SXSW 2009 ARTIST ALERT: Fitz & The Tantrums
A few weeks ago my friend sent me a link to a video by this L.A. band I'd never heard of, Fitz & The Tantrums. And immediately, I wanted to hear more. A supercool Motown-style combo in the Mark Ronson/Sharon Jones/mid-period-ABC vein (imagine if Amy Winehouse was blonde, male, and sane, and that's Fitz), it was impossible to comprehend that the Tantrums weren't already signed. And already huge.
Well, fast-forward to South By Southwest this past week in Austin. There I was, sitting backstage at Perez Hilton's Saturday night bash, waiting to use one of the handy laptops in the Dell Lounge so I could blog about the party's goings-on. But I ended up blogging about Fitz & The Tantrums instead, when I realized that the familiar-looking silvery-blonde, mod-suited gentleman on the laptop next to me was none other than Fitz, the crooner I'd seen in that video.
He was at SXSW attending some mover-and-shaker meetings, one of which will surely lead to his much-deserved record deal. So I figured I'd better interview him then, before he became too famous.
And then he told me in our interview that the Tantrums are influenced by the almighty HALL & OATES, and I loved his band even more (for background on my H&O obession, read my blog on Daryl Hall at SXSW 2008)!
Meet Fitz below:
