South By Southwest (SXSW) Music Festival is an annual conference held in Austin, Texas, and is the number one hot spot for eyeing down your fav new artists. Mixed with a bunch of industry legends and newbies from around the world, artists perform in front of industry professionals, media and fans at venues ranging from small pubs to world renowned locations. The initiative of the event is to give the next wave of talented artists the advice, experience and exposure they need to break in to the tough industry, while punters get to watch some great performances.
Next year I propose all us hardworking people telling our bosses “sorry, I won’t be at work this week, I have to attend a conference.” It’s not lying… just twisting the truth, right?
This week, the initial 240 acts have been announced and If we want to make it a competition, Australia has outdone itself on this years lineup. When taking in to account our population, proportionately Australia has the most live showcases of any country! Acts like Stella Donnelly, Didirri and Mallrat attended last years SXSW and since then have gained huge accolades domestically and abroad. And this year, there are no less than 18 artists to find their way onto the lineup – all of whom you can find at the end of the article.
Here are just five of those acts, who we think will be making waves internationally and back home after their appearances at SXSW next year.
Castlecomer
Sydney five peace, Castlecomer are catchy without being cliché or cringeworthy. These guys have already had a taste of fame with their single “Fire Alarm” peaking at number 6 on the Spotify Global Viral Chart and racking up over 6 million streams on Spotify alone. Despite this huge achievement the band is far from a household name and their self titled debut album released earlier in October smashes any question of these guys being a one hit wonder. With something to please everyone, Castlecomer has groovy rock tracks and acoustic pop tracks, with catchy hooks running all the way through and holding the album together.
Castlecomer have been compared to The Strokes and Daft Punk and with their voice, energy and emotion i’m sure they have the capacity to be stars as well!
For more information about Castlecomer check out their Facebook HERE.
Bloods
The best possible mess! Dirk, the drummer is actually a guitarist, MC, the guitarist is actually a bass player and Sweetie, the bassist is actually a violinist, so each member of this pop-punk/garage rock group had to learn how to play new instruments before they could even begin songwriting!
These guys are bringing back optimism and good times to this sort of music! Delightfully light hearted and groovy, their melodies are packed with a punch that has me hesitantly dancing in the shower as I attempt to not end up lying on the floor, naked, crying for help.
Bloods have been around since 2012 doing the hard yards round the country and perfecting their sound. Their most recent album released in August this year really shows a new production and professional side to the band that desveres to be heard.
To learn more about Bloods visit their Facebook HERE.
Skegss
If you live in Australia and haven’t heard Skegss yet, you probably don’t have ears. These guys cemented themselves as a stoner pop festival must see a while back, but their most recent album My Own Mess has Skegss ensuring they aren’t just a backing track for guys punching each other in mosh pits. Rather, songs like “Up In The Clouds” and “My Own Mess” have a summery, reminiscent feel with strong melodies and sweet sentiments that will endure long past this summer.
A seriously Australian sound, Skegss are packing out venues round the country right now and SXSW will host the perfect chance to push their uplifting sound in to the international arena.
For more info about Skegss click HERE.
Acharne
If their is any time to be to be producing left of field electronic tracks it is now, with acts like Jon Hopkins, Willaris K and Schlomo showing crowds the power and beauty of this sort of music.
Dark, vast and chilling, Acharne blends organic and synthetic sounds creating huge swirling soundscapes. In “Innocence and Suburbia” Acharne somehow manages to bring in pop-like vocals without taking away from the dour and eerie nature of the track, a huge credit to his production skills.
Mesmerizing in a live setting, Acharne’s production ability and mood controlling capacity is bound to be jaw dropping.
To keep up to date with Acharne click HERE.
Feels
With acts like Confidence Man and Superorganism reminding us of the power of uniqueness and creativity, female Perth duo Feels are blending percussive and electronic elements in to a bright and rhythmic sound I haven’t heard before.
