SXSW Interviews: Walt Disco

Well just in case you weren’t ready for SXSW to kick off in a couple of weeks, you’ve clearly seen that the ATH crew is more then ready. We’ve been dropping these interviews every day for the last few weeks now with no plans of slowing down until the bands stop responding or the festival week arrives. Have you started planning yet? Today I have the Glasgow based outfit Walt Disco who should be on your radar on the music side of things for SXSW week. They were kind enough to answer our little questionnaire and you can find their answers after the jump.

ATH: What’s the name of the band/group? Where are you from?

WD: We are Walt Disco! We hail from Glasgow, Scotland

ATH: Describe your group’s sound.

WD: Glam, goth, hyper, romantic, and whatever else we feel like x

ATH: What was your most recent release? Any planned releases for 2022?

WD: We recently released our new single “How Cool Are You?”, its whimsical and whacky in equal measure. Along with that we finally announced our debut album Unlearning which releases on April 1st!

ATH: Everyone’s been focused on the negative aspects of the last few years? What are a few good things that came about for you as an individual or the band as a whole during the last two pandemic-stricken years?

WD: With the halt that the pandemic put on everything, it gave us time to stop and really consider where the band was headed, both in our music and identity. As a group we wrote and recorded our first album out of our keyboard players bedroom, with seemingly endless hours to pour over the finer details of our new music. It drove us completely insane. On a personal note, Jack and Charlie managed to move to Glasgow during the pandemic to join the rest of the band. Now we can be stacked on top of each-other forever!

ATH: Why play SXSW? What’s the draw for the band? What about this festival will bring you to Austin?

WD: There isn’t another event like SXSW, so many of our favourite artists have cut their teeth there and gone on to do massive things. Everyone we know who’s been before has described it as amazing musical madness which were all for. Most of us have never even been to America before so it kind of feels like we’re going to a whole new planet, and we’re so ready.

ATH: Lets say your band has booked an official showcase at a pop up venue somewhere in the middle of 6th street. The lineup features thrash metal, hip-hop, spoken word, and you. The sound is horrible, the lineup is not your style, and the crowd is growing ancy. How would your band deal with such a situation?

WD: As a band we have had our fair share of tough venues, and tougher crowds. Our policy without exception is to go out and put on the best show we can, if they love it they love it, if they hate us then to each their own! Winning even one person over is a victory. Luckily were all huge fans of metal, hip hop and spoken word, so this lineup sounds like a real treat.

ATH: There are tons of bands coming into town, but if you could create your own perfect festival, who would you have playing? Would it have a sick name? Where would it take place?

WD: We would create a festival located entirely on a massive barge floating along Glasgows River Clyde. It would be called Young, Barge and Handsome. We’d invite all our friends to come and play as the barge is slowly corroded by the pollution in the river. We play the final set of the night as we descend into the lake and the barge is submerged. If this sounds like Green Day’s appearance in The Simpsons Movie it’s because it is.

ATH: What has everyone in the band been listening to, or, what plays in the tour van/car/bus?

WD: To name a few that were currently playing non-stop: Perfume Genius, Black Country New Road, Cheap Teeth, Porches, The Velvet Underground, Wolf Alice and Pink Pantheress.

ATH: There’s been a lot of discussion about Spotify and streaming and all that these last few months. Where does the band stand? Whats your solution?

WD: We’re supportive of the moves by Tidal and Soundcloud to pay artists based on the fan-powered royalty calculation rather than the pooling method. It’s fairer and more transparent, especially as we’re a band that are working hard to create a genuine and loyal fanbase but don’t get heavily supported by editorial playlists (which mostly favours the already popular artists). It just seems much fairer (to us) to get paid based on fans actual listening habits.

ATH: The band gets to create their own food truck to take on the road. What’s it called, and what are you serving?

WD: We would have a charcuterie truck that serves primarily pickles, just all different kinds of pickles, for people who want pickles on the go. Pickles.

Thanks again to the band for making some time for us. See you in a few weeks! For now, here is Walt Disco’s latest single “How Cool Are You?”.

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