live in austin, texas:
Explorers Club /
South By Southwest
Stefan Rogenmoser of Explorers Club reports from SXSW 2008
We rolled into Austin, TX on Tuesday afternoon. We knew we must put on our best performances at SXSW. In 2007 we came looking for a record label, found one, and this year showcased for Dead Oceans, who is releasing our album Freedom Wind on May 20, 2008.
The first thing we did this time around was register for our wristbands and Explorers Club Showcasing Artist Badge at the Austin Convention Center—that is after spending 20 minutes finding a $5 parking space on the same side of the city. The Convention Center hums with voices of crowds standing in seemingly endless lines. The view from the second floor balcony is worth seeing. Austin, justifiably called the live music capitol of the world. Back down the escalators. With our Badge, the wristband line isn’t too long.
We ate dinner at Polvo’s with Phil Waldorf, co-owner of our label. The sleepy band members rested at a friend’s house—a friend in an Austin band called Brothers & Sisters—while Dave, Jim, and I went to see Brothers & Sisters at Beauty Bar. The line was too long up front, so we watched them through the back fence. It sounded fine. We talked to them once they loaded out.
Wednesday morning we played Little Radio’s day party at Red Eyed Fly. We played to a big crowd on the outdoor stage. We rocked hard: Jim did a back-flip and I stomped on my piano with my boots. The owner of our label was at this show, as well other important people from Dead Oceans. Brothers & Sisters played after us and played well. We got to see our manager Scottie Diablo, whose beard has become quite massive. I was interviewed by the Charleston City Paper’s own Susie Kamenar while Brothers & Sisters played. Two journalists from the same city — and we did an interview with each other! SXSW.
After Brothers and Sisters were done ,we had a whomping good lunch at Star Seeds. Back at the house some us took gangsta pics in front of a low rider parked in the street. I don’t think the neighbors liked us much.
For
our second show of the day we arrived at
Beso
Cantina five hours early. Miscommunication.
Downtown no shows caught our ears—slightly disappointing at
a music festival of this size. We watched hippies, mods,
rockers, punks, and freaks parade 6th Street—which is the
epicenter of SXSW activities—but the “indie” crowd was by
far the largest in attendance. Most of us here have one
thing in common; a profound love for live music. Street
musicians played on corners. There was complete madness in
all directions as illegally parked cars were towed, people
stood in lines that stretched around venues, a myriad of
music and mumbling was heard from all directions, crowds of
people moved like currents down the closed off streets,
local news live vans were on every other street, and so on.
This was the first official day of SXSW, although there had
been several pre-shows as early as Monday.
We arrived at the Beso Cantina at the correct time and met Nick from the Spinto Band and his girlfriend Catherine. I’m quite certain they were the only two people there to see us. Our Beso Cantina show was under-attended, and had a small stage with atrocious on stage sound (2 vocal mics were OFF during our first song, amps were not mic’d). Jason and I whaled on the last song, Dave hopped onto and walked down the entire bar, I turned all the knobs on my amp to 11 and started banging on top of it until it made laser sounds at the end of the set.
Thursday night was our Dead Oceans/Secretly Canadian/Jag Jaguar showcase at Mohawk. We loaded in around 6. A cop gave us guff for unloading near Mohawk, but we eventually worked it out. That morning Wally and I went to Flight Path Coffee House on Airport Rd. I burned my fingers on a hot glass of coffee that had no handle. We peeked into a costume shop next door.
Before our showcase I had time to see the Cowsills at Central Presbyterian, a church with good acoustics where we saw Donovan and Keren Ann last year. The Cowsills played awesome sunshine pop, singing incredibly high harmonies loudly and on key as their voices soared through the tall dark wooden arches of this church. The Cowsills are the real family band that inspired The Partridge Family. Highlights were 1967 hit “The Rain, the Park, and Other Things,” “Nuclear Winter,” “We Can Fly,” and “Hair,” from the 1969 musical. I don’t remember why I was the only Explorer at this show, but my friends missed out on a real treat. It was only two or three blocks from Mohawk.
