A Glimpse of Austin Local Businesses Live Music
Gaming in Austin
Austin Environmental Awareness
Contents Contributers Page
4
Keeping Austin Local
14
Keeping Austin Green
28 Keeping Austin Gaming
6 The Ten Wonders of Austin
24
A Glimpse of Austin
Keeping Austin Live
20 Game Creation
12
Letter From the Editor
3 Which Austin Landmark Should You Visit Next?
18
26
Eating Around Austin
Letter From The Editor
T
hroughout this process, our staff has faced many obstacles: from clashing ideas, to learning InDesign, and anything in between. Fortunately, we overcame these struggles and were able to work together to create this publication. I hope that our hard work pays off and that you as a reader enjoy our magazine. It has been a pleasure to produce this and a pleasure to work with this team. In this issue we explore the one thing that our staff had in common: our beloved city of Austin. We wanted to create a magazine that represented the love we feel for this city and its people. Under that umbrella, each of us were able to choose a feature topic that we were personally interested in. We found a way to blend four completely different topics (live music, green energy, gaming, and small businesses) and made them all relate to each other. I hope that our hard work and dedication shows in this magazine, and that our magazine is able to show Austinites and visitors alike what an extraordinary city this is.
Keep Austin Weird!
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A Glimpse of Austin
Contributors Eliza Greenberg is a 14-year old freshmen at LASA. She grew up going to open mics around Austin with her dad, and became interested in what she saw around the city. She has always had a particular interest in music, and was in band all throughout middle Ashna Bhansali is a 14-year old freshmen at the Liberal Arts and Science Academy. She has lived in Austin her whole life, and really loves the local gardening culture. She enjoys the “Keep Austin Weird” vibe that Austin boasts. Her hobbies are playing piano, walking around the neighborhood and watching the Flash.
Eli Walther is a 14-year old freshmen at the Liberal Arts and Science Academy. His favorite hobbies are reading, playing video games, and making videos games. He also plays violin, viola, and the cello.
Dayne Ware is a high school freshman at the Liberal Arts and Science Academy in Austin, Texas. He enjoys exploring the Austin cuisine, culture, and live music scene. He has lived in Austin his entire life and wouldn’t live anywhere else. His hobbies include: working with computers, reading, helping in the community, playing basketball/ ultimate frisbee, eating and being physically active.
Eliza is currently learning how to play the ukulele and hopes to some day learn to learn the guitar as well. Eliza also enjoys theater, writing, and binge He has a passion watching shows on for the amazing Netflix. community that Austin is and loves the work of art that it represents. Page 5
Keeping Austin Green How Austinites are Helping the Environment Article and Photography by Ashna Bhansali
Remedios Martin uses succulents for sustainable gardening
A Glimpse of Austin
Dale Bulla saves energy but still keeps the house cool with a smart thermometer.
I
ce in the Arctic is melting rapidly due to increasing global temperatures. It is predicted that by 2040 or earlier, the Arctic will face a completely ice free summer. Greenhouse gas emissions, deforestation and other harmful human practices are destroying the environment. The people of Austin are already one step ahead, however, setting a precedent for other cities as they work extremely hard to make Austin a greener place to live in.
“If you have a priority that the earth is really important, then you kind of push other things aside,” says Dale Bulla, a member of of the Native Plants Society of Texas (NPSOT) and the Interfaith Environmental Network. Dale Bulla volunteers actively for other organizations, such as audubons and schools, and has been featured about his work for the environment in articles. According to Bulla, eventually the damage to the environment will catch up to those living in it. It is their duty to preserve the planet, and to not hand it off to future generations in worse shape than they received it. “We have nieces and nephews. We also have kids that live across the street from us. And I would like for those kids to be able to live on a planet that’s livable. The predictions are by 2050 in Austin, there’ll be 200 triple digit days a year. Do you want to live in a place where there’s 200 triple digit days in a year?” Bulla says.
