SXSW 2009 ARTIST ALERT: Passion Pit
It's not easy being the big buzz band on everyone's lips at South By Southwest. There's a lot of pressure involved. Expectations run so high that unless you're hotter than Stubb's BBQ sauce, you're likely to garner the backlashing wrath of every snarky blogger logged on within a one-mile radius of downtown Austin.
Luckily, Passion Pit's SXSW shows have been on five-alarm fire. The quirky synth-rock Bostonians have been one THE hot Austin tickets this week, and at the Spin magazine party at Stubb's Friday afternoon, they more than held their own on a bill alongside Echo & The Bunnymen, Glasvegas, the Black Lips, and ex-Darkness frontman Justin Hawkins' new band Hot Leg.
Passion Pit were understandably much in demand at SXSW, so the only place I could get a little time with the boys was on a patch of grass in the noisy backstage area of the Spin party. So this interview is literally buzzy, soundwise. But over the din we chatted about garnering a buzz and getting buzzed--every rock band's two main goals at SXSW--and we had a lovely time.
Here's how it went:
