This article originally appeared on Boston Band Crush ).
The Vital Might is so-far the first band I’ve talked to that is playing the SXSW sister festival, Red Gorilla.
1. Where/When are you playing?
–The Vintage Lounge, Austin, TX–
Our date is on an unofficial SXSW gig through The Red Gorilla Music Fest
2. How did you get your SXSW gig?
An entertainment lawyer in NYC put us in touch w/ Red Gorilla
3. Is this your first time at SXSW?
Yes. This is our first band appearance at the festival.
4. Have you gone before in any capacity?
Our drummer, Evan attended last year as a spectator, but we are all very excited to have an opportunity to play this year.
5. How important do you think it is to have an official showcase?
Our date is not an official SXSW show. We all understand the value of being a part of the official festival and the importance of an official showcase, but we also think it’s important to acknowledge that in our business, you can never play enough shows or meet enough people. We are grateful for the opportunity to be a part of this festival, because we play because we love playing music. We put on the same show and love what we do just as much, regardless of who is watching us. We appreciate the record company people,
the bartenders, the ten year old kids… everyone.
6. What do you hope to achieve by playing at SXSW?
This helps us meet new people and network the band. Since we do all of our booking and management ourselves, it helps to know people in different parts of the country. We hope to meet some more great people who share common long term goals. We would like to come across people who we can swap shows with and help each other keep playing.
7. How do you plan to use the conference to promote yourself?
We will be in town for four days, and we only play one night. We intend to go see as many bands as possible, both for the sake of networking and getting our name out and simply to support our fellow musicians. We can’t expect people who don’t know us to come see our show if we don’t support them too, so we hope to make a lot of new friends on this trip.
8. What shows and bands are you looking forward to?
I don’t think we will have time to get to the actual conference,we know a few bands playing Red Gorilla, certainly looking forward to “The States”, but we will be stopping as many venues as possible, it’s a time to branch out and see bands you don’t already know.
9. Do you expect that Boston will have a strong showing this year?
The music scene in Boston has picked up a lot of steam the last few years, and I’m proud to represent our city at this event. I think we are going to see more Boston bands than ever at the event, despite the economy, this is a city with so much heart that values its music scene.