25 TIPS FOR SXSW (PART 2 OF 5)
As most of you know the SXSW Music + Film + Interactive Festivals and Conferences are fast approaching. Over the next five days, I’ll provide you with 5 different daily tips in various areas (lodging, driving, getting around Austin, etc.) that will hopefully help you maximize your trip based on my own personal experiences.
As I said yesterday in my first 5 tips, my focus will mainly be on the Music and Media Conferences (March 17-21), but many of my tips and advice will be general enough that you can apply them towards any part of SXSW.
Todays 5 Tips are for those Driving to Austin
For some the drive to Texas has been planned for quite some time. Others may have procrastinated and may decide in the next few days that they are going to head down there without much of a game plan.
I think everyone should make the drive through Texas at least once. It should be a mandatory rite of passage necessary prior to being allowed to proceed with any further road trips. 80% percent of the drive you’ll have that “glazed over” look with no hope of distractions from your barren country route. However, Texas has some of the best cities (in my opinion) to make a quick getaway to at least once every few years, and Austin tops the list (I’ve always said that if I ever decided to move away from LA and Orange Counties, Austin would probably be my top choice of new city to reside in).
I’ve made this specific drive to Austin, specifically for SXSW twice as an adult (ok, ok …I’ll confess not by myself and one time I didn’t even drive but you get the point, right?), and a few other times on family trips as a child/teenager.
Don’t complain about the lack of scenery, instead take advantage of it. If you have co-pilots that will be sharing driving duties you can use this time to get some sleep, given the fact that you probably will not be getting any for the next 4 days (or however long you’re there for).
Anyhow before I start to ramble any more than I already have here are the 5 Tips for those you who have decided to drive (whether you are in a band or not)
1. Directions – If your car doesn’t have a navigation system (and even if it does) don’t forget to bring the directions, a Thomas Guide, or at least map (one that has (California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas would probably be more helpful than that decorative one you have of Paris that hangs on your wall). Don’t count on your phones to bail you out as sometimes those 3Gs and 4Gs aren’t as reliable as the OGs at the gas stations that give you directions.
Common sense right? Well let me just tell you, that one year due to printing of misc. last minute items (Party RSVPs, directions to hotels and parties, lists of shows we wanted to check out, etc) we completely forgot to bring directions to Austin from Los Angeles with us and if my memory serves me correctly we did not have maps with us. So we had to call a friend and ask her to send us directions to Austin via text/email. She of course was more than amused, finding it to be the most hilarious thing she’d ever heard. I wasn’t worried for one, as I have a photographic memory and had taken a quick glance at the directions and knew that we had to jump on the 10 East and drive for about 12-15 hours through Arizona, New Mexico, and into Texas on it. So we had plenty of time to get someone to give us directions, but after the 10 we had no idea what to do. So don’t start your trip with this stress and remember to take the directions or a map with you.
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25 TIPS FOR SXSW (PART 1 OF 5)
As most of you know the SXSW Music + Film + Interactive Festivals and Conferences are fast approaching. Over the next five days, I’ll provide you with 5 different daily tips in various areas (lodging, driving, getting around Austin, etc.) that will hopefully help you maximize your trip based on my own personal experiences.
My focus will mainly be on the Music and Media Conferences (March 17-21), but many of my tips and advice will be general enough that you can apply them towards any part of SXSW as I’ve learned a lot from what used to be my almost ritualistic annual escapades of drinking Shiner Bock (actually I prefer Blonde), eating not enough BBQ, and trying to make it to too many music shows and parties over the course of nearly a week in Austin.
Because many of you might be scrambling around trying to book last minute hotel rooms, I’ll start off with these 5 Lodging Tips.