We played our showcase to a packed house on Mohawk’s inside stage. Some of our friends from Dr. Dog and the High Strung were there to see us, as well as tons of important people from our label, and (little did we know at the time) some famous rock stars. Our set went well. At the end of our last song we were soaked in sweat; the guitar players dog-piled onto stage while I jumped as high as I could and slammed into my piano with my hands and boots about 20 times for the last chord of our version of Chuck Berry’s “Johnny B. Goode.”
Jens Lekman performed on the outside stage after us. We went upstairs to the balcony and we noticed Michael Stipe of R.E.M. was sitting at the table behind us. I ran to the van to get promo copies of our CD. I sliced and weaved my way through the drunken crowd (which had massive B.O.) and slipped out through the inside stage exit. Ran uphill a block, got CDs, hustled back, through the band only entrance, bumped through SXSW masses, back to the balcony. Jim and I walked up to Michael Stipe, trying not interrupt his conversation. I told Jim how he should introduce ourselves, we pushed closer, waited for a pause. The conversation went something like this:
JIM: Excuse me, Mr. Stipe. We’re friends with Brian Wilson and Camera Obscura. We’re huge fans of your music and we’ve listened to you since we were kids.
STEFAN: We’re in the Explorers Club and we want you to have two of our CDs. We just played our showcase downstairs. I’m Stefan. This is Jim. [We shook his hand.]
JIM: Sorry to bother you, but we really want you to have our CD.
STIPE: That’s ok. Thank you for the CDs.
I liked it, but Jim said meeting Michael Stipe was nerve racking. He is, after all, in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Early in 2007 Jason and I drove to Athens, GA to see Camera Obscura and Michael Stipe stood behind us for part of the show. We spoke with Camera Obscura and they said they’d heard our music and liked it. A few weeks ago Jason received a voicemail from Brian Wilson praising our song “Don’t Forget the Sun.”
Friday. Played a day party on the outskirts of Austin at Hank Sinatra’s farm. Chickens, goats, green grass. A rusted 1930s truck door and armadillo statue were on the wooden outdoor stage. A group called Hymns played before us and we liked it. Their hot lead guitar licks sound very inspired by the Velvet Underground’s Loaded, the Rolling Stones’ Exile on Main Street, and various Gram Parsons tunes. But of course Hymns has a very unique sound that is all their own.
We played a fun hot set to a joyful crowd. Carrying gear back up the long hill was exhausting in the 90 degree heat. Ice tea, grilled beef ribs, and good spicy salsa were nice refreshments. Jason, Jim and I got massive sunburns.
That
evening Dave, Wally, Jim, and I went downtown to see our
Anaheim, California friends Thee Makeout Party play a tight
set at Speakeasy, which is a
difficult venue to find, even for native Austinites.
Afterwards we caught
Dr. Dog’s wild set at a crowded Cedar
Door. Our
wristbands got us in fast, but the streets were filled with
madness: jaywalkers, honking cars, lines stretching onto
crosswalks and sidewalks around venues. Dr. Dog played more
slow songs here than when we saw them a little over a week
earlier at Charleston’s Pour House, but they still rocked
out just as hard. There was a whole lot of dancing and
shaking going on. By the end of their set our feet and backs
were not our friends; they were somewhat sore. Cedar Door
was at capacity, filled with people and press photographers
and their expensive cameras.
Saturday. Played our last show upstairs at Lamberts for the Quite Scientific Showcase. We were tired, but played well and rocked out as the sun shone through the windows. Neil, who was ill the entire time, felt much better. Loaded the van for the last time at SXSW. We did a full band interview with a reporter and a cameraman from Columbus, Ohio. A good way to end SXSW. It’s worth the trip.
— Stefan Rogenmoser
Photography by Stefan Rogenmoser
Feature Interviews:
Record Reviews:
Live Reviews: