Austin Music Zine

Cover photo courtesy of TRND Media/Visit Fort Worth Cover logo and back cover photo by Liam Harris

Letter From the Editors Austin Music Zine

Dear Readers,

We are so thankful that you chose to check out our magazine. Throughout the creation of this Ezine we learned a lot about the culture of Austin specifically relating to music. We dove into the history behind local record stores and concert venues and found out information that surprised us. We also met musicians in and around the Austin area who taught us about what it is like to live their lifestyle in a rapidly growing city. We researched music festivals that make our city special and attract people from around the world like SXSW.

When we finalized our idea to make our Ezine about music in the city of Austin, we jumped right into finding people to interview, whether that was artists, business owners, or people we ran into around town. We knew that we wanted our magazine to have a free feeling that gave everyone a powerful voice, so we took our interviews and tried to incorporate each one to its fullest potential.

There were many things that went into the creation of this Ezine and lots of obstacles we had to work around. Something that took a lot of work was getting interviews. We had to find people that could tell us about each topic we were writing about and sometimes that was a very difficult task.

Our team is very proud of the finished product. We are proud of ourselves, also, for working hard to get this project finished and looking great! We know that our hard work shines through in the final Ezine. After we upload this magazine we hope that people find it fun and informational. We want people to enjoy reading it and hopefully learn a few things in the meantime. We thank everyone for reading this Ezine!

Sincerely, Lillian Poland, Liam Harris, Inanna Murgor, and Fernando Serrano Austin Music Zine Team

Austin Music Zine

Photos (clockwise from

by Liam Harris by TRND Media/Visit Fort Worth by Lillian Poland Austin Music Zine

Meet the Team

Lillian Poland

By Fernando Serrano

Lillian Poland is excited to create an Ezine about music. For her project she wanted to write about local Austin record shops and the history of vinyl shopping. In her free time she likes to hang out with friends because it brightens her mood. After she graduates she wants to go to college and move somewhere busy. She wants to be around lots of movement.

Liam Harris

By Lillian Poland

Liam Harris is thrilled to be at LASA because he loves a challenge. For his EZine project, Liam, a freshman, chose to write about his musical interests and knowledge of the Austin area. In his free time, he likes to play guitar and collect records and CDs. He thinks it is fun to have a physical collection of music that he likes. When Liam graduates he plans to get into two of his top interests, photography and making music.

Inanna Murgor

By Liam Harris

Inanna Murgor is indecisive about what she thinks people should know about her. A freshman at LASA High School, for Inanna’s Ezine project, she is writing an article about an Austin-based jazz band. When Inanna graduates from LASA, she is sure that she wants to head on to college to become a robotics engineer. In her free time, she likes playing video games. She can’t be summed up in only a few sentences.

Fernando Serrano

By Inanna Murgor

Fernando Serrano is a freshman at LASA High School. While he’s writing about SXSW for EZine, he likes to play football. For Fernando, football is a great chance for him to spend time with his brother. When he graduates, he wants to study criminal justice in college. Fernando doesn’t know what’s interesting or weird about him.

The City’s Crowning Glory

by Liam Harris

Photo by Liam Harris

Austin Music Zine 6

There’s a certain mystique and notoriety to Austin’s music scene, and the city’s musicians and venues help define it. Austin proclaimed itself the “Live Music Capital of the World” nearly 40 years ago, a tagline first appearing in an Austin Chamber of Commerce print ad in Billboard magazine. Both musicians and venues are the fabric of the city, and both have faced challenges as Austin grows.

Over the years, the city grew from around 466,000 when the chamber’s marketing experts self-anointed Austin the “Live Music Capital of the World” to nearly 2.2 million people today. Can a city now known for its tech industry keep its music industry thriving?

Tony Scalzo, co-founder, guitarist, and vocalist with Grammy-nominated band Fastball, says it’s more about good marketing than Austin truly is the center of the music industry.

“People seem to assume Austin was always a music industry town. Even now, the music industry in the U.S. is based in L.A., New York, and Nashville,” Scalzo said.

“I think the title, ‘Live Music Capital of the World,’ sort of pushed the city in that direction over the years as more quality venues and festivals have opened.”

“Back in 1993, when I arrived here, rent was cheap, and jobs were low-paying but available,” Scalzo explained. “The scene was large enough to be rich with diversity, small enough to where everyone knew each other, making it a ‘scene’ in the truest sense.”

While Austin continues to grow, its music scene is evolving along with the state capital.

“The notion that it once was this mecca of hippie weirdness and now it’s just a tech industry city isn’t entirely accurate,” Jon Chamberlain, a Meat Belt and Retailer band member and professional photographer, said.

In addition to population growth, Covid threatened the music industry’s vibrancy, but the music returned. The city attracts celebrities

SXSW draws bands from across Texas and around the world. Photo courtesy of Visit Fort Worth / TRND Media

Patricia Vonne rocks the stage in downtown Austin. Photo courtesy of Patricia Vonne

Scalzo takes the stage with his band Fastball, a Grammy-nominated group that launched in the late 1990s. Photo courtesy of Fastball / Scott Saldinger

and tourists to its conferences, music festivals, restaurants, and bars. Venues close, and new clubs open in their place.

Chamberlain says musicians continue to bounce back and find their sense of community here, a view echoed by musician Rodney Mardsen.

Marsden started in the industry in the early 1990s as a drummer with Austin’s War Party and later played in Supergo and Jet Jaguar.

“That’s the thing about the art and music scene in Austin; everybody is your family,” Marsden said.

A young boy attends a SXSW day show at Lucy’s. Photo by Liam Harris

Austin

Janis Joplin, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Daniel Johnston, and Jerry Jeff Walker are dead. Still, legends and rising stars, including Willie Nelson, Gary Clark, Jr., Spoon, Fastball, Missio, Lucinda Clark, and others, grace the stages of Austin frequently.

Austin’s live music venues have seen change and upheaval with rising costs for

Some Venues Stay the Same, Some Change

Musicians help define the Austin music scene, as do venues where musicians play and launch their careers.

musicians like

“It used to be the Live Music Capital of the World, but I can think of at least a dozen venues that aren’t there anymore and that weren’t replaced with another venue.”

- Rodney Marsden, Jet Jaguar

Austin Music Zine

Chepo Pena, an Austin native, tunes his bass before a house party show with Adam and the Bullshark. Pena has played bass in numerous bands since his days at Westlake High School. Photo courtesy of Jennifer Harris

rent and property taxes, as well as business closures from the pandemic.

The lineups of venues often rotate and morph into the next big thing or a highrise condo or office building. The Backroom on Riverside Drive in the late 1980s is now Emo’s, which itself once thrived on 6th Street. The Electric Lounge, a small club near the railroad tracks in the early 1990s, is now a high-rise condominium. Liberty Lunch, which achieved prominence in the 1980s and 1990s, is now home to office buildings on 2nd Street near Austin City Hall.

“Liberty Lunch was where all the big touring shows like Nirvana and Lemonheads played in the 1990s,” musician Chepo Peña said. “The inside was run down looking. It didn’t have a proper roof, and it looked like crap, but it was just a crummy place that had so many great shows.”

Some mainstays are still around, like the famous University of Texas at Austin campus bar, Hole in the Wall, where Peña, Marsden, and Scalzo have all played at various points in their careers. Antone’s, approaching 50 years old, has bounced around at different addresses across the city but keeps its doors open to this day.

Modern Rocks Gallery’s Steven Walker recalls some of his favorite venues today were also ones he has fond memories of as a touring artist visiting from London.

“I went to go and see The Cult play Stubbs recently, and one of the last gigs I ever played in Austin was at Stubbs as well, with Modern English,” Walker said.

