Ethnography SXSW

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Ethnography SXSW

A warbled mixture of sounds kept ringing in my ears at this year’sSXSW. Looking from the Maggie Mae’s rooftop we could see all themasses weaving in and out from one beer trough to the next. Pictures of stampedes and beef feed lots flashing across the minds eye, and we might as well throw in some weird koyaanisqatsi-esque imagery too while we’re at it. We glance at each other and get the feeling that we are thinking similar things. The four flights of stairs that we all went up and down to bring up our ridiculously involved set just about murdered us. Stairs aside, the huge dripping hazardous puddle on the way up, and the overflowing garbage in the alley during load in, we were all looking forward to performing our final show at Maggie Mae’s.

There is no stopping sweating your ass off and running around with a maniacal expression when you play six shows in three days. Maybe that’s why I couldn’t bring myself to shed my sunglasses til the last bit of sunlight disappeared. There is just something about the sungoing down, a different kind of energy rises up in its place.

Excitement definitely occupied the room before we started playing. We were thankful that so many people took the time to come see us. Amongst all the mania that is SXSW, our solace was playing our music for the people who wanted to hear it.

- Jenny Hsu