SXSW Baby » Music

Guitarists of note from SXSW Music

Ewan — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 19:37:12 +0000

Everyone is still looking back at SXSW, and deciding their personal highlights. I’m sure we’ll get to the Baby! team’s memories in the near future, but for now… how about the best guitar moments at SXSW Music?

It’s worth repeating that yes, it is actually possible to see bands play non-stop and around the clock for the entire week of SXSW. Perhaps not if you wanted to emerge with your feet, liver, ears, and brain intact, but you could do it. Or, you can remain unscathed, save your health, and just read about eight of the best players we saw this year.

But which eight are they? Find out at Premier Guitar (but we’re glad to see Marnie Stern is on the list).

SXSW’s pop up radio station set to continue

Ewan — Sun, 31 Mar 2013 00:03:50 +0000

If you tuned in to the temporary ‘pop-up’ radio station IHeartAustin on 103.1 FM during SXSW, they you might want to return your radio back to the frequency. News reaches us (from All Access) that Clear Channel are going to carry on the broadcast even though SXSW is over for 2013.

103.1 IHeartAustin provides a variety of emerging music to our listeners and by keeping this format thriving, it will help to keep the spirit of the Austin music festivals alive 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Left Austin and still want to tune in? Tune your browser to 1031iHeartAustin.com.

One last weekend to grab NPR’s SXSW Music Collection

Ewan — Sat, 30 Mar 2013 00:18:41 +0000

A quick heads up during the holiday weekend, but NPR’s 100 Bands from SXSW collection remains free to downlaod, but you only have until April 4th to grab the archive file with all the MP3′s in it.

Handpicked from among thousands of artists, this genre-traversing playlist picks highlights, discoveries and future thrills from this year’s festival — and, for the next 30 days, it’s available for free download in its entirety, as one 813 MB zip file, right here. Of course, for those without that much hard-drive space, you can download each song individually, as well as stream The Austin 100 on this page and through NPR Music’s various mobile devices.

You can get your copy on this page.

This is what it’s like to run run a showcase at SXSW Music

Ewan — Sat, 23 Mar 2013 09:26:49 +0000

Looking behind the scenes at SXSW Music isn’t that difficult, everything is on show at changeover time, sound-checks and band prep are done on stage, and the whole environment is incredibly honest. But there’s a lot more going on. Conrad Schoenleber talks through his experiences of organising the CrowdNoize showcase last week on City Pages.

12 p.m.: Our first act, locals, the Chalice, is supposed to go on. Half of our speakers are missing, and the sound guy couldn’t be more clueless. My partner, Patrick Welby of CrowdNoize calls his in-house sound tech to sprint over. He arrives and immediately starts working damage control. So far our SXSW showcase is a huge success.

The diary for the rest of the day is online, and makes for fascinating reading.

Three acts win the inaugural Grulke Prize from SXSW Music

Ewan — Sat, 23 Mar 2013 05:56:59 +0000

This year at SXSW Music saw the inaugural Grulke Prize awarded to three acts. Set up in honour of SXSW’s long-time musical director Brett Grulke who died last year.

The winners were:

Developing US Act: Haim.

Non-US Act: CHVRCHES.

Career Act: Flaming Lips.

Congratulations to all three acts, who start off what we expect to be a long lived and prestigious award.

SXSW Baby Podcast, Saturday March 16th

Ewan — Sat, 16 Mar 2013 17:42:49 +0000

It’s your final night of SXSW and we really mean it this time, so Interactive badge holders can stop grumbling that it finished Tuesday (because it doesn’t). So a bit more flavour of the fun on offer at SXSW before we head out to Sixth for one last bag of memories

Kii Arens (www.lalalandposters.com)
Fredara Hadley (www.jooksi.com)
‘If Your Dad Doesn’t Have A Beard…’, by The Beards (www.thebeards.com.au)

Follow the SXSW Baby blog for more South by Southwest fun, and what we’re up to on the ground via Twitter and @SXSWbaby. Got news about SXSW for us? Get in touch via SXSW Baby’s contact form! Don’t forget to follow the podcast via the RSS feed!

