SXSW

Next Friday, the SXSW (South by Southwest) Film and Interactive conference and festival kicks off in Austin, Texas… then the Music Mayhem starts the following Tuesday! We’re just days away from flying to the great city ourselves for our 9th consecutive year of coverage, so we thought we’d share with your our top nine festival tips in…

Sydney’s Bad Pony will soon be heading out to the States to explore Austin, Texas as part of SXSW this year – a trip that will be adding to the band’s already growing list of international accomplishments. Ahead of their trip out, we check in to see what the Bad Pony perspective of the world’s biggest…

Everyone from Bill Murray to Spike Lee and Wes Anderson will be represented as SXSW rolls around for its 2018 edition next week. The film and television section of the world renowned showcase festival is entering its big 25th anniversary this year, with what looks to be one of its most diverse programs to date, with…

The Secret Sounds SXSW big bash parties are highlights of the Texan music festival each year; a great opportunity for people to see some of Australia’s best homegrown talent, while giving the Australian badge holders a little insight into the international buzz acts who may be making their way Down Under sooner rather than later….

Bringing their sounds back to SXSW for the second time this year, Melbourne’s Pretty City are set to return to Texas with a brand new show, as well as an inkling of what’s to come for the group. As their sophomore album, Cancel the Future, edges closer to release, the band gives us a little insight into how they’re anticipating…

In just over a week, (9th – 17th March) the annual South by Southwest Conference and Festival (SXSW) will be turning Austin into an incubator of creativity across film, music, technology, gaming and various other industries. It’s consistently one of the biggest – if not the biggest – showcase events in the world, and for…

For Liam Gough, heading to SXSW isn’t exactly foreign territory but this year, he (and The Teskey Brothers) will be performing at the music festival for the first time. As part of our pre-event series, we checked in with Liam to see how the trip and the band’s ensuing American tour was sitting with the…

As far as immersive experiences at SXSW go, it’s going to be hard to top what HBO have planned. To celebrate the forthcoming second season premiere of their critically acclaimed series Westworld (Sunday 22nd April in the U.S, which would be Monday 23rd April in Australia) the network have went and built the entire town…

She’s one of Australian indie pop’s shining lights at the moment and with praise levelled her way by American counterparts in Tinashe and Jhene Aiko (for example), there’s no surprise that Thandi Phoenix would be answering the international call sooner rather than later. The Sydney songwriter and performer is bound for Austin, Texas this month,…

With SXSW (AKA “every music lovers ultimate fantasy”) just weeks away from taking over Austin, Texas the annual event continues to add names from all over the world to the seemingly endless program of live music. As always, Australia is going to be very well represented across the week, with the latest artists joining the…

Following tour dates across the U.S as he returns to the road later this month, unimpeachable music legend Willie Nelson will circle back to Austin, Texas mid-March where he will headline his 6th annual Luck Reunion. The festival that happens in the midst of SXSW will once again be spread across Nelson’s Luck Ranch just…

Newcastle heroes Vacations have announced a massive world tour, including dates in the USA, UK and Europe. The band are no strangers to live performance, earning their stripes playing parties and venues across Australia, winning over fans with their unique brand of guitar pop. Fresh off the back of their hugely successful EP Vibes, the…

From Amy Shark to Jaden Smith, the seventh annual showcase lineup for Pandora at SXSW is looking like a mighty good time, with diversity spanning numerous styles and sounds including indie, pop, Latin, R&B, hip hop, Americana and country. Announced today, Pandora will once again take over The Gatsby in Austin, Texas for three days…

As we approach the 2018 addition SXSW Film Festival over in Austin, Texas the full program for the festivals’ 25th anniversary is still taking shape. We already gave you a nice look at some of the highlights of the program in its initial stages, but that list may need a big update sometime soon because…

The 25th South by Southwest (SXSW) Film Festival in Austin, Texas has announced the first 132 features we can expect to see in its lineup this year, with The Quiet Place set to open the festival, directed by an alumni of The Office. Across the festival’s nine days, no less than 132 features will be…

