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.Perfect Pussy, along with another half-dozen bands at the festival, have the distinction of being one of the most buzzed-about bands at the festival. Their mix of punk, noise and riot-grrl also make them unique amongst the pack, especially considering the band’s debut album Say Yes to Love is just reaching the hands of listeners (get yours). We asked PP, on their virgin quest to SXSW, about their expectations and the reality of the famed Austin festival. For more on Perfect Pussy, check out our recent interview.The expectation…Noisey: Unless I'm mistaken, this is Perfect Pussy's first time playing SXSW, and you've got tons of cool stuff lined up. Are you stoked or what?
Meredith Graves: We've only been playing shows since June 2013, so this is our first festival (and it's only our second tour). We're stoked and terrified. Definitely terrified.Have you been to SXSW before as an attendee or, or is this your full-on first experience walking into the belly of the beast?
Nobody in our band has been save Shaun, who used to be a tour manager for hippie jam bands, and it's his first time as an artist. I am the only person in the band who has never attended a festival, so it's completely new to me.What kinds of stories have you heard about the SXSW experience from other bands you're tight with?
That it's a shitshow or a clusterfuck. Those are the two words that get bandied around most. We mostly hear about bands playing 4,622 shows in four days and not making any money.Are you touring down, or just rolling through for the festival? Where are you crashing?
We're on tour until the first week of April. We're staying with a friend of a friend, but we're hoping to get wrapped up in crazy adventures and end up staying out all night every night. We're not very exciting people, we have to get it when we can.What bands are you hoping to see while you're down there?
I can't wait to play with Lil B. I'm hoping to catch Cloud Nothings, their new album is amazing. We're mostly interested in seeing our favorite friends play fun shows- Tweens, Speedy Ortiz, Back to Back.Are you interested in any of the other aspects - film, tech, music industry panels - or just trying to rage?
I'm definitely interested in all of the above, because I like to make new friends and nerd out about stuff, but my guys will either be raging or trying to get free stuff to flip on eBay.…and the aftermath.Overall, how was it? Was it as ridiculous as you expected it to be?
I had expectations of it being like Burning Man, but it was effectively like a long weekend at college. There were a few truly amazing moments, but I walked away from it with an extreme distaste for a lot of what I saw. The accident on the first night colored the rest of the week for me, and to see people forget it and go back to doing weird drugs and trashing the city so quickly really grossed me out. By the third day I was going home as early as possible because I couldn't stand the sight of people finishing food and drinks and throwing their garbage on the ground. I was extremely disappointed in the way people were behaving. Seeing the intersection where people had died two nights before covered in napkins and the ass-ends of hot dogs, really disgusting.What was the best thing that you saw, did, or witnessed (or all three) during this year's SXSW?
Saw- Back to Back at Red7 for the Chaos in Tejas showcase, their singer plays this extreme cartoonish tough guy character and donkey kicks people in the face when they throw beer bottles, and the bassist Hank just stands there looking bored shitless, so all in all it was a pretty good representation of how most of us probably felt by night 3.Did- the bridge show at 3 AM, and changing my clothes on the bridge overlooking the whole city. Witnessed- Sasha Hecht starting a twitter war with a rap crew.How did your shows go? How many did you end up playing, and where? From what I heard, everyone there fell in love with you about six times each.
That's crazy! We did seven shows- thankfully, our show at the Mohawk was cancelled the morning after the accident, which was definitely the respectful thing to do. We broke a lot of shit- between four of our shows, we blew up a few bass cabs and several speakers. At Thrasher, we got through three songs before stuff started to fry and the stage smelled like melting plastic; they tried to fix our stuff for about five minutes before they got frustrated and pulled the plug. It was the best show ever, I was walking around backstage watching my friends shotgun beers with my pocket knife.I heard about the bridge show chaos! Was it awesome? And more pressingly: what did that bass ever do to him?
Greg pissed me off so bad right before we left so I've been ignoring him. I think he finally got fed up with me giving him the silent treatment and that was his way of getting me to pay attention to him! No, I'm kidding, he actually did a really cool interview where he explained his motivations.What other mischief did y'all get into? Spill some stories, girl!
