Hey, readers. Before I get into this weeks post, I want to thank everyone that reached out last week in regards to my post about productivity and tasks. It means a lot that you’re reading, internalizing and sending feedback. It’s been hard for me too, and this week was no exception. Work, regardless if I like it or not, does give me purpose to the day and if I go long enough without that sense of purpose, I get lost. It sucks, but it happens to everyone and like all things, it’ll pass.
The captain of a run club I ran with this morning brought up a Mother Teresa quote and it stuck. “God doesn't require us to succeed, he only requires that you try.” I don’t believe a capital G god, but the sentiment rings true. Trying is all I got and I’ll keep trying dammit!
Anyway, thanks for reading. It helps motivate me to keep doing this when I really should be doing my homework…
Now for some fun from the brain vault.
My band
will be heading to Austin next week to be an unofficial part of SXSW, which is a huge music, film and tech festival that stretches through most of March. It’ll be the first the time I’ve gone as a performer in 17 years.The first time I went was in 2005, with E>K>U>K. At the time, SXSW was a surefire way to get noticed as an indie band. A & R reps, promoters, bookers, agents, everyone came out to watch dozens of bands in a day to see if any were worth pursuing. First hand, I can tell you it works, however, that story will come in a later post. Aside from that, when you play SXSW, you are around so may other musicians and like minded people, that run ins can be very common. For example…
(Me and Willy Wonk- I mean, Wayne Coyne at SXSW)
As we were trying to book the festival itself and the surrounding dates there and back, we got hooked up with a Los Angeles promoter named Mike Galaxy who took a liking to us. He booked us a couple of O.K. gigs in LA, and he decided he wanted to jump into the SXSW game too, so he set up a showcase at a vintage clothing store outside of downtown Austin and asked us to be a part of it. He went as far as to make a couple thousand promo CDs with all of the bands performing to be distributed both before and during the festival. After having seen the line up, we were beyond buzzed to see that Jimmy Chamberlin, drummer for Smashing Pumpkins was on the bill with his own outfit, The Jimmy Chamberlin Complex.
(Mike Galaxy’s promo CD for the 2005 SXSW showcase)
Getting to Austin felt magical. I had never been there before and it had that freewheeling, bohemian vibe that was advertised, which I felt was akin to what Portland was like at the time as well, both escapes from the capitalist strangle of major cities. My, how things have changed…
Anyway, the festival itself was a shit-show in a good way. There was an energy to it that was palpable. Bands were putting their posters up EVERYWHERE, but were nice enough to only cover posters of shows that had passed. There were knowing nods of acknowledgement and a sense of community without feeling competitive. “We are all in the same place, so let’s enjoy this together” was the mood I felt and all the bands shared equipment, stories and beers. I in fact still have vivid memories of pulling in to town and eating our first meal, which was Jack In The Box, a Texas classic.
Our showcase at Cream Vintage was fun and expectedly, it was sparsely attended in the back parking lot of a strip mall, with free Lone Star beers littering both the floor and the hands of all the attendees.
(Extremely pixelated evidence of the gig)
The best part for me was that when I was packing up my drums, a man came up to me and said, “Really great drumming, man. Such power. I really dug it.” I thanked him, got up to shake his hand, and realized it was Jimmy Chamberlin who showed up as we started and watched the whole set. It was real honor to have that interaction with someone as great and accomplished as he was, someone whose drumming I played along to as I learned to play myself. We chatted a bit and his bandmate, Billy Mohler, invited us to their official showcase that night in downtown at some swanky venue. I told him we didn’t have badges, and he said not to worry that he’s sneak us in. He kept his word and snuck us in that night.
The following week, we were back home and Jimmy’s band was playing at the Troubadour. Again, Billy was able to get us all in to that show (by way of the back door) and we got to watch, and hang with them and at the end of the night, met William Corgan, who was deep into his Dark City cosplay at the time.
(William.)
Because smart phones and social media weren’t much of a thing then, there was a sense of exploration and experimentation in the air at SXSW. What I mean was, instead of looking up what the cool thing is or where the most “liked” event was, you just went with the flow. You embraced where you were and you made efforts to talk to people and make connections. It made interactions, like these aforementioned ones, natural and easy. No one’s heads were down. It’s perhaps why the festival succeeded for so long. Wander around the block long enough and you’ll hear or see something that piques your interest, so you check it out sight unseen. One’s sense of discovery was magnified and it was really special. It’s another reminder that 2024 life truly is different.
I don’t see this as being how it is now at the festival, but regardless, I am excited to go back to Austin and see what has or hasn’t changed in nearly 2 decades. I assure you I’ll report back.
Thanks for reading. If I don’t get a post out next week it’s because, I’m like, going with the flow, maaaaaaan. Dig?
Good read. Look forward to the report from impending SXSW with the band!
Wow, 2005 was a magical time!