SXSW 2023: Amazon’s “Swarm” Is Black & Bloody — AND THERE IS SOME LESBIANING GOING ON!

This review of Swarm contains mild spoilers.

Autostraddle is at SXSW! Shelli Nicole is coming to you daily for the next week with LGBTQ+ movie reviews from one of the most prestigious film festivals in the world. Follow Shelli on Twitter for more! 

Writing about queer pop culture has given me a pretty great idea of just how far fans will go to support something or someone they love. Folks sending you messages with a screenshot of your address on google maps or writing long Twitter threads picking apart your critique on their work — and all because you didn’t like the t-shirt their fav was wearing in episode four of a TV series. It’s just that sometimes, their excitement and support for an artist go just a tad too far and in Amazon’s Swarm — shit really hits the fan.

Murder.Sex.Music.

That’s all the information SXSW would give when it came to information about the show but guess what I have a little bit more. Dominique Fishback stars in the series as Dre, a 20-something loner with a childlike vibe who is obsessed with two things, a pop star named Ni’Jah and her best friend Marissa. Played by Chloe Bailey, Marissa seems to tolerate Dre more than she loves her. They have that sort of friendship that is left over from their younger days, where you should have been gone your separate ways but stay connected out of obligation or comfort.

Dre needs Marissa, but she needs Ni’Jah even more. She spends hours on her phone, waiting for any news to drop, only listening to her music, and of course, checking social media to see what everyone is saying about her fav. She tweets from a swarm account, think of those profiles folks make dedicated to sharing any and all things about their fav celeb, show, or couple. It’s a way for Dre to stay in the happiness of the past, a time when she and Marissa were actually close, and a time when she first discovered Ni’Jah.

The show was inspired by Beyoncé and her fans, the Beyhive. Creators Donald Glover and Janine Nabers combed through actual headlines, events, and social media and wove them into the script to place Dre into these stories. It’s interesting because it has been said that they expect viewers to watch and attach anyone to the character of Ni’Jah but — ain’t no way you won’t think of Bey. As you watch you’ll see just how ripped from the headlines it is. It’s kinda wild how much the series doesn’t care that it’s using such IRL shit to create this fictional story, but when the source material is so abundant and so good then why not run with it.

Dre eventually takes her love for the singer way too far and I LOVED it. Seeing a Black woman in a role where there is such a sharp descent into madness was beautiful. Dominique Fishback has been and will always be a star, but this role may have solidified what I already knew for others. Dre has a few sides to her and Fishback manages to knock each one out of the park.

Before you ask, yes, there is a hefty scoop of LGBTQing! Kiersey Clemons & Dominique Fishback get to kissing and carrying on and Billie Eilish plays a glossy-eyed queer cult leader. Another queer thing I really dug in relation to Blackness is how throughout the show it’s hinted at by many adults that Dre might be “A little funny”. I grew up hearing that about queer people from many family members and my parent’s friends, it’s just another way to call out the culture in the show to have Black folks watch and know just how much it is for us.

Dykes fall in love with their friends a lot, and some of you have gone very far to prove your love — maybe Dre does the same.

All in all the show is actually pretty good. It takes a turn somewhere in the middle that left me confused and on google for about an hour, but aside from that, I dug it. It was definitely created to start conversations, about Stan culture, Beyoncé, and about friendships. I really can’t wait for the Beyhive to watch and react because for some of the members — the call is coming from inside the house.

SXSW 2023: “Bloody Hell” Is A Dope Teen Traumedy When It’s Not Making Nonbinary Folks Disposable

This review of Bloody Hell contains mild spoilers.

Autostraddle is at SXSW! Shelli Nicole is coming to you daily for the next week with LGBTQ+ movie reviews from one of the most prestigious film festivals in the world. Follow Shelli on Twitter for more! 

Here’s the thing — this movie is pretty darn good, but GOTDAMN does it miss the mark on queerness.

The opening credits immediately got my attention, hues of pink and red on display while a song reminiscent of 50’s period propaganda plays. It kinda transported me to elementary school, where they separated the boys and girls to have a “very special recess”. The boys went to the playground while the girls were sent to the auditorium to watch a video about what a period was, how to use pads, and how we shouldn’t use tampons.

