this too in the new year.”
This first wave also reveals 15 emerging ‘spotlight’ artists, providing just a teaser of what the 2024 line up will have to offer. Continuing their rich tradition of creating a platform for the most promising artists in the music industry, the 15 names represent what is set to be an innovative selection of budding talent. Dot To Dot Festival booker Joshua Ward said: “We’re thrilled to be releasing the very first names on this year’s Dot To Dot Festival line-up, which offers just a glimpse as to what is to be expected for May 2024. As usual, we have brought what we feel is an incredibly diverse list of names that represents some of the most exciting artists on the rise at the moment, with the one and only Jockstrap heading the bill. Dot To Dot is always about allowing those that attend the festival to discover new music through unforgettable live performances. I am excited to see where these first announced spotlight artists end up going, with this being the start of what is set to be hugely successful music careers, just like our headliners Jockstrap”
The announcements selection of spotlight artists includes: London artist AZIYA, an artist with naturally powerful vocals, but also a deft and enviable mastery of her guitar and an increasingly independent grip on production. The project of young Philadelphia musician Francie Medosch, FLORRY join the spotlight artists announced also. With Pitchfork referring to their recent album ‘The Holey Bible’ as ‘the weepy twang of old school country with the cozy intimacy of DIY rock’, the band will be one to catch.
Combining separate songwriting sketches into the same big picture, emerging as a stronghold of the Texas indie scene, indie-rock duo HOVVDY head to Bristol and Nottingham in May. Chinese/Vietnamese-British rapper who pairs a mid-noughties inspired grime flow with tales of a classic east Asian upbringing in a yang-yang balance of odds, the ends and everything in between, JIANBO will also take to stages in Nottingham and Bristol. Capturing the attention of the likes of Kamaal Williams, Eddie Huang, Evening Standard, Nowness and more with his unique tongue-in-cheek brand of UK rap, the artist is on a trajectory that aims to take his local community to cinematic heights.
19 year old singer/songwriter/producer gglum is set to bring her dreamy bedroom pop sensibilities and underground R&B sounds to Bristol and Nottingham in May. Festival goers can also catch KAETO, an always inquisitive artist, writing songs about the questions we all ask ourselves, the artist’s sound is not a straight genre, but a confluence of many. London-based art band MAN/WOMAN/CHAINSAW are also amongst the chosen 15. Known for their gripping live set, which presents cinematic arrangements, mauled by moments of cacophony; a mix of dramatic, almost haunting vocals and violins sit on the front row, complimented individually by snarling guitars, flashy keyboards and drums that could knock down a wall, their live show will not be one to miss.
With their immersive live shows increasingly talked about, London based trio MARY IN THE JUNKYARD will bring their angry, weepy, chaos rock to D2D in the spring. And currently injecting a breath of fresh air into the alt-music space and receiving widespread support from the likes of CLASH (Ones To Watch), Notion, The Face, BBC Radio 1, BBC 1XTRA, BBC 6 Music, Rinse & Kiss FM, rising London producer NATE BRAZIER is set to bring his electronic, alternative pop and R&B sounds to Bristol and Nottingham.
Armed with brash, witty lyrics and killer hooks PANIC SHACK crashed through the UK music scene with a tidal wave of ear-crunching noise. Immediately building up a reputation for their raw, unapologetic live shows and off-kilter songs, proving that DIY does it better. Since their inception it’s been non-stop for the Welsh punk quintet, and 2024 will carry on the momentum as they take to the stage at Dot To Dot 2024. Also joining the lineup will be PICTURE PARLOUR, making a colossal entrance to the UK music scene, the South London quartet will bring lyrics of a born thespian, accompanied by a generous dose of spellbinding guitar, and sleazy bass lines.
Emerging from the vibrant UK underground music scene, RUSHY is known for his debut hit “Trippidy Trap,” that took the scene by storm, amassing an incredible 21 million streams on Spotify, solidifying his place as an artist to watch, he will be one to catch at D2D. THE DARE will also take to D2D stages in the spring, a fixture in the NYC club scene and equal parts anthemic and cheeky, the artists quotable bangers make a compelling case for the electroclash revival.
The creative alias of 23 year old Cesca, TROUT will take to stages with sounds nodding specifically to the poetic songwriting genius of Adrianne Lenker, the layered vocals of Warpaint, and Sorry’s seamless blend of post-punk with idiosyncratic electronic motifs. And rounding out these first 15 spotlight artists, suburban disco-punk sensations WELLY will take to the festival’s city centre stages on 25th and 26th May.
