SXSW Journal

Stars in action at SXSW. Photo by Joshua Ostroff.

Known as the “Sundance of music,” the South By Southwest Music and Media Conference and Festival (SXSW) in Austin, Tex., is the single biggest event in the independent music calendar. First staged in 1987, SXSW has become the most vaunted testing ground for up-and-coming bands; last year’s festival showcased 1,279 bands in 60 venues. Toronto journalist Joshua Ostroff was in Austin last week following various Canadian musicians, and kept a journal of words and pictures.

Day 2

“I hope your drunken daughters are gay!”

Torquil Campbell, lead singer of “soft revolutionaries” Stars, practically screams this lyric to the group’s anti-Bush rant He Lied About Death. Campbell, wearing an adorable “Goodbye Fascist” T-shirt, is quick to point out that G-Dubya is from ’round these parts.

In fact, Bush’s twin daughters were busted for offences related to underage drinking in this very city. But as my long-haired cabbie noted, Austin’s a sparkling blue amid the Texan red sea.

The city’s massive student population — the local branch of the University of Texas alone boasts an enrolment of about 50,000 — is the likely root of liberal tendencies. It’s also the fuel keeping multitudinous music venues operating during non-March months, leading the city to officially — and hyperbolically — declare itself “the live music capital of the world.”

Most of us music industry types are invading Austin from outside oil country, so it’s no surprise Torquil’s attacks are met with resounding cheers. Then again, the reception to the band’s entire performance has been equally enthusiastic, despite the 2 p.m. start time.

“This is like The Apprentice,” Campbell stage-banters. “Twenty minutes to impress everyone and Donald Trump is in the backroom saying, ‘You’re fired!’ Well, f--- Donald Trump.”

A big crowd, complete with awestruck teen girls singing along, has shown up for Stars’s ecstatic early-afternoon show, even though the Toronto/Montreal indie-pop band’s album, Set Yourself On Fire, has only been out for a week in the States. It’s already moved 3,000 copies, following prominent play on The OC and props from Spin, Rolling Stone and Entertainment Weekly.

“There are big differences,” Campbell says later, comparing his experiences at SXSW this year and last. “Last year nobody gave a
s---. This year people do.”

Stars friend and Broken Social Scene member Leslie Feist also has an afternoon set, a live radio broadcast. Her latest album has not yet been released in America. Playing solo, she charms the backyard audience, prompting a sing-along and reminiscences about her SXSW appearance two years ago with BSS.

“A lot of margaritas were involved,” she says.

A few margs later, the streets are getting disturbingly full and the lineup to see hyped Sri Lankan-born singer M.I.A. — not hitting the mike until 11 p.m. — is already forming four hours early.

A trip out to La Zona Rosa, a 1,300-person venue, is no better. We waste an hour in line grumbling and griping before finally seeing British act Futureheads and British Columbia rockers Hot Hot Heat. The latter deliver a set of great singles marred by so-so sound.

We cab to the old airport for an after-party. It’s a heavy industry crowd — dudes in white fur coats, ladies in club clothes. The first band, the Bravery, looks like it was concocted in a Hollywood pitch meeting. Hell, the whole party — held in an enormous airplane hangar — is self-consciously cinematic.

Then, California’s Queens of the Stone Age take the stage and deliver a set of unmatched ferocity. Though by now too big to play at SXSW proper, their rise from the underground offers a road map for the burgeoning bands like Hot Hot Heat and Stars, who are still playing in bars.