Like Lindy in the film, played by Maddie Ziegler, I didn’t have my period when everyone else did. I wasn’t as pressed by it as she is, but to be fair, I wasn’t at a place in my life where I had plans like she did. Lindy’s plan you ask? She is tryna fuck. She’s 16, she has a crush, she’s horny, and she is ready to have a big ol’ scoop o’ sex.

I know that this sounds weird but sex comedies with teenage girls at the forefront (Booksmart, Blockers, The To-do List) make me so happy. Since the 70s, most films about teen sex or sexuality have been centered on boys. Having solely that point of view adds to the narrative that girls are supposed to only be ready for sex when someone else — in most films, it’s a boy — is. That can just lead to things like confusion and guilt. If girls are only seeing boys masturbating, talking to their friends about sex, or being sexual in any way but don’t see girls doing the same, it could suck. I’ve said it before, but film has often been a medium that people turn to to learn or get validated. Bloody Hell presents the opportunity for both of those to happen.

Lindy’s plan to have sex gets upended when she is diagnosed with MRKH, a rare disorder that can include your vagina being undeformed. With an underformed canal and opening, penetration could be incredibly difficult and painful for her, and the disorder is also why she hasn’t gotten her period yet.

During her diagnosis scene, we see just how many doctors skipped bedside manner classes in med school. It was so real every single time, that could be because the director Molly McGlynn was probably here before. The film is semi-autobiographical and it’s really reflected in those scenes. She’s not listened to, she’s talked over, she’s spoken to in the most dismissive way by (presumably) cishet white male doctors, and OMG WHEN WILL THEY STOP BEING TRASH!

IT’S SHITTY WHEN DOCTORS DO NOT LISTEN! It’s even shittier when you’re a teen girl. You don’t know what’s going on, it’s your body and so maybe you don’t want your parents in the room with you, and it’s just — a fucking lot. I had my body poked and prodded as a teen too. I was diagnosed with PCOS, Fibroids, Ovarian Cysts and more during high school. I wasn’t ready to get to fucking yet but it still sucked. A bunch of dude docs never fully explained anything to me or my mother, but we took nearly every recommendation of meds, surgery, and enrolling in studies out of fear. I was (wrongly) told on more than one occasion that I wouldn’t be able to have kids, tortured my body with unnecessary meds, and was so stressed about things that were years away from being a reality to me when I should not have been. The film does a fantastic job of capturing those emotions, and showing how taxing that process can be on a young girl.

While it beautifully nails some things, others didn’t land so well for me, especially the queerness. It made me so angry. Before we get into that though, some other queer connections in the film include Janelle Monae as an Executive Producer, and Emily Hampshire plays Lindy’s mum, and is also in like ONE MILLION things at SXSW this year. Okay, back to the nonsense.

There is a queer and non-binary character Jax, played by Ki Griffin, who in my opinion gets wildly used. Before Lindy got her diagnosis, she didn’t see them, but after it, she latches onto them. When she is experiencing these sad or painful moments, it’s like “Enby babe to the rescue” and I hated every moment of it, it got very Magical Negro and eyedonutlikedat. It felt very “Straight girl is sad and connects with the queer person who has their knows about tough moments so now she feels better.”

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A post shared by ki griffin (@ki.sces)

We see Lindy using boys for sexual exploration without attachment, but using Jax for all the emotional stuff she needs to release or learn. I know she is supposed to be exploring sex and sexuality after she gets this new information but, when the romantic arc with a queer person comes after a failed exploration with a cishet dude, it hits in a different way — a bad and unfair one.

Now, Lindy could very well be having these intimate conversations with the boys while she’s fucking around with them but we as an audience don’t SEE them happening. We only see her do this with Jax, so I’m forced to fill in the blanks and that’s why I land on them feeling disposable to her. There is even a moment in the film where Jax pretty much verbally acknowledges that they know Lindy is using them and will soon disappear.

This is a queer character who has resolved themselves to be nothing more than a straight girls’ exploration, IRL Reddit thread, and trauma dumping ground. It’s not just all on Lindy, a bit of this is on Jax as well. Many a queer person I know have bragged about dating, solely going after, or making themselves deeply emotionally available to women who are ultimately straight. They then are confused when they repeatedly get their hearts broken…make it make sense.

