Photo: Fade to Mind/Night Slugz/#FEELINGS After Hours party | SXSW Saturday, 3.16.13
Last year, it felt like the American variety of screechy mid-range Dubstep and Skrillex-esque AOL noise garbage were creeping into the festival. This year concluded for me that that is no longer the dominate sound of electronic music in the US, even if popular outlets are still hanging on to it.
. . .
On an hour and a half of sleep, no ability/will to go to sleep, I stayed up Saturday of South by Southwest brooding in anticipation on the Fade to Mind/Night Slugz/#FEELINGS After Hours party hosted by Austin pop-up party outfit New Gyration.
I wanted to send SXSW2013 out with a bang, and a proper till-the-sun-rises after hours seemed like just the right way to do it.
I decided not to bring my camera, take notes, or be anything but in the moment for the party. Little did I know that the show would actually be unlike any I’ve ever attended.
I knew a number of big names in electronic music would show up, but I wasn’t expecting 50% of the people in the building to be big name electronic musicians of such a wide array of labels and persuasions. Most stacked event I’ve ever been to. It was entirely surreal, actually. As an exercise, I’m going to attempt to recall, stream of consciousness, all the people I saw that night. The After Hours was so interesting, above all, because I can guarantee you that I don’t know and can’t even come close to recalling everyone of note who was in attendance that night. But I’ll give it a go:
Girl Unit, Bok Bok, Distal, Clicks & Whistles, Kingdom, DJG, LilInternet, Moldy, Mite, Dubbel Dutch, False Witness, M|O|D, Ynfynyt Scroll, Ben Aqua, Lōtic, Rizzla, Nikes, Lefty, Nguzunguzu, Total Freedom, LOLGURLZ, Le1f, Massacooramaan, Neon Indian, Tr∞th, Noms, MoheganSon, Kilbourne, MikeQ, Goulet, L-Vis 1990, Zerba Katz, Mykki Blanco, Rustie, Prince William, and Kelelam.
MoheaganSon #FEELINGS
Ynfynyt Scroll #FEELINGS
Ben Aqua #FEELINGS
The only way I could describe the party was … scarring. Not in a bad way, but more the kind of scar that hurt at the moment, but now is just cool that you can show it to your friends and they think it’s hot. You’d think that an after hours party at SXSW hosted by some of the most progressive labels in electronic music would be the height of fun, but in reality, the vibe of this party was undeniably and forcibly oppressive.
One image remains burned in my memory: the club was packed; rumors and a feverish vibe swirled about the line of people outside the club trying to get in. We were already well over capacity.
It was after hours, so no alcohol was to be had, and you know what that means for most people in the building. Fog and cigarette smoke poured over listeners as Nguzunguzu took the decks. Possibly, what made the party such a mind-fuck is that the forté of Fade to Mind is taking pop and RnB tunes and refixing them into moody and twisted club anthems. This is a dangerous combination after the people of SXSW have been partying for days, are fall-over tired, and have stacked enough alcohol and drugs in their bodies to be giving them flashbacks till they’re 60.
As the club hit its terminal point circa 4 a.m., suddenly, the smoke alarm went off. It screamed. The scene inside the venue became frantic as club goers had no idea whether the nascent party would be shut down or not. But this is a place where the law gets little respect.
This was the height of club music in the Wild Wild West, and other party goers lit cigarettes in blatant disregard of the deafening commotion. The music never stopped.
Asma Maroof of Nguzunguzu stood in afront the stage like an Indian goddess conducting a frantic, intentionally disorienting orchestra to a chorus of hungry fiends—she never blinked.
Beside her stood Bok Bok, looking surprising solemn -- the look of a Don watching his creation come to fruition, but all according to plan, in no need of further attention at this time. He was nearly aloof, with a slight look of amusement at the chorus.
Really, I felt him watching me, watching us all, like the club-Eye of Sauron. He never blinked.
I’d never seen anything like the After Hours in my life. At that point of exhaustion, shit gets really weird… A lot of us involved in the electronic music world are always in search of new and intense feelings as a product of a night’s music and atmosphere; and in that respect, everyone at the After Hours knew that this was an unforgettable way to send out SXSW2013. Multiple people confirmed to me after the fact:
Scarring is the only way to describe that.
SXSW STATE OF THE UNION
Much can be said about where SXSW is at: Was it good? Was it too big? Was it better and worse than last year? ect. ect. … and critics do spit about this every year. For me personally, this was the first year that I attended SXSW as an outsider of my most beloved Austin. This made the festival better and also not as genuine in certain ways.
As a resident of Austin, you really do notice how the festival levels the city—how everything stops and something new takes over. Life as normal is an impossibility.
And with the festival taking place over two weeks (Film, Interactive, and Music included), I was somewhat happy not to face the necessary exhaustion of a local this year.
Yet, I found myself disappointed to miss a boat-load of great events that happen earlier in the festival. The best moments at Southby are the intimate ones—the ones you share with others who are there for the same reason you are. I had a lot of those this year. The #TEXLYFE party with #FEELINGS Records and Teklife was one of them. The Night Slugz/Fade to Mind showcase Friday (a much more upbeat affair, actually) was another. Southby is where people from around the world who are engaged in similar endeavors come together to enjoy and meet each other. Unless you’re Justin Timberlake or one of his fans, as an artist, Southby is one gigantic industry party that truly sets it apart from the rest.
SXSW Lifeforce
Southby has been getting bigger and better for electronic music over the past five years. Given the resurgence of electronic music in the US, this isn’t too surprising. This year felt even better though, as I experienced a lot of variety amongst the artists and friends I saw in town.
Last year, it felt like the American variety of screechy mid-range Dubstep and Skrillex-esque AOL noise garbage were creeping into the festival. This year concluded for me that that is no longer the dominate sound of electronic music in the US, even if popular outlets are still hanging on to it.
And to be clear here, the UK sound of Dubstep and UK Garage had a strong and quality showing at Southby, as has been the case for years—but we know that’s not what I’m talking about when referring to this popularized form of American bass music.
We’re getting to a point where cutting-edge electronic music is increasing difficult to define—things don’t fit as neatly into predetermined categories.
Certain artists make it a point to create music in such a way as to buck traditional conventions of how electronic genres are supposed to work, or as Fade to Mind knows well, they reach into popular music to produce club-ready mutants out of samples and lyrics with which people are familiar.
We should welcome this shift towards opaqueness through endless variety. It’s this shift exactly that’s putting the US back where it should be on the map as a world leader in sonic culture.
See you at SXSW 2014 
~ ~ ~ Swelta’s Official SXSW2013 #Tacos Juice Cleanse ~ ~ ~
Total Tacos Eaten: 5 Days -- 21 Tacos
WANT MORE FROM SXSW BY SWELTA? READ HIS INTRODUCTION, DAY I RECAP AND HIS #REPORTINGLIVE FROM DAYS II & III AS WELL!
