One of the most grounding lessons we took from this year is simple, but it runs deep: music shouldn’t be a competition. Touring can easily turn into a comparison game. Numbers. Slots. Hype. Who’s “winning.” But this year, we were reminded that the most powerful scenes aren’t built on rivalry, they’re built on relationship. On artists choosing to open doors for each other, again and again, until a whole community can walk through.
Deloraine, thank you for inviting us into your world with such generosity. Thank you for the shared stages, the shared laughter, the trust, the care behind the scenes, the feeling that we weren’t just “on the bill” but part of something alive. When collaboration is the default, everything changes: the shows get stronger, the road gets lighter, and the audience feels it immediately. They can sense when artists are rooting for each other instead of guarding territory.
And Malte Hoyer from Versengold, Annie Hurdy Gurdy, and the entire Dämmerland team… we’re deeply grateful. Thank you for letting us be part of your journey. For welcoming us into the process, for allowing co-creation, for treating art like a shared fire instead of a private possession. Being invited into someone else’s story is a rare kind of honor, and you reminded us how much it matters when success is carried with humility and heart. In times like these, this lesson feels urgent. The world already has enough division, distrust, and “us vs. them.” We don’t need to recreate that in art. We need the opposite. We need artists lifting artists. Scenes that feel like ecosystems, not ladders. Because ecosystems thrive when every part supports the whole.
3 Daft Monkeys. When we first met in Cornwall two years ago, it felt like we had been dancing around each other for years. Everywhere we went in the UK, people told us about 3DM, that they were great musicians and that we had a similar energy. From the moment we met, we knew it was true. That’s why we immediately thought it was important to go on Tour together in 2026!
Our takeaway: Your scene is not a ladder you climb by stepping on others. It’s a forest you grow together. What others can learn from that: Be a fan of your friends. Share their work without calculating anything. Celebrate them loudly. Say their names in rooms they’re not in. Show up to their shows. Send the message. Make the introduction. The culture you want tomorrow is built by what you choose to do today.
