By Rachel Bui
Wednesday, March 13
Ah, nothing like getting egg on your t-shirt in the morning less than an hour before interviewing Jambinai at their hotel. Despite that blip in the morning, I still enjoyed my time with the band, a Korean avant-rock band I saw the prior day at COREA Impact. Typically when listening to music that blends traditional with modern, you'd hear a funky EDM fusion, yet with Jambinai, you are blasted with rock music tempered with Korean folk instruments. Despite some language barriers, I had the privilege of dissecting what drives them to boldly defy "tradition," understanding their passion for experimenting with music, and learning how they use their music to make bold political statements on occasion (interview found here).
Pink SWEAT$ jammed the afternoon away with his guitarist Daisy at the Paradigm Showcase. To illustrate how insanely talented Pink Sweat$ is, this SXSW stage I watched his 3rd live performance in his less than one year career. There is no denying how gifted this man is. His guitarist Daisy Spencer also boasts of many accomplishments, as she had performed at SXSW before with her previous band The Skins (they are technically on hiatus) and is part of an indie band named ConBoy. Interviews with Pink Sweat$ and Daisy found here and here.
Taiwan Beats and Korea Spotlight overlapped in schedule, so I was only able to see the preview of Taiwan Beats. This showcase, presented by the Ministry of Culture of Taiwan, served as a diplomatic exchange especially because of how the lineup was formed. Musicians were selected from a pool of applicants based on innovative sounds and outreach capabilities. I was lucky enough to chitchat with The Fur. before rushing across downtown for Korea Spotlight (interview found here).
Korea Spotlight attracted K-pop fans and those curious about the Hallyu Wave alike. With Jambinai opening the stage, they served as a subtle reminder that Korean music goes beyond mainstream Kpop idols and the like. Kirara and HitchHiker exhibited the flourishing nightlife of Seoul with EDM mixes, while XXX reveals hip hop experiments occurring in the Korean scene. The night came to a close with acts that many attendees were anticipating: K-Pop Acts Chung Ha and IKON. Chung Ha, a soloist, grew up in Coppell (DFW area) before returning to Korea and pursuing a music career, so her stage served as a homecoming of sorts; she brought the intensity with her performances as well. Sensuous choreography paired with a hypnotic voice served as a statement opening with her song "Gotta Go," and that strong beginning carried such a charming atmosphere for the rest of her performance. I only saw IKON's first song to avoid traffic, but I can safely nassume the slick choreography, powerful raps, and crooning vocals from their first piece sum up their entire stage.
Thursday, March 14
From an intense first half of the week, I was unfortunately unable to see all the acts I wanted to. I was only able to see Justin Park at the DRILL Showcase (interview from December found here) and LowsOn at MTA Festival x WR/OC records: china night before having to call it a night. As per usual, Justin serenaded the crowd with his smooth R&B tunes. My impression of LowsOn was that she was a light hearted, care free rapper with a loud stage outfit. Usually I am an advocate of not always having to understand the language to enjoy a song, but in this particular case knowing some of her lyrics might have helped.
Friday, March 15
With one last night in Austin, KTRU made one last hurrah of watching and talking with artists. Hania and I spent time in a sketchy back alley in 6th St. to hang out with the lovely ladies of Emergency Tiara (interview found here), as well as Jared Lee Gosselin (unfortunately our interview didn't record properly, so tl:dr: he's a Multi Platinum, Grammy Award Winning producer from who has an amazing sense of humor. Growing up in Detroit, he credits the grit that Detroiters have to fueling his passion and his career. We were able to listen to Piper and some of Emergency Tiara's set before having to jet to Cheer Up Charlies.
I got to watch my last performances of the night with the 5A Label team, enjoying listening to Colde and MKIT RAIN before turning in for the night.
Saturday, March 16
The KTRU team was heading out Saturday afternoon, so I was perusing last minute activations and conducting final interviews. This year, Ipsy had an activation for everyone. This activation gave out free deluxe samples of brands like IT Cosmetics, as well as tutorials like hairstyling, facials, and makeovers. If you had an Ipsy membership (you only need to make an account - no purchase necessary), you could take a couple of additional samples and priority access to the tutorials, but overall this was great opportunity for scoring freebies.
Sitting down with Tangina Stone that morning, I had a great conversation regarding her career, her music-writing process, and constantly having to break glass ceilings. If I was able to stay longer, I would have loved to watch her performance that night. Listen to her interview here.
My last act of the festival was Big Phony at the Flatstock Stage in the convention center. Big Phony is the equivalent of what you get when the quiet kid has a sensor of humor, can sing, and was thrown into a talent show because his friends signed him up. His soft-spoken nature was prominent through his singing, but what made him unique to every other artist I saw that week was his dry humor and "self-depreciating" songs. He would preface each song with a funny anecdote before singing quirky songs, drawing out laughter followed by applause. His entire performance felt reminiscent of KTRU's own Cozy Show and was a fitting way to decompress from the hecticness of SXSW (interview found here).
