It's almost been one month since SXSW ended - and it's safe to say I have just about recovered.
SXSW is a hell of a lot of fun and work - and every year I come back completely and utterly drained fighting a cold or some other horrible flu-like disease someone passed on to me.
For those of you who are into music, it's a must. For five days you have a non-stop list of bands to see as well as events/parties and panels to attend. The majority of the activity happens around the Austin Convention center and heads up to 6th street. Every bar and club is jammed with people, food, BBQ, beer and live music from about 11 AM until 2 AM (Austin city law requires clubs to shut down at 2 AM) after which time the after parties begin - they usually end about 6 AM. Not to worry if you are not satisfied, a few hours later it all starts up again.
This year the unofficial guide to SXSW had over 20 pages of just day parties to attend - all free, most by RSVP invite, all with bands, most with some form of free food or beer.
I flew JetBlue direct out of New York JFK to Austin - psyched they started a direct flight. In the past, it used to be connections via Dallas, always delayed and always a huge pain in the ass. A friend and I were on the same flight, different rows and seats. The seat next to him remained empty until just before they closed the cabin door. In comes Billy Bragg ( the revolution is now only a website away) and sits down next to him. I love Billy Bragg, big fan. Probably best that he did not sit next to me as I would have found it hard not to talk his ear off for the three hour flight.
We landed almost on time at about midnight in Austin ( and I can absolutely attest to the fact that despite having 30 channels of satellite TV at your disposal on JetBlue, TV does indeed suck (the highlight of the flight was the VH1 classics channel showing a Blondie / Doors mash-up video - Jim Morrison superimposed in the background as Blondie strutted away - and the awe inspiring cross-dressing feature film Sorority Boys, need I say more). Split a cab with four other people and got dropped off at my hotel, the Marriott Capitol.
Every hotel room in the area usually sells out about three months ahead of time. I usually wait until the last minute and find myself screwed. Not this year. This year I booked my hotel room four months ahead of time. I arrived at the check in desk at about 1 AM only to discover they had my name and reservation but it did not matter as the hotel was overbooked. They had no room for me. Great, 1 AM during SXSW in Austin, every hotel booked for miles. They did offer me a hotel room about 40 miles out of the city but it was a moot point as that one was booked up as well.
Took my suitcase and walked into the heart of things knowing I was bound to bump into someone I knew. A few minutes later I did. they offered to let me stay at their house. Got to their house only to find they had a cat - I am deathly allergic to cats - so that was out. Sat on the stoop and syphoned off someone's free wi-fi and found a Hotel 8 nearby with one room left. Got over there as quickly as I could and by 3 AM I was able to get a room for the (what was left of it) night.
The next day, up early, back to the first hotel, checked in, grabbed a box of stuff I had shipped to myself with lots of TuneCore postcards, stickers, buttons, T-Shirts and fliers (weighed about 87 pounds, no joke) and hauled that over to the Convention center. Dropped off some of the stuff at the JakPrints / Indiemerchandising.com booth (TuneCore strategic parntners). Got freaked out as I met Isaac - twin brother of Jacob, co-owner of JakPrints and Indiemerchandising.com- and could not figure out why this person who looked exactly like the guy I knew did not recognize me.
Did a quick round of hellos to a large number of people I only get to see once a year and then grabbed the now 75 pound box and rushed over to The Speakeasy - the bar we were having the TuneCore party at. Set that up but realized I left the T-shirts back at the hotel. Ran back to the hotel, snagged the T-Shirts and got back to the party just as Shifter were going on. Shifter are a four piece from Australia and they freakin' rocked. Imagine crossing Jet, Cheap Trick and the Sweet and you have Shifter. Great guitar licks, incredible backline and amazing harmonies floating on top of it all.
Keep your eyes out for the MySpace / Cingular Mobile promotion about to start on Shifter.
Unfortunately, two of the members from June came down with strep throat and they had to cancel. Apollo Sunshine up next and rocked the place for the next hour - honestly, Apollo Sunshine is one of THE best live bands I have ever seen. The technical skill of that band combined with their passion, songs and instrumentation is something you will likely never see anywhere else in your lifetime (full disclosure here, Apollo Sunshine are signed to my label, spinART Records).
The party wrapped up around 7 PM - just in time for me to run out of there and get over to Stubbs for the "secret" Beastie Boys gig. Stubbs was outdoors in a sort of half shell stage. The Beastie Boys were great, just the three of them and a DJ and they just seemed to be having a lot of fun. That ended and I realized it was after 8 PM and I had not eaten yet the entire day - there just was not time.
Went to PF Changs with the guys from JakPrints and Indiemerchandising.com then headed out to see more bands. Got back to the hotel at about 3 AM and went to sleep. Friday it started all over again.
Friday was a bit of a blur - major highlight during the day was the intense semi-angular performance by Tapes n Tapes (who have used TuneCore to get their album up into iTunes where it recently was the 74th most bought album in all of iTunes!). They were all really good but the drummer was a mind blower.
That day was the spinART Records party with Rough Trade. The Hot IQs, Clem Snide, The Tyde and more played. That night was spinART Records night - line up was Bravo Silva, Head Of Femur, Apollo Sunshine and Clem Snide (solo). Place was packed, fire marshals were at the venue so there was a line out the door of people waiting to get in. Each band had their crowd with lots of people screaming (Bravo Silva in particular).
The night ended around 1 AM and I booked over to see Centro-Matic play. Another amazing show. Hung out again until about 3 AM, went back to the hotel, crashed and woke up early for the panel I was part of on Saturday.
The panel was, to put it mildly, interesting. The title of it was "Aggregators Get It Together" and featured panelists from The Orchard, IODA, DRA, Verizon V-cast and myself. Prior to SXSW I was interviewed by Billboard Magainze for my thoughts on digital distribution and independent labels/artists. It's not a secret that I believe companies that require a label or artist to give a percentage of the revenue generated from every sale of their music in an exclusive deal for many years is just dead wrong. I believe it's gouging and taking advantage.
In the Billboard article I am quoted as saying, among other things, "I despise the economic model of aggregators. They're morally repugnant". In the green room prior to the panel the person from the aggregator DRA launched into me pretty aggressively complaining that I was making a judgement on him and his customers calling them both stupid. He demanded to know how I could make such a statement. The answer I gave him was a long one - so long I have decided to make it its own blog entry. It's worth a read.
After the panel, it was another whirlwind of bands/meetings/parties and remembering that I forgot to eat (again!). The highlights from Saturday included The Jessica Fletchers ( where I bumped into John and Tammy from Dressy Bessy - old friends that I only get to see a few times a year) Essex Green and a keyboard based cymbal/percussion infused high energy controlled cacophony called Loxsly. I got back to the hotel around 2:30 AM and decided to skip all the after parties in an attempt to get some sleep. I had a semi-early flight out the next morning.
I am pleased to say, aside from sounding like Barry White due to my voice being shot to hell and being run down for a week, all my limbs are still attached - and I have another 358 or so days to gear up for next year.
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