A triple digit day is a day in which the temperature is 100+ degrees Fahrenheit. The more triple digit days in a year, the hotter an area is becoming. In 2011, Austin had 90 triple digit days, according to KXAN. Conserving resources is an important part of protecting the environment. According to David Heberling, a professional private landscape designer, as well as the former president of the Native Plants Society of Texas, people tend to buy the prettiest plants they can find off the shelf, without even checking if it’s a proper fit for their environment. Thanks to efforts from NPSOT however, plant nurseries in Austin are increasingly boasting plants unique to Texas that not only show off our Texas spirit but also conserve resources scarce to Texas, such as water, as plants from Texas require little watering.
“Texas has a greater diversity of plants than almost any place in the world” -David Heberling
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Dale Bulla helps the planet in multiple ways. Electric cars and rain barrels are just a few.
“I’ve been here for so long I am very partial to the flowers of Texas. I think, we, Texas has a greater diversity of plants than almost any place in the world. Literally, because we have so many ecoregions here,” says Heberling,
Austin is unique because it has an amazing selection of plants that not only vibrantly decorate a garden, but are also are made to survive in Texas. Like all plants though, even Austin’s plants have to start from a mere seed, which is why Austin’s gardeners have a lot to contribute to the environment. “It’s satisfying to start with a seed or itty bitty little plant, put it in the proper conditions and watch it take off from its own organism and then spread, repopulate. It’s a challenge to get to know the plants, learn the names, but the whole process is just fun...It’s a full time activity but it’s a full time hobby,” Says Heberling. By following techniques for resource conservation, even people without a green thumb can excell at gardening. These tips help the environment, and also reduce bills by conserving resources.
A Glimpse of Austin
Dale Bulla has flowers on his deck.
“Choose proper plants, so that it doesn’t have to be a water hog. You know, there are certain leaves of native plants that do quite well on their own with just rainfall. So you don’t need to baby them. ... You get proper plants but also put them in groupings that have similar characteristics that way you don’t need water as much,” says Heberling. Gardening can also be enjoyable through the experimentation it allows for, like propagating plants. Through constant trials and errors, the field of gardening has advanced, and gardeners learn new techniques. “I always loved gardening, ever since I have known myself. ... I would always experiment, and it is just a great habit to have. You will learn science, and there is something about gardening that you realize you can not be in control and that you learn to adapt. ...Children need guidance, but sometimes you need to give them room to grow and explore who they are and that is just like plants. Each plant is different, it has its own characteristic,” says Remedios Martin, a local sustainable gardener.
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Remedios Martin’s garden is extensive, yet artistic.
A Glimpse of Austin
“When you’re gardening you are thinking of the meaning of live, who are we, where did we come from?” -Remedios Martin
Through gardening, one can learn more about themselves, as well as their plants, as gardening provides a tranquil time to reflect upon the universe.
“I would say that all of it has already paid for itself, just because of the peace of mind that we have that we’re not polluting the environment,” says Bulla.
“When you’re gardening you are thinking of the meaning of live, who are we, where did we come from? What’s our relationship with the world?.. It brings you a lot of joy. and it is good for the ecosystem,” says Martin.
No matter the costs, there is always something each person can do towards helping the environment. The people of Austin are increasingly recognizing this, and by doing whatever they can to help, they set an example for everyone.
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The people of Austin also are beginning to shift towards greener technology, such as solar panels. Caring for the environment by getting solar panels or other installations can be expensive, but it will be beneficial in the long run.
Remedios Martin notes how some plants change colors throughout their lives.
Remedios Martin shows off her favorite plants.
Remedios Martin is holding a plant she is excited to garden with.
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Game Creation By: Eli Walther
Music Marketing
Ideas
Coding
Prototype
Artwork
Creating a game may be a daunting prospect, but this shows the steps you need to take to make a succesful game. Whenever making a game, the first thing that will help is making a list of ideas of what you want to make your game about. For example, if you want to make a game about the ocean, then maybe some of your ideas might be underwater exploration, or racing boats.
A Glimpse of Austin
Monetization
Alpha
Beta
Final Release
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Keeping Austin Local By: Dayne Ware
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It’s all about quality and teamwork, and supporting your local businesses.
