Here's What We Learned During SXSW 2014

Where do we even begin? SXSW was absolute insanity. While the unfortunate sides of the festival got plenty of press, we’re happy to report an actual

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Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

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Where do we even begin? SXSW was absolute insanity. While the unfortunate sides of the festival got plenty of press, we’re happy to report an actually incredible celebration of local culture and music for those savvy enough to break from the major trends and go digging on their own. Forget waiting in the two-hour-long line for the showcase sponsored by your major brand of choice; SXSW proved immensely rewarding for niche sounds and the ardent fans that make those scenes alive. Here’s our journal of the SXSW that was — and how we all survived it on-budget and in one piece.

Surviving on $20 a day

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Keep your eyes and ears peeled for daytime events

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Venues and showcases that killed

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MVP artists

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Jubilee was everywhere, and was killing it everywhere. From the Rice n Peas Showcase at Empire Control Room to our event at Chupacabra to Summit Rooftop to Annie Mac Presents to a set at the W Hotel (and we're pretty sure we're forgetting a few). She's going to have a big year. Also, Buku played numerous sets that had entire crowds slackjawed and was ubiquitious in the best way. The Heatwave brought next level energy and carnival-worthy crowd involvement fresh from the UK - very few people left that showcase of ours not knowing who they were afterwards. Deejay Theory had an incredible week of daily gigging, while Giraffage posted on FB that he played 14 shows in seven days. The Nadastrom re-emergence was amazing and even got a nod in the LA Times, not to mention the whole of the Moombahton Massive family (Dave Nada, Matt Nordstrom, Sabo, Jen Lasher, Jessie Andrews, Fei-Fei) showed up for a massive B2B2B set at our own showcase. Unreal was an understatement. Soulection ran shit all week as well, their artists having a strong presence at a variety of showcases across the board, as well as a strong showcase from the collective themselves.

Cool things are everywhere, if you look for them

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