SXSW Interviews: Bad Moves
Is everyone else starting to pick up the SXSW fever? This time last week, I really wasn’t, but now I’m beginning to feel that itch, that desire for the week to get here already. Of course it helps that Nate Dawg and myself have the entire week off from work, so yeah… Anyway, I’m carrying the torch of SXSW interviews today with a quick and easy one from Washington D.C. based ATH faves Bad Moves. Strap in and check out the responses after the jump.
Responses tagged with band members Emma Cleveland, David Combs, Katie Park, and Daoud Tyler-Ameen. Thanks guys!
ATH: Every Year there is a lot of hubbub concerning corporate sponsors and pay to play and what not at SXSW. As a band, what’s your reason for coming to play at the festival? What do you hope to get out of it?
Emma: For us, coming to SXSW was a chance to play with our labelmates that we don’t live near and also share a showcase with awesome folks on Father Daughter. Plus several of us have never been to Austin!
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?
Daoud: Were fans of the 30-minute set in general: Its kind of a low-stakes creative challenge, it gets folks into a team mindset before showtime, and you get to rotate your crowd-pleasers instead of always playing them all.
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?
David: As resident band vegan, I intend to eat at least a dozen vegan big macs from Arlo’s food truck over the course of the week.
ATH: There are tons of bands coming into town. Who would you ideally like to play with of the 1000s of bands gracing our city? Make your own optimal line-up.
David: The Don Giovanni/Father Daughter showcase we’re playing is nearly an optimal lineup on it’s own. Aside from being stoked about playing with literally every one of those bands, it’d be cool to play with Doe, Didi, Strawberry Runners, Flasher, Snail Mail, Shopping, Mannequin Pussy… Andrew WK.
Katie: Emma and I learned that our favorite K-pop group KARD will be playing, so if we could be the back-up dancers that’d be ideal.
ATH: We are partial to SXSW obviously, but what festival do you feel is the best around?
David: Get Better Fest in Philadelphia is really cool. We were going to play this year but had to drop for scheduling reasons. Sad.
ATH: Let’s say your band has been 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 seems angry at the world. How would your band deal with such a situation?
Daoud: This show sounds awesome? Maybe not the kind of thing you arrange for an album releases, but for a festival where the crowds are already there and the heat and long lines already have them angry at the world, it seems sort of perfect the kind of memorable cross-pollination these things are theoretically supposed to be all about. (I *am* curious how metal, hip-hop and spoken word artists answer this question.)
ATH: What’s your favorite album to come out in the last year? What’s playing in the tour bus?
David: As total Jeff Rosenstock stans we have to rep POST-. That Phoebe Bridgers record was a crusher.
Katie: Our go-to van music is Carly Rae Jepsen’s EMOTION, but we also got really into the BC Unidos pop compilation she was on at the end of last year.
ATH: Who wins the World Cup this summer?
Emma: Both Katie and I will be rooting for the countries where our dads came from (England for me, Korea for her), who will inevitably lose and then we’ll root for whoever the underdog is.
Bad Moves have some SXSW shows posted on their Facebook events page. Also check out recent song/video “The Verge” below.