SXSW 2019
My first year at SXSW felt like a dream wrapped in a Texas taco. Let me tell you about those bands and panels that inspired this ginger songwriter. (Listen and read along with humor ;)
SXSW was a festival on my bucket-list so I signed up for a Music Business practicum class at Columbia College Chicago that would put me right where I wanted to be, at the center of new music. Armed with a Music Badge and my pre-made schedule (I’m a planner y’all), I walked towards Austin downtown with little expectations.
Basically, the SXSW experience is broken down into two sections:
the industry panels and meetups from 11am - 6pm
the music showcase/party central, no last call from 6pm-2am
Tickets Aren’t Free But Everything Else Is
The first venue I found myself at was the The Main to see Otoboke Beaver, a Japanese, all female punk band. After the bouncer double-checked my ID, I was handed two free drink tickets and pointed to the buffet table. This happened at every official SXSW showcase, free booze and snacks. As a newly minted 21 year old, I felt I was cheating the system. My entire adolescence was not being allowed into shows and getting the side-eye when alcohol was present. Suddenly they’re just freely handing it to me and letting me through the velvet rope?! Shocked. Recovering from the excitement of my newfound legal drinking status, I found Simon Moritz Geist playing techno with tiny glowing robots on the second stage. This german producer and robotics engineer was taking electronic music to a new level and I had to learn more. Thursday he had a panel on the making of music robots which I whole-heartedly attended. (Even more eager to learn after a volunteer commented, “A girl?! Most girls don’t like engineering and all that stuff.”) He invited anyone on stage who wanted to try running his set-up through Ableton. Leaping on stage to make beats at the festival left me beaming for hours.
Hidden Treasures
The first ever, NPR Tiny Desk Concert at SXSW took place in a Presbyterian Church a street above where the party people play on 6th and 7th street. They didn’t announce any of the artists so no one knew who was performing. Our faith was in the good ears at NPR. A four hour concert in a tiny wooden church pew is only fun when you are blessed by the music of surprise guests such as Amanda Palmer , the golden voice of John Paul White, and the comedic stylings of Fragile Rock emo puppet band. It was still my first night in Austin and I had already heard more beautiful live music than I normally get to see in a year. Scootering back to my hotel at 1am, I fell asleep knowing I was exactly where I wanted to be. (every city should have scooters. they are so much fun.)
Wednesday night at SXSW was a bit of a happy accident. There was a full hour before German Haus opened so I wandered down to the Colorado river and stumbled upon The Boathouse. Literally a boathouse converted into an outdoor venue, a small stage was plopped in the middle of the patio. A soundboard was hooked up to two big speakers on either side on the stage but they weren’t nearly as impressive as the giant stacks at some of the indoor venues. The theme was “elements” and the line up included ethereal pop artists you could easily listen to as the sun set and the famous Mexican free-tailed bats flew out from under the bridge. First to play was Claire George. Claire George has a sound similar to Grimes or LCD Soundsystem. Her airy, head-voice vocals float over a bed of spacey pads and vocal samples in the arrangement. Her lyrics are existential and thoughtfully poetic. When I wasn’t hypnotized by the quietly danceable rhythms, I found the words deeply contemplative. This crossover makes her music accessible for new listeners while the buried lyrics offer deeper meaning for those willing to put their headphones on and sink into the sound.
International House
The German Haus and the Montreal Night showcases were the masters of edm in all its subgenres at the festival. German house presented Komfortrauschen, the cleanest techno you’ll ever hear. The trio plugs in their instruments so they can play the instruments they love in the techno genre. Their music sends you on a journey as the arrangement rises and falls. Alexandra Cardenas flexed her abilities as a coder by playing amazing music with live programs such as SuperCollider and TidalCycles. Montreal Night presented a line up of atmospheric musicians including Ghostly Kisses, Sorry Girls, MUNYA, Graham Van Pelt, Emilie Kahn, and Ouri just to name some of my favorites. If you’re looking for the cutting edge of electronic music, these countries have it. I don’t get enough edm at school, so I made it a point to seek it out at the festival. It’s inspiring to see artists performing this kind of music.
The Power of Music
Thursday night at the StubHub Sound Stage had the best line-up of bands out of the entire week. The night started with Flora Cash, who I only knew from their hit single Somebody Else , but quickly became a true fan after their set of electro-indie songs and matching hairstyles. Australian singer/songwriter Dean Lewis made the crowd a little sentimental with Be Alright. Then Judah and the Lion set the crowd on fire with their high-energy set. Their songs are great, but this band LIVE IS EVERYTHING. Lead singer Judah Akers began by saying “you might not know who we are, but by the end of the night, you’re gonna love us.” And he was right. Two songs into their set, they pull out this cover of Brightside by the Killers that has everyone screaming. Judah ran down into the crowd and danced with the best and worst of us. By the time they finished with their hit single, the crowd was wild for them. Before Sir-Sly finished their first song, the crowd was begging for an encore. Admitting they hadn’t prepared any more songs, the band played High three times in a row! Packed like sardines with cross-faded festival goers in the front row, we all jumped and screamed the lyrics, trying to beat the sound system. I didn’t know anyone at the festival and I barely knew my classmates, so I had spent much of SXSW walking around alone. I didn’t mind making my own schedule and letting my adventures take me where they will, but screaming sir-sly with hundreds of strangers gave me the one thing I was missing. I felt a part of the people and the music. We were together for a couple hours, united by our love of the songs.
Oh yeah…I learned stuff too
Somewhere between the pre-grammy party at Handlebar, the BMI brunch, and endless nights of music, I attended industry panels where music business tips were served with a smile. Some panels were more motivational than informational. On the motivational side there was Amanda Palmer, Shirley Manson, and Lauren Mayberry, voicing their experience in the business with regard to feminism, and money verses art. On the informational side there were insightful panels such as Digital Music Marketing, How Creatives Make Money in Music (be professional), Soundcloud marketing, Converting Streaming to Touring Success, and Synch Licensing laws. Falling square in the middle was The Music Industry as a Student panel. Recent grads told their stories of how college helped and hindered them in pursing a professional music career. The big takeaway? People help students, so stay in school and use your undergrads-get-in-free card wisely.
After all this: seeing more shows in a night than I do in a month, speaking with industry leaders about their veiws, scootering around a warm and wonderful city where I met Pablo Escobar (The Horse!), I just need to be playing at SXSW next year.