Grammy-nominated Johnny Nicholas takes time out after his SXSW dayside showcase to visit with fans and support other musicians playing at Lucy’s on South Congress. Photo by Liam Harris

The Armadillo World Headquarters, Liberty Lunch, and Threadgill’s may be gone, but the city still boasts a diverse

club scene.

“When you get on Red River, there’s a pretty good eclectic mix of venues,” Walker said. “But then you also go a bit further up the road, and you’ve got the new Moody Center, which is attracting some amazing bands.”

What Sets Austin Apart

Peña, who started playing bass in a band at Westlake High School, said the city once had a “small-town flavor.”

“Austin was sprawling, but it was still not as intense as it is now,” Pena said.

From an outsider looking in, musicians say Austin exudes a charm like few other cities.

“I came to Austin on tour quite a few times, and I always got a really great feeling about it. You just sit there and think, I could live here. This is my kind of place,” Walker said of his visits to Austin while on tour with Modern English, best known for “I Melt With You,” among the top 500 songs ever played on U.S. radio stations.

Old Austin and new Austin often find themselves at odds with each other. Memories of the small, “weird” town compete with the big, tech-heavy city today.

“It was just a vibrant community with more of an independent vibe, kind of a punk rock thing,” Peña said of the Austin he grew up in as a teen.

Contrasting Austin with other music cities like London, Walker said the England and UK capital is more insular and cold, both literally and figuratively.

“Whereas in Austin, I just felt this warmth from people in this friendliness. I liked the idea of living somewhere like that,” Walker said.

While the city is welcoming, Peña said when Austin was first earning its name as a budding music scene, it was harder to book and promote your shows. Without social media and the Internet, bands made flyers.

The cost of living in Austin adds its challenges to musicians and venues.

“It’s hard to make a living doing it here,” Peña said.

Scalzo, whose band Fastball continues to play in Austin and tour the U.S. and internationally, says the Austin music scene continues to be fueled by many factors. He notes local radio like KUTX, KVRX, KOOP, and Sun Radio, along with longtime alternative newsweekly, Austin Chronicle, support the music scene and give artists airtime and publicity.

Festivals and television have driven broader awareness of the city and its music industry, including SXSW, PBS’s long-running Austin City Limits television show, and ACL Music Festival.

Grammy-winner Jason Roberts performs at Broken Spoke in South Austin. Photo by Jennifer Harrisß

“Some cities have a few of those things working together, but Austin has it all,” Scalzo said.

Keeping the Capital Title

Still, Austin faces significant growing pains in its live music industry to keep the Live Music Capital crown. The closures during Covid, rising rents, and high property taxes pose challenges to venue owners, musicians, and others who rely on live music for their careers.

Ask a musician what the city or state should do about it, and their views are as diverse as the lineup at Moody Center.

“If you want to push like Austin is the Live Music Capital of the World, that’s fine. Just give more money to music,” Chamberlain said. “They need to dump money into venues. COVID really killed off a lot of the big venues that I think were really good for the city.”

Walker looked at the music scene as a business owner, noting the infrastructure in Austin was lacking in some respects. Parking, for example, is incredibly challenging and often costly, making it difficult for both musicians and their fans who just want to see a show downtown.

Other musicians viewed the role of local government and venues differently.

“I really don’t know what the city does,” Peña said when asked to describe the supports the city or state provides to musicians.

“I’m always reading about things the City of Austin said they’re gonna do or that they want to happen, but the city doesn’t really support it. You just don’t get a lot of respect around here for music being a real profession,” Peña said.

Peña, along with Marsden, noted the high costs of rent and housing prices in Austin as a challenge for musicians, many of whom must work multiple jobs just to pay their rent or mortgage.

“I talked to musicians that have been in Austin 30 years. They said if we didn’t buy a house 25 years ago, there’s no way we could live here. There’s no way we could afford to,” Marsden said.

Peña also said access to more affordable housing for musicians would be helpful. He also felt like the clubs could pay musicians more, a feeling echoed by Chamberlain.

But Scalzo says the way forward isn’t the responsibility of the government.

