This is the 26th South By South West (SXSW) is taking place. For those of you unaware, it’s a 10 day long music love in, when industry types head to Austin and discuss what’s going to be big over the next 12 months. But in truth it’s just a 10 day music festival on a mile long stripe of Austin. Every day hundreds of bands play in venues. The majority are for free\nominal charges, as they’re trying to get picked up by some label\booking agency. But there are show cases that are put on by larger labels to showcase how good their roster of artists is. Also lots of magazines\websites throw parties and have (either) big established bands or ‘soon to be massive’ bands playing. Basically (if you like music) it’s the best 10 days of your life.
In 2005 I decided to go on holiday there with a friend. He wanted to go as he heard unsigned people could get picked up (and Radio 1 had an unsigned stage and would broadcast the best on air). So we went armed with enough clothes for a week, a few hundred dollars and him with a guitar we left for Austin! As we bought our tickets at different times I wasn’t near my friend on the flight, so I spent it reading, eating ok food and listening to a Nancy Sinatra documentary on loop. My screen was broken so I couldn’t watch any films. The flight couldn’t go directly to Austin, so we had to stop over at Chicago for a few hours. The first thing we did, after being barked at through passport control, was have a cigarette after going through customs that it. It was so cold in Chicago, and there we were just in jumpers and think coats (as we were heading to balmy Texas). The next thing we did was buy a beer at the airport bar. My friend had, had a few on the plane so to him it seemed like a reasonable thing to do. As I was on holiday I thought it seemed pretty reasonable too! The guy next to us at the bar was about 70+ and looked like Uncle Jesse from the Dukes of Hazzard! He was drinking whiskey. We ordered our beers and the bartender asked us for ID. Being 25 at the time I was flattered as I’d not been asked for year. Half way through our beers Uncle Jesse ordered another whiskey and the bartender asked for his ID too. I didn’t feel so flattered then.
After the beers we jumped on an internal flight to Austin. When we got to Austin we did was all Brits do on holiday, we dumped our bags off and hit the town. And hard! That night we went to a few (8 bars) and had a few drinks in each. Met a couple who said they’d give us the tour (hence all the bars), then at the end of the eveing they asked if we wanted to go back to her house. They turned out to be swingers. The next 10 days was spent pretty much exactly the same as it started.
We met ex US marines, Radio 1 DJ’s, indie royalty, DangerMouse, more swingers, local DJ’s, roller derby teams, kids on Spring Break, a 50 year old social worker from Durham, a bloke who worked in HMV Oxford Street, 12 middle ages Mexican metal fans, and everyone else!
If you want a holiday that revolves around going out and seeing bands and meeting some of the more interesting (and annoying) people you have ever met. Go to SXSW!
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