SXSW Expands Their International Net
One of the main reasons music fans and industry folks make the trek to Austin each year, put miles and miles one their Chuck Taylors, and endure long lines and late hours is the ability to see and hear bands they would never see otherwise. Meaning, bands from all over the world, from Tehran to Croatia.
While showcases that the Brits, Aussies, and the Scots throw every year never disappoint, in 2009 more countries are entering the fray. This year Spain has more than one or two bands catching a plane, the Latin country gets into the action with “Sounds of Spain,” which takes place on Thursday, March 19 at Brush Square Park at 4:30pm.
Along with sangria and paella (gotta take advantage of all the free drink and eat you can, right?), the line up includes a mix of all Spain’s music flavors, including indie rock from La Habitacion Roja and The Right Ons, Seville-based rap group SFDK and the surf-rock sounds of Los Coronas with special guest Depedro, as well as Underwater Tea Party and folk-rock icon Nacho Vegas.
If you can’t make the daytime party, make sure to check out these bands during the nighttime “Sounds of Spain” nighttime showcase. Other Spain acts to keep an ear out for include We Are Balboa, Suzy y Los Quattro, Guillamino, Sunday Drivers, Tokyo Sex Destruction, Capsula, Savia, The Pepper Pots, We Are Standard, Hyperpotamus, La Carrau, just to name a few.
In another part of the Latin world, the Columbian Government is taking a nod from Scotland in supporting its country’s artists by working with SXSW to showcase the largest number of Columbian acts in SXSW’s history. And there’s something for everyone—punk, hip-hop, metal, pop, fire eaters, you get the picture.
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Monareta from Bogota, Columbia, describes themselves this way, “It was the 80s and all the streetbikers in Colombia were heavily influenced by the break-dance and electric boogaloo music styles arriving from the U.S. We heard groups like the Beastie Boys and Public Enemy and they completely changed our lives. The brands of our bikes were not Mongoose or GT. We had Monaretas. And so that’s how we got the name for our group—it’s a homage to the ’80s break-dance, hip hop, BMX and fashion scene sounds that came from abroad to influence us in South America.”
Listening to Monareta’s “Matanza Funk,” it all makes sense. Close your eyes and you see boys spinning handlebars and bouncing rubber while defying gravity, girls doing backflips in red striped Adidas gear, and the Chemical Brothers holding Sammy the Salmon while bouncing their heads in admiration.
If you want to warm up for Warped Tour crowd surfing, turn to Don Tetto. Poper could play the soundtrack to your own video of you running in slow motion down 6th Street, trying to escape the rain that came pouring from the Austin sky unexpectedly.
But it is the Latin hip-hop “Fuego” from Bomba Estereo and pulsating beats of Choc Quib Town that will get the heart pumping and the body sweating (even so, refrain from packing and using that Axe deodorant stick you got in your stocking…from 2005).
Other acts to appearing include Diva Gash, Monica Giraldo, Verde3, and Doctor Krapula and Raton Perez.
The South By Southwest Music & Media Conference and Festival takes place at the Austin Convention Center and on over 80 stages throughout downtown Austin, along with panels, interviews, workshops, peer meetings, and trade show exhibition.
For the latest information as it is updated or to register to attend the Music, Film, Interactive, or all three SXSW conference programs, go to http://sxsw.com.