Things to do Today at SXSW Saturday 16th

Eric — Sat, 16 Mar 2013 14:00:03 +0000

Here are more highlights from the SXSW schedule, as chosen by the SXSW Baby! team:

Music Panels

• Start and Build Your Career on YouTube
2:00pm ACC 17A

Film

• Rewind This!
1:30pm Topher

• Downloaded
4:30pm Vimeo

Party

• MPress Fest
12:00pm Soho Lounge

Showcases

• Jenn Grant
10:00pm Friends

• Delta Rae
11:00pm Antone’s

• Lions in the Street
1:00am BD Rileys

SXSW Baby Podcast, Friday March 15th

Ewan — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 18:19:08 +0000

SXSW is all about worlds colliding, so when there’s a Turkish night of music at Cedar Street Courtyard, with a number of bands from one of my other lives (the Eurovision Song Contest), I’m going to talk to two bands more used to stadium rock than tiny gigs… and introduce my SXSW friends and followers to them!

Mor Ve Otesi (www.morveotesi.com)
maNga (www.manga.web.tr)
The team from Ticketbud (www.ticketbud.com)

Things to do Today at SXSW Friday 15th

Eric — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 14:00:50 +0000

Here are more highlights from the SXSW schedule, as chosen by the SXSW Baby! team:

Music Panels

• Who’s Ripping Me Off Now
5:00pm ACC 10AB

Film

• Sound City
1:30pm Rollins

Party

• Full Irish Breakfast
11:00pm BD Rileys

Showcases

• The Mowgli’s
8:00pm Stubbs

• Frank Turner and the Sleeping Souls
1:00am Blackheart

• Sarah Jaffe
11:00pm Esther’s Follies

Dear SXSW bands, where is all the merch?

Ewan — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 07:57:44 +0000

Something I’ve noticed at SXSW Music this year is the lack of merchandise on sale after a showcase. With over 2000 official performances, the people in the crowd are already invested in you. They’ve given up close to an hour of their time to listen to you. If they are up on their feet. cheering and applauding at the end of the gig… you’ve made the sale! You’ve got them! All you need to do is close the transaction and you have a fan for life!

Except in three nights of back to back showcases, only two artists I’ve seen have had CD’s on sale after the gig. When the short term musical memory is about to be over-written by the next band, it’s incredibly important to get a physical memory into the hands of your potential new fans.

SXSW Baby Podcast, Thursday March 14th

Ewan — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 16:31:36 +0000

A full night of music last night, with a smattering of film, and panels about online distribution, marketing, and technology in the room. Yep, it’s still SXSW!

Ben Drury (7digital)
Timothy Wheeler and Diana Nyad (www.theothershoremovie.com)
The Woodpile, by Frightened Rabbit (www.frightenedrabbit.com)

Things to do Today at SXSW Thursday 14th

Eric — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 14:00:26 +0000

Here are more highlights from the SXSW schedule, as chosen by the SXSW Baby! team:

Music Panels

• Music in devices, does audio quality matter
2:00pm ACC 10AB

Film

• Big Ass Spider
11:45pm Ritz 2

• Awful Nice
4:30pm Ritz 1

Party

• Wunderbar, Lunch with the Germans
12:00pm Icenhauer’s

Showcases

• Frightened Rabbit
10:05pm Belmont

• Clairey Browne and the Bangin Rackettes
11:00pm Javelina

• The Crookes
9:00pm North Door

SXSW Baby Podcast, Wednesday March 13th

Ewan — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 15:25:43 +0000

Wednesday, and into the back half of SXSW, with the music set to ring out around Sixth Street and beyond. That’s not to forget the other strands though!

Chris Heydt (Social @ Ogilvy)
Doug Tirola (Hey Bartender)
Wraith, by Peace (www.peaceforeverever.co.uk/)

Things to do Today at SXSW Wednesday 13th

Eric — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 14:00:25 +0000

Here are more highlights from the SXSW schedule, as chosen by the SXSW Baby! team:

Music Panels

• Fight for Fair Fees In Music Industry
5:00pm ACC 11AB

Film

• Zero Charisma
7:00pm Rollins

Party

• Aussie Tim Tam Slam
1:30pm ACC Meet Up Pavilion EH 3/4

Showcases

• OK Sweetheart
10:00pm 512 Rooftop

• Asgeir Trausti
8:00pm 18th Floor Hilton Garden

• The Rubems
9:20pm Belmont

Other

• Trade Show – LAST DAY
11:00am-4:00pm
Austin Convention Center - Exhibit Halls 3 & 4

SXSW Baby Podcast, Tuesday March 12th

Ewan — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 16:33:28 +0000

The Tuesday sun breaks over Austin, and the weather, all sun and no clouds, is more what I expect from SXSW. On with the show!

Chris Pirillo (chris.pirillo.com).
Mike Mendez (Big Ass Spider).
Wake Up, by Ruby Jane (www.rubyjane.org).

