It's that time again. Time for the lucky few to go to South by Southwest, and time for the rest of us to stay home and wish we were at South by Southwest. While this is indeed an industry event, a chance to meet people and make connections, my Sherlock Holmes-like powers of deduction make it quite clear that it is all about the free food, live music and parties. Sounds like the lifeblood of a good time if you ask me.
Some of the Twin Cities finest are making the sojourn to the Lone Star state's capitol city of Austin. Martin Devaney, founder of Eclectone Records and an incredible musician and songwriter, will be hosting an Eclectone label showcase that includes Little Man, whose lead singer and all around incredible artist, Chris Perricelli, also answered some of my Tiger Beat-esque questions. He is currently promoting his third album, Soulful Automatic, which is something I suspect will be on all the local top albums lists by years end. Also included is the incomparable Mark Mallman, who is going down to the event with his new project, Ruby Isle, with bandmates Dan Geller (I Am the World Trade Center) and Aaron LaMay (Planes for Spaces). Rounding out the group are Minnesota Music Academy President Kate Galloway (also of Compass Productions) and Jesse Stensby, Vice President and Lead Designer at Vitriol Independent Promotions.
HowWasTheShow got a chance to ask the attendees some quesions about this year's festival.
Does going to SXSW truly help a band/musician's career?
Martin Devaney: I think it CAN, but it's no guarantee....I mean, it's pretty much Rock n' Roll Spring Break, so to get people to really pay attention can be tough. That said, I think any opportunity for a musician to showcase what they got in an environment that's inundated with like-minded people is a positive thing.
Mark Mallman: Good songs and money help a bands career more than anything. But, naturally, travelling to Drunk by Drunkwest is a healthy thing for a blossoming group. I mean, if I never went, I wouldn't have gotten my deal with INTERSCOPE or PLATINUM RECORD - I most certainly wouldn't have any of my Grammys.
Chris Perricelli: Most of all it's great exposure in your home town and nationally. At SXSW you never know who could be there. It's the Mecca of music industry folks.
Kate Galloway: That's a tough question. I think it really depends on the band's motivation and pre-SXSW buzz. It's a bummer if they showcase and little to no one shows up, that can be pretty discouraging. But there still is some sort of "on the radar" activity that can happen before and after the festival. Someone might find that they sell a few more albums, get a lot more website and MySpace hits. With the web, it's easy for someone to promote all that they're doing down there, so that's a plus. It's a highly saturated market though, what with 2000+ bands making the voyage and playing (either officially or unofficially). I think the band that makes the most of SXSW is one that's willing to do a lot of socializing. It's never a given that "if you play, they will come". That model just doesn't work down there.
Jesse Stensby: As with most things in this industry and in life, I suppose, you can only get out of it what you put in to it. If you expect to show up and have your show packed and sign a worldwide deal, I've certainly heard of that happening, and even seen it firsthand. But most of the time it happens with bands that have done the necessary legwork/promotion/buzzbuilding to make their trip worthwhile. But at SXSW, the odds are definitely more in your favor to have certain types of people catch your set than most of the year at any random small venue in Minneapolis.
Aaron LaMay, Mark Mallman and Dan Geller of Ruby Isle - Publicity Photo
What do you hope to gain by attending?
MD:I'm more optimistic about gaining attention for Eclectone Records as a whole than I am about my own stuff. We want to spend all of our time there getting the label on people's radar. And eating and drinking free stuff.
MM: I will eat some great barbeque, have a vodka tonic, a vodka grapefruit, a vodka cranberry, a whiskey coke, pizza, beer, doughnuts, sushi, more pizza, whiskey straight, a 3 way, and the next day I'll do it again. Somewhere in between there I'll play a rock show.
CP: I hope to meet some industry contacts and spread the word about our band.
KG: Every year is about meeting new people and hopefully hearing some fantastic music. I'm also looking forward to a lot of the panels that will help directly with my job. Being a representative there for my work is really an honor and I'm happy to be going and taking full advantage of what the conference has to offer. It's all about trend-watching too. I'm hoping to gain some insights into what's next for the music business.
JS: As I'm going for business, I hope to find a bunch of new exciting bands to come home and rave to people about. Other than that, I hope to meet a bunch of people and to eat and drink all day for free. Given what I expect to go down, I think my chances are pretty great at achieving both.
What are your expectations?
MD: I expect that the more we do, the easier it'll get in the future. I know we'll put on a great show, so hopefully it'll open doors for everyone down the road.
