SXSW Experience: Italian Japanese

Though Italian Japanese had a short stay in Austin, I ran into the band on Thursday night at the Velveeta Room, where The Silent Comedy played a 1:30 am set. After the show, they were all kind enough to give me a ride back to the house where I was staying, saving me cab money and who knows how much  time just trying to catch one. This is the post SXSW survey as answered by the band's manager.

How long were you in Austin?
Wednesday March 14th through Thursday March 15th.

Did you drive or fly? Any travel stories you'd like to share?
We've been on tour for two weeks, and SXSW was part of the tour.

We randomly ran into Transfer and The Silent Comedy after playing the City Tavern in Dallas, and closed the bar down. Transfer was playing a show a couple blocks away the same night, and The Silent Comedy came out to support. Afterwards they headed to the venue we were playing out to have drinks. We ended up having a blast with our San Diego crew.

Did you play? If so, when and where?
Yes, we played four showcases. Wednesday night we played The Thirsty Nickel at 9:30pm. Thursday we played Cheer Up Charlie's at 3:30pm, Blind Pig at 7pm, and Wahoo's at 11pm.

How were your crowds? The venues?
Wahoo's was a huge surprise for us. Ended up being the most energetic crowd. The Thirsty Nickel and Blind Pig were great. Cheer Up Charlie's had an awesome main stage with amazing sound.

Any memorable or standout moments from your own shows?
Yes, for our Thirsty Nickel show, our friends from the Chain Gang of 1974 came out. For Cheer Up Charlie's it was awesome playing with Saint Motel, Dirty Beaches, and our friends from Mrs. Magician. The Cuckoo Chaos boys came to support us as well.

Did you catch any parties or showcases of note?
We caught our friends Cults at the Carson Daly Last Call showcase, which was sweet.
Writer at Shangri-la was awesome.
The Silent Comedy at The Velveeta Room was off the hook!
Saint Motel, The Chain Gang of 1974, & Paper Route were also an amazing line-up at Peckerheads.
We also caught Snoop Dogg at the Doritos Party.

Will you go back as a band or fan in 2013?
BOTH! Definitely.

Any wrapup thoughts, lessons learned, crazy moments, cool tales to share?
Pack light. Don't speed. Eat your fruits & vegetables. Bring a dolly. Don't forget to sleep... Coffee coffee coffee.

SXSW- Thursday Pt II or Sometimes You Have To Fake It

So if you ever believe that electricity is hard to come by, just try to find a spare outlet to charge your phone in Austin during SXSW.

Last night I left off at the Sahara, so that's where I'll pick up. The Heavy Guilt left the Sahara, but I stayed to catch A Scribe Amidst The Lions and to catch up with Ryan Blue and Chad Deal (of The Reader). When the show finished, we lingered about, taking full advantage of the ridiculously cheap drinks and backyard vibe of Sahara. Eventually we all got our shit together and went to Scribe's hotel. What was supposed to be a dropby ended up being a full three beer hang, until they motivated to get to their next showcase. (more after the jump)

Contest: See The Nervous Wreckords & Italian Japanese Wednesday Night at the Belly Up

The Nervous Wreckords have been wrecking up the scene. If you've seen them, you know they deliver a great live show. If you haven't yet seen them, well, you probably aren't reading this site on a regular basis. I've got three pairs of tickets to give away to their show on Wednesday night at the Belly Up. Send an email to sddialedin (at) gmail with the subject "Nervous". Include your first and last name and a phone number. I'll pick winners at noon on Wednesday. You'll be notified and your names will be on the guest list. Do it to do it!

Vote Local: Lesands & Italian Japanese

I don't have the energy to talk about all of this goodness that is coming upon San Diego bands except that Italian Japanese is up for Freshman of the week on MTVu and Lesands is up for band of the month on The Deli, a popular LA music blog. Please take 2 seconds to vote for our locals.