Here it is, folks – video from our 2nd annual Lucky Lounge Party, featuring Berklee student and alumni bands, and hosted by Austin alumni chapter head Sarah Sharp (shown below, with Jitterbug Vipers). More video to follow from Friends and our alumni barbeque – if you’ve got some of your own, link to it here, or send it our way! (berkleeblogs@gmail.com)
SXSW
Berklee’s SXSW Party at Lucky Lounge in photos
March 27, 2011 – 2:47 pm
Back from SXSW in Austin, where Berklee hosted three events again this year. The thirteen alumni and student bands who played at Berklee’s parties made their mark among the dozens of alumni bands performing at shows and parties around Austin last week (who were in turn among 2,000 plus (!) bands playing at the 25th Anniversary of SXSW.
We had a good turnout at Off the Record at the Lucky Lounge (St. Patrick’s Day no less) and possibly our biggest crowd yet at Friends on 6th St. the following day for Berklee’s 6th Annual Official SXSW Party. The club counted nearly 750 people during the course of the day.
SXSW Tips for Musicians
March 25, 2011 – 12:11 pm
There is truly an art form to going to SXSW. With about 2,000 bands officially listed for this year’s festival (and who knows how many others that are there to play house shows and do street performances), navigating the sometimes-barricaded streets and keeping track of precious gear, amongst hoards of people and in the blistering Texan sun, you better check yo self, ‘fo you wreck yo self.
Seriously, @#$% happens. But I took notes and spoke to some folks about what will help keep you and your bandmates sane during SXSW.
1. 
Wear earplugs. If you haven’t started protecting your hearing, now is the time. I know that some people think it affects their experience of how they hear the music while they play, but if you are in a band that uses amps or lots of percussion, you need to get used to it. There are the cheap foam ones that you can buy at your local drugstore, the midrange quality ones, or spend some cash and go see your local audiologist to get fitted for a pair of musician’s earplugs.
Spalding and Bieber to Collaborate?
March 23, 2011 – 11:23 am
Now that got your attention! It’s not entirely irrelevant, I swear…
Arriving at SXSW on Wednesday, the day before the start of Berklee’s events – read more and watch videos here – I hit the convention center to catch a few panels before the craziness started. Looking through the SXSW Directory – which was about as thick as a mid-sized-city’s yellow pages (but who uses one of those anymore…) – I saw that two Berklee alumni were on an upcoming panel, so I headed over.
The Intersection of Jazz and Hip Hop was moderated by Berklee alumnus Brian “Raydar” Ellis ‘05, now an instructor of turntablism, and included alumna Meghan Stabile ‘06, founder of the Revive Music Group and online music journal the Revivalist. The other panelists were producer Erin Davis, son of Miles Davis; Vincent Wilburn Jr., CEO of Nefdrum Productions (and nephew of Miles Davis); Andre Torres, editor of influential music magazine Wax Poetics; and noted turntablist DJ Logic.
Torres, Ellis, Stabile, Davis, Wilburn, Logic. Best I could do without a flash...
I didn’t see the whole panel, but much of it focused on Miles Davis’s enduring influence on jazz, hip-hop, and pop music in general. Ellis opened up with
Berklee en el SXSW 2011
March 21, 2011 – 4:21 pm
Berklee vuelve al Lucky Lounge en el downtown de la ciudad por segunda vez en la tarde de jueves, luego el viernes se hizo la sexta fiesta oficial del SXSW, la calle más ocupada del SXSW en Austin. SXSW celebra su 25to aniversario este año, recibiendo mas de 1.900 bandas durante su semana de la música, 16-20 de marzo.