SXSW: or, we’ll sleep when we’re dead

Austin, like any liberal city in the US, stands out amongst a sea of conservative communities. It reminded me of Ann Arbor (Michigan, for those not so Midwestern) at certain points, except with 90 degree weather in Mid-March. Capital buildings, cute coffee shops, art galleries, river walkways. Were it not for the fact that I know in the summer it becomes meltingly hot, I would certainly consider this an optional home. The river (or was it a lake?) proved to be a necessary escape point from the SXSW madness.

CAW!

But enough about Texas landscape (we’ve already done that), let’s cut to the grit: SXSW, or, when Raybans overran the entire Southwest. 350,000 concert-goers, thousands of bands, countless cans of free Lone Star and just as many taco trucks. The streets were PACKED with musicians and viewers.

The pace was intense. Play a show, move the gear, go to a show, play another show, attend party, go to another show. All while fighting crowds and lines and trying desperately to find free bottled water (free beer? Everywhere. Water? Not so much).

Some places were more into it than others.

I was lucky to catch some great bands and play some good shows. We started out at Red 7, a venue that normally caters to the more punk crowd but, for this evening, was hosting a wider range of bands. A personal favorite of mine were the Luyas, a band also from Montreal but who I had never had the opportunity to see perform. We both had some problems navigated the sound system, but our individual sounds still came through.

The Luyas rocking it with light bulb accompaniment

Little Scream

Daytrotter.com hosted us for a recorded web performance. It was amazing to have an almost endless amount of time to set up, sound check, and a couple times to re-do takes. Plus we got some badass photos. You can check out our performance, as well as that of the Luyas (and check out their music here, it's wonderful). Daytrotter recorded a countless amount of bands while at southby, so I’m not sure when we’re going up, but check out the site, it’s a great place to listen to new bands.

During the day, Austin is probably 80% traveling musicians, 20% locals attended shows or trying to get the hell out of town. After hours, though, the natives start to come back. Suddenly you find yourself wandering the streets at 2 AM, trying to hook up with your friends (a nearly impossible feat at SXSW, especially if you have a Canadian phone that doesn’t work EVEN though they said it would, thanks a lot Solomobile), surrounded not by your fellow musicians but by drunk University of Texas frat guys. “Where am I?!” you say fearfully to yourself as another person yells “get off my back, BRAH!”. Then a tiny voice inside your head says “Don’t you know? You’re in TEXAS”.