(Photos of interview by Alysse Gafkjen)

In anticipation of their Columbus show this week at Outland, I caught up with Simon Balthazar, Amos Memon and Leon Beckenham of Fanfarlo while in Austin for SXSW. I must say it’s a bit intimidating walking into an interview being the face of Columbus to a group of musicians who are not only talented and finding success right now, but foreign to our Midwestern scene… quite literally. (Full disclosure: This is due to the fact that I both write for donewaiting and work for Benco.)

Donewaiting: How was Fanfarlo born and how has it developed into it’s current state?

Simon: Ok, so, the short story is.. Fanfarlo used to be a recording project and it kinda came about just before I moved to London [from Sweden]. We pretty much started releasing 7″ on friends labels [in London] straight away before there was really a band. From that recording project, I started meeting people and now it’s become this dysfunctional family of a band we are today.

DW: How long have you been playing together?

Amos: It’ll be the 4th year, later this year together. Originally we were 6, but now we’re 5 people.

S: For the last year, we’ve been playing with guest guitarists.

Leon: We’ve gone through about 6, haven’t we, in the last couple of years?

A: We’ve chewed them up, spit them out.

DW: London seems like a good place to make music, all things considered…

S: It is and it isn’t. It’s a really active scene, there’s all sorts of stuff going on. There’s a very quick turn around, things get old really quickly. And that’s a downside, I think. It’s good in the sense that there’s always something fresh to be excited about. But me personally, I’ve tried to stay a little bit out of the blog bands, you know buzz bands.

DW: In regards to your album Reservoir, how long did it take from start to finish to get out to the general public?

A: I think it was like 7 months.

S: We spent the first two months deliberating over the sequencing, the name and cover art. It’s funny, I mean we did put it out ourselves but I think if we would have had a label kinda whipping us into shape we would have gone through that quicker. I don’t know how interesting it is, you know, the way you sell a record. But for us it was interesting, it was really fun and encouraging to see how many people would get your record directly from you. (more…)

Alex Chilton died days before Big Star was supposed to perform at SXSW. Instead of cancelling the event entirely, musicians got together to pay tribute to the man.

Photos by my friend Kristy Duncan.

M. Ward

Evan Dando

We’ve got a ton more.. (more…)

Cate Le Bon

Despite my confusion about whether I woke up in Columbus or Austin on Saturday morning, I triumphantly braved the cold and put in a good eleven hours of music listening/show-navigating on my last day of SXSW. My day began with a charming interview with the lovely Cate Le Bon (check back for full interview soon) and then took me to the MOG party where I camped out at for a number of hours. While there I caught performances by Dum Dum Girls, Demolished Thought (again sans Andrew WK), Freelance Whales, Broken Bells, The Antlers and The Black Keys.

Completely ignore the fact that I’m an Ohioan for one moment as I crown The Black Keys with the best performance of the party, hands down. Broken Bells was entertaining, but didn’t stray too far from what I might expect from a Shins follow-up of Australia.

The Black Keys

More bands and photos after the jump. (more…)

Demolished Thought

Though my day actually began at a reasonable hour, my involvement in seeing any music didn’t begin until late afternoon on Friday. I was able to catch up with Fanfarlo at Buffalo Billiards to talk to them about their album and upcoming show in Columbus so keep your eyes peeled for that coming up quite soon.

I caught Wild Sweet Orange at Creekside Lounge who softly reminded me that I was in the south where a voice sang mysterious sounding ballads of struggle. I then popped up to a rooftop to see Andrew WK making his crowd go crazy with his strain of rock and roll fever.

Thoughts on Fools Gold, Demolished Thought, Yacht, Local Natives, Freelance Whales and more after the jump. (more…)

Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings stopped at WOXY during SXSW and recorded a video of “She Ain’t A Child No More,” one of the band’s new songs.

Efterklang’s Casper Clausen

Using the wise words of one Robert Duffy (along with perhaps a couple others), “It’s not a sprint, it’s a marathon,” I made a conscious effort to pace myself a bit more on Thursday. I spent the afternoon relaxing with Dan Francis of Six Gallery and friends Aficionado at a DIY house showcasing music before jumping back into the midst of the chaos.

I caught Columbus natives The Main Street Gospel at the TeePee Records party where they rocked out probably as hard as I’ve ever heard them. I then made my way to Stubb’s BBQ to catch The Soft Pack, who left me scratching my head a little bit. However, the last tune I heard before splitting did make me realize that seeing them outside was the problem, not a lack of talent. I dove in to see Jail Weddings (which includes ex-Sun member Brad Caulkin) who I’m rather sure would have played until the sun came up given the chance. Rounding out the Thursday session of supporting Columbus music, I peeked into BD Riley’s with enough time to witness Lydia Loveless entertaining Austin like an old pro.

Mark my words (I’m calling it now), Denmark’s Efterklang played a set at Buffalo Billiards that was and will be the best set of this year’s festival. All of the stars aligned to produce an amazing show that hop-scotched back and forth from gentle and keen to big and dramatic movements of music. (I think they couldn’t stop smiling because they knew they were killing it.)

As if that didn’t put me on enough of a high, I left there to enjoy Man Man playing the Billboard party. I can’t help but be wowed by the bells and whistles of their quirkiness each time I see them. To round out my evening, I was able to see Sondre Lerche (a long-time favorite) play a nostalgically wonderful hour at Central Presbyterian Church. Mr. Lerche officially wins the award for most consistently enjoyable live act since the first time I caught him six years ago.

