Boston Band Crush Archived Article: Festival Crush: Eksi Ekso at SXSW

This article originally appeared on Boston Band Crush ).

Eksi Ekso give us a look at a band headed to SXSW for the first time. You can catch them tonight at Great Scott with Jupiter One, Fluttr Effect, and Ellis Ashbrook.

SXSW Interview Questions:

1. Where/When are you playing?

We’re playing our official showcase at 9pm on Friday 3/20 at Wave (408 E.
6th Street)

2. How did you get your SXSW gig?

The friendly folks at the label that puts out our vinyl, The Mylene Sheath, submitted their entire roster for a label showcase. The showcase for the label wasn’t accepted, I’m sure due to space, but we ended up getting accepted individually as a result. We’re playing the “Consequence of Sound” showcase – which is a decent national music blog that has given our debut record some good press coverage over 2008-2009. They’re good people – so
we’re really looking forward to it.

3. Is this your first time at SXSW?

This is out first time playing at SXSW, yes. We’re 1 for 1!

4. If you’ve gone before, have you performed (how did it go) or were you
just in attendance?

Some of us have attended or been involved with the festival in years past, but not in a band/performing capacity.

5. How important do you think it is to have an official showcase?

I’m not sure how important it is, truthfully. I believe it’s kind of an honor to get an official showcase because your band is on a list with other groups and there is some degree of anticipation at the onset, but as soon as you get down there it probably doesn’t matter as much whether a show is official or unofficial. There are still people and music everywhere. all
induced by BBQ, booze and sun. not to mention hundreds of choices: perfect for adult ADD.

6. What do you hope to achieve by playing at SXSW?

We hope to achieve a BBQ/booze induced Vitamin D coma. We’re all dealing with a little winter “depresso” so to get a hint of sunshine is a much anticipated highlight. Really – we just want to see some good shows, run into some friends, meet some new people and hope our show goes well from a performance perspective – the rest is kind of out of our control.

7. How do you plan to use the conference (beyond your show) to promote yourself?

Maybe we have a bit of collective humility or we’re older, but the self promotion aspect of music is sometimes self defeating and a detraction from the music and art itself. If you think of the number of bands down there vying for attention and saturating the streets with paper – it seems rather futile – when most people probably already know what they’re going to see. We’re not trying to be high-brow art school assholes, in fact for playing what some consider to be somber music, we’re really a bunch of jokers. but I think most people are down there to have fun and that definitely goes for labels with dwindling T & E budgets. Sure we’ll mention our show and maybe hand out some flyers but we’re not going to go crazy.

8. Are you attending any of the actual conference? Are you attending other shows, what shows/bands are you looking forward to?

We have intentions to do a lot but all bets are off as soon as you get down there. We’re definitely looking forward to seeing some bands. Tombs, Janelle Monae, Black Cobra, Grizzly Bear, Okkervil River, Caspian, Akron/Family, Efterklang, Decemberists, etc.

9. Do you expect that Boston will have a strong showing this year?

We haven’t seen the entire list of Boston bands, but I do know that there a shitload of international bands this year – and that’s a great thing for everyone in Tejas.

Photo by Douglas Despres