You always remember your first time. It’s awkward, it’s probably a little messy, and weird parts of your body are going to be sore afterwards. There’s a lot of strange stuff going on, a lot of unfamiliar sweat and niggling worries lurking beneath the ostensible “fun” of it. It’s not something you know how to discuss with your mom, and part of you still thinks, “That was it?!” Maybe it was worth it and beautiful magical things will follow, or maybe it was just a decent way to waste some time, but no matter how it all goes down, you’ll never forget your first SXSW.We caught up with a handful of SXSW-bands before and after the madness to see how their expectations of Austin’s yearly media orgy stacked up to the cruel reality of navigating a drunk-choked Red River at 2am. Did they “make it”? Did a shiny-suited A&R guy from some major label dinosaur ooze by their showcases and make all their dreams come true? Did they start drawing up blueprints for a Doritos temple of their very own? Maybe. From bar crawls to swimming basses, our willing subjects came, they saw, and best of all, they got the fuck out in one piece.UK post-punk team Eagulls are going back for their second round at SXSW, after generating enough buzz off of their self-titled LP and tour dates to land them several high profile showcases during the festival. ICYMI, check out our earlier interview about the same subject with Perfect Pussy, as well as our edition of the Selfie Files with Eagulls and our interview with the band about tattoos and Bill Murray.The expectation…Noisey: This is actually Eagulls' second time playing SXSW. Are you excited for the festival?
George: We're very excited. Can be quite daunting when we look at the amount of shows we're playing though!How did you end up playing again this year?
We mentioned it with our label and we both agreed on going again. It will be like a strange and large family holiday with a musical twist.You're from up North, so I'm sure you're delighted about the prospect of Texas sunshine. Are you already sick of folk telling you to bring sunscreen?
We all possess pretty pale skin so it's a good job people are reminding us to use sunscreen. We don't need any lobster jokes as we have enough eagle jokes as it is.What kinds of stories have you heard about the SXSW experience from other bands who’ve also undergone the trip?
Most bands that we are friends with usually take note on how the place is like a human zoo with a bunch of cruel zookeepers. We think of it as a band conveyor belt like that game show where you have to remember objects. At SXSW though you have to remember bands instead of microwaves etc.How do you think your performances are going to go? Do you have a SXSW-specific setlist picked out?
I think we'll chop and change our set list to keep us sane as we're playing about a thousand times in a few days. Performance wise I think everything should go fine.Are you touring down, or just coming through for the festival? Where are you staying?
We're on tour in the EU/ UK at the moment then we're flying straight to Austin. We're hiring a Winnebago for the week which will be pretty nice. It won't smell nice after a week though!!Are you sharing gear? Bet you’re excited to park that Winnebago.
I think we will be using a bit of shared and a bit of our own. Parking’s parking. Last week we drove round Amsterdam for 3 hours because Liam Gallagher decided to park his 2 massive sleeper vans outside the venue we was playing. We also saw him in his underwear in front of a mirror by himself going wild. "Sunshiiiyyyyyne"What bands are you hoping to see while you're down there?
We're looking forward to meeting up with our friends in Parquet Courts. We're playing a show with Destruction Unit which should be cool and we're also playing in the same venue as Gary Numan. So I'll be taking my records for him to scribble on!Are you planning to hit up any the sponsored day parties? Free drinks, crappy business cards – every band’s dream, right?
We'll try and get some freebies whilst we're out there and also try and make use of the useless business cards. Could play snap with them I suppose.…and the aftermath.Alright George! You've survived another SXSW. What was the best thing about this year's shitshow?
The best thing this year was the last night where we was invited to play an unofficial showcase with Parquet Courts and Destruction Unit outside of the city centre in the suburbs. 38 crates of free beer for everyone to share left an overall good spirit flowing. A perfect night to end the week’s madness.What was the worst bit - the most frustrating, 'fuck my life fuck this place' sort of moment?
The most "Papa Roach cut my lyyyyf" moment was when we played a show and the sound was so quiet on stage that I asked politely 5 times for the sound guy to tweak us up. Each time his response was to just continue to talk to his friend about who knows what. Travelling across the ocean to this sometimes makes us "don't give a fuck if we carry on bleeding".How did your gigs go? It seemed like you guys were everywhere this past week.
In total we played 10 times. Some days we played twice and others 3 times a day. In the heat and climate my voice got more and more rusty but every show we played the best we could with what we had. We played big shows, small shows, day shows, night shows, shit shows, good shows, nice shows and bad shows.How'd the parking situation go? Did you run across ol' Liam in his pants again? I sort of hope so, for continuity at the very least.
Liam Gallagher wasn't present, but a friend of mine bumped into Damon Albarn and he found out that he still likes to dabble into the blur of the 'white stuff'. Parking wise was a breeze though!How'd the Winnebago hold up?
The Winnebago was a nice change. But being 'Brits abroad' the battery ran out within the first night and we couldn't fix it. So most nights we slept in the freezing cold and had no running water or electricity….. In a way, it was just like home sweet home in the UK.Did you catch any awesome (or awesomely shit) bands down there?
