SXSW

SXSW Day 1: Quick Recap

Posted on by Kristen

Day 1 at SXSW was a rousing success! Don’t have time to write an entire post (as we’re about to start day 2), but here are some of the highligts

* following suggestion of fellow band passenger to go see The Head and The Heart (from Seattle)…they were fantastic! (very Mumford and Sons)

* seeing The Kin (TWICE). They have all new songs that are fantastic. Isaac also used a random pole for a substitute didgeridoo

* discovering the lineup at Lipstick 24 (The Stone Foxes, Empires, Saint Motel, Dead Sara, etc…)

* The Silent Comedy tearing it up at The San Diego Hoe Down

* the massive dance party we created at The Silent Comedy show at The Austin Rox Showcase

* finally seeing AWOLNATION (and living through the riot they nearly brought to Rusty Spurs)

* meeting new people who suggested new bands to check out

* being interviewed by All Together Now Showcase about this website

* ending the evening in a Dead Sara mosh

 

Today is Saint Patrick’s Day so I’m guessing today will be particularly insane. Who am I most looking forward to? SOOOO Many, but let’s go with Mother Mother who play at Lipstick 24 at 2:30 for the All Rights Reserved Showcase.

 

 

~ Kristen

SXSW Day 0: A Story

Posted on by Kristen

If you don’t know anything about SXSW, you might, at first glance think that it is all about the music. But you’d be wrong. SXSW is really all about networking. You might think that someone only peripherally involved in the music industry (AKA The Scientist who moonlights as a music enthusiast) would not benefit as much from this aspect of the conference, but you’d be wrong.

Also, the idea that the bar is the best place to mix and mingle (a concept I’ve never really warmed up to) might not be entirely correct.  I feel like the van rides back and forth from the hotel to the conference center downtown might be the new “bar”. Last night’s transport back, lead us into conversation with a professional “foodie” (from the food network) and someone who works at Bryn Mawr College of all places (my alma mater). So I may not have been able to whisper the names of my favorite bands into some big executive’s ear over a couple of whiskey sours, but I know the best place to go eat in downtown Austin AND I got some top secret intel regarding my 5 year college reunion coming up in May.

Such random encounters really gets me excited about the unknown and unexpected possibilities for the rest of the week!

 

But back to the music, TONS to look forward to today! The Kin, The Silent Comedy, Twin Atlantic, Oh Land, AWOLNATION, The Blue Pages…all on my list for today.

 

AWOLNATION plays 10pm at Rusty Spurs for the AustinROX showase…

 

~ Kristen

(Unofficially) Day 1: SXSW Part Two

Posted on by Amanda

My oh my what a day it’s been! As you can tell I’m writing this post at 2:46 a.m. (central time) and I’m not even in bed yet. Although, I do have my pjs on.

Needless to say, it has been one crazy day full of line waiting, wristband/badge picking up, music, and food. We actually retired to the hotel around 11 to get rested, charged and ready for tomorrow. We just spent the last few hours going over our schedules for tomorrow and who wants to see what and where.

I really should be in bed right now but I just wanted to check in a share a few photos from today…

 

This was how the line looked after we spent 2 hours in line for our wristbands. I’m super glad we got there at 12 instead of any later.

 

Fader Fort Line- After our pickup

 

This is one of the four members of Viva City. Chelsea and Trina boasted about them so we decided to go see what the fuss was about after we picked up our Purevolume badges. I’m super glad we got to see them. They remind me of a hybrid of Parade of Lights and Kill Hannah but with a harder edge. I dig.

 

Viva City

Until next time.

~Amanda

p.s. Follow us on Twitter @_localmusicnat if you don’t already! We will be updating throughout the day as much as we can 🙂

On the Road…. SXSW: Part One

Posted on by Amanda

This has got to be one of the most unique and important posts I’ve ever done so far.

In case you haven’t heard, LMN is heading to SXSW (aka: South by Southwest), which is a huge music/film festival in Austin, Texas. I’m not talking about Coachella or Bonaroo size. Think bigger. Bands come from all over the world to play as many showcases as possible in the hopes of breaking out and making it big. Anyone who is anyone has been through and come out of SXSW. According to the SXSW website….

“The SXSW® Music and Media Conference celebrates its 25th Anniversary in 2011. Reaching a quarter of a century of being the biggest and most anticipated convergence of all things music, SXSW is ready to keep the reputation alive by programming the best event yet.