After day two: ambition level still high, exhaustion level manageable, so let’s bring on Friday!

Vocals are kinda buried, but you get the idea. Plus you get “The Great Gravitron Massacre” as a bonus after the new tune.

Also, the solo release from Micah Schnabel (that bespectacled guy singing up there), When the Stage Lights Go Dim, is out now, and you can stream the whole thing over at Spinner. SXSW info for Micah and Two Cow’s Saturday shows, along with Schnabel’s solo acoustic take on “Bastards & Bridesmaids,” after the jump. (more…)

So being a SXSW first-timer, my ambitions were high as I strolled into downtown Austin yesterday morning. (And when I say high, I mean I decided to ignore the fact that it was St. Patty’s day and wander into as many free shows as possible.) I actually caught two of the four acts I had planned for the day and ended up seeing way more than I anticipated.

I started the day at Emo’s, where I caught Summer Cats (who were a throwback to some angsty teen days) and Tobacco (who are not meant to be seen in the middle of a day in a tent.) I next checked out Joe Pug at the Paste showcase, where he charmed the pants off the crowd with his endearing personality and honest music. At the Creekside Lounge patio, I luckily caught Casiokids who gave the most upbeat and energetic show of the day, complete with odd hand gestures in sync with their beats. Inside, Ezra Furman and the Harpoons (pictured above) were my surprise new favorite of the day with a sound comprised of equal parts Tom Petty and serious indie rock.

Everyone Was In The French Resistance… Now was a bit of a let down so I took off in search of food. After a bit of a break, I saw The Howlies and it was then and there that I caved and bought a wristband for easier access to showcases. Good thing, too, because after catching a lively set by Skybox, I waited for 35 minutes and was able to see Fanfarlo at the outdoor Paste party. Though at this point it was 11pm, I didn’t give into exhaustion and kept wandering in time to come across Banda de Touristas, who did some serious rocking out. My night ended quite perfectly with an amazing set by The Morning Benders, despite a delay in sound issues and a broken guitar string on the first song. All in all, I’m pleased with day one and just hope I can keep this energy up for the next three days!

What was the best and worst of SXSW Day one? Post in the comments.

DETAILS:          REFLECTION ETERNAL (TALIB KWELI & HI-TEK)
http://www.myspace.com/reflectioneternal

1am **HEADLINER**
Blacksmith/Decon and “Noisemakers” present

Ace’s Lounge
222 E. 6th Street
Austin, TX 78701

FRI 3/19

**HEADLINER**
THE BLAST LIVE @ SXSW 2010
Digiwaxx/Monster Cables/Myspace Showcase
Tierra Del Fuego Wine Bar
313 E. 2nd Street

Austin, TX. 78701

BONE THUGS-N-HARMONY

http://www.myspace.com/bonethugsnharmony (more…)

MP3: Modern Drift

Efterklang, a band we’ve written about before, has a bunch of SXSW shows coming up this week. To celebrate their festival appearance, we’ve got a sweet giveaway that honestly I’d rather keep myself… but we love you readers so we’re gonna do it anyway!

One lucky person will get a vinyl test pressing of the band’s new album Magic Chairs, a copy of the CD, stickers, and whatever else Beggars finds in their warehouse. To enter the contest, send a blank e-mail to contest@donewaiting.com with the subject line: Efterklang. A winner will randomly be chosen by the end of the week.

SXSW Shows
Thursday 3/18 — 11pm — Buffalo Billiards (201 E. 6th St.) OFFICIAL SXSW
Friday 3/19 — 2pm — Danish Day Party/The Music Gym (815 E. 6th St.)
Friday 3/19 — 5pm — End of an Ear in-store (2209 S. 1st St.)
Saturday 3/20 — 6pm — SUP Party/Doc’s Motorworks (1123 S. Congress Ave.)

Columbus Rapper Blueprint sent out this press release about his group Greenhouse’s SXSW and National touring plans.Above is a video Greenhouse made to get people up to speed about the group. Below are the dates:

Greenhouse Tour Dates

It’s official, the Greenhouse crew (Blueprint, Illogic, & DJ Rare Groove) will be touring this spring in support of their EP Electric Purgatory Part One.  This tour begins at the SXSW Music Conference and heads westward from there.  They will be opening up for Killah Priest of the Wu-Tang Clan on this tour, so please come out and support them on their travels.  It has been over 5 years since Blueprint & Illogic toured together and they will be playing all the Weightless classics. The first have of the tour dates have been published and are as follows:

Saturday March 20th @ Ruta Maya
3601 S. Congress – Austin, TX 78701
12am-4am / All Ages

Sunday March 21  @ Highland Lake’s Marina (End of SXSW Boat Party)
16120 Wharf Cove – Volente, TX 78641
2pm-8pm / Ages 21+

non sxsw dates after the jump (more…)

MP3: Filthy & Free

To continue today’s New Jersey theme, here’s another band with Garden State roots. Shipla Ray and Her Happy Hookers have a bunch of shows coming up, including stops at SXSW and Columbus. Download the mp3 above and find out where you can see the band. (more…)

Now that my wife has completed her 52 Weeks of Baking project, she’s just launched a brand new blog: The Brooklyn Baker. Featuring reviews of New York bakeries, adventures in her own baking, and getting to know Brooklyn. Check it out and maybe even become a fan of Facebook.

Thanks.

Regularly scheduled programming to resume.

Full schedule here. In partnership with WOXY.