So while Bloody Hell nails quite a bit, the queerness in the film just wasn’t one of them. I want more for us in real life and in film. As my partner constantly says when we are watching things with queerness or Blackness — “Why do niggas have to suffer in movies too?”

SXSW 2023: The Lives and Loves of Intersex People In “Who I Am Not”

This review of Who I Am Not contains mild spoilers.

Autostraddle is at SXSW! Shelli Nicole is coming to you daily for the next week with LGBTQ+ movie reviews from one of the most prestigious film festivals in the world. Follow Shelli on Twitter for more! 

“Who can tell me — what is a girl?”

A teacher at the top of the documentary Who I Am Not asks this to a room full of school-age children, who look to be between 10-13 years old. The children describe to the teacher that a girl has breasts and long hair, others say girls are people who wear wigs and make-up, and generally just “like to be pretty”.

Shortly after this, we hear a story from Sharon-Rose Khumalo, a South African beauty queen who is intersex. She talks about how when younger, she remembers girls sharing stories of getting their periods, and how she lied about getting hers because it was easier than telling the truth about why she wasn’t.

We’re also introduced to activist Dimakatso Sebidi, another intersex person, as they talk to a room of what are presumably med students. Putting themselves on display for the students to ask questions. Perhaps in the hopes that the next generation of doctors is far more equipped with knowledge of intersex people than the ones before them.

During their conversation, Dimakatso reveals that they had several surgeries during the first few years of their life because their parents wanted their child to be “Normal” and so the doctors were going to make that happen.

This idea of seeking normalcy in life can be dangerous. As a queer person, I spent a big chunk of my life in secret trying to be normal. For the sake of a relationship with my parents, to make sure I had friends, I hid parts of who I was because I wanted to be normal. I was seeking it on my own though, and though my parents were part of my reasoning, they didn’t make an active choice for me. Many intersex people — including Dimakatso — are dealing with their parent’s decision to put them through surgery at a young age. Making decisions for them and their body that very well may affect them forever. Parents are choosing for their children versus waiting on them to grow and telling them what they want.

We see Dimakatso having conversations with their father about the decisions made and they are tough to watch. They confront their parent on the decisions they have made for them, lay out how they feel about their life, about who they are, and about the things they have gone through as a result of them wanting a “normal” child. The most difficult part? Watching as their parent misgendered them, using the statement that many say — “you will always be( X) to me”.

Dimakatso and Sharon-Rose meet and develop a friendship, and we get to see all the joy they have in their lives. In documentaries with topics that are so heavy, I get nervous that they won’t make space to see all the good that could be present in their subjects’ lives. They are often so willing to share their painful stories with us, but I want them to feel like they have the opportunity in that same breath to show happiness.

We get to see it with both of them in this documentary. Sharon-Rose gets dolled up with her friends where she dances the night away, and Dimakatso celebrates their birthday with their partner and friends and doesn’t stop smiling throughout the night. It was beautiful to see them bond together and not just over the painful moments they have experienced.

Who I Am Not puts a much-needed spotlight on the intersex community. It is a deeply personal look into the lives of two intersex people who, just like the rest of us, are trying to figure out who they are and where they belong in this world.

FRIDAY OPEN THREAD: Gal Pals Gone Wild!

Friendlets, it’s Spring Break!!!!!!!!! I am almost done with 10 full days of freedom from the oppressive schooling institution, and what a ten days it has been! Spring Break in Austin lines up with South by Southwest, which is brilliant. Most people who’ve lived in Austin more than 8 months realize that this week would be the week to GET OUT of town (speaking of, have you seen Get Out yet? I’m scared to see it, I want to trust white people), alas, I was not so smart. The thing about this city is that it is very small. It’s super narrow, but really long, and all of the cool, hip stuff that Austin is known for takes place in like a two square mile radius. So when SXSW comes along, something like 10 million people are trying to get along in a very teeny space. Traffic is always awful here, but I haven’t seen anything like this before.

Even though traffic is a nightmare and there are people everywhere, I bought a wristband to encourage me explore this city I almost never get to see. And I’m so thrilled that I did. I went wild this week y’all. I got two new piercings, made new tattoo appointments with this sweet woman tattoo artist I’ve been insta-lusting over, and saw more bands than I’ve seen in the last three years combined. I also went to what feels like a million parties with free Topo Chico, the cheapest beer you could ever dream of, and just straight whiskey (which I gladly stayed away from). I also actually got a lot of work done. I wrote one paper and rewrote another, read three books for school and one for pleasure, and knocked out a bunch of grading. My focus for the week was “No FOMO” and like, it worked. I did what I could when I could and didn’t put pressure on myself to do much more and still managed to play hard and work hard.

me, the queer stereotype of your dreams.

So this is what I want to know from y’all this week: how did you get wild and crazy? What thing did you do that made you feel more alive than ever before? Was it dressing up your dog in that cute sweater you got them? Be honest. Did you finally ask that cute barista out? (P.S. How do you do that??? They’re at work! Asking for a friend, obviously). Even if you’re in the godless north dealing with two or more feet of snow, I bet you did something wild, and I want to know about it. Get in those comments and make my day! I love you!

do you know about Vagabon??? you should.

How To Post A Photo In The Comments:

Find a photo on the web, right click (on a Mac, control+click), hit “Copy Image URL” and then…
code it in to your comment like so:

<img src=”http://imagelink.jpg”>

If you need to upload the photo you love from your computer, try using imgur. To learn more about posting photos, check out Ali’s step-by-step guide.

How To Post A Video In The Comments, Too:

Find a video on YouTube or Vimeo or WHATEVER and click “embed.” Copy that code, paste it, you’re good to go!

Interview: Why SXSW Cancelled a Panel on Digital Harassment and Design

feature image via Alfie Photography / Shutterstock.

We’ve spoken to Caroline Sinders before. I emailed her after I read her piece on Narratively about her mother getting SWATted. I’ve chatted with her about our different creative projects over iced teas; I’ve chatted with enough times since that I consider her a friend. So when word started to spread that her previously approved South By Southwest Panel, Level Up: Overcoming Harassment in Games, was cancelled because of digital harassment, I nearly had a rage stroke. I seriously cannot believe a large conference, one that hosts celebrities and CEOs, one that shuts down entire sections of Austin, Texas, does not have the resources to keep three women on a panel about harassment safe.

Since chatting with Caroline on Thursday, SXSW has offered to reinstate Level Up: Overcoming Harassment in Games. SXSW is now positioning them as a part of a possible day-long event focused on combatting harassment. Save Point, the ethics in gaming journalism panel, has also been asked to participate in the same day-long event, though their panel was not originally described as dealing with harassment.

Let’s talk about what happened first, and then we’ll get Caroline’s thoughts on SXSW’s Harassment Summit. The interview has been edited for length and flow.

Ali Osworth: All right then summarize exactly what happened and then we’ll get to the nitty gritty questions. What happened here? [This picks up where we left off after Level Up: Overcoming Harassment in Games endured a Reddit down-voting campaign.]

Caroline Sinders: After the voting closed we all kind of just pushed it out of our minds and forgot about it. We figured we’d hear what we heard when we heard, right? SXSW seemed to have been taking all of our concerns seriously around the voting. You know, they were doing everything they could to really work with us at that time. We were also told that Gamergate was submitting a panel (well we figured that out from Reddit) but our SXSW representatives said to not worry. Even if for some crazy reason we accept it now, even if the deadline is closed, we will keep in mind that they started this campaign against other panels and we take that really seriously. You know? They’re like, “Just don’t worry about it. Just let them think they can do this.” And we’re like, “Oh, these all seem to be very reasonable things.” So I found out October 7th that my panels had been submitted. I also helped plan an educational panel, which was also accepted, really exciting. And then I was told, “Okay, you’re in. We’re also excited, just don’t tweet about it.” And I was like, “Okay, I can totally do that. I will not talk about being accepted.” And then around the 20th, Arthur Chu, who started the original email to let us know that our panels had attracted a downvote campaign, let us know that the Gamergate panel, which had been planned on Kotaku in Action, by multiple members of Gamergate, had been approved. And he had said that it looked like it had never gone through voting and it’s not on Panel Picker, the voting site. [Editor’s note: this panel is called Save Point, just FYI.]

So from previously dealing with our representative and also just in general being a person of the world, I was pretty aware that a lot of people don’t really know what Gamergate is or aren’t really sure what it means or what it does. So I quickly emailed the person who had let me know that our panel had been accepted and I just sent a quick email around a) security concerns and b) what was the rationale and c) I don’t know if you know but they actually did this downvoting campaign around us, I just wanted to give you a really quick heads up as to what’s going on. You know, like things of that nature, and then our contact didn’t respond.

Then they sent us a new website to go through to make sure everything was filled out correctly and that we were applying for all the right kind of day passes and that everything was fine, and this goes into backend systems, CMS feeds, into the SXSW website. I went back in to check everything and my name had somehow glitched out and wasn’t in the CMS, so I emailed this person back immediately and was like, “My name isn’t here and my panelists are, but I’m the one logging in.” And then he responded within a couple minutes and was like, “Oh no, okay I just looked at it. Don’t worry you’re in the back and it’s gonna take an hour to be there.” And I was like, “Great. By the way, did you see my email? My other email?” And then he didn’t respond. So I let an hour or two go by and I checked and then my name was back so I was like, “Fantastic!” So then I emailed this person again and said, “Hey Andrew, by the way, my name is back, everything looks great. FYI did you see my other email?” And then I get a response a couple hours later where, and I can forward this to you, where it’s effectively like, “Hi Caroline. Yes, at SXSW we appreciate a diversity of voices, we can’t all agree with them, that would make for a boring conference.”

And this email doesn’t address my security concerns at all, so I respond with, and again I can forward you this email as well, “Cool, I totally understand that rationale. That being said, can we talk about security? Some of our panels in the past have been disrupted and we just want to make sure that the Q&A doesn’t get rowdy.” So we don’t get a response, and then the next day it comes to my attention that one of the panelists in the Gamergate Save Point Panel has a history of following women around at conferences and taking photos of them. So I then email that again and I’m just like, “FYI, I can totally jump on the phone. I would love to have a conversation about this and really work with y’all. You know, it’s not a big deal, I just wanted to give you a heads up that this has also come to my attention and this person has a history of following around Zoe Quinn, who is a colleague of someone on my panel and I just want to make sure that we don’t have any issues for my panel.” Right? Like, I would say pretty regular, laid back, respectful email. I don’t hear anything back and then people started talking about this a little bit in the media and then I got an email out of the blue that the panel had been cancelled and there had been threats made against my panel, and I actually hadn’t been aware at all that there had been threats made against my panel.

A: Do you know what the content of the threats are?

C: I don’t. I have no idea. They didn’t tell me.

A: So what kind of pushback are you engaged in with SXSW right now? Is there an appeals process?

C: We are in contact with them and I would love a chance to speak at SXSW and I understand from their perspective how confusing and difficult this must be, especially if you’ve never had to deal with online harassment, but I don’t know what’s gonna happen in the future. I know Randi, Catherine and I want this panel out there, and it doesn’t have to be at SXSW, it could be at a variety of other places. And that’s sort of what we are focusing on now. We still have a really good idea, and it’s a design talk. That’s what I really want to stress. It wasn’t about Gamergate at all, it’s a design talk around how to design against harassment. I am a huge nerd around design solutions with real world capabilities and implications.

A: So what happened was threats were made against your panel even though it had nothing to do with Gamergate, and even though it had nothing to do with Gamergate, your panel was cancelled.

C: Yeah. Our panel was misconstrued, I think, in the greater system. I think our panel was misconstrued to be about Gamergate because of the members on the panel, but it’s actually a design talk. Randi runs a non-profit to help companies deal with harassment. Katherine [Cross] has a PhD in Sociology and studies social media and groupings in online games, people interacting in that space. And I’m a user-researcher that focuses on social media. Nothing in our panel was about Gamergate. Gamergate was going to be maybe on a slide, we hadn’t even gone that far to decide that yet, but this was not a panel about Gamergate.

A: So if SXSW were to rescind their decision, would you speak there, or would you not?