I'm not very mischievous! I don't really do drugs and if I have more than three beers I get sleepy. I mostly ate a lot of tacos and tried to be as nice to strangers as possible. The boys stayed out partying every night. Um. I may or may not have smooched this one babe, who's to say?Between parking, playing, and sweating, did you get a chance to catch any bands down there? Did you get to commune with the Bas you were down there? Did you get to commune with the Based God?
I fucking didn't and I'm still upset about it. We went to play another stage. I actually really love Lil B, I read his twitter when I'm sad! I went to pitchfork the second day to see future island and fucked up- Damien dedicated "Police" to us and gave me the mic for part of the chorus and I was beside myself with joy. That's one of my favorite songs ever and he's an incredible person, I was very happy to meet him.What was the absolute worst 'tear my hair out fuck this band' moment of SXSW?
I got two hours of sleep after the bridge show, and had a ton of shit to do the next day. I forgot to eat and was running between interviews and shows, and I ended up drinking my way through the day and going a full 24 without more than a few tortilla chips. By the time we finished chaos in Tejas that night, I had forgotten I was hungry and was laying down in the parking lot with grace from French Kiss Records and Bridget from Tweens watching the cops ride up the alley on horseback. I thought I was going to die.Now that you've survived your first SXSW, do you think you'll go back next year?
Probably not. I ended up getting absurdly sick the day we left and I know it's from the stress that constant running around out on me. It only felt good to be there when I was actually playing music. What happened in between was kind of ugly and confusing. I do want to spend four days straight in Austin, though. It's a beautiful city and it felt good to be there at all.=========PERFECT PUSSY ON TOUR03/23/2014 Boise, ID / Treefort Music Festival03/24/2014 Seattle, WA / The Vera Project03/25/2014 Vancouver, BC / The Cobalt03/27/2014 Calgary, AB / Tubby Dog03/28/2014 Regina, SK / Regina German Club03/29/2014 Winnipeg, MB / Dead Lobster03/30/2014 Minneapolis, MN / 7th St. Entry04/01/2014 Chicago, IL / Township04/02/2014 Columbus, OH / Ace of Cups04/03/2014 Pittsburgh, PA / The Shop04/04/2014 Brooklyn, NY / Death By Audio04/05/2014 New York, NY / Mercury Lounge04/24/2014 Cambridge, MA / Middle East (Downstairs)04/25/2014 Philadelphia, PA / First Unitarian Church - Basement04/26/2014 Washington, DC / DC904/27/2014 Richmond, VA / Gallery 504/28/2014 Raleigh, NC / Kings04/29/2014 Atlanta, GA / Mammal Gallery04/30/2014 Birmingham, AL / The Bottletree Cafe05/01/2014 New Orleans, LA / Gasa Gasa05/03/2014 Austin, TX / Hotel Vegas05/05/2014 Oklahoma City, OK / The Conservatory05/06/2014 St. Louis, MO / the Melt05/07/2014 Omaha, NE / Sweatshop Gallery05/08/2014 Iowa City, IA / Gabe's Oasis05/09/2014 Kalamazoo, MI / Shakespeare's05/10/2014 Detroit, MI / Trumbullplex06/20/2014 Toronto, ON / NxNE Festival
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Meredith Graves: We've only been playing shows since June 2013, so this is our first festival (and it's only our second tour). We're stoked and terrified. Definitely terrified.
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Nobody in our band has been save Shaun, who used to be a tour manager for hippie jam bands, and it's his first time as an artist. I am the only person in the band who has never attended a festival, so it's completely new to me.What kinds of stories have you heard about the SXSW experience from other bands you're tight with?
That it's a shitshow or a clusterfuck. Those are the two words that get bandied around most. We mostly hear about bands playing 4,622 shows in four days and not making any money.Are you touring down, or just rolling through for the festival? Where are you crashing?
We're on tour until the first week of April. We're staying with a friend of a friend, but we're hoping to get wrapped up in crazy adventures and end up staying out all night every night. We're not very exciting people, we have to get it when we can.What bands are you hoping to see while you're down there?
I can't wait to play with Lil B. I'm hoping to catch Cloud Nothings, their new album is amazing. We're mostly interested in seeing our favorite friends play fun shows- Tweens, Speedy Ortiz, Back to Back.Are you interested in any of the other aspects - film, tech, music industry panels - or just trying to rage?
I'm definitely interested in all of the above, because I like to make new friends and nerd out about stuff, but my guys will either be raging or trying to get free stuff to flip on eBay.
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I had expectations of it being like Burning Man, but it was effectively like a long weekend at college. There were a few truly amazing moments, but I walked away from it with an extreme distaste for a lot of what I saw. The accident on the first night colored the rest of the week for me, and to see people forget it and go back to doing weird drugs and trashing the city so quickly really grossed me out. By the third day I was going home as early as possible because I couldn't stand the sight of people finishing food and drinks and throwing their garbage on the ground. I was extremely disappointed in the way people were behaving. Seeing the intersection where people had died two nights before covered in napkins and the ass-ends of hot dogs, really disgusting.What was the best thing that you saw, did, or witnessed (or all three) during this year's SXSW?
Saw- Back to Back at Red7 for the Chaos in Tejas showcase, their singer plays this extreme cartoonish tough guy character and donkey kicks people in the face when they throw beer bottles, and the bassist Hank just stands there looking bored shitless, so all in all it was a pretty good representation of how most of us probably felt by night 3.Did- the bridge show at 3 AM, and changing my clothes on the bridge overlooking the whole city. Witnessed- Sasha Hecht starting a twitter war with a rap crew.
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That's crazy! We did seven shows- thankfully, our show at the Mohawk was cancelled the morning after the accident, which was definitely the respectful thing to do. We broke a lot of shit- between four of our shows, we blew up a few bass cabs and several speakers. At Thrasher, we got through three songs before stuff started to fry and the stage smelled like melting plastic; they tried to fix our stuff for about five minutes before they got frustrated and pulled the plug. It was the best show ever, I was walking around backstage watching my friends shotgun beers with my pocket knife.I heard about the bridge show chaos! Was it awesome? And more pressingly: what did that bass ever do to him?
Greg pissed me off so bad right before we left so I've been ignoring him. I think he finally got fed up with me giving him the silent treatment and that was his way of getting me to pay attention to him! No, I'm kidding, he actually did a really cool interview where he explained his motivations.What other mischief did y'all get into? Spill some stories, girl!
I'm not very mischievous! I don't really do drugs and if I have more than three beers I get sleepy. I mostly ate a lot of tacos and tried to be as nice to strangers as possible. The boys stayed out partying every night. Um. I may or may not have smooched this one babe, who's to say?
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I fucking didn't and I'm still upset about it. We went to play another stage. I actually really love Lil B, I read his twitter when I'm sad! I went to pitchfork the second day to see future island and fucked up- Damien dedicated "Police" to us and gave me the mic for part of the chorus and I was beside myself with joy. That's one of my favorite songs ever and he's an incredible person, I was very happy to meet him.What was the absolute worst 'tear my hair out fuck this band' moment of SXSW?
I got two hours of sleep after the bridge show, and had a ton of shit to do the next day. I forgot to eat and was running between interviews and shows, and I ended up drinking my way through the day and going a full 24 without more than a few tortilla chips. By the time we finished chaos in Tejas that night, I had forgotten I was hungry and was laying down in the parking lot with grace from French Kiss Records and Bridget from Tweens watching the cops ride up the alley on horseback. I thought I was going to die.Now that you've survived your first SXSW, do you think you'll go back next year?
Probably not. I ended up getting absurdly sick the day we left and I know it's from the stress that constant running around out on me. It only felt good to be there when I was actually playing music. What happened in between was kind of ugly and confusing. I do want to spend four days straight in Austin, though. It's a beautiful city and it felt good to be there at all.
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