Things to do Today at SXSW Tuesday 12th

Eric — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 14:00:23 +0000

Here are more highlights from the SXSW schedule, as chosen by the SXSW Baby! team:

Interactive

• Blog to Brick: How We Turned Our Blog into a Bar
11:00am Hyatt Regency Austin, Hill Country ABCD

• Matt Inman Keynote
2:00pm ACC EH5

Film

• Sake Bomb
11:15am Ritz 1

Party

• Interactive Closing Party
9:00pm Stubbs

Music

• Ruby Jane
11:00pm Parish Underground

• Houndmouth
8:00pm Blackheart

Other

• Trade Show
11:00am-6:00pm
Austin Convention Center - Exhibit Halls 3 & 4

SXSW Baby Podcast, Monday March 11th

Ewan — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 15:51:11 +0000

The sun is out, and we’ve only a week of SXSW left!

Steve Brown and Jessie Deeter (Spark: A Burning Man Story).
Jarah Euston (Flurry).
This Song Is Called Ragged, by Jonathan Boulet (www.jonathanboulet.com)

SXSW Baby Podcast, Sunday March 10th

Ewan — Sun, 10 Mar 2013 14:27:48 +0000

Continuing the coverage from this year’s SXSW festival, and waiting for the rain to fall heavily.

Helen Zaltzman (Answer Me This Podcast).
Jeremey Waite (Adobe Social).
The History of French Cuisine, by Kid Congo and the Pink Monkey Birds (Kid Congo on MySpace).

SXSW Baby Podcast, Saturday March 9th

Ewan — Sat, 09 Mar 2013 15:00:39 +0000

And so we start another year of SXSW, with a mix of interviews and music from Austin.

Jon Reay and Simon Nickson (@WeAreAqueduct)
Nicolas Gonda and Pablo Gonzalez (www.tugg.com)
The Lightning Ball, by Jake Bugg (www.jakebugg.com).

Samsung Galaxy SIII Giveaway

Eric — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 18:00:08 +0000

Would you like to win a Samsung Galaxy SIII? You would? Well then, read on..

The winner could choose their preferred cellular carrier (AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, Sprint), and we’ll throw in a flip cover for them as well in their choice of color (pink, coral, black, white, yellow, turquoise or lime green)

The Samsung Galaxy Experience, located at 504 Trinity Street in Austin, will host a number of events and activities throughout the week. We’ll be at one and will post about it here and on Twitter. The first person who finds us and says “Hey Baby! I want a Samsung Galaxy SIII!” wins.

Simple as that, however, you must be a US resident.

Here are the deets of the Samsung Galaxy Experience, which includes free treats from establishments around town for all Galaxy owners:

The Samsung Galaxy Experience During SXSW
WHO: The Samsung Galaxy Experience will be a hub of exclusive events, activities and rewards for Galaxy owners.

WHAT: Samsung Mobile’s presence will extend beyond the Galaxy Experience with Samsung TecTile placed throughout Austin. Galaxy owners will be able to tap a TecTile for free offers from local businesses, free pedicab rides from Uber* and an exclusive mobile game. For Galaxy owners running low on power, they can simply tweet #PowerOn to @SamsungMobileUS for a delivery of a brand new fully charged battery via a bike messenger.

Galaxy owners can tap Samsung TecTiles throughout the city for free offers from local businesses, including:
· Free sandwich from Jalopy Rotisserie & Press (1502 San Antonio)
· Free slice of pizza with up to two toppings from Brick Oven Pizza (1209 Red River Street)
· Free cupcake from Hey Cupcake! (604 Driskill Street)
· Free salsa sampler from South Congress Café (1600 S Congress Ave)
· Free medium frozen ice from Jim Jim’s Water Ice (615-A. East 6th Street)
· Free 16 oz smoothie from Blenders and Bowls (206 East 4th Street)
· Free small scoop of ice cream with one crush-in from Amy’s Ice Cream (1012 W 6th Street)
· Free ½ dozen oysters from Max’s Wine Dive (207 San Jacinto Boulevard)
· Free brownie from Delish (209 W. 3rd Street)

Showcasing the best of the Samsung Galaxy line of products, the Samsung Galaxy Experience will provide fun and interactive experiences, including:

· TecTile Wall – Galaxy owners can tap TecTiles to receive free rewards including music from today’s top artists and local deals
· Music Hub Station – Guests will be able to try out Music Hub and listen to tracks of various artists featured at the festival. Galaxy owners will be able to S Beam songs to their own device as a special take away.
· Galaxy Demos – Brand ambassadors will show guests how to get the most from their Galaxy devices and how to get free stuff from Austin’s finest businesses
· Battery Swap stations – Guests will get a refresh of their battery
· Custom T-Shirts & Buttons – Using S Note, guests will be able to design custom t-shirt and buttons that will be printed on-site