Destruction Unit were amazing as always. Keith Morris from Black Flag was playing with his band off and we watched them. To our surprise he gave our band a shout out which was pretty surreal when ‘The First Four Years’ was one of my first American hardcore records. We watched Bob Mould too, plus Goldy sheepishly said high to him!Have you got any ridiculous photos or spectacularly drunk stories to share?
I'm sure there will be some ridiculous photos but we always use film and we have been playing shows every night since SXSW, so we still have yet to develop them. One night we ended up drunk in the Lollapalooza festival offices. Famous guitars hung on the walls and free drinks all around. I even spoke to Lou Reed’s old manager….Now that you've completed your second go-round on the SXSW conveyor belt, would you do it again?
Well let's see if we're remembered on the conveyor belt enough for us to be invited back. But, Next time I'd like to control the conveyor belt more myself.
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George: We're very excited. Can be quite daunting when we look at the amount of shows we're playing though!How did you end up playing again this year?
We mentioned it with our label and we both agreed on going again. It will be like a strange and large family holiday with a musical twist.You're from up North, so I'm sure you're delighted about the prospect of Texas sunshine. Are you already sick of folk telling you to bring sunscreen?
We all possess pretty pale skin so it's a good job people are reminding us to use sunscreen. We don't need any lobster jokes as we have enough eagle jokes as it is.
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Most bands that we are friends with usually take note on how the place is like a human zoo with a bunch of cruel zookeepers. We think of it as a band conveyor belt like that game show where you have to remember objects. At SXSW though you have to remember bands instead of microwaves etc.How do you think your performances are going to go? Do you have a SXSW-specific setlist picked out?
I think we'll chop and change our set list to keep us sane as we're playing about a thousand times in a few days. Performance wise I think everything should go fine.Are you touring down, or just coming through for the festival? Where are you staying?
We're on tour in the EU/ UK at the moment then we're flying straight to Austin. We're hiring a Winnebago for the week which will be pretty nice. It won't smell nice after a week though!!Are you sharing gear? Bet you’re excited to park that Winnebago.
I think we will be using a bit of shared and a bit of our own. Parking’s parking. Last week we drove round Amsterdam for 3 hours because Liam Gallagher decided to park his 2 massive sleeper vans outside the venue we was playing. We also saw him in his underwear in front of a mirror by himself going wild. "Sunshiiiyyyyyne"What bands are you hoping to see while you're down there?
We're looking forward to meeting up with our friends in Parquet Courts. We're playing a show with Destruction Unit which should be cool and we're also playing in the same venue as Gary Numan. So I'll be taking my records for him to scribble on!
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We'll try and get some freebies whilst we're out there and also try and make use of the useless business cards. Could play snap with them I suppose.…and the aftermath.Alright George! You've survived another SXSW. What was the best thing about this year's shitshow?
The best thing this year was the last night where we was invited to play an unofficial showcase with Parquet Courts and Destruction Unit outside of the city centre in the suburbs. 38 crates of free beer for everyone to share left an overall good spirit flowing. A perfect night to end the week’s madness.What was the worst bit - the most frustrating, 'fuck my life fuck this place' sort of moment?
The most "Papa Roach cut my lyyyyf" moment was when we played a show and the sound was so quiet on stage that I asked politely 5 times for the sound guy to tweak us up. Each time his response was to just continue to talk to his friend about who knows what. Travelling across the ocean to this sometimes makes us "don't give a fuck if we carry on bleeding".How did your gigs go? It seemed like you guys were everywhere this past week.
In total we played 10 times. Some days we played twice and others 3 times a day. In the heat and climate my voice got more and more rusty but every show we played the best we could with what we had. We played big shows, small shows, day shows, night shows, shit shows, good shows, nice shows and bad shows.
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Liam Gallagher wasn't present, but a friend of mine bumped into Damon Albarn and he found out that he still likes to dabble into the blur of the 'white stuff'. Parking wise was a breeze though!How'd the Winnebago hold up?
The Winnebago was a nice change. But being 'Brits abroad' the battery ran out within the first night and we couldn't fix it. So most nights we slept in the freezing cold and had no running water or electricity….. In a way, it was just like home sweet home in the UK.Did you catch any awesome (or awesomely shit) bands down there?
Destruction Unit were amazing as always. Keith Morris from Black Flag was playing with his band off and we watched them. To our surprise he gave our band a shout out which was pretty surreal when ‘The First Four Years’ was one of my first American hardcore records. We watched Bob Mould too, plus Goldy sheepishly said high to him!Have you got any ridiculous photos or spectacularly drunk stories to share?
I'm sure there will be some ridiculous photos but we always use film and we have been playing shows every night since SXSW, so we still have yet to develop them. One night we ended up drunk in the Lollapalooza festival offices. Famous guitars hung on the walls and free drinks all around. I even spoke to Lou Reed’s old manager….Now that you've completed your second go-round on the SXSW conveyor belt, would you do it again?
Well let's see if we're remembered on the conveyor belt enough for us to be invited back. But, Next time I'd like to control the conveyor belt more myself.