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I am first going to start by stating the obvious - music brings people together, period. I love music, I love indie bands and I am happy that there is a festival showcasing very good unknown bands like SXSW - although I feel it has gotten pretty far off from their original goal of HELPING independent bands be heard and now it's just soo big and commercial and the true independents remain unknown unless there is an off chance they get a prime slot right before a mid-level band and someone of importance is in the crowd.
I actually feel now South By is best for the mid-level bands that already have some recognition and radio play going on and are about to drop a new album so it just builds their base and recognition. I kinda feel bad for the true indie bands with no label, no support that are doing kickstarters and scraping money by to get to the festival just to play a bunch of gigs and then go back to their normal routine and life. Most of the members of indie bands all have other jobs, and this is just their passion on the side.
I started early researching bands and just went down the line listening to the different bands and making a list of who I want to try and see. Needless to say the list in it's entirety is so massive I wouldn't have made it through or I would have lost my job haha. One of the bands I put on my list were The Standards and they are from Bangkok, Thailand. Yes an indie rock band from Thailand. I found a couple of bands with the same name - and I was confused as the SXSW list had Thailand listed and another page I found said they were from London. I reached out on twitter and FB and found out in fact they were coming to SXSW. This was pretty far back in December or January so I kept my research going and added them on twitter and facebook.
As a side note, every year my kids get spring break with their dad since we live over 200 miles away from each other. It just so happens South By is always during spring break..so it's my time to consume as much music as humanly possible and this year it just so happened my sister was out of town the same week and I agreed to house/dog sit for her which left my apartment pretty much unused for the week.
One day a tweet came out that The Standards got their official showcase and now they needed help to get there and asked for any connections in regards to housing or any places to stay in Austin. So I thought..what they heck - my apartment is not near downtown but it would help out by saving them money on a hotel. The downside is that they would have to use that money on cabs. I didn't know until they got here you have to have an international drivers license anyway to rent a car so that wasn't an option for them.
After connecting with the person that runs their twitter account Hannah (She writes a great blog, btw) I got in touch with the singer Matt on Facebook and we started working out some arrangements. Call me crazy but I thought it was perfectly fine to allow 5 people in a band I didn't know to stay in my apartment for a week. Of course, this all depended on if they got enough funding to go. They started a kickstarter and it literally was down to the last few days until they got everything sorted out but they made it and they were definitely coming!
I only took Thursday and Friday off work this year so my note to self is definitely W-F or swing the whole week if I can. Matt came in Monday evening and the rest of the crew made it later on Tuesday. I think only a few of them had international plans on their phones but I do of course have wi-fi at my apartment so we were able to communicate by Facebook messenger whenever they were at my apartment or somewhere with free wi-fi.
I had messaged Matt to make sure he made it OK Monday evening and he didn't reply until about 11:30 just as I was about to crawl into bed. (I had to work the next day mind you). So he let me know he made it and that he was starving so I agreed to come and pick him up so I could take him to get some late night food. It was an easy decision - I was taking him to Whataburger. If you have never had Whataburger or don't live in a Whataburger state you won't understand but pretty much when it's late at night and you want fast food - that is where you go. We eat a bit and catch up on the crazy differences in cultures as Matt is originally from London so I just had fun listening to his accent. ;)
Tuesday night I met my former boss and friend for dinner and then we headed to Bar 96 for the Dutch showcase - Matt was meeting one of the bands, Monokino so they could work out the details for their day show they were putting on together on Thursday. The rest of the band shows up later too so it was cool to finally meet everyone.
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I started early researching bands and just went down the line listening to the different bands and making a list of who I want to try and see. Needless to say the list in it's entirety is so massive I wouldn't have made it through or I would have lost my job haha. One of the bands I put on my list were The Standards and they are from Bangkok, Thailand. Yes an indie rock band from Thailand. I found a couple of bands with the same name - and I was confused as the SXSW list had Thailand listed and another page I found said they were from London. I reached out on twitter and FB and found out in fact they were coming to SXSW. This was pretty far back in December or January so I kept my research going and added them on twitter and facebook.
As a side note, every year my kids get spring break with their dad since we live over 200 miles away from each other. It just so happens South By is always during spring break..so it's my time to consume as much music as humanly possible and this year it just so happened my sister was out of town the same week and I agreed to house/dog sit for her which left my apartment pretty much unused for the week.
One day a tweet came out that The Standards got their official showcase and now they needed help to get there and asked for any connections in regards to housing or any places to stay in Austin. So I thought..what they heck - my apartment is not near downtown but it would help out by saving them money on a hotel. The downside is that they would have to use that money on cabs. I didn't know until they got here you have to have an international drivers license anyway to rent a car so that wasn't an option for them.
