During SXSW I nearly met the Bangles. The Bangles inspired me to make music, they were girl power. They wrote great songs and played their own instruments and rocked out! The first time I heard ‘Eternal Flame’ it was life changing and now, here they were in Austin to release their first album in seven years. Everywhere I went, people were crazy to see the Bangles and I couldn’t even get close. When I finally meet them it will be one hell of a story!
I also saw Deep Dark Robot, featuring Linda Perry, live. The band was amazing and yes I got to meet Linda Perry again! You can never get too much of a good thing – now all I have to do is to convince her to produce my next album!
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- Joy Formidable SXSW
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- 6th Street SXSW
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- Deep Dark Robot SXSW
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- Linda Perry and me SXSW
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- Kanye and Jay Z SXSW 2
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- Kanye and Jay Z SXSW
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- SXSW
Other SXSW experiences included watching Jack White playing outside his mobile vinyl record shop, Adam Duritz, Kurt Vile, TV and The Radio, Screaming Females, Foo Fighters, Joy Formidable, Mike Tyson (!) and to round it off Kanye West at the Power Station. I have never stood through a 4 hour concert before and I managed to get right to the front – which is very good considering my ‘petite’ frame.
There was lots of free tequila and rum, which helped with the 4 hour standathon. Kanye had his label signings such as Kid Cudi, Bon Iver, John Legend, Mr Hudson and a host of others coming on separately and together for the show and even a full drum band! The highlight for me was definitely the collaboration between Jay Z and Kanye. They played off each other really well and having never gone to a hip-hop concert before I got my first taste of how powerful it could be.
SXSW in Austin was a wild week and I didn’t even get to see 10% of everyone I wanted to see or meet – but it was lots of fun. Sleep and healthy eating were blown out for 24 hours of music and partying. What made it extra special for me though was that my band were all from Austin and so were most of the audience at our gig and they really screamed for us. Even if there is no festival on, I would like to come back and be part of that again!
Austinians you not only keep Austin weird, but you make it special for visiting musicians with your warmth and energy! Now to find my cowboy hat…
Below is an interview for Tri-State Indie that I did in Austin and a clip of Kanye and Jay Z at SXSW.
Rock on!
Anita x.