1. Pick a hotel, Any hotel
You may want the Driskill, but realistically unless someone else is footing the bill and you pretty much have standing reservations you probably won’t be staying there. Sure the Gayot 4 key winning Intercontinental, Omni, and Hilton Hotels are where you might see some of the more established acts and keynote speakers staying, but you probably won’t end up there either. The 4th Street hotels (Four Seasons, Radisson, and the other Hilton) make up the rest of the prime walk to EVERYTHING located hotels however, if you wanted to stay there you should’ve booked your hotel rooms at least six months ago (and even then they might not have had the availability). (more…)
The Problem With Music by Steve Albini
For those of you that listened to last Sunday’s episode of Ammunition Radio, this is the Steve Albini article we were referring to (thank you to Andre for sending to me so that I didn’t have to go digging for it). We hope that by now all of you have come across this and read this, especially if you are in a band or a musical artist (whether signed or not). Some of the content is a little dated and some of the numbers need some tweaking as it was written a few years back, but the majority of it still applies and really this is one of the most accurate, informative pieces on the music industry you will ever read.
The Problem With Music
by Steve Albini
Whenever I talk to a band who are about to sign with a major label, I always end up thinking of them in a particular context. I imagine a trench, about four feet wide and five feet deep, maybe sixty yards long, filled with runny, decaying shit. I imagine these people, some of them good friends, some of them barely acquaintances, at one end of this trench. I also imagine a faceless industry lackey at the other end holding a fountain pen and a contract waiting to be signed. Nobody can see what’s printed on the contract. It’s too far away, and besides, the shit stench is making everybody’s eyes water. The lackey shouts to everybody that the first one to swim the trench gets to sign the contract. Everybody dives in the trench and they struggle furiously to get to the other end. Two people arrive simultaneously and begin wrestling furiously, clawing each other and dunking each other under the shit. Eventually, one of them capitulates, and there’s only one contestant left. He reaches for the pen, but the Lackey says “Actually, I think you need a little more development. Swim again, please. Backstroke”. And he does of course.
Every major label involved in the hunt for new bands now has on staff a high-profile point man, an “A & R” rep who can present a comfortable face to any prospective band. The initials stand for “Artist and Repertoire.” because historically, the A & R staff would select artists to record music that they had also selected, out of an available pool of each. This is still the case, though not openly. These guys are universally young [about the same age as the bands being wooed], and nowadays they always have some obvious underground rock credibility flag they can wave. (more…)
Siria’s November and December Playlist
What I fell asleep to November and December…
Since I skipped providing a playlist for November, I figured I’d let you in on some of the more mellow stuff
(not really so mellow) I listened to in the past couple of months. The following list includes a sampling of songs since I obviously couldn’t include every single song. However, these are all songs that I CHOSE to fall asleep to, not that MADE me fall sleep. BIG difference.
AA Bondy – “I Can See the Pines Are Dancing”
The performance in this video reminds me of the Firelight and Unlit house parties that IsGood Music puts on (definitely something you should check out at least once, it’ll allow you to see the LA independent music scene in a different more positive light)
The French Semester – “Backwards Rolling”
Great local band that I’ve played on Ammunition a few times, their latest effort Forces Afield was released in December where they shared the stage with friends (and Notes from Vivace favorites) The Monthlies during their EP Release Party a few weeks ago. This song is off of Good Friends Only I Could See. Their full length release Open Letter to the Disappeared, I also play fairly often.
Ryan Larkin and Avalon Peacock (Can You Duet?) – “Tennessee Waltz”
When I went home for Thanksgiving, I caught a re-run of this CMT American Idol type show where this performance took place. As a little girl I remember hearing the original by Patti Page and thinking how sad a song it was. This time around hearing the song and seeing the performance, I thought to myself gosh I wish I could just once look as demure as that girl performing in a simple button down dress. Thanks a lot mom and dad for all the t&a that I received from your combined gene pools that thus prevents me from ever achieving that look.
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart – “Stay Alive”
Here’s the video to “Come Saturday” (I actually like this song better although my favorite song of theirs would be “Teenager in Love”) (more…)