A Glimpse of Austin
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Austin, a place in which students, families and individuals call home, a place in which nearly a million thrive and survive. Austin contains hundreds of locally owned businesses, but often they are not very well known, unfortunately, people often tend to forget about the businesses that have been here from Austin’s start. There is an air of secrecy and lack of publicity for our local businesses. That air is slowly dissipating, the more our community notices, the thinner that air will be. There are businesses that have been in Austin for the
greater part of a century or longer. “Lammes was born, probably out of necessity back, pre-1885. Okay, and that was my great-great-greatgrandfather.” Says Pam Teich, Owner and Operator of Lammes Candies. Lammes has been here for over a century, making it one of the longest standing businesses in Austin. There are many businesses like Lammes who have been in Austin for quite a long time, another example is Capitol Scientific: “My late grandfather, Lee Williams started the company in
joint-venture partnership if you will, with the department head at the University of Texas and they were a chemical manufacturing company and over the years, the next five years up until about 1967 or so,” says Felix Ware, President and CEO of Capitol Scientific. He purchased his business from his grandfather nearly two decades ago and has been running it ever since.
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Austin is well known as the live musical capital of the world, but businesses like Lammes Candies are a big part of the community as well. Lammes Candies is quite a landmark in Austin due not only to just how long it has called Austin home, but also to the delicious treats that they produce. Teich says that “We just want to provide a little bit of happiness to everybody, not just the people that we serve, but to our own team members.” They use their business as an outlet to spread happiness and joy around Austin. Austin businesses employ the community and do their best to keep them happy. “Oh my, other than the great pieces of candy that we make, I really enjoy working with the people that I get to work with.” Teich continued to say “We play a definite role Austin’ s historical, you know, mentions of the tenure that we’ve had here, we certainly employ people and
provide good benefits, and we’re not selling widgets so it’s kinda fun, you know.” They really do try to bothmake people happy as well as keep their employees in good spirits. Local businesses are here for locals, for those who love their hometown. Locals run these
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Felix Ware also has a similar situation, “Well, I’ve been here since 93’ and it’s where I have made my home and it’s definitely a very Texas friendly place, so that’s Austin.” Local businesses often work to serve the community. Austin businesses
”
We just want to provide a little bit of happiness to everybody
plaes for other locals as well as for their enjoyment and to support their families. Teich said “I’ve been here 40 years, my brother’s been here 35 plus years. He’s a little younger than I am, my sister’s been here 20 some odd years. She’s quite a bit younger than I am. But then, our team, they’re just the best part of our work world.”
families, provide quality assistance, products, and services, as well as being landmarks in the community. Capitol Scientific has 30 plus employees and provides chemical products to local businesses and places in Austin. According to Felix Ware, “In 93’ we were around just around 1.2 million dollars in annual sales and that supported about 8 employees. Now we have about 20 employees and we’re somewhere around 11 million dollars in annual revenue.” Teich says that Lammes’ mission is “To provide quality products, quality confections, and enjoyable experiences. Not only to
The Lammes Candies storefront in barton creek mall, Austin, TX.
A Glimpse of Austin
Sweets sitting in a display case in one of Lammes Candies retail stores.
An image of Felix Ware standing in his warehouse. our customers but also to our team, so that’s our mission.” Often, the mission of local businesses is purely to spread happiness and show off their amazing products. They are often dwarfed by large corporations such as Starbucks and Dunkin’ Doughnuts, this occurrence is something that often forces our local businesses to close. Oftentimes, when a cheaper, chain pizza parlor opens near an expensive one, the local business will struggle to stay on it’s feet. There are some lesser known parts of our local businesses however. Teich wants Austin to know that “Lammes is not just strawberries, you know, that’s the one thing that the word has gotten out on. So, even people who have moved in from other states, or other areas. They may know us for strawberries, but that’s just a very-very small piece
and I think if the people of Austin would ever come and visit us and get a sample, because of course we offer samples in the stores. Get a sample, they too can appreciate what they’ve got right here around the corner from them and we’re making it every day and it’s all about quality and teamwork, and kinda supporting your local businesses.” Like other Austin local businesses, Lammes is dedicated to producing quality local candies and confections.Teich says “Well, a lot of what sets us apart is the quality of the ingredients that we use and the fact that we are local and we source locally, we’re trying to source as many of our products within the state of texas, and even closer if we can get to actual local-local product. But, we use only a high-grade chocolate, only high grade pecans.” All these places are recognized and appreciated by few of Austin’s locals. All of these places part of what makes Austin the unique place that it is, they laid the foundation for what Austin is now, has been, and will become. They employ Austin’s citizens and support the next generation, local Austin businesses are the backbone of Austin’s wildly diverse
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community.
