And They're Off! Aussie Acts Take On SXSW 2018

SXSW festival is well and truly in full swing with a stack of talented Aussies now in Austin, Texas to wow US audiences.

Dozens of awesome acts have made the leap to show off what the Australian music scene has to offer. We caught up with a couple of them to find out what their first few whirlwind days have been like.

jess ribeiro

day 1 

"Everyone pretends to have strict dietary requirements so their food comes first on the plane.This flight I decided to rebel against faking pretentious dietary requirements. I have no dietary requirements and I’ll stand with the common people. I regret this quickly, Marc Mckelvies (guitarist) vegan food looks good."

"I can’t decide what in-flight movie to watch so I watch a child watch a modern version of My Little Pony. It’s a terribly disappointing cartoon. The ponies don’t look nice they look like mean sexy bitch ponies."

"I fall asleep listening to a podcast about the grand cosmic planetary forces of the sun. I don’t remember much of it when I wake up except we need to remember to be human, but how? I don’t know."

"We arrive in LA Maria Moles (drummer) is taken away by customs for declaring an apple. Post apple interrogation we drive with Jade Imagine's band to Silver Lake to eat at an organic supermarket. After this, it’s time to get mobile SIM cards."

"Like little junkies we pay for our SIM cards and get on it ASAP. We drive to the accommodation. Three beds for nine people. One of the bandmates decides to sleep in the built-in wardrobe. Marc and Maria hit the town. We eat soft tacos. The group is divided into two teams; the herbal tea drinkers and the neat whiskey smokers. I want to listen to Earache My Eye from the Cheech and Chong Up In Smoke soundtrack. I take homoeopathic sleeping pills which don’t work." 

day 2 

"RVG and Lorrae McKenna (Our Golden Friend) arrive. All three bands play an impromptu free show at the Hyperion Tavern.

From the outside, the club looks like a black garage. Inside the lights are low. There are two big chandeliers and the walls are made from an old wooden library which came from a 1920s law firm."

"Colourful film projections of American children's television shows from the 1960s bounce off the wall of the small wooden stage.

It's so small the bands have to set up on the floor. There's one toilet that you cannot flush. No one cares."

"This rock'n'roll clubhouse is hosted by Don Bolles. Don was a big part of the punk scene in the '70s and '80s. He drummed in numerous bands including the Germs and Nervous Gender."

"Now at the ripe young age of 61, he records and tours with Aerial Pink.

Don is known for his grand record collection. He starts the night off by playing what he calls 'Glambience'."

Alice ivy

day 1 

"We flew into Austin super early from LA. Omg, this has been the most intense transit ever. I played Panama Music Festival over the weekend in rural Tasmania, flew to Melbourne and a couple of hours later caught a flight to Brisbane for a connecting flight to LA. Anyway, it’s never good to skip breakfast and I totally rate Cheerios."

"My flight from LA got in about 3 hours before I was scheduled to play my first show at a Sounds Australia/ Tourism Australia co-presents at Australia House with Didirri. Didirri got in about an hour before the set. The only way to combat our jetlag and get on Austin time was to stay up late drinking IPAs on Sixth Street." 

"There’s no better way to wake up while getting over jetlag than hitting up a rooftop pool, which I did with my girl, Hoodlem."

thandi phoenix

Taking charge of TheMusic.com.au's Instagram page all today and Thursday (US time), head over to our insta to keep up with all of Phoenix's stories from her first day.