Shout-out to H-Town Artists
- Roots from the Clay
- DJ Baby Roo
- Carthy
- Nicotine
- The Chopstars
- Kerosene Shores
- OTB Fastlane
- Doeman
- Rizzo Rizzo
- Chucky Trill
- Boston George
- Tim Woods
- Megan Thee Stallion
- Ronnie Coleman Jr. & Merlot Muisc
- Wild Moccasins
- Trae Tha Truth
- BeatKing
- Jack Freeman
- Rene
- RADS Krusaders
- Deep Cuts
- DJ Mr Rogers
- OG Ronc C
- Hayes Carll
- Maxo Kream
- D Flowers
- Doughbeezy
- John Vincent III
Honorable Mentions
These are acts I wanted to see but couldn't:
- Turbo Goth (New York NY)
- Blood (Austin TX)
- Lola Tried (Austin TX)
- The Oysters (Austin TX)
- White Denim (Austin TX)
- I'm glad It's You (Redlands CA)
- Monophonoicos (Bogota Colombia)
- DRAMA (Chicago IL)
- Norma (Paris France)
- Otoboke Beaver (Kyoto Japan)
- Renick Bell (Tokyo Japan)
- Chris Staples (Seattle WA)
- Lyons and Co. (Chicago IL)
- Jason James (Texas City TX)
- Dhira Bongs (Bandung Indonesia)
- Prateek Kuhad (New Delhi India)
- Magnolian (Ulaanbaatar Mongolia)
- The Lemons (Ulaanbaatar Mongolia)
- Chanudom (Bangkok Thailand)
- The Colors (Ulaanbaatar Mongolia)
- Yellow Fang (Bangkok Thailand)
- Moonlover (Melbourne Australia)
- Mr. Jimmy (Tokyo Japan)
- I Mean Us (Taiwan Taiwan)
- CHIU PI (Taiwan Taiwan)
- My Skin Against Your Skin (Taipei Taiwan)
- Elephant Gym (Taiwan Taiwan)
- EggPlantEgg (Taiwan Taiwan)
- Duo Bud (Seoul South Korea)
- Zan (Perth Australia)
- yahyel (Tokyo Japan)
- Yak the Mack (Arlington TX)
- Linying (Singapore Singapore)
- Say Sue Me (Busan South Korea)
- David Boring (Hong Kong)
- Drinking Boys and Girls Choir (Daegu South Korea)
- Taimane (Honolulu HI)
- Mirella Cesa (Guayaquil Ecuador)
- Denise Le Menice (Perth Australia)
- STEREOGIRL (Chofu-City Japan)
- DYGL (Tokyo Japan)
- machina (Tokyo Japan)
- No Party for Cao Dong (Taipei Taiwan)
- Thaiboy Digital (Bangkok Thailand)
- DJ QuestionMark (Taipei Taiwan)
- Young Poc (Chengdu China)
- YOUNG13DBABY (Maqu China)
- YEHAIYAHAN (Shanghai China)
- KUCCI (Jilin China)
- NineOne# (Xi'an China)
- Artux Surfin Boi (AKIN X VISUDY) (Xinjiang China)
- Oginalii (Nashville TN)
- Fruit & Flowers (Brooklyn NY)
- Deaf Poets (Brooklyn NY)
- Tribes (El Paso TX)
- KOMOREBI (New Delhi India)
- JP THE WAVY (Shonan Japan)
- Jvcki Wai (Seoul South Korea)
- ASTERISM (Fukuoka Japan)
- FURUTORI (Shimokitazawa Japan)
- Regallily (Tokyo Japan)
- the perfect me (Fukuoka Japan)
- eX-Girl (Planet Kero Kero Japan)
- My Life as Ali Thomas (Bangkok Thailand)
- Faded Ghost (Shanghai China)
- Gong Gong Gong (Beijing China)
- Fernanda Takai (Belo Horizonte Brazil)
- Japanese Breakfast (Philadelphia PA)
- Turfan Derince (Diyarbakir Turkey)
- Ratking (Perth Australia)
- An Author A Poet (Galveston TX)
- LEX the Lexicon Artist (Taipei Taiwan)
- Feels (Perth Australia)
- Georgi Kay (Perth Australia)
- New Fame (Da Nang Vietnam)
- Dwagie (Tainan Tiawan)
- Splurge (Arlington TX)
- Picture My Vision Entertainment (Missouri City TX)
- G-Side (Huntsville TX)
- The Philharmonik (Sacramento CA)
- Found Sound China Artists (Brooklyn NY)
- Andrew Bird (Chicago IL)