Hellsinki Metal Festival

Chilean band at Finnish festival

Finland’s Hellsinki Metal Festival invites a Chilean band for the first time.

The Come To Latin America (CTLA) project launched METAL SWAP. This campaign will promote the participation of a Chilean band in a Rock festival in Finland in August 2024 and of a Finnish group in CL. Rock.

The goal is to promote the Rock/Metal scene, make it more vibrant, and create opportunities for exchange and internationalization of groups through talks and workshops.

Come to Latin America (CTLA) is a heavy metal music export project supported and financed by the Ministry of Education and Culture of Finland. After the Latin American tour of the Finnish band Where’s My Bible -winners of the 2022 version, of this campaign, voted by Internet users from across the region-, this year CTLA is dedicated to Chile and its heavy sounds scene.

In this new edition, along with organizing the presentation of a Chilean band in Finland, educational talks and instances will be created to connect Chilean and Latin American groups with their Finnish peers. Additionally, new bands will be promoted each week through CTLA social media. All this, through the METAL SWAP campaign.

It is planned that a Chilean Rock/Metal band will participate in the next edition of the Hellsinki Metal Festival, to be held on August 9 and 10 in the capital of Finland.

The three Chilean bands candidates to participate in the festival are Sobernot, Demoniac, and Alterhyde, which were preselected by media partners and specialized journalists.

Representatives of the Finnish festival will choose the Chilean band, whose name will be announced soon through CTLA’s social networks and the media that are supporting this initiative, such as Rockaxis and Radio Futuro.

At the same moment, a Finnish band is being chosen to be part of the CL. Rock festival, which will take place on November 10 at the Santa Laura Stadium in Santiago. The Finnish candidates, chosen by representatives of the specialized press and CTLA, will be announced in August and the nominee will be part of said show.

Opportunities for young artists

The main benefit of METAL SWAP for bands is international visibility and networking with Finnish metal bands. In addition, this campaign offers all bands in the project the possibility of participating in four online workshops on internationalization and professional development.

Prize for the nominees

Neural DSP, founded by Chileans Douglas Castro and Francisco Crespo, is a company that received the prestigious “Internationalization Award from the President of the Republic of Finland” in 2023.

This company has developed advanced digital signal processing software and hardware for musicians, especially guitarists and bassists. Neural DSP will donate a prize equivalent to 6,000 euros, divided between the Chilean and Finnish bands that win this version of CTLA.

The visit of Hernán Rojas, a member of the CTLA jury, to Finland

CTLA’s goal is to increase cooperation in several ways, including inviting music professionals to Finland. In the first phase of the project, 100 Latin American music professionals participated, including Hernán Rojas. Last year, this known Chilean music producer and current CTLA jury member visited Finland as part of the project.

The highlight of the visit was when Rojas became the first Latin American to participate in the Nordic Business Forum, a highly relevant international conference that brings together more than 6,500 business leaders from more than 50 countries. In previous editions, personalities such as President Barack Obama, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and George Clooney, among others, have participated in this meeting.

On this trip, Rojas spoke about the power of music and rock as a driver of change in educational and organizational processes. “A special moment was holding a workshop with young people at the Suutarinkylä school, the birthplace of many Finnish rock, pop, and metal bands,” says Hernan Rojas.

“We hope to welcome other professionals linked to the Chilean music industry to Finland in the future,” says Niina Fu.

Press Gaby Sisti