Innovative while still easy to listen, each song takes a sharp turn from their last, some purely acoustic, others with clean pop vocal choruses and some using aspects of spoken word to push a message of female empowerment. When spoken, lyrics like “we chose merit over gender, hope you ladies understand” really stand out without removing the catchy sweetness of their tunes.
Energetic and groovy, if these guys were a colour they would be splattered fluro pink and green all over a canvas.
To find out more about what Feels are up to click HERE.
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Here’s the full 1st SXSW Music Announcement:
47SOUL (London UK-ENGLAND)
Acharné (Sydney AUSTRALIA)
Alexandra Cardenas (Berlin GERMANY)
Amanda Palmer (Boston MA)
Amaru Tribe (Melbourne AUSTRALIA)
Amyl & The Sniffers (Melbourne AUSTRALIA)
Annabel Allum (Guildford UK-ENGLAND)
APRE (London UK-ENGLAND)
Arkansas Dave (Austin TX)
Art School Girlfriend (Wrexham UK-WALES)
audiobooks (London UK-ENGLAND)
Ayelle (Stockholm SWEDEN)
Bad Bad Hats (Minneapolis MN)
Bane’s World (Long Beach CA)
Baseball Gregg (Stockton CA)
Baywaves (Madrid SPAIN)
Be Forest (Pesaro ITALY)
Berndsen (Reykjavik ICELAND)
The Beths (Auckland NEW ZEALAND)
Big Phony (Seoul SOUTH KOREA)
BIRTHH (Florence ITALY)
Black Rheno (Sydney AUSTRALIA)
Blood Cultures (Jersey NJ)
Bloods (Sydney AUSTRALIA)
Blushing (Austin TX)
Body Type (Sydney AUSTRALIA)
Bohemian Betyars (Miskolc HUNGARY)
Bones Garage (Tel Aviv ISRAEL)
Boy Azooga (Cardiff UK-WALES)
Breathe Panel (Brighton UK-ENGLAND)
Brett Newski & the No Tomorrow (Milwaukee WI)
Bror Gunnar Jansson (Gothenburg SWEDEN)
Bubble Puppy (Austin TX)
Capsula (Buenos Aires ARGENTINA)
Castlecomer (Sydney AUSTRALIA)
Catherine Britt (Newcastle AUSTRALIA)
Cats On Trees (Toulouse FRANCE)
Ceramic Animal (Philadelphia PA)
Charli Adams (Nashville TN)
Charlie Belle (Austin TX)
Charlie Faye & The Fayettes (Austin TX)
The Chills (Dunedin NEW ZEALAND)
Chkbns (Saint Petersburg RUSSIA)
Cilantro Boombox (Austin TX)
Cones (Los Angeles CA)
Creamer (Nashville TN)
Damien McFly (Padova ITALY)
Darkbird (Austin TX)
David Boring (Hong Kong CHINA)
David Keenan (Dundalk IRELAND)
Dawn Avenue (Mexico City MEXICO)
Death Bells (Sydney AUSTRALIA)
Deeper (Chicago IL)
Diego Guerrero (Madrid SPAIN)
Drahla (Leeds UK-ENGLAND)
Drinking Boys and Girls Choir (Daegu SOUTH KOREA)
DSTR (Leipzig GERMANY)
The Dunts (Glasgow UK-SCOTLAND)
Dwagie (Tainan TAIWAN)
DYGL (Tokyo JAPAN)
Ecko (Buenos Aires ARGENTINA)
Ellis (Hamilton CANADA)
el Tambor de la Tribu (Guatemala GUATEMALA)
Emily C. Browning (Christchurch NEW ZEALAND)
