Meet the SXSW Band: Pendant
As we mentioned in our premiere post yesterday, that ‘lil festival called SXSW is going down in just a few short weeks and we at ATH are trying to support bands and artists as best we know how. Before we head to their shows and buy some merch, the best thing we can do is simply talk to the artists and get their varied perspective on what it means to play SXSW. Today I am thrilled to be sharing the next artist in our series, PENDANT, which is the musical moniker for Los Angeles based recording artist Christopher Adams. He offered some truly thoughtful and detailed insight into the festival. See his response along with tunes and current show dates after the jump.
What’s the name of the band/group? Where are you from?
PENDANT – Los Angeles
Describe your group’s sound using only adjectives or superlatives.
#1 Mentally ill DJ
What was your most recent release? Any planned releases for 2023?
My last record came out in April 2022 – I’m planning to release new songs over the course of this year. Hopefully a new record is out in 2024.
Why play SXSW? What’s the draw for the band? What about this festival will bring you to Austin?
A lot of artists talk about how crushing the SXSW experience is. I’m one of them – it’s simply exhausting. Probably not healthy. That being said, sometimes it’s fun to be a little unhealthy. I want to play a lot of shows in a short period of time. I want to live as maximally as possible from March 15 – 19. I’ll probably hate myself a little for it afterward, but ever since launching this project, I’ve felt really eager to push myself and play and have fun. I spent a lot of time playing music and not having fun in my 20’s. I’m much healthier and clearer about my own boundaries/expectations now. Just wanna get after it while I still can.
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? Feel free to disregard the rules of time and space.
Gonna keep it a buck and say that the perfect festival does not exi…*sees SXSW 2023 line-up* :-0…just kidding. Perfect Festival probably happens in some beautiful Nordic countryside – Denmark, Iceland, Sweden etc. Only 500 people are permitted into the festival grounds. It’s free and tickets are distributed by some kind of lottery system. Can’t overstate how important the attendance cap is…festivals are usually too big and overpopulated. It makes for a miserable viewing experience. My festival is very intimate – there are only two stages. They are facing one another – the crowd moves back and forth between each stage. Prince is playing – he’s also curating the rest of the line up so I can’t elaborate on any other details. It’s entirely up to him.
What has everyone in the band been listening to, or, what plays in the tour van/car/bus?
I’m listening to a playlist a sweet girl made for me feat. Babes in Toyland, Crass, Solange, Hole, Kendrick Lamar, Grlwood, Eunice Collins, Frank Ocean and others
Obviously you have seen or heard about the issues coming up this year about fair pay for artists at SXSW? Care to offer any insight or comment?
I think SXSW (and the music festival industry) needs a comprehensive overhaul. Everything about SXSW feels really excessive. I can’t imagine the ramifications it has on day to day life in Austin. It’s all just really difficult in my opinion. It doesn’t have to be that way though. Just do less. That’s what I’d say to the people running SXSW – do less, or better yet, stop all together. I have an excellent festival format I detailed above – the one in the Nordic countryside. The artists are paid handsomely, it’s totally free and generates absolutely no profit for investors. It can be one big tax write off for some clan of billionaires. I don’t know. In terms of live music settings, festivals aren’t my favorite. But that’s just me – if you enjoy them, fair play. I go to music festivals because I loveperforming. That’s why I’m going to SXSW. It would be great to get paid more for the work I’ll be doing there. But it feels like there’s a much larger systemic issue at play. Personally I’d just like to see less festivals in general. Festivals never feelkind. In my opinion they’re always kind of brutal. I just want people to feel good while they’re seeing live music and I think there’s a way to elevate the festival experience to a higher quality than what normally exists at festivals now.
We’ve been seeing more and more artists get into the food and beverage game, whether it’s pierogis from Pavement or Deftones’ beer. If you ever got into the game, what would be your food or beverage and what would it be called?
It’s Pepino-lime Gatorlyte diluted with Topo Chico. It’s called Pendant Juice. It’s free for everyone attending my Perfect Festival TM
Thanks again for making this time for us. See ya in Austin!
It’s still a bit early yet and I’m sure more show will come, but for now, the only confirmed show for Pendant is the following:
- Thursday March 16th – Saddle Creek/Sub Pop/BammBamm Presents – Mohawk Indoor – Time TBD