SxSW 2015: Converse Rubber Tracks

Rubber TracksBrand. Branding. Brand awareness.

Forget all of that. SxSW has been a bastion of branding experiments. From giant Doritos to McDonald’s trying to be cool, we are inundated by branding and usually, it has been quite unsuccessful. Twitter campaigns hijacked in the name of comedy, new product as a punch line for your snarly friend’s quips. #flatizza

But one brand has been kind of quietly been doing something very cool for musicians. Converse set up Rubber Tracks four years ago giving Texas bands, mostly Austin locals, the chance to get some studio time on the brand’s dime. I was invited to take a tour of the studio compound taken over during SxSW and turned into Converse Rubber Tracks home base, Big Orange and Shine Studio.

A few thoughts, pics of Tele Novella and Hard Proof Afrobeat, and a little Q&A action with the bands after the jump…

Read more