Katarinahuset, 2025-02-17

“Good music is always good music, whatever the genre”

MEMBER INTERVIEW WITH PITCH & SMITH

Pitch & Smith is an agency consisting of Emmy Windelhed, Karl Smith and Stefan Juhlin. They are represents Swedish and foreign artists by booking them for concerts and festivals around the world. The focus is mainly on Europe and the UK, but also Scandinavia. We swung by their office to talk about music trends, which festival not to miss and concluded that good music is always good music.

What inspired the founding of Pitch & Smith?
– We started Pitch & Smith in 2007 because we felt we were needed and because we really love being involved in building careers. We are old musicians and concert organizers ourselves and know how we want to be treated as artists and organizers. It has always been a strong driving force.

How do you identify and select the artists you represent? Do you focus on any specific genre(s)?
– After all these years we have built up an experience and an ear/eye for what has the possibility to reach through the noise of all the endless music released today… Good music is always good music, no matter the genre, so we work with everything from singer-songwriters and punk bands to electronic dance music, but most of it is in the alternative direction.

What music trends do you see in 2025?
– That it is less and less important what country an artist comes from and what language they sing in. And we believe and hope that people will increasingly want to see and hear artists who actually know their instruments, whether it’s a DJ or a guitarist.

Which concert or festival is not to be missed this year?
– In general, plan a festival abroad during your summer vacation, preferably far south. It’s something else than rubber boots and rain gear, which you always have to take into account here in Sweden. Festivals are more fun abroad, that’s just the way it is.

How did you end up at A house Katarinahuset?
– We were at another co-working space before and liked the concept, but didn’t really feel at home there. When we heard that Katarinahuset would open, it felt just right to move as both the location and the atmosphere feel just right for us.

What’s playing on the speakers in your office right now?
-Viagra Boys new album to be released in spring.

What is your best concert memory?
– For us as a company, it’s hard not to mention when Caribou, who we’ve worked with from day one, headlined one of the days at the Primavera Sound festival in Barcelona 2022. Among the most prestigious things you can do as an artist. There were probably 60,000 in the audience and a completely euphoric atmosphere. Goosebumps to have been part of that journey.

Do you have any exciting newly signed artists that you can tell us more about?
– One artist we really believe in is Boko Yout who will release his debut album later this spring. He recently released the single ‘Ignored’ which is played frequently on P3, among others. If you want to know more, you can read a longer report in DN: https://www.dn.se/kultur/musikloftet-boko-yout-jag-ar-satt-pa-jorden-for-att-gora-konst/