This weekend, Austin Music People took over the streets with United We Jam, a massive event supporting Austin musicians and benefitting Austin musician-lovers. AMP works to improve upon the state of Austin’s music industry and uses United We Jam as a way to get the community involved and registered to vote. Friday night, I bounced back and forth between three 7th Street venues, Empire Control Room, Holy Mountain, and Red 7, to provide photographs and coverage of eight phenomenal local bands, and, of course, to help keep Austin the Live Music Capital of the World.
In a tiny corner of the outdoor patio at Empire Control Room, the experimental folk-rock group some say Leland strummed cerebral tunes alongside a projection of kaleidoscopic images, encouraging introspectiveness with crystal-clear vocalizations and successfully supportive instrumentals. The group, who functioned for years as the house band for Annie Street Arts Collective, has been out in Austin clubs more frequently since the closing of the Annie Street House. Although the latter fact is utterly lamentable, the former is a silver lining.
El Campo made Austinites fall in love with Texas all over again across the street at Holy Mountain. The indie-folk/country band – comprised of members from both Austin and San Antonio, and bearing the name of a small southeast Texas town – serenaded us with brush-stick percussion, pedal steel guitar, and hopeful harmonies, somehow subconsciously convincing everyone that grabbing a beer would be the only way to ice our cakes.
Dreamy and poppy and rock-and-roll-y. That’s Löwin, creation of Sara Houser, formerly of The Couch, which more or less became Otis the Destroyer. Still following? The history itself might be a little tricky but it doesn’t take much contemplation to understand your love for Löwin. Playing the outdoor stage at Red7, Houser and company not only swept us away with the strength and quality of their music, but also captivated us with a stage presence of pure boldness.
One after another, Otis the Destroyer tirelessly cranked out veiny, heart-thumping tracks for a floored crowd at Holy Mountain. Not afraid to jam, this experimental psych-rock band utilizes heavy riffs and occasional song hesitations to keep listeners hanging on until the very last beat.
Residual Kid has me questioning everything I’ve ever done up to this point in my life, and for good reason. At first glance, this trio of guys 16-years and younger might have been dismissed by certain adult members of the crowd outside at Red7 as being inexperienced and immature, but that mindset quickly dissolved when the trio started playing their infectious post-modern grunge, fuzzy and distorted. Though they be but young, they are fierce.
modern medicine, doing that beautifully dreamy, experimental thing of theirs with guitars that aurally portray flickers of starlight and vocals that could only be inspired by the airiness of the atmosphere itself, couldn’t help but displace the entranced audience members from the indoor stage at Red7 onto a magic carpet ride though our minds.
Over at Holy Mountain, alt-country band Harvest Thieves filled the air with brassy melodies comprised of twangy guitar, upbeat percussion, and honest lyrics, giving the venue a down-home dance hall vibe as couples emerged from within and broke out their best moves.
Slomo Drags closed out my jam-packed evening (sorry, I had to) with striking indie pop/rock tunes. Through distinctive vocals, driving guitar, powerful bass, and crowning percussion, they manage to walk the line between polished and greasy — a perfectly harmonious balance that left me no less than impressed.
Though I caught only eight of the innumerably gigs played over Friday and Saturday, I have to say that AMP certainly has something good going on here. Besides being a tremendous amount of fun, it’s a great cause that reminds us of just how important we are as individuals to the Austin music scene. If you missed it this year, be sure to keep an eye out for next year’s event. And remember, the whole point of the weekend was discover new bands to support throughout the year. If you didn’t make it out to find any new music, get down to these clubs and start discovering. They’re filled with music every night of the week.
All photos © Madeline Harvey & Pop Press International; all rights reserved. Click any image to open in slideshow viewer.
