Music Blogs

Hundreds of bands from all over the world flock to Austin to play South By Southwest, and that's just counting the legitimate, "official" SXSW showcase acts. Factor in all the bands playing afternoon parties and busking on street corners, in coffeehouses, and even at the Austin airport, and it seems more like thousands of bands. Music is simply inescapable at SXSW, and while that's obviously a good thing, by Saturday it all starts to be just a bunch of noise, making it impossible for all these competing bands to truly be heard.

But one band that had NO trouble standing out was Liverpool's the Whip, one of my top three acts of the entire conference. (And the other two, Hot Leg and Tinted Windows, featured established, already famous musicians in their lineups, so they weren't entirely "new" discoveries.) The post-punk electrorockers' daytime set at the British Music's Embassy's Liverpudlian-themed party on Saturday practically had me declaring them Liverpool's new fab four. It really was amazing.

Well, right before that set, I met up with the band's Bruce Carter (vocals) and Nathan Sudders (bass) at the artists' hangout the Carrera Cafe, where they demonstrated their budding-star status by receiving swag on command. (All they had to say was "Hey, can we have some free stuff?" Being a rock star rules. See them work their magic below!)

There Bruce also tucked into the cafe's Texas-sized fried chicken platter...and then an hour later he was onstage at the British Music Embassy, shouting to the sweaty, shoulder-to-shoulder crowd: "I just ate and I'm full of protein! Let's do this!!"

And do it they most certainly did. Check out the Whip's Carrera Cafe interview here: