I've been asked to document my time down in Austin, TX, for SXSW. Who am I and why should you care, you ask? Well, I run a company in Minneapolis called Vitriol Promotion. We help bands promote their music to radio stations and press outlets across North America. Some of our clients include Muse, Daft Punk, Hot Chip, Dressy Bessy, The Chemical Brothers, and Badly Drawn Boy. Local clients include Kid Dakota, Romantica, Tapes 'N Tapes and The Owls.
So we're down here scouting bands, meeting with clients and programmers, and hunting down free beer and food wherever we can along the way. 'We" includes my co-worker, Jesse, and friends, Bryan (a scout for us) and Christian (our web content editor). Jesse, Bryan, and I have been to multiple SXSWs, but Christian is embarking on his first Austin experience. So I'll try to give you some perspective from both ends: the bleery-eyed, jaded industry vet and the wide-eyed, overwhelmed newbie.
Our trip started at none other than the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. Upon arriving we found out our plane was delayed by an hour. So what do four indie rock-loving music snobs do with an extra hour at the airport? Why we hit Chili's of course, where we are serenaded by music from Nickelback and Linkin Park, of course.
After a quick meal and lively conversation we board the plane and arrive in Dallas, where we rent a car to drive the rest of the way, mocking Texas drivers all the way down. No one here seems to know that slower traffic should move to the right. Or, if they do, they don't seem to care.
We arrive at the hotel. It's a typical highway-side three-story hotel that looks outdated but adequate. All that's different is a lobby filled with skinny jean, vintage t-wearing hipsters. We get our stuff to our room and call a cab so we can all drink. We need that after the long day of traveling. Our cab driver is a lively, excitable fellow who seems to know a lot about everything... especially how everyone in the industry apparently does cocaine even if they say they don't. We play along and all have a good laugh.
The only thing really going on on the Tuesday of SXSW is the Pure Volume Party. There is already a huge line outside the building, but it moves quickly and we head in. Smoke fills the air (yuck). I can't tell you how much I love the smoking ban we have back home. But we run into some folks we know, including our rep from Astralwerks, Gabby, some fellow promoters, and local Minneapolis band, White Light Riot. It's their first SXSW, and you can tell how excited they are to be here. It's like kids in a candy store.
Some guy at the bar starts telling us all about our haircuts. Not a critique of them, just describing the swoosh some of us have or the length others of us have by gesticulating and making grunting noises, and he physically tries to recreate our cuts on his own head. It's awkward, but when you have a bar full of people drinking for free, this is pretty standard.
As we are getting ready to go, a short guy with black, horn-rimmed glasses and a shaved head comes in. I think to myself that it may be a dude from OK Go, but I'm later told it's Moby. First 'celebrity' sighting...unless you count Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks. I don't, haha.
We get to bed at a bit after 3am. So much for pacing ourselves.