Beyond The Music highlights the artists set to seize 2024 and beyond

Words: Jamie Muir.Photos: Patrick Gunning.

Manchester. One of the world's most influential music cities has had its fair show of landmark moments, with sounds and styles coming from underground scenes and rising culture-leading movements. It's the perfect home for Beyond The Music, not just a fresh new music festival but a conference focussing on the future of the music industry. With a razor-sharp eye on artists making those initial steps and rumblings, Beyond The Music uses its inaugural year to highlight the artists set to seize 2024 and beyond - and your friendly neighbourhood Dorks are along for the party, taking over the graffiti-soaked Aatma.

Arriving in a wall of scuzz, CHALK are a riotous ball of whipping punk energy. Calling to mind the distorting world of Gilla Band, it's an in-your-face riot that, even before 5pm on a Friday, is kickstarting the weekend like few can. Building and building as the set goes on, it's a potent mix that grabs everyone gathered and, by the end, has Manchester eager for a sweaty late-night rave with CHALK at the front. Thriving on the spirit of pure release, today is but a taster of the mosh-pitting sensations they're guaranteed to become. Get down the front while you can; you won't regret it.

In keeping with Beyond The Music's ethos, various styles come to the fore across the night at Aatma. Junodream's spectral and cinematic sound acts as a comforting embrace. Thriving in pushing every move to the biggest sound possible, the touches of Radiohead and experimentation ring true. With sold-out rooms across the UK already in their back pocket, what they're destined to reveal is sure to be stunning.

Cody Frost's big-time alt-pop energy takes Aatma to every corner of the alternative. Heavy drops, fizzing-quick pop hooks and pure passion twist and turn through a set that could easily make itself at home on the Download main stage or a pumping nightclub at 2am. With tunes ready to be screamed back and energy just waiting for moshing crowds, Cody Frost's next steps are ones to watch.

As are Manta's, whose cocktail of genres sits as a crowd-pleasing jolt in the arm - even when arriving with crutches. Throwing them to the side, there's a feel-good energy of taking the slacker to exciting buzz heights, with bucketloads of potential pouring out of every track. 'God Complex' is a perfect example - part Easy Life, part Dominic Fike, but undeniably Manta, there's widescreen ambition here that's ready to seize the moment.

When Frozemode hit the stage, Beyond The Music is lifted to another level of hype. Chiming explosive raps across heavy drops, fizzing live energy and more - they take the stage like a Premier League team with one thing on their mind: taking over. Trading the mic between the three of them, the energy levels don't relent for one second. Defying any boundary of genre or what's to be expected, it's the sort of live takeover you have to get involved with. With tracks perfectly suited to barging into rooms and immediately winning every single person over, they're an act who nail the core of everything this new festival is all about.

A palpable buzz emanates from Talk Show from the moment they take to the stage at Aatma. A band who've evolved with each step into a bonafide force, when on stage, they're a sledgehammer to everything you've known or seen before. A twisting and bubbling world of pill-punk dripping in pop swagger but with a visceral heavy soul, it's a commanding show from a band who take the dancefloor and drop it squarely in the middle of the moshpit. 'Trouble' is a meaty punch in the face, while 'Closer' and its dense blend of 90s shoegaze pop and chipping riffs only point to how glorious this next chapter for the band is set to be - taking those early foundations and morphing into a live spectacle that's at times Nine Inch Nails, at times sweaty-clubland but at all times is brilliant. Sounding bigger and bolder than ever before, they embrace the chaos when they're joined on-stage by crowd member Craig punching the lights out of a stray cymbal; it perfectly sums up Talk Show's commanding statement of intent at Beyond The Music.

It falls to Daytime TV to put a bow on the very first Dork showcase at Beyond The Music, grabbing that grandstand moment with ease. Harmonies blend, hooks ring out, and an unmistakable swagger of showmanship is front and centre. Leaving it all on-stage and pointing to why they feel ready-made for big headline shows, it caps off a night that does exactly what Beyond The Music has set out to do. Bringing together artists pushing at the fabric of what genre is, it's the music that truly soundtracks these streets.

Not just playing host to Dork's very fun showcase at Aatma on the festival's Friday night, Beyond The Music saw over 200 artists, all set to have a very exciting future, perform across the city. Here are a few of the standouts.

Local favourites Maruja make the most emphatic mark on Thursday night with a jam-packed Band On The Wall playing host to a band with eruptive potential. Lighting a flare to the day's proceedings and revelling in the chaos it brings, they sear through a powerhouse set. Chaotic saxophones ring out, pits start before whipping into a frenzy, and dank breakdowns practically rip you into a world of furious electro-punk vigour. Across three days of showcases, they may get the biggest reaction as Manchester's own lay their marker to start a revolution. See this band live at your earliest convenience.

The Castle Hotel plays host to Lip Filler's first-ever show in Manchester, and it's fair to say their mark is made across a firecracker set. Fizzing beats bounce off the sort of feverish party energy that's impossible not to fall into with every ounce of energy. Like a house party distilled into a band, they seize the moment with a live show that's part LCD Soundsystem, part Jamie T and part the-moment-you-let-off-a-confetti-cannon. Wherever Lip Filler go, the electric party will follow.

If there's a band you may not know yet but should, it's The Itch. Serving up the sort of infectious alt-dancefloor bops that'll have anyone moving in a heartbeat, it's a glorious mix of Talking Heads, late indietronica nights and playful fizzy-pop sugar. Razor-sharp lyrics and a whizzing world already feel front and centre, building to the full-blown euphoria destined to have new fans flocking. 'No More Sprechgesang' is but one of many highlights for a band with no music released into the world so far. In a scene of acts where each is trying to have their motion-picture moment, The Itch sit ahead of the pack. Just don't click on the Spotify link shared by festival bills… it's not them.

It can be a tricky task opening a festival stage when it's barely even the evening. Still, Aziya's sugar-rush hooks that bust with personality go down a treat at Gullivers. 'mars retrograde' and 'girl meets world' are but two highlights of a set that thrives by taking a twisted-pop heart and plugging it into searing emphatic indie-rock and much more. Even technical difficulties, which put a small pause on proceedings, can't stop Aziya's huge potential shining through. A future indie hero.

With just an acoustic guitar in hand, Cathy Jain's teatime set is a hot water bottle of warmth that signals a songwriter who can capture the most earnest of emotions incredibly well. 'Goddess' is a prime example, a bedroom-pop tale that is spellbinding in nature whilst a magical cover of Lana Del Rey's 'Say Yes To Heaven' has the room transfixed in bliss. Making Band On The Wall feel like a campfire evening of lullabies, there's no doubt she will capture the hearts of many in the months and years to come.