Music nutshell:

Keeping the Beat

in there that rage quit and said: “I’m sick of this jazz indie rock bullsh*t. I’m out of here,” And they left the group. And then everyone loved that. They started making jazz indie rock bullsh*t. And then it was abbreviated to JIRB. So I found that hilarious.”

Although there are a lot of musicians following the same trends, the musician experience is different for everybody. McMillan, as a musician himself, is familiar with the different reasons musicians do what they do.

“Being a musician, it’s difficult to come up with a kind of monolithic, single narrative line to explain how each of us as individuals approach this as art, culture and business. Musicians engage in this stuff for different reasons. At the core of it, I think it’s a way of artistic expression, but that artistic expression for a musician might be accomplished by singing, sitting at home and writing tunes and playing instruments and recording and maybe doing it at the next level with a group of friends without any really real interest in being a rock and roll star. So that is kind of at the very personal level, and at the much higher Commercial and Business way of looking at it, people want to do that artistic expression, but they also want to do it as a profession… So a lot of musicians, they’re drived to do the work because they think that they have something to say, musically, artistically, that is bigger than themselves, and they want other people to hear it and appreciate it and support it. Others of us don’t really aspire to be rock and roll stars. We want artistic expression, and we want the camaraderie and community of other people who make music and make art as something that is satisfying to us individually, personally.”

Beach Blossom members also have their own perspective of the motivations behind their music. For context, McLenaghan pointed out that him and Glatz don’t actually live in Austin anymore.

“Two of us moved up to DFW... That happened about a year and a half ago, and then the other two are still based in Austin. So it’s been an interesting challenge, like having to commute to practice, play shows and things like that, but the band itself is still mostly based in Austin, and all the shows we’ve played have been in Austin. It’s been pretty interesting and we all enjoy it and we’ve found ways to try and make it work even with that in the way.”

After this, Glatz clarified one of the reasons they actually find it worth it to stay together as a band even if they aren’t living in the same city.

“The fans that we have, because we do have some fan base, and people listen to our stuff. Having some support from the audience, and people wanting us to play shows, really helps. If we weren’t having that it would be harder to stay motivated.”

McLenaghan continued, mentioning other challenges the band has faced, as well as how they have made it through them.

“So even if it’s difficult, or a long drive, it’s nice just to see them again and hang out and play shows together. And even like, we played a couple shows recently, after not having any for several months and not practicing as much. It could have been a lot worse given how long it’s been since we’ve practiced, but we held it together quite well. So we all just gel reasonably well together. So yeah, it just kind of feels right enough. Really, we want to keep it going, even if it’s a little bit tricky.”

Like experiences in the music field, the views on Austin’s music are also different for each person. On one hand, McLenaghan appreciates the openness and opportunities available to musicians in Austin.

“It’s really cool that it’s not just this big festival with huge bands. It’s like anybody can be part of it, either officially or unofficially, just because all the bars are having shows on during those times. So that’s why I’d say [Austin’s music is] independent. It’s a good place for like the smaller, more independent artists. You don’t have to be a huge name to get a show in the city”

On the other hand, McMillan pointed out that Austin’s musical identity is hard to pin down because of the diversity that it is tied to.

“There have been periods of time where [Austin’s music stood out from the rest of the world’s]… There was definitely an identity tied to that, and at the same time that that was going on, the whole kind of the cosmic cowboy time period was also kind of Austin’s Psychedelia time period. It was like Blues people and hippies and rednecks who like country music, but also kind of hard rock, heavy rock. Well, the people that were part of that scene, those folks are old and dying. They’re dead. And since then, there have been some standard bearers that have come out of Austin that are national and international, but only a few, really… I could name a bunch of folks, but that bunch of folks that I would name... It would be difficult to put them all together and say: “This is what design defines the sound of Austin”. Because all of those people, they’re doing just really, really different things.”

A distinct aspect of something is a crucial aspect of its identity. Without anything that makes it stand out, it’s very difficult to define Austin’s Identity in its own, unique terms.

“I think part of what is not helping Austin latch on to something that folks would call the sound of Austin is the fact that the Austin City Limits Music Festival is here, and South by Southwest is here, which has become really, really huge. I think it’s probably the largest music conference and festival in the world still... Those huge events could happen anywhere. They could happen anywhere where there was the municipal infrastructure and music business infrastructure for them to happen. The sound of the South by Southwest Festival doesn’t sound like Austin. It sounds like the people from all over the world that come here to play. Austin City Limits Festival doesn’t sound like Austin. It sounds like a festival that could happen in Brazil next month. Because it does.”

Whether it is by history or current trends, culture or personal experience, big festivals or small venues, there are a lot of influences to Austin’s music. These will continue to influence it, keeping its definition unique and personal. However, it is this lack of uniformity that prevents it from sticking to a single definition. The truth about Austin’s musical identity is that it will keep evolving, and its definition will depend on all the different perspectives from the industry and the community.

By: Andres Basabe