South By Southwest fest marks 20 years of buzz

LOS ANGELES - During the past two decades, the South by Southwest Music and Media Conference in Austin, Texas, has earned a reputation as the premier showcasing opportunity in America for acts on the cusp of breaking into the mainstream.

For artists from independent labels, SXSW has leveled the playing field, building critical word-of-mouth that is as valuable as any major-label marketing budget.

Last year the conference and its music festival brought that boost to Hasidic reggae singer Matisyahu, who appeared at SXSW just weeks before the release of his album, "Live at Stubb's." His song, "King Without A Crown," has become a fixture on modern rock radio.

In 2004, it was hot Scots Franz Ferdinand who broke out, also moving from an indie label to a major and onto mainstream success, in part because of the buzz the band generated at SXSW.

When the music conference, festival and trade show opens March 15, the 20th anniversary of the event will once again bring high expectations for key bands set to showcase. Critical ears await, among others, Arctic Monkeys and Grand National from the United Kingdom, rock duo Deadboy & the Elephantmen, British rapper Lady Sovereign and Minneapolis-based rock act Tapes 'n Tapes.

In addition, the Welsh alt-rock act People in Planes is set to headline a Billboard showcase March 16 at the Dirty Dog Bar.

Yet for every attention-grabbing breakthrough, there are dozens of other stories of how appearing at SXSW at the right time can alter a band's career, thanks to the conference's mix of tastemaker attendees, comprising label executives, radio programmers, journalists and other music professionals.

"Their opinion can truly shape what the rest of the audience thinks of you," says Wayne Coyne, frontman of the Flaming Lips, who released their debut album on independent Restless Records in 1985.

Coyne should know. The Flaming Lips' SXSW appearances during the past 10 years illustrate how an act can use the festival as a development platform, running the gamut from outrageous experimentation to career revitalization.

By 1997, the Flaming Lips had moved from Restless to Warner Bros. Records, but was stalled at a crossroads marked by personnel changes and personal tragedies. Then Coyne staged the Parking Lot Experiment, in which he led SXSW attendees to an Austin parking structure and instructed 30 people to simultaneously play on their car stereos cassettes of music he composed. The result was a bizarre symphony that reinvigorated the act and thrilled attendees.

"It was an absurd thing to tell a couple thousand of people to come to a parking lot and see this thing," he recalls. "To call this thing an 'experiment' would be kind ... But people showed up with their minds wide open. I think that enthusiasm spread from Austin to the rest of the world."

And that response opened the door for Warner Bros. to release "Zaireeka," the Lips' four-CD concept album that extended the experiment into the homes of fans.

The Lips returned to SXSW as a trio a few months prior to the release of "The Soft Bulletin" in 1999. Coyne has been a featured speaker at SXSW and last year a documentary about the band, "The Fearless Freaks," was screened there.

The promise of musical discoveries and the heady environment of downtown Austin have led industry professionals to keep returning to SXSW. Sub Pop co-founder Jonathan Poneman's first visit to SXSW was in 1992, and the indie-label veteran has been back seven or eight times through the years.

"I love Austin, and I like the feeling of the event," he says. "There's more merriment and chance for good-old fashion hijinx and something spontaneous to happen, instead of more calculated industry-driven events you'd find in other places."

"There's been so many that it's hard to remember them all," he says. "But it's done us right." This year, the Brunettes, Flight of the Conchords, Kelley Stolz, Band of Horses, the Elected and Rogue Wave will perform March 17 at Sub Pop's showcase at Red Eyed Fly.

Poneman admits to grousing about the expense of putting on the seemingly required showcase. "But at the end of the day, I guess we don't really have to be there," he reasons. "We really come back of our own volition and love for the event."

Astralwerks general manager Errol Kolosine concurs that SXSW's location plays a tremendous part in its longevity. "The success of the event and the geographical location of the event are not mutually exclusive at all," says the executive who first attended SXSW in the late '80s when he was working in college radio. "Austin is very much a music town. There is a wide array of music venues that operate year-round. It's a thriving and very real music community, and that's a big part of it."

As such, the venues usually have good sound and top-notch crews. "Those things are crucial," Kolosine adds. "You can spend a ton of money and put your heart and soul into bringing a whole slew of artists down, but if the people who are facilitating the audience's experience, if those people aren't professional and don't have their act together, it can all be for naught. There's nothing worse than going through all that trouble and then you're at the gig and it sounds like crap."

Another plus, Kolosine adds, is that SXSW tends to draw music lovers with open minds. "Once it was more of a rootsy event, more indicative of the Austin vibe than it is today," he says. "They've expanded what they do. Now we can do a gig with bands like Hot Chip and the Juan McClean, who are a bit more rhythmic, and people are more up for it. We had Fatboy Slim close out our big party last year, and it was rammed." (This year, singer/songwriter Beth Orton will headline one of two Astralwerks showcases.)

It was Austin's open-minded environment that led Or Music co-founder Michael Caplan to suggest that Matisyahu record his debut for the label at legendary hot spot Stubb's and later appear at SXSW prior to its release.

While SXSW's growth has opened the doors to more international acts through the years, some veterans complain that it has left some early supporters feeling squeezed out.

"I hate to say it, but it was sure fun when it was smaller," Frontier Records founder Lisa Fancher says. "It's overwhelming now."

Fancher remembers the days in the early '90s of seeing great bands in small venues and meeting the rock critics who gave positive reviews to the albums on her label, but now finds the crowds unbearable and the price of a flight, hotel room and registration prohibitive to her small indie budget.

But just as some indie veterans have decided to forgo SXSW, others will be returning to the festival for the first time in years. Jay Faires, who once regularly attended the conference as the founder of Mammoth Records, will return to SXSW after a hiatus in his new role as president of Lions Gate Music and Publishing.

"I always used to call it 'spring break for the music industry,' " he says. "There are still great bands and healthy deal-making. And it'll be a really good opportunity to let people know what you're up to."

- REUTERS/Billboard