SXSW Diaries Pt. IV
(Note: in case you missed it, here's the entry where I posted the content of our SXSW EP, which includes two new songs. All of the newer home recordings will be going on the music page soon.)
SXSW Day 5
At Brandon's house
Yesterday we practiced, we planned, we got pumped. We ate at a vegetarian restaurant. We went to a place called Home Slice Pizza and caught some bands. We ate at Whole Foods and got recognized by someone who saw us play at the cycle shop on Friday. What are the chances? Don't ask me, I'm not a statistician.
We loaded into the venue and warmed up some more. The staff at the church were perfectly friendly and helpful. They carried our gear around, got us water, and did everything we needed. After attending shows at the church on Wednesday and Thursday night and seeing the place absolutely packed, it was hard not to have high expectations. But there's so much going on at any given time, I suppose it's a bit of a crapshoot whether anyone's going to come listen to a bunch of bros they've never heard of before. We ended up playing to a crowd of 30 or so people, which is about what we're accustomed to. The sound in the church was amazing. It had a beautiful natural reverb. The audience was silent and attentive, as they had been for the other shows there. As sometimes happens when I get really into what I'm doing onstage, I don't remember everything about our set. I remember feeling like we filled the room with sound. I sweated a whole lot and dropped my glasses several times. I was very tired when we were done.
Steve Burns and the Struggle followed us, putting on a multimedia show that was a lot of fun. They distributed laser pointers to the audience and projected a video on a giant screen while they played. It was a choose-your-own-adventure affair, with the audience expressing their collective will via their laser pointers. The whole thing was very well put together and quite a spectacle. However, our names caused a bit of confusion for some audience members. After Steve Burns finished I went back to the lobby to push our free CDs on people. Several people took our CDs clearly thinking they were Steve Burns CDs. A few folks picked them up and then dropped them again after realizing that they were not Steve Burns CDs. Regardless, we distributed about 150 of them in our time here, most of them last night, and that pleases me. We also received very kind compliments from several audience members. One guy told us our sound was full and massive, describing it as "thunder on the mountain." We should hire him to write our bio.
Today we will be chilling and tomorrow we will be returning home. And thus concludes this little SXSW diary. I hope you've learned something and enjoyed yourselves. I know I have. Take care of yourselves -- it's a crazy world out there.
SXSW Day 5
At Brandon's house
Yesterday we practiced, we planned, we got pumped. We ate at a vegetarian restaurant. We went to a place called Home Slice Pizza and caught some bands. We ate at Whole Foods and got recognized by someone who saw us play at the cycle shop on Friday. What are the chances? Don't ask me, I'm not a statistician.
We loaded into the venue and warmed up some more. The staff at the church were perfectly friendly and helpful. They carried our gear around, got us water, and did everything we needed. After attending shows at the church on Wednesday and Thursday night and seeing the place absolutely packed, it was hard not to have high expectations. But there's so much going on at any given time, I suppose it's a bit of a crapshoot whether anyone's going to come listen to a bunch of bros they've never heard of before. We ended up playing to a crowd of 30 or so people, which is about what we're accustomed to. The sound in the church was amazing. It had a beautiful natural reverb. The audience was silent and attentive, as they had been for the other shows there. As sometimes happens when I get really into what I'm doing onstage, I don't remember everything about our set. I remember feeling like we filled the room with sound. I sweated a whole lot and dropped my glasses several times. I was very tired when we were done.
Steve Burns and the Struggle followed us, putting on a multimedia show that was a lot of fun. They distributed laser pointers to the audience and projected a video on a giant screen while they played. It was a choose-your-own-adventure affair, with the audience expressing their collective will via their laser pointers. The whole thing was very well put together and quite a spectacle. However, our names caused a bit of confusion for some audience members. After Steve Burns finished I went back to the lobby to push our free CDs on people. Several people took our CDs clearly thinking they were Steve Burns CDs. A few folks picked them up and then dropped them again after realizing that they were not Steve Burns CDs. Regardless, we distributed about 150 of them in our time here, most of them last night, and that pleases me. We also received very kind compliments from several audience members. One guy told us our sound was full and massive, describing it as "thunder on the mountain." We should hire him to write our bio.
Today we will be chilling and tomorrow we will be returning home. And thus concludes this little SXSW diary. I hope you've learned something and enjoyed yourselves. I know I have. Take care of yourselves -- it's a crazy world out there.