“I really don’t believe it’s up to a city or a state to support musicians,” Scalzo said.

While the role of the city or state in supporting the music industry draws varied viewpoints, several non-profit organizations are stepping in to ensure the music business and the musicians that are its backbone can survive and thrive.

Marsden, Peña, and Patricia Vonne all lauded the work of the Health Alliance for Austin Musicians or HAAM for providing health care coverage and services to musicians at low or no cost. The SIMS Foundation is another non–profit focused on mental health services for musicians, a critical service in a state ranking 50th for access to mental health care, according to the Kaiser Family Health Foundation.

Vonne, who records on her own record label, also noted the work of the Texas Music Office, an initiative of the State of Texas focused on promoting the entire state’s music industry, and the Texas Commission on the Arts; both are promotional tools to help Austin musicians and the larger industry, too.

Vonne feels like the city can and will fully recover from the pandemic, and the music scene will continue to flourish, keeping its crown as the Live Music Capital of the World.

“Live music is sewn into the fabric of Austin,” Vonne said.

City Is Picking Up

Non-Profits Make Austin

Austin’s live music scene generates more than $2 billion in economic revenue annually according to the City of Austin’s Austin Music Census. That’s money that doesn’t necessarily make its way back into the pocketbooks of the more than 8,000 working musicians that call Austin home. According to data from the Health Alliance for Austin Musicians (HAAM), the average Austin musician makes $12,060 - $18,090 annually.

Sources: Music and Entertainment Division, City of Austin Ecomomic Development, HAAM, and SIMS Foundation

Livable

Austin musicians can find it difficult to afford to live and work in the city known as the Live Music Capital of the World. A number of non-profits, including HAAM and the SIMS Foundation are picking up Austin musicians by providing access to healthcare services. HAAM provides routine healthcare, dental services, and preventative screenings, while SIMS Foundation provides mental health counseling and substance use disorder services.

In 2002, the year ACL was created, weekend tickets only cost $25

Austin City Limits is the 4th largest music festival in the U.S

Fact 8

Fact 3

Artists and bands performing at ACL can make from almost nothing to up to $4 million dollars

Since 2006, Austin City limits has generated $2.6 billion dollars for Austin’s economy

Fact 4

The ACL festival was inspired by a PBS show by the same name, which started airing in 1975

Fact 9 Fact 10

In 2002, only 25,000 people were expected to attent Austin City limits, but 42,000 people showed up

ACL was created by the same company that made the music festival Lollapalooza for Chicago

Graphics by Inanna Murgor; Source: ACL

Austin Music Zine

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Record shops in Austin provide many options so everybody can find something they like. The “Live Music Capital of the World” helps people discover themselves and what they like.

by Jim Nix

By Lillian Poland

When walking down the streets of Austin, it is not hard to stumble upon a record shop. There are many that provide

welcoming atmospheres and friendly faces greeting you throughout the store. Just because Austin is the “Live Music Capital of the World” doesn’t

mean it fails to provide other forms of listening to music. Record stores are very prominent in Austin culture and as more open up it is apparent that this

Photo

Being the live music capital of the world, Austin, Texas brings people from around the globe to the city for many reasons. Lots of artists perform in Austin to reach a bigger audience. Photo by Randall Chancellor

tradition is not coming to an end any time soon. Stores in Austin may sell jazz or metal, rap or pop, and anything in between. Jazz has proven to be a consistent bestseller throughout many stores in the area.

“People want to give the benefit of the doubt to something challenging,” said Patrick Floyd, from Antone’s Records when speaking about the power of the jazz genre. Certain types of music can evoke all kinds of emotions from different people. “Whether they’re seduced by it, or it feels like it’s not something that’s easy to engage with…

it’s still one of the things that people like about the physical media in a record store,” Floyd added. Every genre of music has unique

components and jazz is not an exception.

