SXSW 2022

BRITISH MUSIC EMBASSY PRESENTS SXSW 2022

The British Music Embassy (BME) sets sail on its 15th year at South by Southwest (SXSW), providing a stage for emerging British artistry and technical production talent to shine post-lockdown.

Words: Jacob Waite Photos: TyneSight Photographic Services

Having curated a COVID-19 secure production for 35 breakthrough acts to showcase their talent with UK-only production and equipment at Production Park as part of SXSW Online 2021 [see #TPi 260], the latest edition of SXSW saw a return to in-person audiences and increased production values with over 70 sets by some of Britain’s most exciting acts taking to the BME stage over eight days at the new backdrop of 700-capacity venue, Cedar Street Courtyard in Austin, Texas. Effectivelythefirst‘Britishinvasion’ofSXSW sincetheCOVID-19pandemicstruck,TPisat downwithProductionManager,AntForbes, StageManager,SamWilkinsonandLighting Designer,BradleyNicholson–screen-toscreen–toretracetherootsoftheproject. “Wewereeffectivelyworkingfroma blueprintwhichwasconceivedin2019,” ProductionManager,AntForbesbegan. “Afterthe2019eventinAustin,wemadethe collectivedecisiontoupgradethevenueand upscalepurelybecauseofcapacityissues.” AfterascoutingmissioninAustin,Texas, SXSWorganisersandstakeholdersdecided onCedarStreetCourtyard.Furthersteps weretakenbyProductionParktoupgradeand improvethevenuetobringituptoastandard worthyofshowcasingthenextwaveofupand comingBritishtalentbothon-stageandbehind thescenes,withanall-newMartinbyHarman lightingriginstalledandoperatedbyBackstage AcademyLiveEventsProductionstudent, BradleyNicholson. “Thiswasagoldenopportunityforusto bringalongaBackstageAcademystudent likeBradleytothrowintothedeependand

put his academic and theoretical skills to the test and troubleshoot any challenges in a dynamic, fast paced working environment,” Forbes said. “Seeing him evolve during the week and overcome obstacles and dance away while busking away on the lighting for over 70 sets was a pleasure.”

The 4m by 4m deck deep stage featured a 2m drum riser. Two 3m sticks of truss were situated in each corner of the stage with a suspended beam of truss located at the back of the stage, above an in-house video wall.

Above the stage was a standard box truss with house lights. A range of Martin by Harman fixtures provided ‘eye candy’ looks and bathed the audience and stage in light, in addition to LED tape located on the walls of the venue. “I first built the venue in Vectorworks and imported it into WYSIWYG, so I had a good idea of what it would look like, minus the house fixtures, instead, I chose similar lights to simulate the experience – this helped with the sizing of the venue and experiment,” Nicholson recalled.

Once on site, Nicholson busked all 70+ performances using an Avolites Tiger Touch II console, which he dubbed as a ‘perfect’ fit for the job. “I needed enough fader space to busk over 70 sets. Having read the tech specifications for each

40 YEARS OF SPECTACLE

est. 1981

artist, the lighting design was left quite open for me to interpret, which was half of the fun. Trying to make each artist’s set interesting and fun was a challenge that I relished,” he said.

“My favourite crew was Maisie Peters, who turned up with colour scheme notes for each song, which was nice to tap into between the experimentation of other sets.” Creatingeyecandyeffects,sweeping movements across the stage with tungsten flashes,andtappingintothecolour temperature on Martin RUSH CTs as a substituteforblindereffectswerehandytools in Nicholson’s arsenal.

“It was cool to see how my lighting design affectedtheaudience.It’sfunnyhowastrobe can get an audience going, it was interesting to witness that in real-time. There also were times I missed the beat, having not heard many of the songsbefore,butIwasabletodustmyselfoff and go again.”

Stage Manager, Sam Wilkinson’s main role wasgettingbandsonandoffstage,runningup and down several steps a minute, and being the ‘go-to’ liaison between the production team, SXSW and the entire backstage operation. “CedarStreetprovidedaninfinitelybetter experience–fromthebasiconandoffstage workflow,rightthroughtotheVIPareasfor bandstonetworkoffstageandnothavingto fightfortoiletaccess,”hecommented.

Most artists on the 70-strong line-up were originally scheduled to play the BME stage in 2020,however,withapandemicandconflicting commitments playing havoc to scheduling, the latest iteration saw a bill of talent with two extra years of lead time to improve their stock.

Established acts such as Self Esteem, Working Mens Club, Nova Twins, Wet Leg and Yard Act, among many others, shared the stage with up and coming talent such as Sinead O’Brien, Los Bitchos, Poppy Ajudha, Penelope Iles, and WH Lung.

“The professionalism of the line-up this year with big name artists made it much easier for us to advance, as they’re a well-oiled machine who are used to playing bigger stages and have more experience and rock up with more flightcasesthanourentireproduction,”Forbes added.“Fundamentally,itwasgreattoputona productionwithnoCOVID-19restrictions.”

Wilkinson highlighted that for many of the actsinvolved,BMEprovidestheirfirstforayinto performing on US soil.

“One of the great things about BME is holdingartist’shandsthroughtheirfirstUS show, and what will be the start of many more to come. You witness them develop from a shy group or individual to stage veteran over the course of a few sets,” he added.

“We all mutually agreed among the crew and organisers that the calibre was so high this year that it is almost impossible to pick our favourite sets. We were dealing with much more accomplished artists than we have before.”

The British Music Embassy is supported by AIM, BBC Music Introducing, Belfast City Council,BPI,DepartmentForInternational Trade,DIY,KilimanjaroLive,MMFAccelerator, PPL,ProductionPark,PRSForMusic,PRS FoundationandpoweredbyMarshall,Allen& Heath, Ashdown Meters, Martin by Harman, Shure, Ivison Guitars, Lowden Guitars, Production Park and Renkus-Heinz.

“I can’t thank our supporters enough for stepping up and helping out to make this the bestyearyet,”Forbesremarked.

“We’ve wanted to incorporate a student element in this production for a long time but the size of the past venue restricted adding another person into the mix. Now we’ve been affordedtheopportunitytobringinalighting designer from Backstage Academy, and it couldn’t have gone better,” he enthused, sharing his plans to replicate this experiment on an annual basis.

“We’ve spoken with the Backstage Academy team to ensure this production is far more student-led in the future. By its very nature, the BME stage showcases the next generation of young exciting British talent in the US, and that should go far beyond the stage, and the workforceshouldbereflectiveofinmyopinion. Providing any student the opportunity to come and learn in such a dynamic environment where they can shadow professionals is crucial to their career progression,” he concluded. “Watch this space for next year!” www.sxsw.com www.thebritishmusicembassy.com www.productionpark.co.uk www.backstage-academy.co.uk