Where does one even begin to start to describe the chaos and excitement that is the annual South By Southwest (SXSW) music conference. I would reccomend with a deep breath and an ice cold Shiner Bock in any one of the 300 bars in downtown Austin, Texas.
SXSW is the world’s largest music conference and music festival and one that as a teenager reading the NME and Rolling Stone in the school library I have always wanted to attend. In March 2010 I did just that and slept about 22 hours (that was just in the hotel, I fell asleep on the shuttle bus once or twice at 3.30am during the week) over the 6 days of the conference.
My goals for heading to SXSW 2010 were to promote Brisbane music by meeting as many people as I could, particulary music supervisors (who place music in film, tv etc), promoters (to get some more advice and skills) and media. I met up with 227 people (of which I have business cards for) across the 6 days which included some of my favourite bands, speakers from all parts of the music industry, Austin bar workers, police, local residents as well as members from the Australian music industry and Brisbane bands Violent Soho, An Horse and Grand Atlantic.
The early bird registration finishes this week and you can save 40% on delegate tickets if you buy before 24/9. SXSW is really like nothing you have ever experienced and I’m about to tell you why right now that if you love music, then you need to start saving and get your ass to Austin in March next year because it will blow you away! 
Here are my 20 tips for SXSW 2011:
1. Stay outside of downtown Austin and you will save $$$$. Most hotels are around the $200-250 a night bracket for downtown and really Austin is not that huge a city so staying just outside the city means that it is more affordable. I had originally planned to stay at The Holiday Inn right across the road from the conference centre ($250 a night, at the time well over $300AUD a night!) but at the last minute I changed and decided to stay at the Hilton Airport. I found out that Austin is really not that large of a city and that they run a $40 weekly SXSW shuttle pass which runs between all the hotels on the outskirts every 10 minutes from 6am to 4am the next day (even on the weekends). I ended up saving about $120USD as this hotel turned out to be only $130USD a night and the shuttle only ever took about 20 minutes to reach the conference centre where it would drop us off right outside the centre. I slept in the hotel for all of 22 hours over the week, and you’re not here to holiday, you are here to network your ass off and blow your ears off with music! That’s my number one tip!
2. Wear comfortable shoes and take a few pairs. Bigsound made a big point about not having to walk more than 6 minutes to get to each venue this year, but at SXSW you walk and walk and while it’s great exercise you really do need a good pair of comfy shoes to get you around the place and down 6th street which is where all the bars are.
3. Pace yourself, eat and drink lots of water. Don’t go crazy on the first day with all the free booze. Every sucker that’s got the next big thing in the music industry have paid for a stand at SXSW to flog their brand. The best part about this is all the free booze and drinks that they have available. Go cray but keep it in moderation. The last thing you want is to get crook or a have a hangover after coming all this way.
4. Drink light beer (and I don’t mean light as in low carb). Drink low strength grog and let others around you get drunk. Not that people let their guard down, but they are more likely to open up to you after a couple of brews. If you’re not as pissed as them then it’s easier to get your pitch across as well. It will be more coherent (provided they are not completely plastered, in which case join in and go crazy) If your sober, your words will come out more coherent and relaxed and you will get your point/pitch across. Alcohol is a great mix for these events, but be warned not everyone is there to get pissed and no one likes a bad drunk. Same goes with drugs. Cops are everywhere so go easy otherwise it’s a one way ticket back to Oz if you get caught and you’ll never get back to the US again on a drug charge!
5. Get your elevator pitch down before you even step on the plane to leave Australia! You’ve just met the music industry person of your dreams, someone you’ve always wanted to talk to and now you’ve got 15 seconds to tell them what you do. GO! Practice this pitch, even if you just have dreams and don’t actually have a business in the industry, have a dream pitch worked out about what you want to achieve. Maybe that person can help you. But if you Ummmm and Ahhhh about it and fluff along with some wishy washy nonsense story then that persons listening skills have already left the elevator!
