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Draft:Sven Houlberg

  • Comment: Insufficient in-depth coverage from independent sources. Nearly every source is only a passing mention, quotes, or interview. • Quinn (talk • it/its) 13:17, 11 July 2026 (UTC)
Sven Houlberg
Houlberg in 2025
OccupationEntrepreneur
Known forFounder of the agency The Mind ApS; music director of the Rust nightclub

Sven Houlberg (born c. 1986) is a Danish entrepreneur based in Copenhagen, whose ventures span nightlife, hospitality and marketing. Over more than a decade at the Nørrebro music venue Rust he rose to music director (musikchef), and Politiken described him in 2013 as "Nørrebros unge festkonge" (Nørrebro's young party king).[1] He co-created the Copenhagen venue Underbar and the bar The Mudhoney, and in 2023 founded the marketing agency The Mind ApS.

Early life

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Houlberg spent part of his childhood in Kenya, including in Nairobi, before the family settled in Denmark.[2] By 2011 the Danish press described him as "en af de mest markante festarrangører og -promotere i København" (one of Copenhagen's most prominent party organisers and promoters).[2]

Nightlife ventures

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Houlberg began his career organising and promoting events in Copenhagen's nightlife under the DJ alias Sven Francisco, and was associated with the Copenhagen Ratpack collective, referenced by the music magazine GAFFA in 2010.[3] Soundvenue described him in 2011 as a DJ and booker/promoter at Rust,[4] and when Morten Varano became the venue's director in January 2012, GAFFA reported that Houlberg handled its nightclub bookings.[5] A June 2012 GAFFA profile described him as a Rust booker and student at KEA, noted his booking of the rapper Kesi, and reported that he had been a DJ for Liam Gallagher.[6] He continued to perform under the Sven Francisco alias, including at a 2014 Copenhagen warehouse party.[7]

From 2009 Houlberg created and ran the electronic Thursday-night series Villains Club at Rust, and its successor HUSSY; the site regnsky.dk credited him with Villains Club's 2011 transition into HUSSY.[8][9] The English-language The Copenhagen Post referred to him as manager of Rust in 2012.[10] After several years managing the venue's nightclub, he was appointed its music director on 1 November 2014, at age 28, succeeding Thomas Jepsen, as reported by Ugeavisen and Metroxpress.[11][12] In that role he gave early performances to Danish acts including Julius Sylvest and ELOQ,[9] and in a 2023 interview he said the international acts he had booked at Rust included Post Malone and Lil Yachty.[13]

Politiken marked his ten years at Rust with a December 2013 feature that described him as "Nørrebros unge festkonge" (Nørrebro's young party king) and traced his first event at the venue to around 2003.[1] In 2016 Politiken quoted him as Rust's music director in an article on festival culture,[14] and in 2017 Red Bull chose him to narrate a feature on Rust's 25-year history.[9] Soundvenue interviewed him about the venue's Distortion programme in 2017,[15] and he sat on the listening committee of the UHØRT festival in 2018.[16]

Hospitality ventures

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In December 2015 Houlberg co-created the Copenhagen bar and venue Underbar with Morten Varano, as reported by Soundvenue;[17] he also worked on concept development at the bar Høker.[18] In 2017 he was part of the team, connected to Rust and the record label Crunchy Frog, that opened the bar The Mudhoney on Guldbergsgade in Nørrebro. Politiken gave the bar a five-heart review shortly after it opened.[19][9]

Marketing and The Mind ApS

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Houlberg moved into the marketing and advertising industry in 2019, a transition covered by the Danish trade press; Bureaubiz described his background as entrepreneurial, rooted in the restaurant and music industries.[20] He was creative lead at the agency Republica, an account manager at Untold ApS from 2020, and account director at the influencer-marketing platform Society Icon and at Wednesday Club, alongside freelance work with Blacklist Creative.[20][21][18][22] In 2023 Bureaubiz reported his move to establish his own agency, The Mind ApS,[21] which he founded that year and leads as managing director; Danish business-registry records list him as its sole founder and director.[23][13]

References

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  1. 1 2 "Tag til 10-års jubilæum hos Nørrebros unge festkonge". iBYEN. Politiken (in Danish). December 2013.
  2. 1 2 Torp, Nicolai (March 2011). "Sven Houlberg". Byens Puls (in Danish). DSB S-tog.
  3. ↑ "Weekenden byder på masser af disco". GAFFA (in Danish). October 2010.
  4. ↑ "Kærlighed til Kjeld Tolstrup". Soundvenue (in Danish). 23 March 2011.
  5. ↑ Nielsen, Bjarke Kirkegaard (4 January 2012). "Morten Varano ny direktør på Rust". GAFFA (in Danish).
  6. ↑ Hjortskov, Anders (25 June 2012). "Sven Houlberg: natklubbooker, dj og fremtidig multimediedesigner". GAFFA (in Danish).
  7. ↑ Veirum, Kristoffer (17 February 2014). "Hobitten kommer til Amager". GAFFA (in Danish).
  8. ↑ "Villains Club lukker ned – HUSSY overtager". regnsky.dk (in Danish). February 2011.
  9. 1 2 3 4 Karl, Kristian (18 April 2017). "Rust 25 år: Sven Houlberg fortæller historien" (in Danish). Red Bull.
  10. ↑ "Young man dies after nightclub stabbing". The Copenhagen Post. 17 November 2012.
  11. ↑ Rødgaard, Mikkel Svinth (12 November 2014). "»Rust er et kulturelt midtpunkt på Nørrebro«". Ugeavisen Nørrebro (in Danish).
  12. ↑ Nøhr, Jakob (November 2014). "Ny musikchef: Aldrig kun en genre". Metroxpress (in Danish).
  13. 1 2 "Sven Houlberg: From Post Malone to The Mind". Mos Mosh Gallery Journal. 26 December 2023.
  14. ↑ Heltoft, Nikolaj; Roliggaard, Simon (2016). "Skal Danmark have musikfestivaler skræddersyet til det aldrende publikum?". Politiken (in Danish).
  15. ↑ "Rusts musikchef klæder dig på med tips og tricks". Soundvenue (in Danish). June 2017.
  16. ↑ "Historie". UHØRT (in Danish). 2018.
  17. ↑ "Underbar: København får ny natklub og spillested". Soundvenue (in Danish). 10 November 2015.
  18. 1 2 "Navnenyt uge 31". Creative Club (in Danish). 3 August 2021.
  19. ↑ Mølbak, Mette (September 2017). "Barkontrol: The Mudhoney". iBYEN. Politiken (in Danish).
  20. 1 2 "Nye unge profiler til Untold". Bureaubiz (in Danish). 2020.
  21. 1 2 "Navnenyt". Bureaubiz (in Danish). 2023.
  22. ↑ "Sven Houlberg". Markedsføring (in Danish). 2021.
  23. ↑ "The Mind ApS, CVR 44092050". CVR (in Danish). Danish Business Authority.

Category:Danish businesspeople Category:Danish company founders Category:Danish disc jockeys Category:Living people Category:People from Copenhagen

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