SXSW, the world’s biggest music, film and media festival, has announced 500 new artists playing this year’s event. The Austin, Texas based event features musicians from around the globe, and this year features a massive number of Australian and Kiwi artists. ARIA winner Amy Shark heads up the considerable amount of talent from down under, which…

The first line up for next year’s SXSW music festival dropped in the early hours, unveiling an impressive list of global names set to be performing in and around Austin, Texas, from March 12th – 18th. Returning names include the likes of Shamir, Marlon Williams and Milk & Bone, while the Australian contingent boasts some of our favourite established and…

Time is here once more, folks. The gates for SXSW Music submissions are now open for another year, with the American music festival and conference inviting musicians from all over the world to enter theirs to be in with a chance of being Austin, Texas-bound next March. Since 1987, SXSW has been providing a large…

The South by Southwest (SXSW) Conference and Festival has launched its 2018 season with the opening of PanelPicker programming proposals, Film Festival submissions, and Music Showcasing Artist applications for next year’s event. PanelPicker, an online tool that allows the SXSW community to have a significant voice in programming conference activities through an open proposal and…

Keen to get yourself to SXSW this year as a showcasing artist? You’ve got your chance, with applications opening online this June 26th. SXSW enters its 31st year in 2018 and this March, celebrated another wildly successful year in Austin, Texas. Out of the 240 bands who submitted applications, 70 bands were invited. Over 40 bands from Australia…

Getting a release on Hulu today in the US is the hilarious documentary Becoming Bond, which screened at SXSW earlier this year. It takes a look at the life and times of Australia’s only Bond, George Lazenby, in his own words. The film takes the spirit of Drunk History to deliver an original and entertaining…

Adelaide group The Coconut Kids recently completed a successful debut run at SXSW in Austin, Texas – taking part in what is easily, one of the world’s biggest showcases of new music. For the French-inspired indie folk group, the trip took them all the way from South Oz to some of the richest areas of music in…

Currently touring the country in support of their new single “Does This Last”, and fresh from shows in the USA, we caught up with Sydney duo Boo Seeka. The pair have just added a slew of regional dates to their current tour, which will see them on the road until the end of June. In the interview, we talk…

Melbourne’s Running Touch just keeps going from strength to strength, returning from SXSW in Austin, Texas a few weeks ago to release his debut EP A Body Slow. I caught up with the man himself to talk about his time in America, the new EP and the tour which is taking him all over the…

While in Austin last month, we caught up with Michael Bonfiglio, co-director of May It Last: A Portrait of The Avett Brothers (the much loved US band) with Judd Apatow. We spoke about premiering the film at the iconic SXSW festival and working with (and discovering) the band across the album three years it took…

While I was at SXSW last month, I had the opportunity to attend the premiere of the new documentary May It Last: A Portrait of the Avett Brothers, which will screen on HBO later in the year. The North Carolina band were in attendance and so I got to sit down with groups three original…

Last month at SXSW, the documentary Muppets Guys Talking: Secrets Behind the Show the Whole World Watched premiered to much jubilation. The film is exactly as the name implies: some of the team behind the original Muppets (as well as Fraggle Rock, Sesame Street and others), got together to talk about their time on the…

Set in Chile, Madre follows wife and mother Diana (Daniela Ramirez). Pregnant with her second child and caring for her disabled son, Martin (Matias Bassi), Diana struggles daily with running the household; her husband Tomas (Cristobal Tapia Montt) is often away on business in Asia. Just as we’re about to see how much more she can…

More a celebration of drag culture than a heavy-handed expose, Divine Divas proves a fascinating watch as it allows a peak behind the curtains of one of Brazil’s first establishments to showcase men dressed as women. In 1960’s Rio de Janeiro, the Rival Theatre – under the forward thinking of Americo Leal – was one…

Adelaide group The Coconut Kids recently completed a successful debut run at SXSW in Austin, Texas – taking part in what is easily, one of the world’s biggest showcases of new music. For the French-inspired indie folk group, the trip took them all the way from South Oz to some of the richest areas of music in…