Academy Award winning Actor Leonardo DiCaprio, The Lumineers, The Duffer Brothers and the cast of Stranger Things are coming to the White House lawn on the 3rd of October for President Barack Obama’s South by South Lawn (SXSL) Festival. The festival calls on every American to discover ways to make positive differences in the country….
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The White House will be taking a page out of SXSW‘s playbook next month when the Obamas host SXSL: A White House Festival of Ideas, Art, and Action (South By South Lawn), a day long event that will tie in live performances, interactive exhibitions, the White House Student Film Festival and more. It’s the first time an event of its…
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This week in the music industry: Melbourne Music Week announced the main venue for 2016, BIGSOUND secured a four year funding deal with the Queensland Government, and the first round of showcasing artists were unveiled for the 2017 instalment of SXSW. BIGSOUND secures new funding After a successful run for the 15th year in a row, BIGSOUND have secured…
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Australian Music Week (AMW) is a special conference that runs insightful industry panels alongside with some of the country’s best up-and-coming bands and artists. Taking place in early November in Cronulla, just outside of Sydney, it is an opportunity for those wanting to get involved and learn more about the industry. In addition to the panels…
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Alex Lahey went into BIGSOUND this year as one of the festival’s most talked about artists and came away from it as one of the acts people continued to buzz about. Understandably, the hype is justified – after her B-Grade University EP brought her widespread acclaim, not to mention shows around the country and Splendour in recent…
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The first names for SXSW Music have been unveiled this morning, with a solid number of Australians included in this initial artist release. Along with confirmed keynote speaker Lee Daniels (Empire), some impressive speakers have been announced too, making for an eclectic and entertaining program for another year. Featured on the first artist announce today are the likes of Vera…
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This week in the music industry, SXSW announced the first line of guest speakers for their 2017 event, CEO of Ministry of Sound Australia Tim McGee joins the PPCA Board, and a new online music data platform Jaxsta launches in Australia. SXSW announces their 2017 lineup of guest speakers Founded in 1987 in Austin, Texas,…
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Some huge names have been revealed to be speaking at SXSW next year, as the tech, music, film, business, sports and journalism fields start ramping up for the conference and festival in March. Named on this first wave of speakers are Jennifer Doudna and Jill Soloway as keynote speakers; Doudna, the geneticist and co-inventor of CRISPR-Cas9, a gene-editing technology and Soloway, the creator…
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Aussie musicians hoping to pack bags and head to Austin for SXSW next year are encouraged to get their applications to showcase in early now online submissions are now open! The festival is taking place from March 10th – March 19th next year and if you get in early, you’ll only need to pay the discounted…
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Dubbed the “spiritual predecessor” to his classic film Dazed and Confused, Richard Linklater’s new film Everybody Wants Some!! takes us from the 70s to the 80s, and from the last days of high school to the first days of college in Texas. Much like in Dazed, we meet a group of young people about to…
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Actors Zoey Deutch, Blake Jenner & Glen Powell sit down with Larry Heath to talk about their experiences filming and starring in Richard Linklater’s new film Everybody Wants Some!!. Everybody Wants Some!! is released this Thursday, June 23rd. ———- This content has recently been ported from its original home on The Iris and may have…
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Canberra three-piece Safia continue to make waves and move to the forefront of Australia’s next biggest musical exports with their blend of indie rock, delicate soul, and various styles of electronica. Last year, the group travelled to the USA for a run of shows that included SXSW, and the trio kept the AU review in the…
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Larry Heath sits down with Ryan Guzman, Tyler Hoechlin, J. Quinton Johnson and Wyatt Russell to talk about their work as part of the ensemble cast of Richard Linklater’s brand new film Everybody Wants Some!! I talk to the quartet about how the film related to their actual College experience, their love of ice cream, their training…
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Dubbed the spiritual follow-up to the classic Dazed and Confused, award winning Writer and Director Richard Linklater is taking us back to the days of our youth – this time, the first days of College – in the acclaimed film Everybody Wants Some!!, which is screening as part of Sydney Film Festival and will be…
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On the final afternoon of SXSW, I catch up with half of New York band Caveman for what locks in as my last on site artist interview. By this stage, everyone’s looking at the finishing line of SXSW Music and loading up on the tobacco and Red Bulls just to get to the end. For…
