SXSW 2008
Monday, March 17th, 2008
So, I got back this morning from my trip to Austin, caught some sleep and am working on my next heute:pop:morgen radio show which will cover the event. Well, I’m going to play tracks of the artists I saw there and basically make everyone jealous and tell them what a great time I had.
It was a hot one (30C+) and it was my birthday last Wednesday. Doesn’t happen very often that I have a margarita at 1.30pm in the sunshine on my birthday. I meant to blog from there as well but there was just no time to sit down for 30 min and do this…
One highlight for me was surly Boys Noize which was absolutely insane and they ended up throwing him in the crowd and everyone was loving it. Maybe an odd one as he was one of the very few DJs is saw at the official SXSW showcases. Amazing nevertheless.
Another band I was hugely enjoying was This Will Destroy You, a band from Texas who I had never heard before. This was one of those SXSW moment where a friend tells you that you should come and check out this band (thanks for the recommendation Anthony) and then you are totally blown away. They seem to be playing in London soon as well.
Other highlights include Sia (she is a bit middle of the road but I just always liked her), Lightspeed Champion (live much better than the album), Frightened Rabbit (the Scotts know what they are doing), Bon Iver (shame about the sound problems but I loved it), Kimya Dawson (was watching that in between tons of 15 to 17 year olds who knew all the lyrics) Emmy The Great (Cute!) and N.E.R.D. (normally not my thing but what a great show). Songs of all those will be featured on my next heute:pop:morgen show.
On the more industry side there was one thing I notice straight away: there was no complaining. When you go to conferences like Midem of Popkomm you hear a lot of companies complaining about the way their business is going but in Austin you have nothing of that. I see a few reasons for that:
1. The companies I have been meeting which are typically the bigger independent labels are actually doing quite well at the moment. From what I hear they are now getting some good income from a bunch of digital services and they can also sustain some good CD sales
2. When you go to SXSW you can see that the Music Industry has still got one very flourishing arm: the live part. There are 1800 bands playing in (often) packed venues over the course of a week, it’s difficult to then start complaining about how no one wants to spend any money on music. Admittedly many of the people at those gigs are working in the industry but when you walk down 6th Street in Austin on Friday night you only see very few badges
3. Well, it’s SXSW: fantastic music, great weather, plenty of margaritas, excellent Mexican food. Not really good moaning conditions.
I think think this is all I can squeeze out of my jetlagged brain right now, I’m sure there will be more to come about SXSW. Oh and I took a few pictures as well. Actually just a very few, didn’t want to take my camera around all day and night: www.flickr.com/photos/pete_bug/sets/72157604137769936/