6. Try to see as many bands as you can. I only saw 120 or so in the 6 days (out of the 1800 at SXSW) which included relatively unknown bands at the time like The Chapman Family, Jim Jones Revue, Surfer Blood, The Whigs and Dawes to more popular ones like BRMC, She & Him, Sharon Jones and The Dap Kings. Go and see obscure bands, go and see bands just because their name is as ridiculous as HOT PANDA from Edmonton, Canada (myspace.com/hotpanda) or Simon Collins (Phil Collins son on the Friday night was a massive let down!) at the Canadian party. Go to all the parties, drink their forgein booze and fancy food and mingle with the Candians, Kiwi’s, Germans and Israeli’s (they really have a vibrant hip hop scene!) 
The best artists that I saw were:
Wednesday night: The Bronx, Coedine Velvet Club, Beaches, Paul Dempsey, Surfer Blood, Crooks, Japanther, Beans on Toast, Grand Atlantic, Violent Soho
Thursday: BRMC (in 30 degree heat in leathers), Evan Dando, Acid Girls, The Whigs, Titus Andonicus, Midlake, She & Him, The Low Anthem, Those Darlins, Oh Mercy, White Denim, Scanners, The Dutchess & The Duke, The XX, The Bellrays, Grand Atlantic, Violent Soho, Band of Horses, Dawes, Broken Social Scene.
Friday: Rafeal Saddiq, Smokey Robinson, Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings, Violent Soho, Thurston Moore,
Saturday: Japandroids, Black Angel, Band of Heathens.
7. Look after your voice as you will be doing plenty of talking. Try to sleep, even though you won’t be able too.
8. Have real beef brisket at Stubbs (www.stubbsaustin.com). The staff are absolute wankers (we tried so hard to be nice to them after some of the most rudest and strange behaviour, but failed due to their arrogance) and must really hate this time of year, but the meat is to die for. Grab a beer and booze special. $20 for tatters, beef brisket, bread and beer! Mouth watering! Finish off with $5 sweet cherry pie at the Cutie Pie Wagon.
9. If you’re in a band. DO NOT TAKE CD’s. Figure out a better way to 
market your music. The showbag that you get from SXSW upon checkin at the conference centre is filled with all types of promo crap, most of which I left at the hotel and felt bad for the environment but it was mostly CD’s that I just could not fit in my bag to take back to Oz. I took a few of them, but I had accumulated over 50 by the end of the week, whereas I had also acquired 3 mobile apps and 4 digital download cards which weigh next to nothing. We took Bandtags (www.bandtag.com.au) but only a few records to show people (pictures inside Brisbane Sounds 2011 are all images of Brisbane). The bandtags proved very successful and we got alot of outcomes from radio play to publicity and just general good contacts from them. You’ll need to call house keeping by the Thursday to get them to clear the bin!
10. Unless the government or your folks are paying for you to perform at SXSW, or you’re in a band and it’s your first visit and you have an official invite (personally, I think that means nothing as you’re competing with 1800 bands of which the media has already made it’s mind up as to who the buzz 25 bands are and if you’re not in that list, is it really worth $20,000 in Visas to get there), just go over as a punter and do the conference. Take your guitars (do not go through the US entry point at the airport together with your band mates), borrow an amp in town, sort out a backline and just play in the middle of the street. Rock and Roll right! Someone will no doubt come and try to shut you down, but there are crowds everywhere, 50,000 odd people who are here for music and also to party every night. Not everyone is here as part of the industry, in fact more people are here for Spring Break. Those are the kind of performances that people remember. Remember Dizzee Rascal in the middle of the street, why not your band! 
11. Take as much free shit as you can get. Drinks, food, clothes, CD’s, vinyl, merch etc. The promo companies and the bands are throwing everything at you. Some of it is useless and a waste of space, but I got some pretty sweet souvenirs such as a nifty Bud Light Keychain bottleopener/torch which has come in handy at the gigs I promote as well as some decent shirts from bands. Can’t beat new PJ’s/gym clothes!
