Last year Dev79, who co-helms the mighty Seclusiasis and Slit Jockey indie bass labels, ventured to South by Southwest for the first time. As he recalled in his SXSW 2015 diary, his trek allowed him to connect with musical homies and experience Austin from an underground bass artist/label owner’s point of view. As Dev79 details in his SXSW 2016 recap, he managed to DJ several parties, check out the drool worthy gear expo, eat great food and catch up with friends after fending off a nasty case of the flu.
This year was my second time attending Austin’s annual SXSW madness. Early on in the week I caught a rare variety of the swine flu that targets creative individuals trying to get their grind on. Despite the illness, I powered through, playing five shows and visiting a number of other shows featuring many friends and associates.
Dev79 with DJ Shiftee
Dev79 hanging with Conrank
Killing it with Swimwear at Nook Amphitheater
Some awesome smoothies and ramen really held my life together, continuing to prove that Austin’s food culture has always got what you crave. The events I was hanging around were underground stuff for the most part, so I avoided the trappings of lines and annoying wannabe bloggers.
Yum! Daruma Ramen
Yup, Austin’s food truck scene is on point
The music I experienced was immersive and overflowing, with almost every set being ultra on point. A wide variety of bass music and left field club sounds were on display, and I was invigorated by all the passion and boundary pushing I witnessed.
Teklife’s DJ Spinn thrown’ down at Ethic Music Lounge
Ill Esha performing at Plush
Dev79 in the mix at Plush
I’m a gear head so I was glad to be able to slide over to the music gear expo on my last day and tinker around with synths, drum machines and other sonic toys.
SXSW Music Gear Expo
Futuresonus Parva synth
Want. This. Now.
Back to the future gear
Overall, it was a successful mission! Special shouts to Plush and Barcelona for being the dopest venues and all the rad squads I got to vibe with during the week: Prime, Soundpieces, Tom Kha, Minds Alike, Saturate, Stylss, JukeBounceWerk, onthesly, and of course Seclusiasis and Slit Jockey!
Images by Dev79