Vic's Diary: Day 1 - Part 2

As I started my diary yesterday, things hadn't properly kicked off at the music conference here in Austin. As we move into the festival, it's well and truly under way and the slightly overwhelming feeling of musical madness is upon us all! Too much to see, too much to do! How do you choose? Which of the 60 venues should we go to? What shall I eat - barbeque or tex-mex? Oh, the quandries and dilemmas!!

Anyway, I left you yesterday about to chat to 'Sons and Daughters'... in fact, just as I finished writing the blog, they appeared as if by magic behind my laptop and I in the convention centre. A video chat ensued - all done in the sun with added shades and leather jackets... very rock'n'roll, of course! We caught up their previous experiences of SXSW and talked about the new album and forthcoming US and Canadian tour. Lovely folks, and always willing to take a bit of time out of their busy schedules.

If you want to make an impression in amongst the 1000's of bands in Austin, it's best to try and play as many gigs as possible, at night and during the day. The parties and barbeques usually start at midday and then morph into the official showcase gigs in the evenings which usually kick off at 8pm. Basically you can watch bands solidly for about 14 hours a day if you so desire! The Scottish bands are all doing their best to network and play as many gigs as possible, but 'Frightened Rabbit' - who already have a decent profile stateside - are about the most frantic at the moment. We're trying to catch up with them each day to get their perspective on the event, and how gigs differ from venue to venue. Again, properly decent and friendly lads, we chatted on camera for this site about their afternoon show in 'Emo's Annex' as part of the '5th Annual IODA Opening Day Bash'. The sweat was still running off their faces, spirits were high and chat about SXSW and Selkirk was had!!

From there, it was down to some serious work and concentration. We headed to 'The Production Block', a studio we're hiring on North Lamar (street), to prepare for a LIVE broadcast on Radio 1. My 'BBC Introducing in Scotland with Vic Galloway on Radio 1' show (catchy title, huh?) was to go out between 7pm and 9pm Austin time, and midnight until 2am UK time... a bit confusing, but thoroughly rewarding as Mark, Muslim and I (with help from inhouse Texas sound engineer Bill Harwell) powered through another blinding (if I do say so myself) 2 hours of quality tuneage... all from Scotland of course. It was a little daunting as the equipment we were using, was completely different to normal... but hey, I don't reckon anyone would've noticed back home. I hope the vibe and energy were the same as ever! Listen again via the BBC iplayer if you can. Over the next few days we're collecting live sessions, making features and getting vox-pops from SXSW so make sure you listen to the Radio 1 show on 20th March... it's gonna be special!

From the studio, we realised we'd not eaten since breakfast (an unusual scenario for Texas, as the food is so delicious here!!) so went with Bill to a local restaurant to eat... as ever, it was extremely tasty but probably not particularly healthy... red meat, cheese, salt, spices etc... ah well, when in Rome...!! As the tucker was very quickly inhaled(!), we jumped into our people carrier and made it down to 'Antone's' - one of the many amazing spaces to see music in Austin, where I'd previously seen 'Calexico' and various other bands in years gone by. It was the 'Domino Records' showcase and we arrived to see our pals, Sons and Daughters deliver a punchy, energetic set of songs old and new. They were followed by 'The Kills', who impressed over the first 2 or 3 songs but then fell a little flat. Finally, a hot NYC band 'White Williams' took to the stage and won the hearts of those in the venue, getting the crowd shimmying to their electronica meets guitars, psychedelic, krautrock mash-up... think Bowie, Neu! and Hot Chip... but American!! Great stuff - I'll be playing the single 'New Violence' in due course on BBC Radio Scotland on a monday night soon. Check out some pictures from the night here.

From there, a nightcap or 2 was downed and my much-needed bed was in sight. I wandered to my hotel at 11th and San Jacinto to hit the hay, ahead of more merriment tomorrow at the greatest music event on the planet... SXSW! Hasta la vista, compadres!!

Links

On the BBC

• Scotland's Music
• SXSW Blog

On the web

• Official SXSW site