radiomojo.com/sxsw

1.46% is the percentage of bands I saw at SXSW out of all available(over 1300). 19 bands over 4 nights(posted below). Only 1.46%! Put the whole Mojo Crew together and maybe we scratched 3%.

That’s the magic of SXSW, as I’m learning. Without prior knowledge of almost every band, it’s a gamble everytime you walk into a showcase. The band may be good or bad. The band after the one you see could be good or bad. Do you wait to find out or do you gamble and go to a different venue? I averaged 2 venues a night, and that’s not including RedRum Annex which I could hear from my hotel room until 2am. I’m not complaining though. I did get to hear Helmet without waiting in line or standing on my feet any longer.

Now that I’ve had a week to reflect on the events, and have had conversations with others that attended, no matter what people’s complaints are, SXSW is still THE place to be for music. While definetly geared towards bands that are just starting out, you can quickly look around and see which artists are working hard and which ones are trying for a free ride. While walking 6th street on one of the days, I met 3 out of 4 members of the Florida band Atomic Tangerine. They were palm carding the streets as many other bands were but two things stood out. When I asked Mike(the drummer) some questions about the band he took the time to stop and answer instead of just yelling the response over his shoulder while continuing to produce litter. The second thing that got me was when we ran into the guys later, they remembered us. Clearly the band was paying attention and looking for the right contacts. In fact, we hope to play one of their tracks over the next few weeks, so listen in.

Opposite of palmcarding was the postering. One band went so far as to guerilla spray paint an asterix all over the sidewalks. Apparently that was their symbol, but not their band name. The bad part of that is that whenever I saw the asterix I remembered the girl that was spraying it but I have no name recognition of the band or where they were playing. So while creative ways to get attention are good, no name recognition is bad. The other posterings were all over the lamp posts at each corner of a street. If you’ve been to see a young local band you’ll know that their posters tend to be creative and filled with information. Apparently SXSW needs to have a panel on how to create posters. The most effective one was white text on a red background that simply said the bands name (The Editors) and a date. While I don’t know what the date was for or where they were playing, I will forever remember the bands name. They were smart enough to make a simple poster that stood out and to post them higher up on the posts so others wouldn’t poster over them immediatly. And posting over something was more of a game of survival. Within an hour a single lamp post would be completely redecorated with new bands and new shows.

As Craig pointed out, there was no room for pretension by the non-band participants. While at The Subway’s show on Friday night, we saw John Norris of MTV News walking the crowd. You would think a larger organization like MTV would have their hounds out at the smaller shows looking for that little band that has the big sound. Instead they were following the wave like everyone else. Catching the show of a known small name to see if they’re the real thing(which The Subways are), while passing up the chance to catch that next big one. We all did it simply because we didn’t know any better and sometimes you just want to see a good show of a band you know. But again, if MTV didn’t know where to send their correspondants, than really no one knew where to be. It was luck of the draw or go with a safe bet and any insider information was never from a credible source. At one point we heard from a sound guy that a gig later on had a great talent. I should have asked for the sound guy’s tastes before wasting my time. But that’s how you work SXSW. Taking the few tidbits you know and just jumping in feet first.

And now for the thank you’s. First to Skip and Ben at BOS Music for even asking us to come on board last May. It seemed like a distant dream at the time and now I feel like I have a badge of honor on my sleeve for not only making it to SXSW but for being part of an official party. Second, to all the fans that came out to the party or talked to us during the week. You all rock and we hope to keep you excited about all the new rock music being produced around the world. Third, thank you to the University of Texas for being on Spring Break so there weren’t even more people cramming into those venues. And lastly, but far from least, Jenny, Kat & Craig. None of them knew what they were in for. The flight delays, the killing feet, the lack of meals, the bird poop filled streets, the wacky weather, the drunk party goers that needed to get “Mojo’d”, and on and on. None of us knew what to expect but they all were troopers and helped spread this station’s message. I hope we’ll all be back next year, although for Jenny, I hope it will be to play a showcase.

With that, I put a close to RadioMojo.com’s SXSW 2006 experience. Thank you Austin. You will forever have a place in our lives.

{Bands I saw: The Others, London Towers, Curt Kirkwood, The Slip, Rob Dickinson, Lady Fuzz, Dresden Dolls, Gomez, Nickle Creek, Vega 4, White Rose Movement, The Subways, Rhett Miller, The Nadas, Josh Davis Band, Rowan Brothers, Jimmy LaFave, OneSide, TownCrier}

We know that many of you liked the shirts we were sporting during SXSW, so we’ve opened a store where you can buy official RadioMojo.com SXSW clothes. Just visit http://www.cafepress.com/radiomojosxsw. A small sample of the available shirts are below.

Wow, how do you sum up the SXSW festival? It was GREAT!!! I feel so privileged to have had the opportunity to participate! The conference and trade show were both informative and fun. I learned so much about what the music business has to offer and received some great guidance. I learned about all the work that goes on behind the scenes for promoting a business thanks to Mojo! I had a blast hanging out with the bands at the showcase at Maggie Maes. And most of all…….I had a great time working with Mike, Kat, Craig and Gabe getting the word out about Radiomojo.com!!!! Look out people, the MOJO is coming!!!

what a trip! I cannot believe how much good music was in Austin! It was such a blast, but I’m still exhausted! The panels with the Beastie Boys, Morissey and Chrissie Hinde were really cool, even if the format for the B-Boys was lame, Morissey was too sexy & depressing for himself, and Chrissie was lambasting the crowd for eating meat. (they were obviously all extremely entertaining nonetheless). But of course the highlight was the music…Can I remember ever band that I saw? Probably not, but let’s try… The Zutons and Jamie Cullum were definitely the highlights in my opinion, The Dresden Dolls were very energetic albeit not my kind of music, Rob Dickinson’s acoustic/electric set was fabulous, Lady Fuzz? Well, um, no comment….the Slip was ok at best, and finally, The Subway’s rocked and their “thank you” to the fans by playing Rock & Roll Queen was exactly what the crowd was looking for. The thing that struck me the most was that the majority of these bands are still very new, and still trying to make it in the music world, so they really played their hearts out which I admire tremendously. I read a review that said SXSW was too hectic this year….well, if too much good music in one place is wrong, I don’t want to be right….

Saturday was awesome! We got to hang out at Maggie Mae’s and talk up mojo all day!! Ok, so the rain wasn’t awesome, and neither was getting rained on inside, but other than that, what a blast! The Nada’s really rocked and so did Oneside….however, Rowan Bros, I’m so sorry, you guys are really sweet, but I don’t think we’ll be playing you anytime soon! And Mike, love your hair man!!

So I saw Jamie Cullum twice on Friday, once at the Paste Party and then again at midnight at Eternal. I am seriously in awe of his talent!!! And Jamie, if you read this, I hope you wear that mojo shirt I gave you, or at least the button!!!