While Red River Noise is not yet a year old, my crew and I made some serious headway in 2010. We debuted with a an epic day party during South By Southwest that had both Zlam Dunk and Bright Light Social Hour on the bill. We offered media sponsorships to various local shows, including those put on by Giant Steps and Adi Anand. Now, we are back at it this week for Austin's own little local music festival of sorts, Free Week.
This year we went "off the river" to one of my favorite venues in Austin, The Parish. During a cold January, it is nice to have an indoor venue that is not only warm, but has epic sound and lighting. Shows at The Parish always look great in photos and the twenties style speakeasy aesthetic looks great.
We have put together a pretty good little indie showcase for this year's Free Week Showcase. From the very beginning of our Free Week discussion, my friend/ business partner Ajay Miranda and I wanted to include STEREO IS A LIE. Ajay was the one who really got me into SIAL. When we first started hanging out and talked about our favorite local bands, they were one of his top favorites. After watching them on one of his videos and seeing them live at Emo's one day, I could understand why. SIAL is one of the few Austin based bands that is ready to jump to the next level on a national scale that hasn't yet done so. They recently signed with Monolathe Recordings and their debut is due out in February. We're happy to have them on board as our headliner as this will kick off a big year for them. Check them out here on this clip:
Another band on the bill I'm excited to have perform is New Roman Times. I think they are a good compliment to SIAL and have a good sound. To be honest, I have only caught them twice and have yet to see them at a venue where the sound was good. It will be cool to actually hear them at The Parish, like really hear them. They are another group that has the slick but raw sounding indie that the local blogger kids seem to love. I like them because they sound like something I would have heard on MTV back in the eighties. Check them out on this video of them performing an in-store at Waterloo Records:
Our Free Week showcase will mark the first time I finally get to see Austin based indie group, MoTelAviv. I have seen their name many times listed around town and have heard their music online. It is just one of those things where my day job, busy media schedule and array of live music choices got in the way of me seeing them live. Ajay is the one who actually recommended we get them to play our showcase. I was more than down for that as it would give me the chance to see them live and at The Parish. After all, seeing new bands or bands you haven't seen live is one reason people need to get out of the house during Free Week. Discovering something or someone new is fun folks. Watch this clip starting at the thirty second mark:
While we are on the subject of discovering, we have Final Exam opening the show. They had the night booked already before we booked the rest of the line up with The Parish folks, so we ran with it. In the spirit of Free Week and supporting local music, I am looking forward to checking them out.
Again, this is a week when I can actually check out new up-and-coming bands in the indie world. All the blogger, bleet-up type folks who seem to think they run the online indie circles in this town are what keep me from going to a lot of these shows. They are nice folks for the most part by themselves, but in a group setting it is one big "look at me and how cool I am" fest. I'm about the music and enjoying myself, not the ostentatios scene crap that goes with it all at times. Our Red River Noise Free Week showcase is about showcasing quality music for people and of course, marketing the brand name a little. That's the game right?
Point blank it is the best show happening on January 4 and you will be warm if nothing else. I've frozen my ass off at Mohawk, Beauty Bar and Red 7 many a nights during Free Week over the years. It will be nice to be warm for once and not have to leave after one good band finishes. This is one night where indie lovers will not have to venue hop and can stay put all night. It's an all ages show and without an admission cost. What do you have to lose? Even if you hate me or the website, support the bands. Visit the Facebook event page here or Do512 here for more details.
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