Floyd said, “The great thing about jazz fans is they’ll recognize the players. So they might love a keyboard player, so no matter who the trumpet player is, they’ll be curious about that keyboard player,” a special

characteristic within this bestselling music genre. The vinyl collecting industry has been heavily made up of older-aged white men, but there has been an increase of other ages and identities joining and finding happiness through physical forms of music.

“This doesn’t mean there’s something new about the music fans, I just think there is a greater quantity of young women,” said Floyd.

Mike from Love Wheel Records agrees that the age of shoppers is “all over the

map.” There are many people you can find when walking around a record store.

Charlotte Miller, 15 and a frequent shopper at Antone’s, said, “Most people in Antone’s are older than me but there are sometimes people my age.”

Young people are even meeting friends who are interested in music just like them, “in fact, I met my best friend while shopping for vinyls, which is actually crazy, and now we meet up every week and go together,”

Miller added.

Record shops in Austin bring people together and create new bonds, whether that be with music or people. People from around the world come to Austin for its live music and overall amazing music scene, after all, it is the live music capital of the world.

“Music is a whole new world that people can escape to when they need a break, and that is beautiful” said Miller, with a wide grin.

Music shops offer many options for the curious type. It is possible to find many different genres and artists. Photo by Lillian Poland Austin Music Zine 19

Jazzing Up Austin

By Inanna Murgor

Jazz may not be as popular as it was in the 1920s, but it is still a well-known music genre and is a beloved part of Austin’s music history.

Austin, historically known as the “Live Music Capital of the World,” is one of the best places to listen to live music, and has the highest number of music venues in the United States. Music such as jazz can be heard live in clubs around Austin, although music genres such as indie and rock remain more popular at venues.

Jazz musicians in and around Austin come from different backgrounds, have different experiences, and perform or compose songs that are played in all kinds of different places. Musicians have many reasons why they play. Whether it was from family or a musical idol, that thing causes them to stick with their career.

Olivia Yancy, a pianist with 45 years of experience, was born

in Dallas, Texas, and has been playing the piano since the age of 7.

“I have a musical family, so I have an uncle who plays the piano and the organ and he played a lot of classical music as well as gospel and spirituals. So I think being around, hearing and playing and also just in church, I got my inspiration to play music probably from him and the church.” Yancy said.

Yancy has taken inspiration to play music from her uncle, and church. Family members can play an important role in someone’s career.

“I had a visiting teacher from my elementary school who was teaching lessons,” Yancy said.

“I tried to learn how to play the guitar and can play just a little bit as well as the drums. But those are probably the only two instruments that I’ve really have ever tried to play,” Yancy added.

It isn’t uncommon for a musician to try and learn other

instruments to broaden their musical horizon.

“I went to Arts Magnet, which is now called Booker T. Washington in Dallas, Texas. It was a school for the arts. So when we started, we had a cluster to study music. We had theater and had a cluster for art, and a cluster to study music. So it is currently one of the top schools right now for those types of activities.” Yancy said.

Booker T. Washington High School is in the top twelve percent of all highschools in the nation currently, and is the 4th best fine-arts school in Texas.

“When I was in my first year in college, I met the guy who I still play with (Jeffery Smith) during my freshman year in college. I did that to kind of help with some of my college expenses. So I was getting paid for playing. So that’s when I started and I was around 18 years old,” Yancy said.

Yancy has started her grand career of being a musician in college, which she still is today.

(Photo opposite page) Antone’s Nightclub is a famed music venue in downtown Austin. Photo by Inanna Murgor

“Believe it or not, I like classical music. I also like gospel music, R&B, and I like all genres of music. I sometimes even enjoy listening to country music. So other than jazz, I really like classical, easy-listening type music, and different jazz subgenres. I like contemporary jazz, but I really love the old standards and big band jazz music too,” Yancy said.

It isn’t uncommon for musicians to like all kinds of genres of music other than the one they play frequently.

Mike Mordacai is a musician who’s been playing the trombone for over 50 years and owns a booking company. Mordacai started playing the trombone when he was 10 years old.

