SXSW 2014 Interview: September Girls
The great thing about SXSW is that you get a lot of bands coming in from abroad to test the waters of the American music scene, so we figured we ought to offer up one of those acts to you: September Girls. The band is working with Fortuna Pop for their album, Cursing the Sea, which is a solid release. We even changed up our set of questions a bit for the ladies to give you a different look at acts traveling to us from far away. Read more for answers from the group’s Jessie Ward; help us welcome them when they make it our way.
ATH: For a lot of bands, this is their first time coming to SXSW, Austin, or even the United States. What are you anticipating for your arrival into our town? Anything you’re really hoping to do while you’re here?
JW: We’re all really excited to be in Austin for the festival and take part in everything it has to offer; seeing great bands, going to the parties, and I think I can speak for most of us and say we’re also looking forward to the BBQ!
ATH: For most SXSW sets, you get 30 minutes to leave a lasting impression. What’s your plan of attack? You have a set list mapped out yet?
JW: We’ve just finished touring our album and had a real bang-on set. We’re definitely in the camp of “leave them wanting more” so I imagine we’ll be using a similar set for SXSW. The trick is to punch right into it, and finish with something powerful… and LOUD.
ATH: The festival caters to music fans, but food and booze are an important aspect of the fans and the bands. What’s your band’s food and beverage of choice?
JW: We try to be as healthy as possible, but we all have a soft spot for Mexican food – I imagine the Mexican food we get in Ireland will pale in comparison to what’s on offer in Texas. True to our Irish roots we’d also be pretty big beer drinkers, although we are starting to get into wine. Less burpy on stage.
ATH: Describe the music community where you come from? Does everyone work together? Is there lots of competition?
JW: Dublin is a small city… dare I say incestuous? There are loads of bands, and bands sharing members, and loads of people doing creative things and putting on events and projects, which is all great and makes for a vibrant scene. Of course there’s always going to be an element of competition in a small community… but that’s healthy! Spurs you on to do better, more creative things.
ATH: What are a few bands we might not know about, being in the States, that should be on everyone’s musical radar?
JW: There’s a few Irish bands we’re all into – We’re always going on about The #1s for their pop punk and sheer joy, plus Séan from that band helped record our album along with Robbie Brady from Exploding Eyes – another great band. Dublin band Princess, and Derry’s Autumns are also great and noisy; we had them support us for our album launch and they were so good we were worried we choose bands that were too tough to follow.
ATH: Let’s say your band has been booked an official showcase at a pop up venue somewhere in the middle of 6th street (where a lot of shows are set up). The lineup features thrash metal, hip-hop, spoken word, and you. The sound is horrible, the lineup is not your style, and the crowd seems angry at the world. How would your band deal with such a situation?
JW: We’ve had our fair share of bad sound, hecklers, and people determined to dislike us; I think the only thing you can do in that kind of situation is to just play as well (and as loud) as you can. Hopefully we’d end up surprising the crowd with a really tight performance and leave them intrigued.
ATH: What’s your favorite album to come out in the last year? What’s playing in the tour bus/van?
JW: Personally I really love Girls Names – The New Life, which came out last February. I’m not just saying that because they’re our mates… it’s just stunning, atmospheric and sounds nostalgic and new at the same time. We all have relatively different taste in music, so instead of anything playing in the van we usually have headphones on. That doesn’t seem very social does it?!
ATH: The digital age is upon us, like it or not. What are your band’s thoughts on streaming services like spotify, pandora, etc.? Blow em all up? Or embrace the future?
JW: We’d be an embrace the future kind of band. I think we all prefer the “sound” of vinyl, but streaming services are great for discovering new music. I’ve had several people tell me that they first heard us on Spotify, which is great.
ATH: Clearly coming over to the States to play shows is something a lot of bands are excited about, but what are some other life or musical highlights for you this year? We’d like to get to know you.
JW: Our debut album had its European release in January, so one big highlight for us came very early on in the year. It was the culmination of about two years hard graft, so to have it out, and physically in our hands feels spectacular. We’re just excited to be able to get on the road and promote it all over the place. The US release is slated for the 11th of March, perfectly timed for SXSW, so coming to the States with the album is the icing on the cake.
ATH: This is important to us, although a lot of music people scoff at sports. Do you have a pick for the winner of this year’s up-coming World Cup? Also, is it rude for us to assume that everyone loves soccer/football outside of the US?
JW: We’re not a very sporty band, but soccer/football is huge in Ireland. I do get into the World Cup myself… although Ireland isn’t in it this year! Boo. I’m American (our band is 2/5ths American), so I’d cheer on the USA, but we’re in an awful group and don’t stand a chance! All that is a round about way of saying I reckon Argentina looks the strongest.
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