SXSW.
It was completely ridiculous. I stayed busy pretty much the whole time.
I’ll start with Tuesday. The night before I left for Austin.
TUESDAY
Tuesday night at Rubber Gloves, we had a band called “Why?” play, which I was super excited about. The show went great! The sound was excellent, practically a sell out crowd, great bands. All in all it was a fun night. After the show was over, I was talking to the guys from Why? about how I was going down to Austin to work sound for SXSW and that I would try to catch some of their shows. At this point, they ask if I would mind doing sound for them while I’m down there and not working. Super excited, I jump at the chance. Click here for YouTube link of Crushed Bones by Why? @ Rubber Gloves on 3/11.
WEDNESDAY
I wake up at 9:30 in the morning after leaving Rubber Gloves at 3:30 the night before. I meet up the the guys from Why? at The Cupboard here in town. We all get a quick bite to eat and then head on the road to Austin. We arrive at Emo’s at about 2:30, the guys unload their equipment, and I go to talk to the Emo’s front of house engineer. I walk over to him, introduce myself, and tell him I’m doing front of house for Why?. He slightly grumbles gives me this look of “What the fuck is this kid doing. He’s an idiot.” Once set change for Why? came along I went on the stage with him and told him what was different about the stage plot he received and the current one. I then walk back to the sound booth and proceed to mix for why. I really like the system they have at the Emo’s main stage. The house guy warms up to me after he realizes I’m not a complete idiot. While here, I meed Christian from Headquarter Entertainment, and hang out with Yo La Tengo for a bit. Here’s a link for The Hollows by Why? @ Emo’s main stage on 3/12.
After the show, we all kind of go our separate ways. Yoni goes to my sister’s house to crash, and stick with Josiah. We go to a few different bars. I have quite a few drinks during this time. At around 12:30, I head to a place called Friends Bar to see Centro-matic. I get there and have a few drinks. Centro-matic played excellent that night, but whoever was doing sound was a complete idiot. I make my way to the back bar there and see some of the guys from The Drams, and some other Denton folks. After the bars close, I stumble my way down 6th Street and back to my vehicle, drive to my sister’s and proceed to go to bed.
THURSDAY
Thursday we get up and head to Wheatsville Co-op and get some really great Southern Fried Tofu Sandwiches. From there we head to the Emo’s Annex which is a giant tent across the street from Emo’s. I show up at about 2pm and check out their sound system. It’s this shitty Yamaha festival desk that I always hate working on. It seems like when you turn the knobs for the eq, nothing happens. I hate it. Regardless, the sound is pretty good that day.
After we leave Emo’s Annex, the guys in Why? head with Shaun from Anticon to the Guess party. I stay behind so I can watch Broadcast Sea at Plush. Hang out with them a bit, meet Brian who runs Pluto Records which Broadcast Sea recently signed to. Their record came out today. After that I randomly see JC and Record Hop walking by, so I run outside catch up with them and walk around for a bit. JC leaves to load-in for Robert Gomez. After that I meet back up with Why? and Shaun from Anticon and go to Shaun’s hotel. Why? decides to go to the Yo La Tengo show, so I ride with them to the show. It’s at a place called the Austin Music Hall. This is an AMAZING venue. Great sound, great amenities back stage, very very nice. They spared no expense when designing the venue. Once we arrive, we head to the green room with Yo La Tengo and hang out with them for a bit before they play, and then watch them from the stage while they play. They play a great set and we go back to their green room after their set. We drink some Remy Martin Cognac… mmmmm….. tasty. After that we head out to the bars, Yoni goes back to my sister’s, etc… Randomly we went to a bar and Fishboy was playing! It was good to see those dudes. From there we go to this other bar to see Holy Fuck play. After the bars close, we head to the Children’s Hospital to the Red Bull party. I see some acts, smoke some cigarettes, drink some Red Bull. It’s pretty fun. We head back to my sister’s place and pass out at 5 or 6 in the morning…. Drink some Crown, pass out.
FRIDAY
We wake up Friday and head to Wheatsville Co-op for some more good sandwiches. From there we head to downtown Austin. Why? has a short photo shoot and then we head to Emo’s Annex again. Sound isn’t as good this day as it was the day before. I must have turned every knob I could to get it to sound alright. It didn’t sound bad, just not as good as it could have. I felt really bad about it, since I know I’m a better sound guy than that, and I feel like I let down Why? and Shaun, their label guy. Hang out with Yo La Tengo for a few minutes before I have to head over to another venue.
I haul ass over to the Scoot Inn to mix sound all night. The bands weren’t bad that played, but the sound system was a complete joke. For all you sound nerds, it was a Behringer Eurodesk, 4 Yamaha 12″ monitors stacked up and pointed out for mains!, and a very very shitty selection of microphones. I had to use an SM57 on kick drum! It was quite disgusting. As soon as I got paid and got out of there, I headed downtown and pretty much picked up Josiah and Shaun, dropped Shaun off at his hotel, and went back to my sister’s with Josiah.
SATURDAY
We wake up very early for a Breakfast with Christian from Headquarter Entertainment. We go to a pretty good place in South Austin. I have what’s called the Healthy Breakfast. It’s scrambled egg whites with mushrooms, avocado slices, and black beans. Very tasty. From there we go to this awesome thing where Why? was playing acoustic in a Gazebo outside of this awesome house. From there I took Shaun to a party on Ceasar Chavez. I go to my Sister’s place and listen to Alopecia on repeat and take crazy notes on all of the songs. From there I went to Lambert’s at 6 for Why?’s load-in. From there I go to see Record Hop at Buffalo Billiards. They play great and then I head to get some food and then back to Lambert’s. I see some good bands that play before Why? and then proceed to mix sound for them. Why? plays a great set, and I mix really good sound for them. Here’s a link for Why? playing A Sky for Shoeing Horses Under @ Lambert’s on 3/15. NOTE: The sound is a little weird on the recording due to the microphone gain on the video camera being too high, so it gets a little distorted at time. Plus whoever is doing this is directly to the side of the mains, so it’s a weird sounding spot in the room.
From there we head to the Vice party and have a few drinks, feel like a hipster, and then get out of there around 4:30am. We have some long goodbyes and then go to the car and head back to my sister’s for sleep.
SUNDAY
We get up Sunday and head to breakfast at Curra’s in South Austin. Food is great! I have some amazing Chilaquiles. After we eat, we head to Doug’s cousin’s house so Why? can get their merch loaded in their van. I see them off, say goodbye, and start driving back to Denton and straight to work at Rubber Gloves.
I mix sound for An Albatross at Gloves that night, feel extremely exhausted the whole night. Get off work and pass out hard.
All in all, I had an amazing time, made some really great contacts, and met some really amazing people. I had a blast and hopefully I get to do some work with Why? again in the future. We had briefly talked about it during SXSW, but nothing is set in stone yet. I’m still glad to be home and not walking what seems like 50 miles a day.
BOOM!
