SXSW 2009: A Day w/ Fair To Midland
by Pop Newmo
“Good evening. We are cattle on the South By Southwest Auction Block.” –
Darroh
Sudderth, lead vocalist of Fair To Midland, on stage at Saturday
night’s SXSW show on the roof deck at Maggie Mae’s in downtown Austin,
TXI had the pleasure of spending this past Thursday with
Serjical Strike recording artists Fair To Midland to chronicle what
it’s like to be a band at Austin, TX mega-festival South By Southwest.
Over the course of the day, we had a lot of fun, but I was also
enlightened as to how the artists feel during an event described in one
word by bassist Jon Dicken as “hectic”.
While the music fans
in attendance may feel taken advantage of because of the exorbitant
prices they have to shell out ($180 for non-Austin residents) to see
“over 1800 bands from around the world” (most of which are bands that
barely fill their own local venues), the bands themselves are looked
upon by event organizers as nothing more than show ponies. They’re
shuffled in and out of clubs and restaurants with little to no regard
for all the time, money, and energy these entertainers sacrifice just
to be here, let alone try and give the showgoers their money’s worth.
Over the course of my day here, I’ll bear witness to many examples of
the bands being taken for granted (especially when considering how much
this huge musical jubilee makes in revenue for the city). For the
people on hand, they may never realize what’s going on in the strange
back alleys of Austin for their audio enjoyment.
11:20am- I'm out the door and on my way downtown. Traffic is insane, unusually
packed for this time of day on a Thursday. While Austin isn't exactly
known for its smooth traffic flow, today's particular version of
congestion is especially nerve-racking when there are so many
out-of-towners that have descended on Austin like wolves in the Spanish
Sahara (wink). I head over to my buddy John's house where the band has
crashed for the night. We puff a smoke, load into the van, and start
the trudge through the swamps of cars all fighting their way to the
same place.
11:45am -
FTM frontman Darroh Sudderth, sitting in the far back seat of the van,
relieves himself into an empty water bottle while stopped at a busy
stop light on South Congress Ave. There are about 75 people within 10
yards of our vehicle. Living the rock and roll dream...
1:35pm- We all finally arrive in downtown Austin, and, of course, it's a
giant clusterfcuk. It appears as though 30 million people have decided
to show up for this year’s festivities. All of the parking areas are
either full or don’t accommodate our trailer. We end up having to park
about 18 blocks away (for those familiar with Austin, we parked off the
I-35 service road near the exit for Riverside) and start hoofing it to
the convention center for the guys to check in.
Guitarist
Cliff Campbell: “It’s nice to see that they work so hard to make it as
painless as possible for the bands to come down here and play. Where
the hell are we supposed to park a van with a trailer in the middle of
a downtown area when there are so many people here? You’d think they’d
actually care to help out the bands.” One would think…
2:15pm- I am sweating like crazy. We walk what feels like 10 miles before we
finally make it to the check in desk. Everyone (except me, much to my
chagrin) picks up their wristband and we convene outside. Dicken and I
decide we want to grab a bite for lunch while the rest of the guys opt
to head back to the van for some rest. So, with everyone else making
that hellacious trek back, Jon and I hit up Roppolo's Pizza on 6th for
some quick grub. We chat for a little bit about the SXSW experience for
a band. Asked to describe the event from the perspective of an artist,
he responds, “Exhausting.” He goes on to tell me about how his favorite
part of the week is when they’ve finished playing. “After we’re done,
we can just walk around, meet people, and catch up with old friends
from the road. The whole process isn’t very band-friendly considering
how many bands come in for it. The only reason I’d ever want to play
South By, is if we had a record to showcase for the fans. Other than
that, we’re just showcasing ourselves to all the industry people. It’s
not very well laid out for either the fans or the bands. I much prefer
big outdoor festivals like Coachella.”
