So Many Bands

Red 7 is at it again with another band lottery. I had the pleasure of covering the entire process of the first one for Accent and I really think it's a great idea, not only to participate but also as a spectator watching what musical gems everyone comes up with at the final show.

Going under a new moniker this time "La Lotteria," the guys are going for bigger enlisted 16 drummers instead of six as captains of the lottery. As captains, the drummers randomly draw names of their new band members and thus begins the writing process. It's a really simple procedure and with all the creativity and sometimes silliness musicians seem to have, the outcome tends to guarantee a good time.

For a quick recap of how it works, here's a photo slideshow of the entire process I made from the first lottery.

We Are the Lottery League photo slideshow from Sarah Vasquez on Vimeo.

Anyway, so right now Red 7 is taking submissions for those interested in attending, but gotta act fast because once the spots fill up, you'll be stuck waiting for the next La Lotteria.

Here are some rules from Red 7's event page:

1 - No flakes. If you have to work or play another show on the 14th of August, please be considerate of the other 4 people in your band who are going to have to cater to your scheduling needs etc. If you don't think you're reliable enough to get involved, there's plenty of room for spectators.

2 - Flexibility - There's no guarantee this is going to be the hard core band or psych garage stuff you assumed you're signing up for, if you can't be flexible in working with other people and you're not okay with the absolute randomness of who you're playing with, then your ego is going to make the other four people involved miserable too. Obviously, the absolute randomness and forcing people to work together who (under normal circumstances) would never be in the same room together forces your creative juices to work extra hard.

3 - Having your own gear - I can't afford to rent a back line, and this is either going to be a free show, or a very small cover with the proceeds going to HAAM, so you're going to need to bring in your own gear and/or rely on each other to share to make this work.

To sign up, send an email to lotteriaaustin@gmail.com.

Giant Steps Productions is celebrating five years tomorrow in true Giant Steps fashion at Red 7. James Taylor, the man behind Giant Steps Productions and one of my good friends, has been providing Austin with some epic line ups around town.

I've attended many Giant Steps Production shows. I've been to day long shows like Sweat Fest 2 (the first one gave him his first official booking gig) bouncing back and forth between Red 7 stages with in-your-face rock and metal bands. I've been to Free Week shows where I stumbled onto adorable indieness. James always pull through during SXSW with not only free day long shows but great bands from all over the world in the intimate crowded Plush. But what really makes me appreciate what he does is that a lot of the bands I've covered were introduced to me at a Giant Steps show. That guy spends hours after hours weeding out tons of mostly unknown bands to play in Austin.

In other words, James knows his shit.

Now, he didn't start off booking shows. In an email interview with him, he mentioned that this whole idea just kind of spawned off during his time playing drums with his former band Consider the Source.

"In a lot of ways it did just sort of happen. Two things happened: about five years ago, Consider the Source was taking off and getting asked by a lot of touring bands if we would play with them when they came through town which REALLY means 'Will you help us a book a show... oh and you should play too,'" said Taylor. "Well -- we couldn't play every show but I realized I knew the people doing booking at various bars so I COULD still help them get shows. So that started things on a real small DIY level."

However, a year later, he received an email from Suburban Home Records that pretty much changed the direction of Giant Steps Productions. The label was searching for places to perform during SXSW 2007 for two of their artists at the time, Jonah Matranga (Far) and Frank Turner.

"I was a huge fan of Far so my jaw literally dropped," said Taylor. "I booked an unofficial SXSW show at Plush, had NO idea what I was doing. First time I had dealt with contracts, guarantees, riders, all that but thankfully Jonah and Frank were great and have since become good friends of mine and we reached capacity and had a great time."

And I guess they say the rest is history.

As for the show tomorrow, there are nine bands performing as a sampler of genres James has booked through the years. You can find details of the line up at the Facebook event page.

If you are on Facebook (and let's face it, who isn't?), Red River Noise is giving away free tickets to the Giant Steps Production show tomorrow. So all you have to do is click "like" on the Red River Noise page. So easy right? The winner will be drawn and announced some time today so if you want in on this, better make it quick.