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By Eliza Greenberg Which Austin Landmark Should You Visit Next? Which festival do you prefer?
Austin City
Limits →
←
What’s your favorite part of Austin?
on Houst
Da ll
as
y th B Sou th Sou → t Wes
Houston or Dallas?
mu si
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→
le! →
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he
p The
Cowboys or Longhorns?
ne bey La
← Ker
Cowboys! →
s! →
horn
Long
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Su
No ←
eep
Yes !
D ely t i efin D ← y Edd
→
Which is the best spot to swim?
s
g Barton Sprin of course?! →
Are you an Austin native?
Torchy’s →
Win t even er...if y call ou ca it th n at
Summer or Winter?
←
Torchy’s Tacos or Kerbey Lane?
Tex
s Capitol A Glimpse of Austin
‘s Am Ice cream
S
SOCO
South Congress
Lake Austin
Go to next page for descriptions of each landmark →
Austin has many popular landmarks that make it unique. Take this quiz to find out which one you should pay a visit to!
Texas Capitol
Amy’s Ice Cream
The Texas Capitol bulding is a staple of both Austin and the entire state. It’s a great and educational place to take a family, and especially interesting if you’re not an Austinite. Although it’s no Whitehouse, the Capitol will allow you to experience the rich history of Texas.
South Congress
SOCO
South Congress or “SoCo” is a shopping street that feeds directly into downtown Austin. It incorporates many businesses, both small and large, and has a wide variety of shops and venues. SoCo also has a beautiful view of the Capitol to top it all off!
Amy’s Ice cream is a popular and flavor filled Ice cream shop with multiple locations around town. Not even Austin natives get tired of the classic taste of Mexican vanilla or their ever-changing speciality flavors.
Lake Austin Lake Austin is a great place to cool yourself off during a hot Texas summer (or Spring or Fall). It has a wide range of different water related activities. You’re not officially an Austinite until you paddle board on Ladybird lake!
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n i t s u A g n i p e Ke g n i Gam lther
li Wa E y B s o t nd Pho
Story a
G
etting into the game design industry can be hard. The hardest part of it is getting started. The people interviewed have designed multiple games and know how to be successful in the gaming industry.
According to ABC news 97% teenagers enjoy playing video games. There are a lot of teenagers willing to buy video games thus there is a big market for making and selling video games. Leif Siefer who is a programmer, Alicia Andrew who is an artist and Jayme Mallindine who is a video game designer were all interviewed. “I went to A & M and I got a Bachelor’s degree in a science; a program called visualization which covers computer animation, game design and development and then to a lesser extent graphic design,” said Seifer; a video game programmer. He works on the code behind a game. The person who is designing a game comes to Siefer and tells him what they want, then Siefer turns that into code.
A Glimpse of Austin
“So there’s a greater design for programmers because it’s a less attractive field. There’s a lot of people who want to be artists, and there are tons of amazing artists and the thing about that is especially with art you don’t have to commit to a studio for an extended period of time. A lot of artists work as contract artists which means that 1 artist can cover a number of different jobs,” said Siefer
As you can see this is part of the problem to why it is so hard to get a job in the game design industry, even if you are an accomplished person. “If I was to nail down 1 thing it was probably that I love learning and love doing new things and exploring new software and techniques and stuff and that’s been the biggest tool like the best thing that I have done because everything else is just learning software just learning whatever you need to do for the job but that desire to always kind of pursue new interests is a huge component of what makes a great developer.” Said Alicia.
Alicia Andrew is a game artist but right now she is the owner of Game worlds Camp which is based in Austin Texas. She makes art for different games that she is working on, this is what she thinks is important when going into the game industry.
n Texas. , in Austi e e ff o C kbutt ief at Kic This is L
“In larger studios, you’ll get a paycheck on time and you may have benefits, in smaller studios it’s a much more flexible we’ll pay you when we pay you kind of thing which unfortunately that doesn’t always happen, but I mean i think it is getting better like it’s becoming less toxic as time goes on obviously slowly.”
