We received an email in the middle of the night back in September. It was an invite from SXSW for us showcase at the world’s biggest music conference in 2018. I was crashing on Sam’s (guitar) couch at that point in time and I ran into his room, jumped on his bed and woke him up by screaming ‘DUUUUUUUUUDE WE GOT SOUTH BY!!!’.
It has been a lot of preparation since that day – organising visas, saving for flights and accommodation, sorting out a single release and PR for while we’re over there. Recording and writing manically so we have as much material possible to take over.
Even with all the preparation it STILL doesn’t feel real even though it’s only three weeks out. Ever since I was a wee tot – trawling Myspace for bands and seeing the lucky few land spots at the festival (The first SxSW band I fell in love with was We Were Promised Jetpacks out of Scotland).
I’ve been dying to go.
Here are some things that I’m particularly excited about:
Choons (Obviously)
2000+ artists – holy hell! Apart from Aussie faves Gang of Youths and Castlecomer, I’ve been
pouring through Spotify playlists and the SxSW website and have these artists on my ‘Need
To See Live’ List:
DYGL (Japan)
Catholic Action (Scotland)
Jerry Williams (UK)
John Jacob Magistery (Canada)
Emily Wolfe (USA)
Tiny Ruins (New Zealand)
Noms Galore
I can not bloody wait to sample me some Tex Mex. And of course the famous brisket. I have a feeling there might be a lapse in my hopeful vegetarianism between the flight there and the flight home.
Southern Hospitality
I’ve only passed through Texas once on a stop over. And as all stop-overs go it was quite a shitty time so I’m so sure this will be far, far better. I’m already getting great vibes from the locals, our Air BnB host is an absolute legend – he’s requested partial payment in the form of a 6 pack of Aussie beer. I would also like a cowboy hat, cowboy boots with spurs and at least one night of line dancing accompanied by whisky.
Opportunities
The main point in going over is to work our asses off – play the shit out of our showcases and meet a lot of people we can potentially work with. It’s pretty exciting that a majority of the western world’s music industry folk will all be in the same at the same time so we have to make the most of it! This is the first time we’ll be travelling with our management team at ArowAgency, so I’m excited for some quality time with those lovely humans too.
Release: ‘Knife’ is out now.