MM: Get drunk. Get laid. Stay alive. Throw my hat in the river, and maybe read a little.
CP: No expectations. I just want us to do our very best and to turn people on. The rest is up to the people.
KG: Well... you always go with your BIG list of shows to see, meetings to have, panels to go to and people to meet. Ultimately it's about 40% planning and 60% serendipitous encounters. I could prep for weeks on end, but there's really nothing like just letting the festival itself show you the way. So, I usually go with small expectations and come home with big rewards.
Is this the first year you have registered? Can a band or musician actually not get accepted?
MD: It's very possible and actually likely that you will not get accepted. Especially your first time out, especially if you don't have label clout (which we're starting to get) behind you. I have registered 4 times and this is my first "official" time there, though I hustled some stuff a couple years ago. I've been on their "waiting list" twice, but I'm not sure that actually means anything unless you're already there.
CP: Bands submit their entries to SXSW and a committee invites you. This will be our first time.
Do you have a favorite SXSW moment of years past?
MM: John Cale, Blind Boys of Alabama, Gogol Bordello, Maritime, the Presets, and pizza. Also once I took a cab two blocks, he was pissed. I didn't tip him. Robyn Hitchcock, MIA, Roky Erickson, but... NOT Wolfmother - that was shite!
MD: My favorite moment from years past was stumbling back, completely lost from hanging out with the Ol' Yeller guys, trying to find my friends and getting flagged down by Mary Lou Lord (who I'd met the day before) to play a set with her on a street corner.
KG: It's completely corny, but I was never able to actually see the Beastie Boys back in high school when I was a rabid fan (not that I'm not anymore!). Not only did I get to see them speak at a conference, but then I was forewarned about a "surprise" show which I OF COURSE went to. It was really cool calling my best friend growing up and just holding the phone up for her to hear. To my surprise, she actually did figure out that it was the Beastie Boys. It was a great moment.
JS: Oh the highs and lows. My first year was especially interesting because of my wide-eyed first exposure to the pandemonium as a barely-turned-21 amateur. I saw bands I'd always wanted to catch, but that never hit the midwest. I saw great acts I'd never heard of and never heard from again. These days, it all blends together as one big period of generally enjoyable experience made up of moments. Hell, even the lows at SXSW are pretty awesome. Kate'd tell you stories.
Chris Perricelli of Little Man - Photo by Stacy Sandstrom
Is there a spirit of camaraderie or a spirit of competition?
MM: Depends on why you're there. I laugh in the face of competitive bands. But yeah, they are there - and they are most always LAME! The most talented people I know are super friendly, and always professional. I like to laugh a lot and see friends no matter what city I'm in - Austin is full of em at Southby. Yay.
KG: I'd say a lot more camaraderie. I mean really, going down there to be competitive is just foolish.
What do you look forward to the most? The networking opportunities or seeing all the bands and musicians?
MM: I love the drive down, cause travelling is one of my favorite side effects of being a professional musician. I'm not the type of person who "networks" - when I'm not on stage, I make a good audience member. Oooh, I'm also looking forward to showing the back seat of my van to the divine Miss "S" - if she's reading this, she'll know what I'm talking about.
MD: I don't know....really just hanging out and taking it all in, but we do have a job to do down there--Rock, meet, repeat.
CP: I look forward to playing the show most of all. Then I'd say networking. I'm also very much looking forward to meeting up with old friends.
KG: For the most part, I try to get as much of my "band-seeing time" done while down there. There are so many bands that I'd love to see in Minneapolis when they come to town, but when you can see 50 of them for price of admission, without worrying about having to buy tickets or risk of a sell-out, it's just the best thing to do. Plus, you can go check it out and if the performance doesn't live up to the buzz, you can just leave and go to another one! The networking is great too of course, but that usually happens WHILE you're out seeing the bands. It just goes hand in hand.
JS: We never go to the big ticket shows, so it's not any sort of thing were I go down there saying, "It's going to be so great to see (Morrissey/Billy Idol/Willie Nelson/etc...) finally." So of the two choices, I guess I fall into the former. It's great to get to see the people from all over the world that I deal with all year but hardly get to talk to face to face and get to see music side by side.
(All these people are at South by Southwest now. And you're probably not)
It's that time again. Time for the lucky few to go to South by Southwest, and time for the rest of us to stay home and wish we were at South by Southwest. While this is indeed an industry event, a chance to meet people and make connections, my Sherlock Holmes-like powers of deduction make it quite clear that it is all about the free food, live music and parties. Sounds like the lifeblood of a good time if you ask me.
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