Wondering what it's really like to experience SXSW for the first time? We asked three Sonicbids bands to share their journey with us in what we've dubbed "The SXSW Diaries." In this installment, follow along with Summer Heart's firsthand, no-holds-barred account of the festival, and relive their crazy stories and lessons learned from SXSW 2015!
Being from Sweden, we were supposed to go to the US earlier in March for some other shows, but since my visa didn’t come through in time, we literally just sat in our suitcases ready to leave any minute the visa came through. The expectations were high, but at the same time, the wait was nervous and for a little while, I was afraid that we might miss the whole festival.
The "joy" of traveling
Frederick Rundqvist, who's a US citizen, ready to travel. (Photo courtesy of David Alexander)
On Monday morning, I got a phone call from the US embassy. They told me my visa was ready. Finally! It was a real relief but at the same time very stressful since we hadn't booked any flights. We decided to just leave right away, and we actually booked the airplane tickets on the train on the way to the airport. We got really lucky and found some tickets that weren't too expensive.
Frederick Rundqvist boarding the plane. (Photo courtesy of David Alexander)
We flew out from Stockholm and landed at JFK Airport in New York at night. Our flight to Austin didn't depart for another 12 hours, so we discussed whether we should just stay at the airport all night or try finding a cheap place where we could get some sleep. We went for the latter and booked a random motel room not far from the airport, and went there, and straight to bed.
Alexander and Rundqvist spending the night in a motel somewhere in New York. (Photo courtesy of David Alexander)
We woke up early the next morning, probably both because of the time difference and because of the expectations we had. We were finally here ready to head to Austin and SXSW. We went back to JFK the next morning, and our flight got delayed two hours so we took us the time to rehearse a couple of new songs we wanted to play.
Rundqvist rehearsing at JFK airport, New York. (Photo courtesy of David Alexander)
Leaving the light snow in New York and arriving in sunny Austin was quite a shock in several ways. The heat, people, cars, bars, venues, and food trucks were everywhere. It was kind of an overwhelming feeling. I wasn't prepared for the heat at all, so I had to borrow a pair of jean shorts from my bandmate, Frederick. Shorts and Docs, especially with socks, isn’t exactly my favourite outfit, but I had to make it work.
Docs, socks, and jean shorts. (Photo courtesy of David Alexander)
A few SXSW surprises
Photo courtesy of David Alexander
Quite quickly, I realized, although I already knew it somehow, that SXSW isn't really just about live shows. I mean, it's really difficult for a band to give a mint performance with just a line check before a show. SXSW is definitely more about just taking part in it, being there, and meeting other bands and lots of other people from the industry. Luckily enough, I do love to meet new people and run around to different venues with random people, watch random bands, and have a good time. And I do love being onstage even if we don't get to soundcheck and the circumstances aren't perfect. I guess a lot of bands feel the same way, and a big part of the crowd hopefully understands what the circumstances look like.
Summer Heart packing up their gear after a show at Wonderland Austin. (Photo courtesy of David Alexander)
SXSW is not necessarily where bands will play their best-sounding gigs, but it's definitely a festival that's a lot of fun to play, which is at least as important – as long as you don't carry too much stuff with you and can easily set up and play without a proper soundcheck. Because one of the key things at SXSW is to be able to quickly set up and tear down all your gear. Since we've toured a lot and packed our things up and down hundreds of times, we've learned to do it pretty quickly. At one point, we only had 45 minutes between two shows at different venues, but it actually worked out fine. It's not only fun, but it's also really good practice to play a lot of different venues and sessions during a short period of time.
David Alexander getting ready to play a Daytrotter session at Good Danny's.
The most difficult part of SXSW was finding vegan food. I couldn't really find any food trucks that served vegan food, but at the same time, we were more or less busy with something the whole festival so I really didn't make an effort trying to find one either. We stayed at an Airbnb flat on East Sixth (that we rented from someone who actually was a fan of ours before. That felt really cool.). The flat was located really close to a big supermarket, so we bought loads of good stuff from there and cooked for ourselves instead, which was perfect.
Shopping at a local supermarket. (Photo courtesy of David Alexander)
Overall, SXSW was a blast. I'm really happy with how the whole thing turned out for us. Austin had such a warm spirit to it, and we made so many new friends there. Actually, it was a bit sad to leave, but our tour continues in Europe, which of course feels wonderful. We did spend a lot of money and effort on this trip. Although I definitely think it's worth for bands to invest money in going to SXSW, I do think they have to be aware that SXSW Is not just about playing music, because you might have to compromise your set a bit. Luckily that suits us very well, so for us, this trip was definitely worth every penny.
David Alexander half asleep at JFK on the way back to Europe. (Photo courtesy of David Alexander)
It’s not so often that a band's name truly reflects their sound, but when it comes to Swedish lo-fi artist Summer Heart, led by David Alexander, you can expect just that: hazy, sun-bleached tracks that are the perfect anthem to remembering hot July nights filled with skinny dipping and sleeping in.
