Reporting from the road, South By Southwest veterans and official showcase band Light FM are sending dispatches from their charming and talented frontman Josiah Mazzaschi. Here is Part One.
By Josiah Mazzaschi
OK. So this is the second time my band Light FM has played SXSW. We played the fest in 2009 after our sophomore release, Black Magic Marker for which RFSL hosted the record release at Boardners in October 2009. We had one official showcase but it was a long drive just for one show, opening for the Happy Hollows. We were met with many disappointments and empty bank accounts.
I wasn't about to let that happen again. I took plenty of time in advance to make sure this trip was going to be beneficial for our band. I was able to book three shows, two on Thursday and an official showcase on Saturday. It wasn't a lot but it was better than playing just one show! It's a 24-hour drive from LA.
On the way out to Texas we played a show at the Rogue Bar in Phoenix and then drove overnight to arrive in Austin Wednesday evening. It was a long drive and we were all super tired.
After a good night's rest we ventured into the city swamped with hipsters, industry folks, and music enthusiasts to claim our wristbands and tons of free schwag: condoms, gum, magazines, and CD's, at the Austin Convention Center.
We showed up at our first gig at the Sea Now Pop Antipop's acoustic stage. It was strange to be playing so early in the day but we made the most of it. We had some technical problems as our gear was smashed around in the back of our trailer. Nicki's bass amp wasn't working and some tubes had fallen out of our amps. We will definitely be traveling with road cases next time! There weren't too many people in the audience but everyone was super nice to us and we were met with some friendly familiar faces. The Sea Shepard Conservation Society is a great non-profit organization that protects whales and dolphins in waters across the world. It’s run by the directors of the Cove documentary. We were all psyched to be a part of their party at Annie's West.
With some time to kill before our next show at Backspin records at 5PM,we watched sets by our buds Twilight Sleep and ate burgers at Hut's across the street.
Off to show number two at Backspin Records. We were bummed to hear that Ringo Deathstarr had cancelled their set right before us, but we were able to wrangle a few folks to come out. It was a good set and we felt pretty solid about our performance. It was a small stage and PA but it sounded good.
Now that we we’re done playing until our official showcase we went to check out some other bands. We saw the Kills at Emo’s. They put on a great show--very energetic and fun to watch. It was a full day for us and we felt we had accomplished what we came to do. Rock peoples faces off!
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