June
You know, not all shows can be winners. Every band has an off night and for SPEAK, the June show was an off night. I dont know what happened. Everything was in line for a great show. The three opening bands, The Frontier Brothers, The Eastern Sea and Marmalakes, were great. They got the crowd all warmed up ready for more pop goodness when it was time for SPEAK.

But when the guys got on stage and started playing, something was off. That spark just wasn't there. I immediately panicked thinking this crazy idea of following SPEAK for a year was finally getting to me and I was starting to lose interest in them. Noooo. This can't happen so soon. But I glanced at my friend next to me who saw them in April and she agreed with me that something did indeed seemed off.

The music was there. The songs were tight. But that extra oomph just wasnt. Maybe the guys were tired? Maybe its time to change the setlist? Who knows. However, I'm not saying the show was a complete bust. Because it wasn't at all. After they played a Prince cover, they got their mojo back.

July
Now on the flipside, I think this show was their best yet. July SPEAK show took me to Antone's for the 35th Anniversary show with Bob Schneider. For those not from Austin, opening for him is kinda a big deal. It's amazing how much buzz they're getting from the short time it's all happened. What a year. Getting these heavy hitting shows is awesome for them. Not so awesome for this girl's wallet. Cover is starting to become too steep for my budget (ACL in October is gonna be a bitch.) and I almost didn't make this show. However, the boys came through for me so I got to see the show. Hooray.

Anyway, the majority of the crowd was there for Bob so they met SPEAK for the first time that night. I heard a lot of people asking each other "Who is this band?" (which means SPEAK got their attention) and even saw one guy's face lit up when SPEAK played my favorite cover of theirs "Don't You Forget About Me" from one of my favorite movies ever. It kinda reminded me of that show when I discovered them in December in that same exact venue. It was like this show was bringing us all back in full circle... but I still have five months to go.

Last batch of non-music Accent articles from the Spring:
Carnival ah! all art under one tent
Calendar of Events
Round Rock rolls to finish
River Bats swoop in and win spot as ACC’s official mascot
I went on a trip with two of the editors Hanlly and Devon to shoot photos of the Art Yards tour. Here is the article with some of my photos.
Art Yard tour looks at lawns

Here's an artist profile I wrote for Austin Vida:
'Dimensiones' brings emotion through color to La Peña

Click on photo for more readable photos of the article.

Click the photo for more readable photos of the article.

Click on the photo for a more readable photo of the article.

Click on the photo for more readable photos of the article.

Frank and Derol is an adorable indie electro-pop duo often described as Wilson Phillips meets the Postal Service. After a quick glance at the band's roster, one name sticks out: that of guitarist Brandi Cyrus. In case you're wondering, yes she is the sister of Disney queen Miley Cyrus. It's no secret that the Cryus family is musical: father Billy Ray's had a '90s hit single with "Achy Breaky Heart," Miley reached huge success with Hannah Montana and brother Trace has his own band Metro Station, it only seemed natural that Brandi had a band of her own.

However, the first time you meet Frank and Derol, Codi Caraco and Ms. Cyrus both are friendly and approachable, never once namedropping the famous connections nor expecting the red carpet to be rolled out for them. The duo sat down with me to discuss their band as well as the upcoming album they are working on.

Click here to read the rest at Red River Noise.

Stubb's Bar-B-Q's outdoor amphitheater is notorious for insanely humid, sweaty summer concerts, so I was relieved when I found out the Athlete and Carney show would take place on the inside stage. But it turns out it wasn't all that refreshing inside either, so I was sweating anyway. While the two bands were enjoyable, it would have been a better experience if I wasn't constantly wiping sweat off me and desperately wanting some AC.

Opening act Carney (photo below) more than just warmed up the audience with it's '60s-inspired blues-rock. Singer Reeve Carney and his brother guitarist Zane took turns letting each other shine. Doesn't mean bassist Aiden Moore and drummer Jon Epcar are only there to fill the beat, though. They were also provided their time as the Carney brothers took a step back and let them have their own flashy parts. The guys performed big-top-inspired songs as a play on words from the Carneys' last name.

Click here to read the rest at Red River Noise.