WHEN: Saturday, March 9 – Sunday, March 17, 2013

12:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. daily

WHERE: The Samsung Galaxy Experience @ Coppertank

504 Trinity Street
Austin, TX

*Free Uber pedicab rides available only during Interactive*
** Please use hashtag #TheNextBigThing when tweeting from the event **

Three last minute things your band can do

Ewan — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 10:51:28 +0000

There’s just over a week to SXSW Music (and even less time for Interactive and Film), but if you’re all set to play, and not done anything else about your showcase, Clyde Smith has some advice on Hypebot for those of you who’ve been putting it off. The headline topics are:

Contact Your Hometown Media

Prepare A Video Shoot of Your Show

Organize Your Social Media Presence Beforehand

The SXSW 2013 Music Sampler from SXSW Baby

Ewan — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 22:01:37 +0000

As SXSW draws ever closer, it’s time once more the SXSW Baby team to release our music sampler track into the wild.

With over 2,000 bands performing at SXSW Music this year (and countless more that don’t have official showcases), choosing the bands to go and see is always tricky. With the internet, YouTube, Spotify, and other internet services, it’s a lot easier to get a feel ahead of time of the bands to watch out for, be it four names out of a hat on a short news article, right up to the six month listening marathon that is Operation Every Band from friend of SXSW Baby! Kevin McStravick.

Kevin has been highlighting some of his favourites every week, but we’ve got our own tradition at the Baby… our sampler collection of the tracks, bands, singers (and poets) that have caught our ears as we get ready to hit Sixth Street’s sound explosion (Even though we realise that .mp3 is decidedly old school in 2013). Here it is, eighty acts you really must listen to at this year’s South by Southwest music.

DOWNLOAD the SXSW Baby! “Best of SXSW 2013″ sampler
Mega.co.nz link (314 Mb)

A little bit about the process. Through Kevin’s listening via OEB we get our initial “long list” of acts to listen to. Into that mix the SXSW Baby! team threw in the music we’ve been discovering along the way. We also asked a number of our friends in the music industry to suggest a few names as well.

From then it was a matter of listening to them all again, debating favourites, comparing a few songs that were incredibly similar in head-to-head decisions, and once we had a provisional list, any new song that demanded to be included had to bump an existing song out of the playlist.

After all that, we’re left with 80 tracks (all of which are freely available to listen to online folks, we’ve just got them in one place), and a big jigsaw to get a great running order. As previous years, I wanted to create some great moments when listening to the songs, to have the music flow into each other, to have sequences that would allow you to both dip in and out of the sampler, or stick it on a five hour playlist (which should just about reach from the TSA screening at your local airport to the reception desk of your hotel – or twice through if you’re flying from Europe).

If the eighty tracks feels too much for you, then you can break it down to eight ten-track playlists.

This is SXSW (Tracks 1-10)
A little bit of Rock with your Roll? (Tracks 11-20)
The British Sound Invasion (Tracks 21-30)
We have both kinds of music (Tracks 31-40)
Time And Relative Dimensions in Song (Tracks 41-50)
This Land Is Your Land (Tracks 51-60)
Love Shine A Light (Tracks 61-70)
A tear, Sarah Jane? (Tracks 71-80)

If you’re not sure, here’s the deal. Listen to the first ten tracks. I’m confident that not only will this give you a great hit of SXSW Music, but you’ll want to listen to the rest of the sampler.

Oh and the 2013 bands in full?

A Band Of Bitches, Asgeir Trausti, Bernhoft, Bhi Bhiman, Black Pistol Fire, Boy, Chappo, Clairy Browne and The Bangin’ Rackettes, Conveyor, Current Swell, Delta Rae, Desert Noises, Diego Garcia, Diplomats of Solid Sound, Ed Harcourt, Elle King, Everything Everything, Fallulah, Five Mile Town, Fort Lean, Foxygen, Frank Turner & The Sleeping Souls, Frightened Rabbit, Houndmouth, Jack Savoretti, Jake Bugg, Jamie N Commons, Jenn Grant, Jenny Owen Youngs, John Cooper Clarke, John Hiatt, Jonathan Boulet, Kid Congo & Pink Monkey Birds, Kim Janssen, Let’s Buy Happiness, Lions In The Street, Little Green Cars, Los Lonely Boys, Luke Sital-Singh, maNga, Meligrove Band, Mister Loveless, Mor Ve Otesi, Ms Mr, Night Beds, Ok Sweetheart, Pacific Air, Palma Violets, Peace, Quiet Company, Pockey LaFarge & The South City Three, Rah Rah, Ravens and Chimes, Rebel MC aka Congo Natty, Reptar, Roadkill Ghost Choir, Rosco Bandana, Royal Teeth, Ruby Jane, Sammy Decoster, Sarah Jaffe, Seth Sentry, Sizarr, Star & Micey, Svavar Knútur, Swear and Shake, Synthesizers, Tamikrest, The Chicharones, The Crookes, The Heavy, The Little Ones, The Mowglis, The Rubens, The Staves, Tim Easton, Tom Odell, Whitehorse, Wildlife Control, and Will Brennan.

