SXSW Journal

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 5

While most of my fellow South By Southwesters opened their eyes to splitting headaches and ringing ears — if they’d gotten any sleep at all — Andrew Whiteman awoke to see his face in full rock-out freeze-frame on the front page of XL Extra, the SXSW supplement in the Austin American-Statesman.

The final supplement from the fest offered the last bit of buzz, including this glowing headline: “Hustle and Bustle: Andrew Whiteman and his Canadian Apostles are the Energizer bunnies of SXSW.”

“It’s freakin’ amazing,” Whiteman said over his cell phone somewhere near El Paso, already en route to Tucson for another show with Stars. “I don’t know why that happened, but it’s great that it did. We really worked hard and kicked ass while we were there.”

The guitarist for Toronto’s Broken Social Scene had come to Austin with his own band, Apostle of Hustle, determined to define the latter as more than a side project. Over five showcases, Whiteman managed to do just that.

Of course, this isn’t the first time he’s been an Austin cover boy. BSS’s scene-stealing performance at Stubb’s outdoor amphitheatre last year scored the front of the Austin Chronicle (a weekly paper that goes daily during SXSW).

Most of the artists at SXSW have hit the road, and Austin’s once-crowded downtown streets have emptied. Those of us who remained were sequestered in sun-splashed patios. It was actually a little disturbing how much Austin felt like a ghost town — no guitar riffs surfing the breeze, no drumbeats propelling tired feet. Scattered shows still occurred throughout the night, as a few rock zombies stumbled through the 6th Street bar district.

This year’s SXSW was truly Texas-sized, attracting a record 1,350 acts. It was bigger than ever, but not necessarily better.

Indie rock had been bubbling under the radar for most of the millennium, but really experienced a growth spurt last year. Radio and video maintained their distance, but the mainstream began finding the music anyway, via outlets like MP3 blogs, file-sharing networks, The OC and the Garden State soundtrack.

In 2004, there was a backlog of about-to-blow bands like American East Coaster Ted Leo, British exports Franz Ferdinand and Dizzee Rascal and platinum-sellers Modest Mouse, as well as a Canadian contingent consisting of Broken Social Scene, Metric, the Constantines and Arcade Fire. But none of those bands felt the need to return this year, making way for farm teams to be called up.

Many met the challenge, but the hype seemed concentrated on only a few acts, even though there were more bands (and festival-goers) than ever. Wristbands for the general public sold out quickly but wearers were often left lining up in the streets; even those with badges (mainly industry and media types) were thwarted at major showcases. Luckily, many acts, like Apostle of Hustle and Bloc Party, staged multiple showcases to ensure maximum exposure.

“Everything is beneficial,” posited an exhausted Kevin Drew of Broken Social Scene, who was in Austin as co-owner of indie label Arts & Crafts, not as a performer. “Don’t spend your life savings, but if you come down [to Austin], do as many shows as you can. It’s really an opportunity festival more than a music festival.”

It will be a few more months before we find out which bands benefited the most from the industry and media buzz at SXSW. Even if the schedule wasn’t quite as strong as last year, there will always be bands that break out; plus, the influx of fans bodes well for everyone.

“I definitely have faith in South By Southwest because it happened for [Broken] Social Scene,” Whiteman says. While pleased with the industry feedback Apostle received, he noted, “It’s not like, ‘Oh, I hope so-and-so shows up.’ I was hoping we could create some energy. Mission accomplished.”