As in any business working in the game design business has risks. There is a chance that if you are not careful, you won’t be paid. There is a bigger chance of that if you are an artist, but it sounds like this is happening less and less as time goes on according to Lief.
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“5 years which is I think the normal turnout rate. “Siefer” (This is refering to the turnout rate of people in the game design industry)
Many people out of college have the time to stay as a game designer, and if they love it they also don’t need a lot of money. They are mostly free, and don’t have a family which means that they can move around to different jobs. Later in life though they may want a family, or they may not like the work hours, since they make you work longer than many other jobs. Also if you have a family then you are not able to move around as much.
To be a programmer you have to be able to solve puzzles, some people don’t like that and thus they will not be very good programmers, or the won’t enjoy being a programmer.
“Game worlds camp is a summer camp and an afterschool program for kids 10-18 that teaches them game development/software development and the kids actually build a game they do the art the code the design audio, all of it at the end of the week they show it to developers for feedback and prizes.” Said Andrew
“If you don’t have fun solving puzzles then coding will not be the funnest experience.” Said Mallindine, A game designer. That means she makes the big decisions on what you are going to do in a game.
This is a camp that invites kids to come and make games, it is amazing because many kids want to make games, and don’t have any idea where to start and this camp helps with that.
Coding is a hard job, and not the most liked by people who go into the game design industry.Most people would rather be artists according to Lief, and thus there is a big surplus of artists and there are a lot of programmers, but way less.
This camp also teaches people how to work in a group and to break up a job and work together to solve it. You can decide what job you want to do, and on the fun side they also have free time to play games together, so that you can hang out with people that are like you, and be yourself.
A Glimpse of Austin
“I went to school originally for an English lit. degree and right before I finished that up I actually called my dad and had a crisis and said I don’t want to teach I don’t know what to do with this degree I don’t know what to do with my life blah blah blah and my dad was like you’ve always loved art and you have always loved games you should be a game artist you should check that out it was like a lightbulb went off and I was like oh my god I didn’t even know that could exist.” Said Alicia
To reiterate if you know the right people getting into the game design industry is not too hard if you know the right people. Just like in any industry there are risks where you might not be paid if you are not careful. If you enjoy solving puzzles or making art then you might love this.
;
This is A licia at F irebowl
cafe in A ustin, Te xas.
This is Jayme at Epoche coffee in Austin, Texas.
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Barton Springs Pool Alamo Drafthouse
Congress Avenue Bridge Bats
Peter Pan Mini Golf The Trail of Lights
Barton Springs Pool is a great place to go and relax with family. It is next to Zilker Park, so children can take a dip after they play around. The water is crystal clear and extremely clean, and it is beautiful to look at. It is the same temperature all year, so it seems warm in the winter, and cold in the summer.
A Glimpse of Austin
Photo Creds: NabeWise https://www.flickr.com/ photos/44578381@ N05/5829234233
Photo Creds: Blwarren713 at English Wikipedia
The Alamo Drafthouse features new movies and is a family friendly place, or a place to go with friends to. It is unique because they have a menu that can be ordered from during the movie. It is a two in one: dinner and a movie! The food is served extremely silently, so that no one is disturbed while watching the film.
This is definitely a place to take children to. As the sun sets, up to one and a half million bats fly out from under the bridge! It is a tourist attraction, so go early to get good seats, and bring a blanket to sit on! This is a seasonal attraction, that happens around the summertime, so plan a trip to Austin accordingly!
This is great for birthday parties, or a day of fun! Come with some time to spare, as this can take a while (even though it will feel like no time has passed). This is for all the minigolf lovers. This is especially fun because of the cool sculptures around the golf course, and the inventive layout of the golf holes. Just rent a golf ball and putter, and go play!
The Trail of Lights is a Christmas favorite for Austinites. It is a nice walk that is illuminated by carefully designed attractions. It always has a Chrismas tree made out of lights that people can stand underneath. It appeals to children especially, as the family can visit Santa. There is fun food over there, and it is an amazing way to spend the holidays!
