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.
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.
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 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.
Our 6th annual official day party at Friends could not have gone better – thanks so much to everyone who joined us on Friday for an awesome day of music and sun on 6th Street! The Berklee PULSE team was onsite filming the show, along with student interviews, for a full video about the day (coming soon to Berklee.edu!) In the meantime, we’ll be posting pics and videos here of the various student and alumni bands who played. Here, Boston-based alumni band, Aloud, closes out the party with a high-energy set that had the crowd singing, dancing, and clapping along:
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.
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, 
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.
