After months of hype the 2015 edition of the annual music and technology schmoozathon known as South by Southwest is in the history books. Tons of emerging bands and DJs from all over the world performed, established acts flexed their muscles and hopefully some good connections were made and new music discovered by those who attended the gathering.
Uninterested in the array of mega corporate events which took place in Austin during SXSW 2015 (there were many), we asked first-time attendee Dev79, who co-helms the mighty Seclusiasis and Slit Jockey indie bass labels, to document his DJ gigs (sets at Geisha Room, The Ranch and Plush in Austin and an appearance at Beauty Bar in Dallas) and exploits in Austin from an underground artist/label owner’s point of view. Below he recounts his musical and culinary experiences.
Ayo! I had a great time rolling down to SXSW 2015. It was actually my first time at SXSW and my first time spending significant time in Austin. I tried to jam in doing as much as possible, while still being casual and having fun. Playing gigs, hyping my Seclusiasis and Slit Jockey labels and checking out sick music was the agenda for the week and was surely achieved. I also shot over to Dallas for a day to play with the Trillwave fam at their weekly.
I’m a big food nerd also so I wanted to chow down on lots of tasty stuff on this trip, and I was not disappointed. As I’d heard, the Austin food truck game is super on point, and I ate a plethora of yummy stuff, possibly highlighted but Peruvian Mahi Mahi ceviche (see photo gallery below) that was next level.
I loved running into music scene friends on the street randomly and saw so many homies, including some people I hadn’t seen in 5+ years which warmed my cold heart!
Pretty much every set I saw was killer —everyone was bringing their A-game and smashing it proper. It was inspiring absorbing it all in.
I avoided the majority of the bigger corporate parties so I circumvented the annoyances that many people complain about, and I really had a very positive time overall. I’m looking forward to rocking down in Austin next year!
Shouts to Johnathan Thomas (pictured above DJing) on the bookings, my boy Brendan (pictured above wearing glasses) for driving my ass around all week and shouts to Big Shot for asking me to do this recap!
Check out Dev79’s remix of Dej Loaf’s “We Good,” Starkey b2b Dev79 for Serato and Dev79 for Future Classics.