By day, thousands of conference registrants network in the halls of the Austin Convention Center on their way to do business in the SXSW® Trade Show, sit in on informative panel discussions featuring some of the industry’s key players, gain insight from legendary keynote speakers or plan out their abundant party schedules. At night, SXSW showcases hundreds upon hundreds of musical acts from around the globe on over eighty stages in downtown Austin. All this and so much more, combine to make SXSW one of the most revered music events, year after year.”

AND

“With numerous avenues for exposure to over 36,000 key industry representatives, SXSW® 2011 is the most valuable addition to any marketing plan.”

So there you have it. And we are on our way there as I type this. It’s been interesting so far as I only just met up with my cohorts last night. I drove out of San Diego yesterday with local photographer geniuses Kevin and Rebecca Joelson who are riding to SXSW with The Silent Comedy. We met up with them in Tempe and had quite a few adventures along the way including an impromptu photo shoot at an empty car wash and a stop at a Waffle House. Other than that, it’s been a whole lotta desert and some cool looking trees (even one with Christmas decorations!).

Kristen and Brooke drove out of LA and met up with me at the Marquee Theater last night and we’ve been together since. We got some rest at a Comfort Suites last night so we would be fresh for our 12 hour drive today. We are currently in New Mexico and are Austin bound. I’m hearing we will be in Texas rather soon!

In the meantime, I’m going to leave you with Hugo’s 99 Problems video. And you can check him out at The Force’s Texas Tornado Showcase at Red Eye Fly @ 3:30

[youtube LloIp0HMJjc]

<3 Amanda

p.s. Be sure to follow our Twitter feed. We will bring you pics and updates along the way as often as we can!

Hanson’s 12 hour SXSW4Japan Benefit: Album now Available!

Posted on by Kristen

So many things were going on in Austin the week of SXSW that it’s impossible to do/see/even know about it all. One thing I was tangentially aware of was Hanson’s efforts to raise money for those in Japan suffering from the tsunami fallout. Apparently the brothers put together a fundraiser in less than 24 hours that brought in over $100,000 worth of donations for the Red Cross.  The fundraiser was in the form of a telethon that took place on the last Saturday of SXSW and featured so many wonderful artists coming in and giving exclusive performances that were then streamed live.
Sxsw4japan.org is re-streaming the performances RIGHT NOW!: http://sxsw4japan.org/

Even more exciting, ITunes and Amazon.com are now selling a digital album called SXSW4Japan featuring nearly 50 tracks from the artists that participated. All proceeds are going to the Red Cross.

So, what are you waiting for? GO and get it!

http://www.amazon.com/Sxsw4japan/dp/B004UY1TSY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1302031272&sr=8-1

Some of my favorite artists featured include: Hanson, The Lonely Forest, Cary Brothers, The Boxer Rebellion, Laura Jansen, Alpha Rev, Jenny O, Keaton Simons, Anna Nalick, The Parlotones, Kina Grannis, Michelle Branch, and Rooney…but there are SOOOOOO many more!

Charlie Mars at the SXSW4Japan benefit:

Hanson covers “Lean on Me”

~ Kristen

Watch live streaming video from sxsw4japan at livestream.com

SXSW Day 5: The Aftermath

Posted on by Amanda

The thing you have to know about SXSW, like any other event, is that it has an official start and an official end. By the time we reached Sunday, SXSW had officially ended and it was time to pack up and go home. Which is exactly what we did. After some jumbling of arrangements, Kristen and I ended up driving back with our new friend and room mate Giulian.
We started our day getting provisions at what was the largest (and coolest) Whole Foods I have ever seen. Apparently, we were at the company headquarters! Next was a “must do” trip to Waterloo Records. Think of Amoeba but on a smaller scale with marginally cheaper prices. Kristen managed to walk out with 3 or 4 cds while I, on the other hand, walked out with necklaces. Apparently, I was all musiced out. And yes, I made up that awesome word.

Next, we had breakfast right next door at 24 Diner. Can I just say that I have never had such amazing food from a “diner”? Everything was fresh made with local produce. They even make their own sausage (even veggie) with all sorts of tasty good for you stuff. They even had frittatas. When was the last time you saw a frittata on a menu? Hmmm? Anyway, this place was magic. There is no other word for it.

Now with our stomachs full and provisions in hand, we began our trek back to LA. The drive started out easy enough. We decided that 3 hour shifts would be the best use of our time/energy for our journey. It also gave us a chance to sample some of the new music we acquired at SXSW. Next thing I knew we were playing a game of, “better or worse?” As in, is this track better or worse than the last one we listened to? It was quite entertaining and sparked a bit of chatter about the musical landscape. Needless to say, there were a few duds but there were far more gems.