“I lived right across the street from the Denton High School football field. I could peek over the fence and see the football games on Friday nights, and saw the trombones. That’s what drew me to play the trombone.” Mordacai said.

Seeing trombones performing on football fields is what inspired Mordacai to pursue his dream career of being a musician.

“My first teacher was Leon Brown. Who was the college band director at North Texas.” Mordacai said. Mordacai

started learning the trombone in fifth grade, which he continued to play throughout his school years.

“I went to Denton High School, and while I was in high school, I was able to play with the college band starting when I was fifteen years old there in North Texas. And then I came down to the University of Texas to go to college when I got out of high school,” Mordacai said.

“I could peek over the fence and see football games on Friday nights, and saw the trombones. That’s what drew me to play the trombone” - Mike Mordacai, Musician

Being able to play with a college band in highschool is an impressive thing, let alone being fifteen.

“I came down here on a music scholarship, but I changed my degree and got a business degree.” Mordacai added.

When Mordacai was 20, around the time he was in college, he started performing professionally.

“When I was younger, I would perform five times a week. But now, events are five times a month.” Mordacai said. Mordacai has performed around the world. He has performed

in places like Los Angeles and New York, to Romania, Brazil, and Japan in auditoriums with up to 15,000 seats.

“I’ve had the good fortune to play with big-name stars like Aretha Franklin, Maynard Ferguson, Ray Charles, and Willie Nelson,” Mordacai said.

“If you were in New York, you kind of get locked in to one specific thing. Like my friend who I went to college with, Malone. He went to New York and he got into the end of Saturday Night Live Blues Brothers Band and so he was kind of a David Letterman guy later. So he got into a television gig.” Mordacai said.

“Other friends of mine were kind of locked into being a pit orchestra player in New York. But in Austin, you have to do it all,” Mordacai said.

Mordacai expalined that a music scene like New York has way more people than Austin’s, a city that pales in comparison to New York. So getting a good gig and wanting to be a versatile musician is much harder, because there are more aspiring musicians up in New York.

“I realized early on when I was still in college, playing the trombone, you’re working by the hour. So you actually are there to get paid when you’re

playing. So I realized that I would need supplemental income,” Mordacai said.

“So I started getting into the business of music, having records to sell and started a record company, and also a booking agency,” Mordacai added. “So I could book other people to go play. And at the height of the booking agency, we were booking about 100 gigs a month. From small guitar solos, weddings or restaurants, all the way to acts like Prince,” Mordacai said.

“But that about sums up my career.” Mordacai added.

Musicians don’t always just specialize in one genre. Good musicians are versatile with their instrument, regardless if they can play multiple instruments or not.

Austin’s music scene is still growing, and the city has hope for more excellent musicians in the future, with their own stories to tell. And to someday, Austin’s musicians hopefully become big stars in the music scene.

However, jazz isn’t as widely listened to or as popular as it was before. But jazz musicians still exist, and are just as talented, versatile, and skilled like any other musician.

The Elephant Room is a famous jazz club in Austin. Photo by Inanna Murgor

Give South-By A Real Try

Annual festival brings tech, films, and music to city

By Fernando Serrano

Zine 26

Benefits from performing at SXSW

There are many benefits from performing at SXSW. SXSW has been helping artists since 1987. Over the years SXSW has been helping many small artists and bands. They help creative people reach their goals.

Otoboke Beaver, a punk rock group from Kyoto, Japan, who played in 2017 say that performing there helped them in many ways, and the band also got more fans from many places after going to SXSW.

Photo by Steve Garfield, courtesy of SXSW

Austin Music

“After, we were happy to have done well there and made a few more fans, but it’s fans in the music industry who have power like venue and festival bookers that are important,” Otoboke Beaver said.

“SXSW benefits bands who are releasing around then and it’s good for international acts as they can play SXSW without the $5000 work visa needed outside SXSW so it’s ideal for international acts to play,” Otoboke Beaver said.

