ATX Emerge/Art Disaster: Bi-annual Blowouts

Tonight and tomorrow night are double-headers, giant waves breaking one after another on the eve of SXSW Music.

They’ve got me more excited than any event happening during the official SXSW stretch. They are ATX Emerge, tonight at the Mohawk, and Art Disaster, tomorrow night at Beauty Bar.

Without hyping the exciting bands, I’ll speak as a documentary filmmaker. These events and the people behind them (including Emerge’s sister Fall event ATX Converge) were the petrie dishes for Echotone.

It was at ATX Converge that we first filmed Black Joe Lewis (the same month he and the Honeybears signed to Lost Highway/Universal Records). The Mohawk was quick to become the epicenter for the world of the story. Not only do our 3 central bands (Sunset, Black Joe, and Belaire) all play within the Mohawk’s walls on-camera, the Mohawk also directly plays into one of the downtown development stories in Echotone. The flats across the street have caused some interesting hurdles to spring up for the folks at the Mohawk.

SXSWers! Look up! Look at how much the city has changed since you were last eating our tacos! Also, don’t for a moment think that the weather is this pleasant year-round. The heat maelstrong is fast approaching. You’re in the sweet spot.

Lastly, the grassroots companies who organized the orginal Emerge 2 years ago (Reversal Films, Indierect Records, Swatch Post, Voodoo Highway) were all utterly instrumental in giving Echotone its legs.

Some of the brightest, most talented, most passionated (and many times the most preening) members of ATX’s film/music/fashion/design culture will be at Emerge tonight. And the music will blow you away.

Art Disaster, put on by Daniel Perlaky, is likewise a nonstop art orgy. The event is aptly titled and Mr. Perlaky seems to delight in the chaos of it all. DJs, MCs, psychadelia, screenprinting, poster show, a photo booth, and free booze. The makings of a beautiful mess of people coming together and sharing in the local energy.

Cutting the scenes together from what we shot of these events over the last 2 years already makes me a bit nostalgic. Not the syrupy kind. The kind that makes me want to go out and continue participating in this very inspiring time.

-Nathan

Look At Our Sound, version 5.1

Noise Pop San Fran is a complete blast. NYC was an inspiring winter wonderland.

Here are some clips from our long night at Gigantic, the surround sound studio. The magician you see is Tom Paul and he took our film to a new experiential level.

Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears

The Apeshits

Belaire

Dana Falconberry Valentine
The First Echotone B side Release!
Stream “Possum Song” Live by Dana Falconberry
below!

Dana Falconberry is one of the brightest gems in Austin, TX.

Her songwriting reminds me of Joni Mitchell and her voice recalls Joanna Newsom. Those references are limited, though, as Dana is her own unique force of nature. Just go to one of her shows and you’ll find an entire room full of people watching in rapt silence.

The fact that Dana can’t support herself off of her music should be a crime. That’ll change soon.

Expertly recorded by David Hixon and mixed by Dave Kelly, here are a few of Dana’s songs, two of which are in Echotone.

Click the play button below to stream “Possum Song,” and as an extra bonus download “Possum Song” and “Baby Blue Sky” live by clicking “Get 2 Echotone Valentine’s B sides Here.” Feel free to embed the widget on your blog, share it with fellow music lovers on your Facebook or Twitter, and be sure to stay tuned, because next week we are leaking a scene from the film featuring of one of these songs.

Look at Our Sound

A few nights ago, we finished the sound design pre-mix for Echotone. From this point, we sail up to NYC and mix the sound to 5.1 (Dolby surround sound)! Feels like a brave new world.

Dave Kelly and the sound design team at Voodoo Highway are magicians. They work at the speed of thought. Every shriek of a guitar, every bit of dirty feedback, every dancing crane, is accounted for in the sound scape. I’ve learned loads about the sound world. Some of the effects that are in the sequence you don’t so much hear as feel.

Here are some snapshots of what it all looks like. Every little colored segment was a critical decision. Click on the images to make them larger.