The world comes to Austin for indie music fest

The world comes to Austin for indie music fest: "The world comes to Austin for indie music fest

Stuart Derdeyn
Canwest News Service; Vancouver Province


Wednesday, March 12, 2008"



AUSTIN, Texas - Imagine that you are the booking agent for the biggest band bash in North America. Better still, there are no limits on who you can invite to appear; this is a party everyone wants a piece of. Pretty cool, huh?

Brent Grulke knows what it feels like firsthand.

As the creative director for the 22-year-old South By Southwest Music Conference in Austin, he's head of the team that brings the bands the whole world wants to see to a city in central Texas. From this year's chat with NYC's legendary poet-grumpiate Lou Reed to electric moments such as when the Kinks' Ray Davies joined Vancouver's then-unknown New Pornographers onstage at an afternoon barbecue, Grulke's been there.

All right, he's been in town. The truth is, the poor guy barely sees any music at all during the five-day festival. He's too busy.

"It's one of the real downsides of this job,'' says Grulke. "But one of the benefits of living in Austin is that you get to see amazing music all year long anyways.''

"It was the live music scene here that spawned the whole concept of South By Southwest, after all.''

Indeed, it was. There is a reason that the arrival lounge of the city airport declares "Welcome to the Live Music Capital of the World'' and it isn't just Texas-sized overstatement. OK, maybe a little. But megacities such as New York, London and Tokyo would be hard-pressed to come up with as many live music venues devoted - to a level of near-religious fervour - to the support and development of original independent music year round.

"This festival really serves as a beacon of what is happening in the music business at the moment and it is the live side of things. We've always been focused that way so, even while the traditional retail model and marketing structures are in major transition, we've seen an ever-increasing number and variety of talent applying to appear at the festival.''

There were 47 countries represented at the 2007 music festival. This year will expand beyond that. Besides the ever-present U.K., U.S. and Canadian contingents, the single largest South American entourage appears at the 2008 event. Brazil is the dominant force in this group.

It makes sense for Austin to be the entry point for Latin musicians into the North American market, says Grulke: "You can't separate Austin from its Latin or Spanish/Mexican roots. It's present everywhere in the city and no one who lives here isn't regularly blessed by it. It's a part of the musical roots of the city's whole sound.''

A sound that is world-famous for its rough and ready mix of "outlaw'' country, Mexican conjunto, mariachi and blues, Austin now also reflects contemporary global urban music trends such as multi-lingual hip hop, DJ culture, Latin rock and more. South By Southwest received criticism over the years for being slow to jump on these genres. Not so this year, where emerging trends ranging from Parisian thrash-tronica, dubstep, world breakbeat fusions and lots of gritty MCs are on the bill.

"What can I say, we've got longtime, dedicated staff on the team with specializations in these genres now so they are represented like never before. There never was any dislike, we just want to showcase the best.''

Over the course of the next week, the "best'' will be pounding out of amplifiers all over clubs in the famous Sixth Street zone.

SOUTH BY SOUTHWEST MUSIC. FILM. INTERACTIVE -- THE BREAKDOWN


Where: Austin, Texas

When: March 7-16

Why: This annual industry conference and festival in the capital of the Lone Star state is the "go to'' event for the live music industry in North and South America. Increasingly, it also registers in both the film and interactive communities annual "gotta go'' events. Particularly if you happen to be in the entertainment media, as attendance figures reveal.

(sxsw.com)

Showcasing musical acts: 1,580

Participating venues: 70 official (many more unofficial)

Music Conference participants: 11,750 (with band registration 13,071)

Music Trade Show attendees: 15,000

Music media attending: 2,592

Number of nations represented: 47

SXSW ECONOMIC IMPACT ON AUSTIN:


Music conference: U.S. $26.7 million

Film/Interactive conference: $16.8 million

Participants average daily spending: $264/day