michele-postpischl

One thing I loved about SXSW was the opportunity to discover so many small bands like ourselves, new music, but also the chance to see bigger acts and personalities that we love and admire, like Simon Raymonde, who hosted a party for the 20th anniversary of Bella Union, his label. Listening to him introducing the bands, talking about music, that was so inspiring. I do believe music is such a powerful aggregation tool.

We absolutely love Austin and the energy you can feel everywhere you go.
We were lucky to be hosted by the most hospitable couple in Austin, Mary and Tim Patterson. They picked us up from the airport (and gave us a lift back the day we left) drove us around showing graffitis areas, cooked us a Texan dinner the last night, gave us a lot of tips about venues, unofficial events and the best places to eat tacos! Our favorite place, forever in our hearts, is Magnolia Cafè, where even Obama ate tacos.

To perform at SXSW was something we’ve always wanted to do. We had been invited in 2011 but we couldn’t go, so this year felt just right, having our new album out in Italy through Ala Bianca exactly that week.

I wish we had more than 3 shows but it’s difficult to book gigs from Italy, above all when there’s nobody helping you out with that, but it was worth it.

francesca-bono

Our official showcase went very well and everyone was positive to our sound. We got some very good reviews and some people even stopped us on the street the following days.

A webzine even invented a new name for our music: trip-notica.

Things we did…We’d tried and failed to see Wu-Tang Clan due to neverending lines. Michele and I miraculously made it for Future Islands gig at the Gatsby, after 90 minutes standing in a line…after that we decided to just attend smaller shows. Our feet were screaming!

I can’t tell you how many times we’d meet people that were in some way connected to Italy. Taxi drivers (3 of them wouldn’t want to be paid because they loved Italy or were connected to it), musicians, people attending our shows. They were all thrilled to know bands that came all the way from Europe.

We got to see way more of Austin that we could have hoped for.

As far as music goes… I’ve never seen so many shows in such a small amount of time. Couple standouts would be Agnes Obel and Big Thief.

Aside from all the great music, food and margaritas, SXSW was made memorable by the people we shared it with; old friends we met there, like musician/producer Marco Caldera, and new friends, such as Jesse Edwards (aka Fiori) and his lovely girlfriend Caroline.

 Our 3 highlights of SXSW would be:

-Playing at BD Riley’s – An unlikely setting at first, but everything turned out brilliantly!

-Eating breakfast at Bouldin Creek Cafè.

-Meeting McKanzie Smith of Midlake at Bella Union showcase Thursday night.

beatrice-gabrielli

Photo credits: Michele Postpischl (1st one), Francesca Bono (2nd one), Beatrice Gabrielli (3rd one)