After going though 3 cds and a shift change was still looming, the ipod came out. Now, if you know anything at all about Kristen, you know she has a vast music library. I mean, anyone who goes through it would be surprised to see some of these artists on the same device. But I digress…

Our new traveling partner and co-pilot, had taken command of the ipod and the next thing we knew the sounds of ABBA filled our ears and we were singing along to Waterloo (among others).

 

Perhaps the most disturbing thing was after the second shift change (my turn!). We came upon a guy from Oklahoma with a F-250 pulling a trailer, no tailgate on his truck, and his unchained cattle dog riding on the toolbox in his truck bed. This guy went speeds of 75-90 mph with his scared dog out in the open. It bothered us so much that each of us called 911 hoping to watch this guy get pulled over. Alas, we had to pull off for gas and we lost him. I’ve been hoping that he was pulled off somewhere and we just missed it.

Now it was dark and with the thoughts of the scared dog ebbing from our minds, we started the dance party yet again. Our trip continued on in a similar manner and I was very sad I was unable to video the dance party going on in the car…

We made it to New Mexico and Arizona in what seemed like no time at all. Perhaps that’s because I was the only one (trying) to get some sleep in the car. I remember dozing off in New Mexico and waking up in Arizona. Funny how that works.

We had been hearing reports from friends in LA of some major rain and wind that was back there and we found that we were not exempt from that terrible weather. While rolling though Arizona, the winds had picked up and were blowing the car around. A little while later, it started to rain. I’m not talking the “rain” everyone gets worked up about which is a basic drizzle. I’m talking about a solid downpour. I’m not going to lie, I was a little scared. But we made it through the storm just fine and somehow made our way back to California. None of us really got much sleep during the drive. I think I got the most of the three of us. Giulian would doze off then wake up with a jump. Kristen pseudo fell asleep when she was in the backseat but didn’t really sleep. We drove straight through from Austin to Los Angeles in 21 hours, where we hit another storm. I was asleep for this but apparently there was thunder and lightening in LA from the storm. Crazy weather. Even crazier for us considering we just came from a hot dry desert.

Finally, we arrived at our destination in LA, weather clear, smelly, running on fumes (us, not the car) at a glorious 7 something in the morning. And that my dear friends, was the aftermath of SXSW.

SXSW ’13-Day 4

Posted on by Amanda

I apologize if my last post seemed a little lackluster. I think tiredness and soreness had set in. Today was a different story however. I’m still really jazzed from the events of the day despite how much my feet are screaming at me.
We started off with lunch at the ASOS lounge where we munched on free tacos and indulged in some free music thanks to RedTouch Media. From there we went to see Third Eye Blind at Hangar Lounge however, they were half an hour late and the sound was so loud that even with ear plugs, my ears hurt. We decided to leave right then and there but not before scoring some free Sony headphones. A quick dash to Filter on Cedar Street for our wristbands and some stuff, including a slap band with a usb drive! We got back to the ASOS lounge in time to catch some K. Flay and another taco but our bags of swag were weighing us down and we needed to drop our stuff at the hotel.

I was determined to catch some Airborne Toxic Event since I had never seen them and with Fitz and The Tantrums playing after, I knew I found a place to hang. After catching a bit of Airborne Toxic Event, I went to meet with my other half at Empire Automotive but they were running so far behind that I went back to make sure I made it in for Fitz and the Tantrums. This was an epic show at Old School Bar and Grill presented by StubHub and I was so glad to be there. I even got a set list!

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From there was a quick dash across the street to catch the tail end of Free Energy at Peckerheads. We hiked over to Rachel Ray’s Feedback House for dinner but dinner never seemed to come. The gang split up and I took the chance to get a quick rest at the hotel before coming out to dance with Semi Precious Weapons at The Main. All of the SXSW High Voltage crew was there dancing and singing along with the band at the top of our lungs. We all had smiles by the time Semi Precious Weapons ended, which was far too soon.

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I decided to make a go for The Roxy Showcase at Empire Automotive to see Dead Sara. However, Capital Cities went way late and despite the line outside, I managed to make it in and up front. Dead Sara blew the house down, as is their usual style. However, by the time my feet were screaming at me and I had to call it a night. But it ended on such a great note, I, couldn’t be happier!

Check out more photos below.

 

~ Amanda

addendum: I just wanted to mention the amazing time I had at The Blackberry House. It was the best sound I’ve heard all week plus I got to see two of my favorites, Keaton Simons and Leogun back to back. Add in the comfy chairs, accessible outlets, and ice pops and we have the makings of a highly enjoyable afternoon.

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~ Kristen