Emily Fairlight (Wellington NEW ZEALAND)
eX-Girl (Planet Kero Kero JAPAN)
Ezra Collective (London UK-ENGLAND)
Faded Ghost (Shanghai CHINA)
Fanclub (Austin TX)
FAVX (Madrid SPAIN)
Feels (Perth AUSTRALIA)
FEMME (London UK-ENGLAND)
Flohio (London UK-ENGLAND)
Foa (Eugene OR)
Fontaines D.C. (Dublin IRELAND)
Forever (Montreal CANADA)
French for Rabbits (Wellington NEW ZEALAND)
French Vanilla (Los Angeles CA)
The Fur. (Taipei TAIWAN)
fuvk (Austin TX)
Gaddafi Gals (Munich GERMANY)
Gaelynn Lea (Duluth MN)
Georgi Kay (Perth AUSTRALIA)
GIUNGLA (Bologna ITALY)
The Gooch Palms (Newcastle AUSTRALIA)
Goo Munday (Sydney AUSTRALIA)
Grim Streaker (Brooklyn NY)
Gudrun Gut (Berlin GERMANY)
Gustavo Casas y Los Que Buscan (Caracas VENEZUELA)
Gypsy Kumbia Orchestra (Montreal CANADA)
HÆLOS (London UK-ENGLAND)
Hala (Detroit MI)
Hans. (Auckland NEW ZEALAND)
Hayden Pedigo (Amarillo TX)
Hazey Eyes (Philadelphia PA)
Her’s (Liverpool UK-ENGLAND)
Her Skin (Modena ITALY)
Hickeys (Madrid SPAIN)
Hot Flash Heat Wave (San Francisco CA)
Husky Loops (London UK-ENGLAND)
I’m Glad It’s You (Redlands CA)
I am waiting for you last summer (Ryazan RUSSIA)
Jackie Bristow (Gore NEW ZEALAND)
Jambinai (Seoul SOUTH KOREA)
Jazzy Amra (The Bronx NY)
Joe Armon-Jones (London UK-ENGLAND)
Jonathan (Rijeka CROATIA)
JonZ (Tel Aviv ISRAEL)
JP THE WAVY (Shonan JAPAN)
Kabul Dreams (Kabul AFGHANISTAN)
Kandle (Victoria CANADA)
KHALIGRAPH (Nairobi KENYA)
Kidsmoke (Wrexham UK-WALES)
King Kaka (Nairobi KENYA)
King Kanja (Kensington MD)
Kite (Jessheim NORWAY)
The Klitz (Memphis TN)
Kofi Black (Staten Island NY)
KOLARS (Los Angeles CA)
Koran Streets (Berkeley CA)
The KVB (London UK-ENGLAND)
L3ON (Benito Juárez MEXICO)
La Mojarra Electrica (Bogotá COLOMBIA)
Laura Carbone (Berlin GERMANY)
Laura Jane Grace & the Devouring Mothers (Chicago IL)
Laurel (London UK-ENGLAND)
LE BIG SUR (Bogotá COLOMBIA)
Leyla McCalla (New Orleans LA)
Linying (Singapore SINGAPORE)
Lion Heights (Austin TX)
Litany (Harrogate UK-ENGLAND)
Locate S,1 (Athens GA)
Lost Under Heaven (Manchester UK-ENGLAND)
LOS WILDS (Madrid SPAIN)
Louis Prince (Nashville TN)
Lowly (Copenhagen DENMARK)
LUCIA (Glasgow UK-SCOTLAND)
Lucia Tacchetti (Buenos Aires ARGENTINA)
Lucy Lu (London UK-ENGLAND)
Lunar Vacation (Atlanta GA)
Madge (Los Angeles CA)
Madison Cunningham (Orange County CA)
Magnolian (Ulaanbaatar MONGOLIA)
Mamalarky (Los Angeles CA)
Marina Maximilian (Tel Aviv ISRAEL)
The Mauskovic Dance Band (Amsterdam NETHERLANDS)
Maybe April (Nashville TN)
Mikal kHill (Charlotte NC)
MIKNNA (Los Angeles CA)
Mirella Cesa (Guayaquil ECUADOR)
Moira Mack (Madison WI)
Moritz Simon Geist (Dresden GERMANY)
