My name is Sjoerd Vriesema, from Groningen, The Netherlands. Here I started coaching emerging artists so that I could fund and develop my own artist career. As ‘Stuart Mavis’, I released an EP on Sony Music Entertainment Benelux in 2018 and played more than 300 shows, including ESNS. Today, I use the experience gained from my years as an artist to help grassroots artists with their careers, while also making connections between municipalities, education programs, organizations and talents in the Northern part of the Netherlands. I work closely with cultural organizations like Noordstaat and Popfabryk by leading development projects for artists like Wurdspøken and Wisselstroom, two projects that aim to develop artists through co-creation. Together with the Music Cities Network I founded LEC in 2020, an international co-creation and exchange for hip-hop acts from four European cities. In 2021 I became co-organiser of the official talent programme of ESNS, Hit the North. That same year I became co-owner of Lake Woozoo, a music production and artist development company in Leeuwarden. Together with my colleagues Ico Balt, Paul Maaswinkel and Marcel Caron we write, produce, and mix music for artists. We are passionate about talent development and organize projects to help artists professionalize. Lake Woozoo aims to be a bridge between the Music Industry based in the Western region of the Netherlands and the North. We were awarded with the Frisian Pop Price in the beginning of January!