The Ten Wonders of Austin Austin is a very diverse place, with a variety of entertainment options. Below are a few of Austin’s hotspots, to provide a glimpse of the Austin experience. By Ashna Bhansali
Mount Bonnell Mayfield Park and Reserve Umlauf Sculpture Gardens
Photo Creds: Leaflet
Mount Bonnell is a small walk for a large payoff. There are a few stairs to get up there, but it is no strenuous hike. The view at the top is a sight to see - it shows a stretch of the Colorado river, and each side of it is framed by houses on the river. It is a perfect place for a picnic, or a place to go and enjoy a nice sunset. It has trails that run down its sides, and is a nice place for some easy exploration.
French Legation Lake Travis
The Mayfield Park and reserve is near Mount Bonnell, so they can be cominded into a day long, or half a day long experience. It has trails that feature a lot of wildlife and flowers. Its main attraction, however, is its beautiful peacocks that show off their brilliant plumage. Many people can even get lucky and find a peacock feather to take home!
Photo Creds: Dieterkaupp Art Creds: Charles Umlauf
This huge plot of land is more than just an average backyard trail. There are equisitely placed sculptures all around the garden. The trails provide a nice path to view the sculptures. This garden was created by Charles Umlauf, and was named after him. There are also crafts classes for children, that are a fun way to pass a weekend.
The French Legation was built in 1841, to represent the French Government’s control in Texas. It is a historic house that people tour to see what life was like back in the 1800’s. There is the house, and then there is the kitchen, which is a seperate building from the main house. There is also a well, and other objects in the house that are antiques now.
Photo Creds: Anthony Quintano https://www.flickr.com/ photos/quintanomedia/13340162044
Lake Travis is a beautiful scenic view, that can be enjoyed from multiple places in Austin. Lots of people speed boat on it, or kayak. Many people go to restaurants that showcase the lake, for a perfect sunset view. Page 25
Eating Around Austin
By: Dayne Ware
Your comprehensive guide to food in Austin.
Top Overall: 1. Truluck’s Seafood 2. Eddie V’s Seafood 3. Pieous 4. Franklin Barbecue 5. Uchi
American: 1. Truluck’s Seafood 2. Eddie V’s Seafood 3. Franklin Barbecue 4. Hopdoddy 5. Jack Allens Kitchen
Tex-Mex/Mexican: 1. Alcomar 2. El Azteca 3. Chuy’s 4. Taqueria Chapala 5. La Mexicana A Glimpse of Austin
ATX
Italian: 1. Pieous 2. Home Slice Pizza 3. Vespaio 4. North Italia 5. Maggiano’s Little Italy
Fast Food: 1. P. Terry’s 2. Tacodeli 3. Tarka Indian Kitchen 4. Torchy’s Tacos 5. Mighty Bird
BBQ: 1. Franklin BBQ 2. Freedmens 3. La Barbeque 4. Kerlin BBQ 5. Terry Black’s BBQ
Chinese: 1. Din Ho Chinese BBQ 2. Asia Cafe 3. Rice Bowl Café 4. Wu Chow 5. Chinatown Restaurant Page 27
Keeping Austin Live
Story and photos by Eliza Greenberg
A sign on the Broken Spoke, a local live music venue
A Glimpse of Austin
A look into Austin’s declining music industry.
T
he world spins, time goes on, and things change. This is what seems to be happening with the live music industry in Austin. The dwindling community seems grim, but there may be a different way to view it. Ever since 1991 when the slogan became official, Austin has been known, at least to its residents, as the live music capital of the world. For just as long, people have been arguing this, saying that New York City, Nashville or Los Angeles are the ones deserving of the throne. This of course is just a slogan the city decided on and is completely subject to opinion, but there’s no true way to tell if the statement is true. Austin is famous for being full of many live music venues and many bustling and attentive crowds to listen to that live music. But lately, doesn’t seem to be the case. According to Texas Monthly, venues downtown have been slowing down due to the rapid development in the area. In fact, in 2015 local live music venues were faced with a 30% loss of revenue. James Neal, a local funk bassist has noticed the dwindling audiences. “I can see the venues that were here when I first got here are slowing down, and I think it’s coming to a point where somebody’s gonna blow the candle out. I see it coming,” Says Neal. Another problem that the industry is facing is the more and more musicians that tend to blame the city and the community on their personal misfortune. “[T]he younger cats out there who y’know they’re not getting it or they’re bitter about it or they’re not making enough money or they have all kinds of complaints…,” David Levy, a local drummer, formerly in the Lucky Strikes explains.