My Life as Ali Thomas (Bangkok THAILAND)
Naiboi (Nairobi KENYA)
Nerija (London UK-ENGLAND)
New Fame (Da Nang VIETNAM)
The Ninth Wave (Glasgow UK-SCOTLAND)
NOIRE (Brisbane AUSTRALIA)
Nsimbi (Los Angeles CA)
The O’My’s (Chicago IL)
Oh Sees (Los Angeles CA)
ORI (Jerusalem ISRAEL)
Otis Wilkins (Austin TX)
Otoboke Beaver (Kyoto JAPAN)
PABST (Berlin GERMANY)
Palberta (New York NY)
Palo Duro (Austin TX)
The Parrots (Madrid SPAIN)
PASTEL GHOST (Austin TX)
Phy (Nairobi KENYA)
PNTHN (San Marcos TX)
Polyplastic (Los Angeles CA)
PowerSolo (Aarhus DENMARK)
Private Island (Los Angeles CA)
Puerto Arena (Montería COLOMBIA)
Puma Blue (London UK-ENGLAND)
Quiet Company (Austin TX)
The Rain Within (Charlottesville VA)
Raquel (Boston MA)
Reptaliens (Portland OR)
Riley (New York NY)
Rob Markman (Brooklyn NY)
Ruby Rushton (London UK-ENGLAND)
Ruth Koleva (Sofia BULGARIA)
Sarah Tandy (London UK-ENGLAND)
Say Sue Me (Busan SOUTH KOREA)
Seán Barna (Brooklyn NY)
Seratones (Shreveport LA)
Shadowparty (Manchester UK-ENGLAND)
The Sha La Das (New York NY)
Skegss (Byron Bay AUSTRALIA)
Slow Caves (Denver CO)
Slow Pulp (Madison WI)
Sneaks (Baltimore MD)
Sofie Winterson (Amsterdam NETHERLANDS)
Soft Streak (Los Angeles CA)
SONTALK (Nashville TN)
Sphynx (Austin TX)
Stealth (Birmingham UK-ENGLAND)
STEREOGIRL (Chofu-City JAPAN)
Steve’n’Seagulls (Jyväskylä FINLAND)
Subhi (Chicago IL)
Summer Cannibals (Portland OR)
Swallow the Rat (Auckland NEW ZEALAND)
Sweet Crude (New Orleans LA)
Swervedriver (Oxford UK-ENGLAND)
T$HEGO (Mafikeng SOUTH AFRICA)
Tamino (Antwerp BELGIUM)
Theodore (Athens GREECE)
Tia Gostelow (Mackay AUSTRALIA)
Tirman Kid (Buenos Aires ARGENTINA)
TOFLANG (Barcelona SPAIN)
Tomar and the FCs (Austin TX)
Trudy and the Romance (Liverpool UK-ENGLAND)
Twin Tribes (Brownsville TX)
Twist (Toronto CANADA)
Unge Ferrari (Oslo NORWAY)
UPSAHL (Phoenix AZ)
Viagra Boys (Stockholm SWEDEN)
Viva Non (Winnipeg CANADA)
Vlad Holiday (Jersey City NJ)
WAAX (Brisbane AUSTRALIA)
WAFIA (Brisbane AUSTRALIA)
Warm Drag (Los Angeles CA)
Warmduscher (London UK-ENGLAND)
Warm Human (Chicago IL)
Weakened Friends (Portland ME)
Westerman (London UK-ENGLAND)
Western Youth (Austin TX)
Whyte Horses (Manchester UK-ENGLAND)
William Harries Graham (Austin TX)
William Wild (Knoxville TN)
Willie J Healey (Oxford UK-ENGLAND)
Wyclef Jean (New York NY)
XETAS (Lockhart TX)
yahyel (Tokyo JAPAN)
YEHAIYAHAN (Shanghai CHINA)
Yorka (Santiago CHILE)
Yussef Dayes (London UK-ENGLAND)
ZRN (Aarhus DENMARK)
SXSW takes place in Austin, Texas from the 8th to the 17th of March. For more info about the full lineup or to find out more about SXSW in general, click HERE.