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Bringing some acoustic folk goodness from Tyalgum out to Austin for SXSW this year, The Heart Collectors returned to Texas with a certain type of enthusiasm and vibrancy that definitely caught the attention of crowds who came by their showcases during SXSW Music. The four piece sat down with us at the Aussie BBQ to talk…
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For Toronto based band Fast Romantics, 2016 is set to be a year of introductions. We met up with songwriters Matthew Angus and Kirty at SXSW, where the excitement surrounding their forthcoming new album has followed them from Toronto and New York (where a lot of the material was worked on), to Austin. Following their own creative direction even more than…
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Bringing some excellent examples of songwriting and a wickedly endearing live presence out to Austin for SXSW this year was WA artist Matt Gresham. Currently in the process of finishing up an EP that we’re eager to hear, Gresham tells Larry about the writing and recording process that had him fall in love with LA and…
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Uprooting your life in Australia in favour of the musical opportunities America has to offer isn’t a small undertaking, as Lo Carmen has experienced all too well. Relocating to the US in order to focus on the writing and recording of a new album, not to mention further establishing herself as a touring artist abroad, has…
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Newcastle folk-pop band The Soorleys have been making their mark on the US, spending some weeks through March touring and experiencing some iconic cities for the first time, definitely from an interesting perspective. From hitting ballrooms in Kansas City to recording in Nashville, through to arriving in Austin for their first ever SXSW, the family band have…
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Demi Louise is a lady I’m always happy to see at SXSW – the young singer songwriter has been coming to the Austin event for the last few years now and the AU has always managed to catch up with her at some point during her hectic live show schedule. A seasoned pro at these…
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Today we look at three brilliant music documentaries that screened at SXSW last month as part of their phenomenal 24 Beats Per Second music focused program: The Smart Studios Story With an 4:3 aesthetic that takes it right out of a 1990s MTV world – all its missing is Kurt Loder’s narration – The Smart Studios…
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Waiting in a hotel lobby for US comedian and actor Baron Vaughn on the first weekend of SXSW, it’s clear from the people checking and checking out of the establishment are feeling the effects of a heavy night prior, as were we all. SXSW Comedy has been a constantly growing element of the Texan event for some years…
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Spookyland are one of those bands who I always seem to see pop up and impress overseas moreover than I do at home. Of course, being situated in SA as opposed to the usual east coast haunts Sydney bands would normally play, the opportunities to see Spookyland perform in Australia for me have been limited from…
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Brooklyn based songwriter and vocalist Kevin Garrett has been sitting comfortably in my iTunes collection as one of the most played artists in my library at the moment. 2015’s Mellow Drama EP brought the young writer to the attention of many; in evocative lyricism and production that captivates in a similar vein to James Blake and James…
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As we look back on our time at SXSW last month, we wanted to briefly reflect on four comedy films we caught during the festival. We’ll give these the full review treatment closer to their Australian release dates, but in the meantime, here are our first thoughts on the overwhelmingly impressive run of films at…
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Tigertown returned to Austin for their second SXSW this year, off the back of what’s already been a successful few months on the road through the States. The Sydney band has been garnering praise for shows alongside St. Lucia in particular and this month, the band returns home for their long-awaited Australian tour, kicking off in Sydney…
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Next week, Oh Pep! kick off their Australian east coast tour starting in Adelaide, before winding down with a show in Sydney in mid-April! The first few months of 2016 have already been busy ones for the Melbourne group, who have been readying their debut album Stadium Cake for release and refining what’s become an excellent and endearing…
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Let me set the scene and take you back to the Aussie BBQ at SXSW this year; like last year, I arrived at Brush Square Park looking up at the overcast skies that threatened to unleash torrent upon torrent of rain on the event. Thankfully, unlike last year, the Aussie BBQ escaped and enjoyed a…
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Seeing The Gooch Palms take to the Aussie BBQ stage at SXSW this year was a treat; especially after seeing how well the Novocastrian duo was received at the venue last year. Both Leroy and Kat bring such an eccentric and brilliant charm to their live shows that, when they mention they locked around 130 live gigs under their belt in…
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