12. Use the Shuttle Service. The one I used was R&R and I found it was one the best parts of the conference and my time in Austin. Staying at the airport meant I had to get the shuttle, but the best part was that it picked up people along the way and we were able to network all the way into the convention centre. I met hip hop bands from Oregon, the executive officer of South African Music Board, music supervisors, bands, punters and some pretty cool Austin locals. The best bit about this: People can’t escape your conversations whislt in the van! I had some amazing conversations with people who have now become friends across oceans and can’t stop raving about how useful the shuttle was for my networking. Everyone else seemed to pick up on this as well.
13. Talk to everyone and anyone. Some of the best chats I had were with local bar workers and venue owners in 6th St where we talked about alcohol violence, glassings, lockouts and how Brisbane compared to Austin. The police presence made a huge difference here, with every cop on a horse or with a shotgun in tow. Talk to the bands, find out where they are from, what their story is. Talk to the panelists and the big wigs. People seem to think that these big name music people are somehow untouchable or won’t want to speak with you. They are just the same as you and me and they’re just people afterall, just go and say hello. You’ve come all this way, take a risk! Hell I said hello to Smokey Robinson and told him to check out some other Australian bands rather than HUMAN NATURE which he was promoting the hell out of!
14. Be assertive at the venues to get in. Show your badge and walk straight in. On the first day I lined up for about 30 minutes for She & Him (It was really just for She!) before i realised that I could have just walked straight in. The security have to let you in if you have a full music pass and the venue is not at capacity. Same thing happened on the Thursday at BRMC. There was a huge line, but as we had passes we all walked straight in. That’s what $700AUD gets you! Not all the venues are apart of SXSW. Some other venues charge between $5-7 for gigs and are not included in the ticket price. I think I paid for one of these and the beers were free anyway.
15. Go to the Tradeshow. I had my hearing tested (not good!) and got a nifty pair of silicone earplugs in a cool keychain metal case for free, ventured to all the stalls from the various countries and even spoke on the Australian speed dating panel where we talked to the Germans and others about Brisbane music. Had some interesting discussions about bands from Brisbane and met some interesting characters from around the world. Got business cards and promo material from all the best new music industry services from around the world, some of which are still yet to reach Autralia.
16. Try to get along to as many of the conference talks as you can. Sit in the front row and make eye contact with the panelists. When it comes time for questions, they will remember you. (Trust me, that is a teacher technique!) I sat in the front row for the keynote address with Smokey Robinson (soul legend for beginners) and fired off a question afterwards. I also asked a few more questions during sessions such as ‘Social Networks and the future for musicians’, ’1000 digital tools and strategies: which 3 work?’, “Welcome to the music business, You’re fucked”, “Building a high value fan list” and my favourite session which was “Successful SXSW: The Tao of the Conference” which featured Derek Sivers. 
17. Don’t worry if some Americans think that your english is exceptional. I had one fella say to me “Wow, you’re Australian, your english is really good man!”. Hmmm.
18. Support the Australian bands, and in my case get along to all of the Brisbane bands. Being a huge SFK fan, I was able to catch up with Paul Dempsey and have a Guinness with him on St Patricks day ahead of his set. I went to all of the Violent Soho and Grand Atlantic gigs and was able to network with people at those gigs and tell them about Brisbane music. 
19. Don’t miss the Aussie BBQ. This is the place to be on the Saurday afternoon. Aussie bands playing all over the place at Maggie Mae’s pub. Snags and beers flowing, Beaches ripping the hell out of the inside stage and Violent Soho tearing it up downtairs. Best mini-festival ever- think “I Used to Skate Once”.
20. Sleep when you get back to Australia.
Here are the basic costs involved in getting to SXSW:
Flights from Brisbane: Still around $900-1000 plus travel insurance of $5 a day= $1200 or so return.
Austin Hotel: From $50 a night to $250. No backpackers in town so you must stay at a hotel. The sooner you buy the better the availability is for a hotel. Stay outside downtown. Outskirts hotels from $70-150.
SXSW conference pass: $550USD which is roughly about $600 or less with the current state of the $AUD.
Beers: mostly are free or a buck at the parties, plus tips.
Food: EAT MEAT! The cows are so juicy here (sorry vegetarians, but it’s beef town!) and most meals are about USD15 or so. There is so much free food, from the parties to the promo stuff that they give you.
