SXSW 2010

I was graciously asked by my friends over at Mylene Sheath to make the trek down to Austin, TX for this year’s South By South West festival. The label was hosting a showcase on Saturday night featuring three of their bands: Junius, Gifts From Enola, & Caspian. As well as attending tons of other shows throughout the week including one offs from some of their bands. It was a crazy week for a hundred reasons – full of tons of music and almost as much barbecue.

I’ll spare you a lengthy report on the 7 days I spent traveling and shooting and get to the meat of the trip. Check out the full set of photos including some photojournalism shots of the 30 hour drive from Harrisonburg, VA to Austin, TX. You can find them all here.

Gifts From Enola played a very strange outdoor show on the side of a coffee house in broad daylight on Thursday. For a band that relies on custom, cued lighting, it was an interesting dynamic. I used the opportunity to get as many full band shots as possible – something I’ve found near impossible to do in their normal indoor venue settings.

We headed outside of the festival on Friday night out to Troy, TX so Gifts From Enola could play a one off at Troy General Store. The venue is really a barn with a stage in it. We basically played under the stars, with barbeque cooking right outside, who could ask for a better night?

Junius opened the Mylene Sheath showcase at Valhalla on Saturday night with an incredible, moving set of darkwave meets post rock. Their normal lighting set up consists of custom lights of varying colors controlled by foot switches – from what I’m told. But the odd stage shape and placement limited floor space, forcing the band to use two dome lamps controlled by foot switches. With only red front lighting the band and white back lighting the band, I had quite a challege shooting them. Though they were my most successful shoot of the night.

Second up – Gifts From Enola. Their light set up was the most flattering of the night. They brought their on stage lighting guy, LJ Stank, with them to the festival. The cued lighting seems to be a 5th instrument during their live shows. A realization we came across at Thursday’s daytime, outdoor show.

Caspian are a band that love harsh, unphotographable lighting. Seriously, dudes? Two 6″ clamp lights with red bulbs placed in the middle of the stage facing up? No front lighting at all. What a nightmare. I focused shooting from side stage, taking advantage of all the light possible. This set was a pain to shoot, but life changing to witness. They’re less of a band or show, more of a movement or experience. I love these dudes. I hope they decide soon that they like a different color light set up.

Many many thanks go out to Lindsay & Joel, and Nate, at Mylene Sheath for bringing me out to SXSW for this awesome opportunity. And many thanks to Gifts From Enola, Caspian, Junius, and the dozens of other bands I saw over the week.

Please be sure to check out all the shots from my week at SXSW by clicking here. And DEFINITELY support Mylene Sheath and all of their amazing bands.

Related Posts

1. Gifts From Enola / Caspian / A Cosmonaut’s Ruin
2. Press: sxsw.com
3. Junius