After connecting with the person that runs their twitter account Hannah (She writes a great blog, btw) I got in touch with the singer Matt on Facebook and we started working out some arrangements. Call me crazy but I thought it was perfectly fine to allow 5 people in a band I didn't know to stay in my apartment for a week. Of course, this all depended on if they got enough funding to go. They started a kickstarter and it literally was down to the last few days until they got everything sorted out but they made it and they were definitely coming!
I only took Thursday and Friday off work this year so my note to self is definitely W-F or swing the whole week if I can. Matt came in Monday evening and the rest of the crew made it later on Tuesday. I think only a few of them had international plans on their phones but I do of course have wi-fi at my apartment so we were able to communicate by Facebook messenger whenever they were at my apartment or somewhere with free wi-fi.
I had messaged Matt to make sure he made it OK Monday evening and he didn't reply until about 11:30 just as I was about to crawl into bed. (I had to work the next day mind you). So he let me know he made it and that he was starving so I agreed to come and pick him up so I could take him to get some late night food. It was an easy decision - I was taking him to Whataburger. If you have never had Whataburger or don't live in a Whataburger state you won't understand but pretty much when it's late at night and you want fast food - that is where you go. We eat a bit and catch up on the crazy differences in cultures as Matt is originally from London so I just had fun listening to his accent. ;)
Tuesday night I met my former boss and friend for dinner and then we headed to Bar 96 for the Dutch showcase - Matt was meeting one of the bands, Monokino so they could work out the details for their day show they were putting on together on Thursday. The rest of the band shows up later too so it was cool to finally meet everyone.
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Matt & I at Bar 96
Some notable acts we saw were Mozes and the Firstborn, Monokino and Mister and Mississippi. We hung out for a little bit and waited for the entire crew to come and I realize now I should have taken more pictures.
Nay, Matt and Paul
We had a good time Tuesday night but didn't stay out too late as 4 out of the 5 had been on planes for almost an entire day.
On Wednesday night we struck out with trying to see certain bands because the venues were at capacity and just kind of walked around and happened to catch the last couple of songs by Band of Skulls and then a full set of Morning Parade. After that I probably could have been crazy and stayed out waiting in lines for big headliners but tomorrow was their big day with a day show and their showcase on Thursday night so we called it an early night. I am thankful we did, after I dropped them off I checked twitter and heard about the crazy tragedy that happened with the drunk driver.
Thursday is the big day show and their official showcase at night. The Standards and Monokino put this day show together with some pretty good other bands slated to play. It was outside at the Cherrywood Coffee house and I already planned on going so I gave them a lift. We got there early as The Standards were in charge of the backline for all the bands. It was a perfect day and everything went really great. This was my first time seeing them live and it was pretty awesome. My other favorite band I saw that day was Public Service Broadcasting - I became an official fan even though I was familiar with them..the live show was great and had a chat with the guys afterward, too.
I thought the above pic was hilarious - that is what the cig boxes look like in Thailand - you know to deter you from smoking. MC let me do a quick pose with his box haha. After the set was done it was time to pack up and get ready for the next gig. Tonight the official showcase was at BD Riley's.
I will just sum up the fact that they really killed it Thursday night and I'm posting their video from the showcase to prove it.
The rest of this blog will be photos of the rest of our adventures and I'm glad I got to share my love of Royal Blood with everyone but Matt (you know he's a rock star and off doing his own thing). The Standards are true rockers and I knew they would appreciate the awesomeness that is Royal Blood. I had fun meeting a really cool group of musicians that live thousands of miles away during a week when I was just going to be a bystander in the crowd watching bands I like. It was cool to help them get from here to there, to watch them rock it four times and also to actually meet some friends from a country far, far away.
I'm also sad to report Paul (the one in the hat) is moving to Germany and they played their last show last month :(. Of course I had those hopes of rooting for the true indie band, that they would get seen or heard by someone important and make it so they can really do what they love all the time, not just for the occasional gig. South By was just like a musical vacation for them, back to Bangkok and back to their regular lives after their shows.
I have a true appreciation now for all indie bands just doing it for the love of music and their hard work and dedication to just getting out there recording and playing and wishing like hell they can one day quit their day jobs. I hope The Standards enjoyed their experience at South By this year and I have some great memories from my week hanging out with them. That is why I write this blog my friends to share the love of great music by great bands you have probably never heard of.
Nit, Nay and Paul after the BD Rileys set
Paul, MC, Nit and Nay watching Royal Blood w/me
Nay, Nit, Matt, Paul, Me and MC
Paul and I on a pedicab
Matt, Paul and I are about to watch DZ Deathrays
Thank you Matt, Paul, MC, Nay and Nit for rocking it and not trashing my apartment haha! Now go have a reunion show in London next year so I can come see ;)
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