3:15pm- After we eat we decide to walk over to The Chuggin Monkey for an
afternoon cocktail to get a head start for the rest of the night. This
will ultimately prove to be a bad decision...While walking down to the
bar, we run into Troy Zeigler, drummer for Serj Tankian's backing band
FCC. He and Jon know each other from FTM's days touring with Serj. Troy
is a really cool, down-to-earth guy who tells us about how he's
currently on tour drumming for Juliette Lewis' new band, how much fun
they're having, and how he’s “super excited” (sarcastically) to be
playing 6 shows this week. I’m noticing a recurring theme among the
opinions of the performers gathered here.
3:30pm- We get to The Chuggin Monkey and snag a seat on the back patio. Two
Jager shots serve as a nice booster shot for a long day of drinking. We
then chat for a while about what we’ve been listening to lately, and
then catch up about how the writing process is coming along for the
next Fair To Midland album. According to Jon, this record will be a lot
darker than the previous release, and has been a much different writing
style for the band. He lets me know that they'll be playing three new
songs at this afternoon's showcase. (...at least that was the intent...)
4:00- Jon gets a call from Cliff that it's time to load in at Maggie Mae's,
the venue for the Affliction Clothing Party they're playing this
afternoon, so we walk a block over and around to the back alley. While
waiting, Darroh decides to take a leak behind a dumpster in the
alleyway. Looking down at the ground, he notices a cell phone on the
ground sitting only about 6 inches away from the shower. “Hey, somebody
left their phone on the ground back here,” he turns and says to Jon and
me. When he looks back, a hand emerges from the darkness behind the
receptacle and grabs the phone. Darroh leaps what appears to be about 3
feet in the air right as a face pops out to say, “Jesus loves you”.
Keep Austin Weird, indeed.
4:15– As we’re loading the equipment into the club’s back room, we find pro
skateboarder Mike Vallely (who fronts opening act Revolution Mother as
a side venture) punching himself in the back room before their set.
Either he's getting pumped up, or trying to dull the pain of being
here. “Rev Mutha”, as their fans have dubbed them, put on an
entertaining set that reminds me of a hybrid of ZZ Top, Motorhead, and
Pantera. Vallely is a crowd pleaser, and guitarist Jason Hampton at one
point even tight-rope walks down the arm rail next to the stage while
dishing out a blistering solo. Not exactly the type of band that I
envisioned on the same bill as Fair To Midland, but paired with my
cold, canned Budweiser they feel just right.
5:10– FTM takes the stage about 40 minutes later than originally slated. As
I’m told by the event coordinator, all the early bands went over their
time limit, and she’s freaking out because there is still one band
after Fair To Midland left to play. This poses a bit of a problem…
The
boys launch right into the set with probably the heaviest song they’ve
ever written. It’s called “Rikki Tikki Tavi”, and basically sounds like
a parody of their early “Carbon Copy” era sound. Sudderth commands the
eager crowd to “Listen to me”, before erupting into a spinning,
stomping, flailing maniac, while Campbell and Dicken crunch and soar
over drummer Brett Stowers heavy thump. The song gets the crowd into
motion as people begin to rush in from other rooms to catch a glimpse
of what is causing all the commotion. Right as the Gibson Room begins
to fill to the brim and the crowd starts buzzing, the intro to old fan
favorite “Walls of Jericho” gets everyone ready to rumble. The opening
stutter lick brings everyone in closer to the stage, and pianist Matt
Langley provides a soothing ambient underlay. After the frenzied
whiplash ending of “Walls”, the groove of new song “Musical Chairs” is
a welcome reprieve. The song sounds much like the natural evolution of
tracks such as “Tall Tales Taste Like Sour Grapes” from the band’s
previous full length release “Fables From A Mayfly: What I Tell You
Three Times Is True”. It is a very polished mature sound, while still
having a distinct “FTM” twist to it. (The song is actually so new,
Sudderth explains, that the song doesn’t even have completed lyrics. At
this stage, it’s mostly ad-libbed.) “Chairs” sounds like exactly the
type of song that could catapult the band to the big stages (or at
least better parking spaces). A super “hooky” chorus melody makes the
song fun to sing along to, while the instrumentals are funky enough to
keep your head moving. Look forward to hearing this one everywhere soon.
5:30– That’s right. It’s only 5:30 (a mere 20 minutes after taking the
stage), and the event coordinator leans up to Campbell and notifies him
that they will need to exit the stage to allow time for the last band
to set up and play before the venue gets taken over by SXSW shows at
6:00. Dicken turns around from re-tuning his bass to see that his
singer has left the scene, and the crowd is reacting with thunderous
boos. Campbell takes to the mic to speak to the crowd. “They’re kicking
us off since all the other bands went too long. Yeah, let ‘em know how
that makes you feel!” he says, to which the crowd responds with
obscenity-laced outbursts of displeasure. He then goads them by
exclaiming, “They’re probably just doing this to us since we’re from
Texas!” followed by the crowd screaming at the venue workers while the
band breaks down their equipment. After the show, Jon looks at me and
says, “You know what? I was feelin’ kinda tired after the second song
anyway. Now I can spend the rest of the night actually having a good
time.”
I ask Darroh how it feels to be removed mid-set:
“Yeah,
that’s about right. We’re like worms on a hook out there. At least they
didn’t use the old Vaudeville-style cane to yank us off.” It’s tough to
muster up any positivity at this point.
6:10– After getting all the crates and crates of gear moved outside and
ready to load up into the van, Cliff heads off on a mission to bring
back the van. 20 or so minutes later, Cliff returns to the loading zone
sans van. The van was allegedly parked illegally and was towed away. I
ask the guys how they feel about the situation:
Matt: “We parked
where they told us to park, and now its load out time and the damn van
is not where we left it. Austin, TX would like to welcome all bands to
SXSW with open arms.”
Brett: “Actually, I gotta tell ya, I feel
pretty good about it. I was really…I came down here with the mindset
that I need to “work”, maybe “haul some gear”, maybe “work off some of
this gut”, you know…And now it looks like I’m gonna get to accomplish
that. So, I feel pretty alright about it.”
Darroh: “I think it’s super sweet.”
Me: “How about that 15 minute set?”
Darroh: “I think it’s super sweet.”
7:45– Cliff finally returns with the van, and we get everything all loaded
up. As Cliff heads off to find another (legal) place to park, we all
decide to walk over to the Spaghetti Warehouse on 4th street since it’s
the only please within a reasonable walking distance that shouldn’t be
packed to the max with tourists. After all, there are an estimated
150,000 people that come from all over the globe for the largest
interactive multimedia festival in the world. They’re bound to want to
eat somewhere more “local” than SpagHouse…
9:15– When we finish eating, everyone decides that the Tori Amos show over
at La Zona Rosa is where they’re gonna head. However, since I don’t
have a wristband, I can’t get in. Dicken turns to me and says, “Dude,
It’s not 1996. I don’t care about going to see Tori Amos. I’m with
you.” So Jon and I decide to meander over and go meet up with some of
his old tour buddies at some bars on 6th.
9:40– Our first stop is a semi-swanky Polynesian-themed cocktail bar called
Malaia to meet up with the guys from Shreveport, LA band Tyler Read,
with whom Fair To Midland toured with opening for Chevelle back in the
fall of ’07. They’ve just finished watching the 8:00 show of fellow
Louisiana alterna-punk outfit Meriwether. We all kick back a few drinks
and relax despite how uptight the bar feels. We decide to venture
elsewhere for a more accommodating venue.
10:30– We mosey over to The Jackalope to meet up with Josh Johnson, the
singer from Tyler Read, and say hello. We run into Steve Bergeron, the
guitar player from Meriwether, and the dude is hilarious. He shakes my
hand, then leans in and says, “I feel like I’m walking on the moon,” to
which I reply, “You probably are.” These are the good times of SXSW.
Josh, Jon, and I chat for a bit about music videos (Tyler Read just
recently shot a video for “Baby’s Got A Temper”), and how people want
to see the band in the video. After all, people buy the record to hear
the music, but they buy tickets to the show to see a performance. This
is a topic Darroh and I would discuss again at dinner before their show
on Saturday night relating to his onstage antics. He often gets
stressed before a show worrying about whether or not things will go as
planned, and if the crowd will be “into” their performance. When I tell
him that people don’t care about the sound as much as they want to be
entertained, he retorts, “Yeah, that’s why there is so much pressure.”
“All
these people are here to be entertained. I understand that people focus
more on the singer when they watch a band, so it’s on my shoulders to
make sure they get to see what they came to see. The hardest part is
that the things that I do onstage for our fans wreak havoc on my body.
Sometimes I wonder how long I’ll be able to keep this up. My back hurts
all the time. After some shows [like the one they play on Saturday
night] I can barely walk because my hips and legs are jacked up. Most
nights when the show is over I feel like hell, but I go out there
anyway because I appreciate everyone that supports us and I feel like I
owe it to them to keep going. I want people to enjoy the show, but I
also want to be able to walk upright when I’m 40.”
11:40– Jon and decide to check up with everybody else to see what they’re
doing. We head out on a manhunt to try and find Darroh over at Emo’s.
Across the street from Emo’s, we see a street musician playing very
complex beats on some plastic and metal buckets and bowls. Even artists
with no actual instruments are trying to be discovered at South By.
This guy totally rocks, so while Jon ventures inside to find Darroh, I
grab a seat on the sidewalk and watch this apparently homeless Buddy
Rich.
12:05 – Jon comes
back outside, but couldn’t find Darroh through the masses of people
inside. Every venue is a madhouse. We decide to walk back over to
Maggie Mae’s where our aforementioned buddy John (the one whose house
the band was staying at) was working as a bartender. So John, Jon, and
Jonathan (me) are hanging out in the small pub side at Maggie’s and
sipping some whiskey. [That sounds like the beginning of a shitty
joke.] John (who is working despite having been partying all day and
all the night before) decides that my drink needs more punch. He grabs
the Jack Daniel’s bottle and aims it toward my glass. Just in the nick
of time, I was able to pull it away (at this point, I’ve been drinking
for about 10 hours and I’m definitely feeling it). So, the spout of the
bottle is now pointed at the girl next me and John proceeds to pour
about a shot and a half of whiskey directly on her back. She turns to
me and says, “What the fuck did you do that for?!”
I think every single person in this whole city is drunk. It’s been a long day.
12:40– Cliff, Brett, and Matt call to tell us that they’re ready to start
walking back to the van. We finish our drinks, and start walking over
to The Parish to meet up with everybody. On the journey to find the
van, Jon starts feeling the effects of the day’s libations and starts
to get a little “choked up”…Right in front of a cop car. But
apparently, cops don’t care if all 100,000 SXSW patrons are drunk.
As
we’re walking, we notice a young woman passed out on the steps of a
downtown building. Seeing this as a fitting image of the average SXSW
partygoer, I decide to stop and snap of photo. But, not before Darroh
sits down next to her, puts his arm around her and smiles big for the
camera. These guys are nothing if not gentlemen…
As
Brett and I are capturing this moment of intimacy, 3 ladies walk by and
see him sitting there with the girl and all say, “Wow. You’re a great
friend for staying with her.” This is probably the first time all day
that he’s been shown appreciation.
While we walk, I’m asking
the guys how they felt overall with the days events, and if they felt
it was generally representative of the SXSW experience. Darroh says to
me, “We’re treated like inventory with a short shelf life. We do this
all for our fans, but, unfortunately, they’re priced out from being
able to afford to come see these shows. We’re basically tap dancing
chimps for the industry choads. But, then again, beggars can’t be
choosers. If we don’t play these kind of events, we can’t get ourselves
such a widespread audience. Most people that see us play at these shows
would never like us. But, maybe there’s one or two that do and then
it’s worth it. I just wish it wasn’t so much about whoring ourselves
out for the suits, and more about the bands that work so hard to come
here only to be treated like they should feel lucky to even be here.”
“Other than that, I just want a Prilosec.”
I guess that’s what SXSW does to you.