The next big thing at SXSW

Tue 7th Apr, 2009 in Features

As South by Southwest wraps up for another year, FasterLouder takes time out with four Aussies who made the trek over to Austin, to find out who is set to be the next big thing.

Dave Benge from Speak n Spell Records, SXSW’s official blogger Linda Park, Simon Moore from Sony Music and Frank Xavier from Infusion all seem to agree on at least one point – 2009 will be the year of Temper Trap.

What has taken you over to SXSW?

Linda Park: I work for the festival so I have no choice.

Simon Moore: I go to SXSW to support the artists we have playing. This year Angus And Julia Stone were invited by KCRW to play a showcase on the first night which was a great opportunity for our LA office to invite all the music supervisors to see them play. There is a really good thing building in the US for Angus and Julia and we can and are playing an important role in this.

Dave Benge: Finding new artists for our record label / touring company. And Cut Off Your Hands whom we manage were playing 10 shows there so we were looking after them as well!

Frank Xavier: Well after finally finishing our new album due to drop this year, we wanted to head to Austin and play some of our new material with our new band. We actually played in Austin unofficially a couple of years back and it really blew our mind so we wanted to head back and be apart of it all. It’s all about just keeping the vibe going for us overseas so we can continue playing great shows over there like we have been over the last few years

Before you arrived in Texas who was the one band that you considered a “must see” at SXSW?

Linda Park: Marco Benevento. He’s a brilliant jazz pianist… and pretty adorable, too

Simon Moore: Devo.

Dave Benge: Abe Vigoda.

Frank Xavier: Metalllica and Echo and the Bunnymen were high on the tick list, which included lots and lots of bands. It’s very hard to see what you want with over 1,900 bands in town. It was a cross between a Warner Movies Studios and doing speed dating as everyone is just rushing from one band to the next day after day and night after night.

Since you have arrived who has been the most talked about Aussie band?

Linda Park: Lots of Aussies at SXSW this year…Everyone’s talking about The Temper Trap and Lenka.

Simon Moore: Umm…see above (no, not Devo)!

Dave Benge: I’d say Temper Trap or My Disco. (That’s discounting Cut Off Your Hands and Ladyhawke, as strictly speaking they’re NZ bands!)

Frank Xavier: Well us of course! No…Actually Temper Trap seemed to be the hot band to catch! We really like them. And although we didn’t make it down to catch them, An Horse seemed to be another less hyped-about band, but then people were talking about them after their live performance here in Austin.

International band?

Linda Park: Glasvegas or Peter, Bjorn and John.

Simon Moore: Too many to mention: Grizzly Bear, Passion Pit, Mumford And Sons.

Dave Benge: There didn’t seem to be just ONE band that everyone was talking about this year like other years – or not that I noticed. Black Lips got a lot of press as usual, as did King Khan. Also, Wavves seemed to be one of the “hot” tickets.

Frank Xavier: Late of the Pier was definitely very cool to see live and it was great to see some of our iconic favourites like PJ Harvey and Echo and the Bunnymen..

Have you discovered any “hot new thing” whilst at SXSW – or a band you just really dig?

Linda Park: Gil Mantera’s Party Dream – they make life fun for the person who kills fun.

Simon Moore: Yes, but I don’t think I discovered them. School Of The Seven Bells, who also played on the KCRW showcase.

Dave Benge: I saw this band Woods play that totally blew my mind. I absolutely loved them. I also thought Girls from San Francisco were brilliant and Women were killer too.

Frank Xavier: Well we weren’t really looking out for any – but Datarock were great to see! There were a heap of bands we wanted to see on the last day but we took off for a show in Mexico…thought we might get caught in a few drug wars in between! It was pretty safe despite all the bad press the country is getting right now and we get great crowds over there – and the tequila is the best!

Is everything REALLY bigger in Texas?

Linda Park: I didn’t think so, until I moved to L.A.

Simon Moore: After eating there for four days, I was bigger in Texas.

Dave Benge: The people and food definitely are…

Frank Xavier: We wouldn’t say that…except SXSW is definitely BIG. Just imagine a music festival taking over a whole city with apparently about 100,000 people walking about. And of course the food is ALWAYS supersize. Burgers, ribs, fries…definitely makes the Aussie dollar go a bit further!