What tends to happen is that these musicians are searching for a more broad and general entity to attribute their struggles with, rather than an actual person that they could possibly offend. “I can’t ask for success from the city. I can only offer my talent. I can only ask for success from myself,” says Levy, “but I have to hope that my city allows me to enjoy that success, nurtures me into that success.”
“I can’t ask for success from the city. I can only offer my talent. I can only ask for success from myself.” Levy points out how although no one should fully rely on the city to bring forth fortune, the city itself has to be able to support musicians in some way for them to be prosperous. It’s difficult to make it big in a city that won’t let you. A good number of musicians, however, are not as concerned with success as they are with money. For 22% of of musicians in Austin, live music is the way that they make their entire wage. If it isn’t bringing in enough money to pay their bills, that could be a big problem. In fact, on average, musicians in Austin make less money than other professions. According to Texas Monthly, a survey suggested that 70% of musicians in Austin make less than $10,000 a year. “I think what’s happening is the musicians in Austin want to be able to share in all the new money coming into town that doesn’t seem to be trickling down to us,” says Levy, “Musicians are like school t eachers, sometimes we just don’t get paid enough for what we do.”
A statue infront of the Broken Spoke
Antone’s, a music venue in East Austin
A sign for the Elephant Room, a jazz venue downtown Page 29
“Musicians are like school teachers, sometimes we just don’t get paid enough for what we do.”
Ginny’s Little Longhorn Saloon, a music venue in central Austin
In addition to practicing, finding success in Austin can have to do with the kind of venues that musicians choose to perform at. Some venues can be much tougher than others, and they have to keep their audience in mind. “The live music venue that’s like at a club or a bar or whatever, the audience rotates and there’s not enough people around and sometimes you end up playing to an empty room as opposed to playing at a real live venue like ACL or South By,” says Neal, “A smaller, liver venue is hard because they’re on their phones, they’re walking in and out, they’re talking, or they’re drinking.” There may also be the problem of the overuse of the “Live Music Capital of The World” slogan. “Austin’s kind of jaded in a way because it’s got so many venues and so many bands and so many options every night,” says Levy. This can cause an imbalance in the industry. Now that there are so many options, it is causing the live music scene to plummet. This is making many musicians leave, which is beginning to lead to new people moving to town. This of course brings its own problems, but sometimes musicians around town will blow it out of proportion. “I think what people are complaining about is the fact that all of old Austin is leaving or they’re feeling like old Austin is leaving and we’re just being left with this empty shell of a music scene but it’s hard to believe that when you see all the musicians around everyday playing all over the place,” says Levy. Pamela Hart, a local jazz singer says that even though Austin is changing, there may be a different way to view the capital slogan.
A Glimpse of Austin
“Well I think that’s true per capita. From the outside looking in they think we need to do that because it’s so important, we have so many major concerts and festivals We have all the music on 6th Street. I don’t think it’s all of the city it’s kind of in concentrated areas.” There is also another way of looking at it. “It’s become a hub or music, and when I talk to my friends from different countries they think Austin is number 1 in music. [T]hey got a gig here and they talked me into doing [festivals] like South By Southwest,” says Hart.
“It’s become a hub or music, and when I talk to my friends from different countries they think Austin is number 1 in music. [T] hey have a gig here and they talked me into doing [festivals] like South By In the end, there are many Southwest.” factors that go into why or how Austin
The victory grill, a popular outdoor and indoor venue
is labeled “The Live Music Capitol of The World”, if it’s even true. There is no one way to pinpoint the accuracy of one phrase, especially with one that vague, but maybe it’s being looked at the wrong way. Maybe Austin needs to look past a dated catchphrase and begin moving on to newer and better things.
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