SXSW can benefit a lot of people. They can give them an opportunity to show their talent and get more popular. They can help the artists advance their career faster and help them achieve their goals. Their main focus is to help creative people and help them develop faster.

Hugh Forrest, a SXSW co-president that oversees all programming, presentations, keynotes, comedy and film festivals, and the structure to guide SXSW to improve says that they can help many artists and creative people achieve their goals. They can give them offers to different places and can help them reach their potential in many other ways.

“Well, SXSW is a platform that artists and filmmakers, entrepreneurs, chefs, and athletes can use to educate themselves for the industry and network with other professionals and help

people to accelerate their careers. SXSW help creative people achieve their goals,” Forrest said.

SXSW tries to find bands that are going to have a lot of potential and are going

to do better in the future.

“We find bands that are scratching the surface of their potential. For a small film maker that is scratching their potential

Photo by Denise Enriquez, courtesy of SXSW

“SXSW is a platform that artists and filmmakers entrepreneurs chefs athletes can use to educate themselves for the industry and network with other professionals and help people to accelerate their careers.”

- Hugh Forrest, SXSW

we help them find their talent. We also help them develop talent and help to take their careers to the next levels,” Forrest said.

After SXSW

After SXSW many artists do well. A lot of the people that perform there always do better in some way. For some artists it might take longer to see the improvement but for others it’s an instant advancement. In artists that do well they see what some refer to as a “SXSW spike.”

“Some of the most popular artists at the event that do the best will see an immediate ‘SXSW spike’ and more playing, that’s not all the artists though,” Forrest said. “They also get publicity by a lot of media. They have a direct impact on their fan base and that may not be completely realized until 1 or 2 years later after having been at the event.”

The people that perform there will always do better by getting offers, more fans, more media, and more recognition all around Austin and maybe even across the US, just like Otoboke Beaver did.

“After, we were happy to have done well there and made a few more fans, but it is fans in the music industry who have power like venue and festival bookers that are important,” Otoboke Beaver said. “We had festival offers from Coachella and others which were very good and some press.”

Otoboke Beaver got booked by Coachella, a California music festival, which also gave them a lot of fans back home and across the U.S. It also gave

Photo by Melissa Bordeau, courtesy of SXSW

Austin Music Zine 28

the band a boost because very few Japanese bands play Coachella.

“The band got Coachella as a result of playing SXSW and that festival gave them a good boost at home as so few Japanese bands play Coachella,” Otoboke Beaver said.

They were really excited and happy that SXSW could give them this opportunity to get offers and help them all around the world. Back where they live in Japan and here in the U.S. they expanded their fan base. They also like being with a lot of famous people backstage.

“It’s kudos and fun for us to be backstage with famous bands,” Otoboke Beaver said.

SXSW has always done things the same whenever helping people. They have always looked at the creativity in people and the event has changed a lot in many good ways. Going to SXSW can help the artist or band that is playing and SXSW is a platform to discover new artists.

“The event has changed a lot, but what hasn’t is the focus and creativity on people that are doing exciting new things and their ability to help develop that again hasn’t changed and that’s very neat that we still focus on creativity,” Forrest

said.

Going to SXSW can benefit the people that showcase and perform there. People that attend SXSW come here for many different reasons like trying to find new artists and to see the artists that would potentially be bigger in a couple of years.

“Well, a lot of our attendees are used to SXSW as a platform to discover new artists, make new connections, discover artists that

haven’t been discovered by the media and in the best case scenarios anticipate and understand the artist that will potentially be bigger in a couple years,” said Forrest.

Photo courtesy of SXSW

In this graph 60.9 percent of high schoolers in Austin surveyed would rather go to the music portion of the SXSW festival over everything else.

There are SXSW activities other than the music festival, including video games, film, comedy, and the interactive conferences.

SXSW is mostly recognized for its festivals and conferences that highlight technology, film, music, education, and culture.

Graphics by Fernando Serrano

TimothyVollmer

Scott Fiddelke

KrisKrüg

“Austin Music Takes Flight,” Photo collage by Liam Harris

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