“The biggest problem in the 21st century is not piracy but obscurity”, Cory Doctorow.

5 Questions with Pertti Kurikka’s Name Day – The band from “The PunkSyndrome” Film

Eric — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 22:59:49 +0000

We first brought these guys to your attention with our recommendation of “The Punk Syndrome” at SXSW this year. We decided to do a follow-up 5 Questions with the guys so we could learn more about them.

The band, Pertti Kurikan Nimipäivät (Pertti Kurikka’s Name Day) will be playing at Headhunters Patio on March 15th.

1. How did the band originally form?
The band was formed in the end of 2008. Pertti has been a big fan of punk rock over 30 years. He never had his own punk rock band. It was talked about for several years that Pertti should have a band that plays his kind of music. The bands guys work in a music / culture workshop. It’s a workshop for disabled adults.

In 2008 a feature film director asked the workshop if we have a band for a certain scene for his movie. The band had to have attitude. That was the final call for Pertti! Pertti is the guitar player and composer/lyricist. Kari was chosen to be the lead vocalist/lyricist because of his great voice and angry appearance. He has a lot to say. Toni is great, fast drummer who can keep the beat. And Sami, everybody needs a commander with a steady pulse.

2. Have they made another record?
The band has released three vinyl 7″ EP’s, one cassette EP and one compilation album on CD and LP. It has every released song so far plus two previously unreleased songs. There’s going to be at least one single (maybe an EP later) this year.

3. What, if any, problems did you face during shooting?
We had no problems during the shootings! We didn’t mind the cameras

4. Has the film raised awareness of the band?
The film has raised awareness. People recognize us on the streets etc. but we don’t mind! The gigs are almost always sold out. Our album was on the charts for five weeks. It was the 17th at the highest. We wouldn’t be so popular without the film!

5. Any special plans for SXSW (please tell us they are playing)?
Not any special plans! We’re going to see american culture and Texas!

We play on Friday the 15th at 11.35PM. Headhunters Patio. See you there!

Rock out to the sound of the teenage underground

Ewan — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 01:06:41 +0000

I’m loving the contrast here of an act ready to play SXSW, but not old enough to actually drink or perform in one of the many bars! The Austin Chronicle talks to some of the acts appearing at Palm Door’s ‘Youngbloods Showcase’, including Lydia Night of Pretty Little Demons:

I saw that girl musicians could rock and I wanted to do the same thing,” she enthuses. “My first performance with my old band was at McCabe’s Guitar Shop in Santa Monica when I was 7. We played three songs I had written and it lasted three minutes and 39 seconds.

Passion for music, drive to succeed? Count me in, even if I was thinking that Youngblood was just a B-movie Ice Hockey film…

Recommended Film: “The Punk Syndrome” SXGlobal

Eric — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 15:31:23 +0000

I was about five minutes into screening this film and I exclaimed “These guys ROCK!”

That is the essence of The Punk Syndrome, a documentary about Finland’s own Pertti Kurikka’s Name Day.

This isn’t a film about Punk, or about the developmentally disable, it’s about 4 guys who “bring it” and leave it all on stage.

“The Punk Syndrome” is a documentary film about Finnish punk-rock band Pertti Kurikka’s Name Day, formed in 2009 by four developmentally disabled guys. The film follows the band’s journey from their rehearsal room to cult success. It shows the love and hate between the guys, the crying and the laughter. Loyal to true punk tradition, the band plays loud and harshly, and their lyrics are critical of the surrounding reality: Poverty, housing problems, intoxicants and the attitudes towards disabled are brutally slung to the listener’s face.

And the BEST part? They are playing SXSW!
Friday, March 15
11:35PM -12:10AM
Headhunters Patio
720 Red River St (8th St Entrance)
Age Policy: 21+