Music
07 Aug 08

South By Southwest festival artist applications open

Applications are now open for next year's near-legendary South By South festival, which sees the great and the good of the music industry check out thousands of bands under the Texan sun.

This year's soiree saw Fight Like Apes exclusively entertain Hot Press readers with a diary of all the mingling, messing and neo-Nazi crack addict encounters. Also present in Austin were Cathy Davey, Iain Archer, Paddy Casey, Oppenheimer, Fight Like Apes, Channel One, Delorentos, Distractors, Driving By Night, Laura Izibor and The Bleedin’ Bleedins.

Artists can apply through http://sxsw.com/music/shows/apply or http://www.sonicbids.com/sxsw. The deadline for Irish applications is October 24, costing $25 until September 26, at which point it rises to $35. God bless the ever-weakening dollar.

2009's SXSW conference and festival take place on March 18-22. The showcase element is increasingly seen as an essential element of the A&R calendar, and aside from the 1,500 acts onstage there are lectures, networking events and access to the Online Registrants' Directory with all the necessary industry contacts.