SXSW 2012 is well under way here in Austin. Thunderstorms galore cleansed conference attendees the past few days. Anyhow, as the music portion of the conference officially begins in two days, we’re still scrambling to compile our “must see” lists. Missing Memoirs host Alan Densmore dropped by the share a few thoughts on SXSW buzz, hyped bands, the publicity process and how to make sense of it all. Enjoy the read.
Listen to Densmore’s #prehype Playlist 

So, in light of recent SXSW hype, the build up around various bands across the blogosphere and the thousands of SXSW “must see” previews, the folks here at Apes on Tape decided to let their pre-hype magnum (me) go loose on the whole thing. So… I can’t help but see how the totality of SXSW is overshadowed by the relentless draw toward “the cool” or “the next big thing”. SXSW can’t be contained in such a minor view. Look, there are pre-parties, kick-off parties, day parties and showcases all with acts playing from as early as 8 AM to as late as 3AM from today until March 20. The idea that a certain taste-making blogger can give you a realistic idea of what’s truly “up & coming” is just plain false. I listen to music and I follow the trends of the day, I will freely admit it, but SXSW is something completely out of my normal “blogger” reality. Maybe it’s because I am a rookie and I’m still looking from the outside in, my Klout score is still low, and I personally am overwhelmed by how much can be seen and done over the next couple of weeks. But I think we could do more.

There is so much great music being created all over the world and the convergence of so much of it in Austin for a week is over my head. By simple random selections I have come across groups like Bonaparte, Go Back to the Zoo and Galaxy Express; who all rock in their own way but have no buzz or hype at all coming into this week. We’ve talked about UME on here before but they have a unique sound that, coupled with the right buzz, could be a national sensation. They have been through the motions of playing the festival tours and here at SXSW in the past, but nothing has happened. All I hear is talk of The Lumineers, Cloud Nothings and Geographer on every blog that covers the events down here. I don’t want to take away from any of those bands, in fact I enjoy all of their music (and they are not the only ones, admittedly, but they are three you will see everywhere). But for me at least, SXSW is about discovery. You can go thru every showcase and find music that is not just good, but great, and able to carve out it’s own niche in the massive entertainment market we all enjoy. There is so much out there that, I believe we need to push the envelope a little bit. This is the information age. We should try to get as much information and press out for as many bands, singers, songwriters etc. that we can and not narrow our view to what the “taste-makers” determine is ready for consumption. Let the blogs be free and the folks decide…. In that vein we are starting a new trend #prehype with Densmore’s prehype picks.
Stream Densmore’s #prehype playlist