En La Calle On The Street Music & Lifestyle Magazine spoke with Fort Worth’s Dreamy Life Records spokesman and rock group frontman for War Party, Cameron Smith. Smith gives the lowdown on artists booked for the unofficial showcase at Austin’s DIY venue, Electric Church, and info over the collaborative planning involved. Checkout the unofficial showcase at Electric Church at 5018 E Cesar Chavez S. Austin, TX March 16.
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What can you tell me about the showcase you guys have going that might interest readers? Are there any out of state artists on the lineup?
Smith: As of right now the bill is filled exclusively with Dreamy Life artists. We were looking for a place to do a showcase on the weekend and wound up getting in touch with this groovy little spot called Electric Church, it’s been explained to me as the Where House of Austin, a DIY psych rock space that loves to throw concerts and festivals. The time frame we have there (7-2am) is great and there are two stages so we have 14 slots but we have been fortunate enough to work closely with so many talented artists around this state and we wanted to make sure we made space for them first and now we have a pretty full bill of all Dreamy Life artists but we have talked to a few friends from further reaches so who knows. Further announcements may be yet to come, but we are very excited to party with the family: The Cush, Pearl Earl, Andy Pickett, Sur Duda, Movie the Band, Steve Gnash, Teenage Sexx, War Party, Sub-Sahara, Starbass Laboratories, Bulls, The Fibs, Loafers and Party Static.
Smith: Pearl Earl is an Electric Church favorite and it will be one of Andy Pickett’s first shows in Austin since releasing his s/t album on digital platforms in late November with White Denim’s Radio Milk label. It’s since had a lot of airplay on KUTX and hype around him performing in Austin has been growing steady. We will be releasing the vinyl version in a month or so.
About how long did all the planning and booking take and who did you coordinate with at the Electric Church venue?
Smith: Probably about two weeks, after coordinating with Electric Church, I had to slot out the set times and figure out just how many artists we could invite.Levi Murray from a band in Austin called The Sun Machine I met him a little while back when War Party and the Sun Machine played together at a place called the White Swan.
Right on!
Smith: War Party has played official showcases for the past 5 years or so and one thing I noticed almost every time is that the unofficial parties are typically a lot more fun.
Denton Texas’ Pearl Earl | Photo Credit Ellie Alonzo
About how many showcases like this showcase has Dreamy Life put together for SX in the past? Is it the 5 with War Party?
Smith: I mean, one year we got to play with Tyvek, Protex, White Mystery, Warm Soda and all these great bands for our booking agent’s showcase at Hotel Vegas and that was a blast but I mean the dopest shit is seeing Obnox in a living room somewhere. No, this is Dreamy Life’s first soiree into the SXSW showcasing
Too cool, man that’s great! Besides you, did anyone else from Dreamy life or anyone you would like to mention help out with putting it all together?
Smith: Oh yeah, Jim and Robby are always a huge part of any Dreamy Life event. Booking it is one piece but organizing the details and running the show on the day and everything else…that’s the whole cake and of course our artists and employees. Yeah, every show is a collaborative effort, Dreamy Life isn’t any one person it’s a community.