C: I think I would. I’d have to confer with my panelists. We originally submitted this to SXSW, but it also depends. It depends upon security, it depends upon security for other panelists that are not myself, this includes any of the other panels, the thousands that were submitted through Panel Picker. I think that security isn’t a privilege, it’s a right. I’m very open to talking to SXSW and I’m really, really open to having the talk there. It’s also a talk I want to have at other places, and it’s all about the right venue that fits our needs, but I’m open to a lot of different things right now.

A: Have you seen the media about people and companies pulling out because of this decision? Buzzfeed is what comes to mind immediately. What do you think about that?

C: I really appreciate the solidarity that not only people are showing, but also large scale companies. It’s also one of those things where it’s also like, you know, this also represents their brand. Does a brand want to be associated with a conference that cancels an anti-harassment panel because of harassment? Right?

A: [laughs] Oh, Caroline. I can’t believe this is happening. It makes me have a rage stroke.

C: Oh, girl. Girl, let me tell you about that. It’s hard—it’s hard to maintain grace under fire, you know?

A: Yea, you seem really even right now, which is amazing.

C: I think it’s the shock. I think the reason I’m so even and upbeat is that it’s been really awesome to get so much support from people and to hear that people are interested in the panel and what we wanted to cover. I mean, that makes me feel really warm and fuzzy.

A: Is there anything that our readers can do to support this panel and you and an open and honest dialogue about harassment in digital spaces? Is there anything that our readers can do right now?

C: Yeah! I would say yes. There’s a bunch of things that can be done. I think any time readers apply for a conference it’s always important to inquire about and look at the Code of Conduct and Safety and have an open dialogue about that. I think, at this point, I would recommend against tweeting at SXSW only because the person running that social media account has nothing to do with the decisions that are being made. Look into and submit panels of your own at conferences. If this is something you want to see, email people and let them know. Send requests. If there’s ever anything where there’s a call for what events you want to see, articulate that, but also articulate what kind of conference you want. As an attendee you have a lot more voice than you think. Maybe that includes mandatory safe spaces, or security, or a push for more diverse voices. These are things to think about outside of SXSW. I’m saying this mainly because at this point only one or two people at the bottom of the decision making tree are being really overwhelmed and there’s no reason to keep overwhelming them, but make it known what you want as a conference speaker and a conference attendee.

One of the things you can tell your readers to do is attend and support awesome conferences that support women and marginalized voices. So like, Facets Con, my conference, we’re really, really affordable and really focus on diversity and safety. I actually pinned to my Twitter, if you want to link to this, a whole storify account of different female makers and schools and publications and conferences to attend, and I’m going to keep adding to it every week, but it’s a long storify account of different things to look at. And I would say those are the places to talk about and champion and send your money and to yell about and be happy about, and then say why, you know? Say like “I had such a great time at Different Games. I like that it’s run by women and there’s gender neutral bathrooms there,” you know? It’s outlining those things and it’s really putting your dollar where your activism is.

A: I think that’s all the questions I’ve got for you, but is there anything that hasn’t been asked by me or by anyone that you really want to make known, you really want to get out there?

C: For sure. So here’s the thing. This was a design panel around how to design against harassment in digital spaces, this is not an anti-Gamergate panel. We were in no way calling for the other panel to be removed. All of our questions around security were about controlling rowdiness during a Q&A session, we didn’t want anything to get out of hand. And all of our emails were also about security that we wanted extended to the other panel [Save Point], if they wanted it. This was not about us saying that we have more security concerns. I’m concerned about Save Point going into a contentious space, as well as having people disrupt their panel, as well. And that contention was sort of created by SXSW and the situation, especially by marketing us as the anti-Gamergate panel and them as the Gamergate panel. But I mean, safety really needs to be a concern for everyone. We should all have a right to security.

I asked Caroline if she and her panelists were going to accept the offer to be a part of SXSW’s Harassment Summit, and she said they were on the fence. I asked what would have to change about the offer to convince them to accept it, and she responded: “Talks of security, where and how our panel will participate, and Save Point being moved back to its regularly scheduled programming in SXSW. It’s a journalism panel, put it where people who are seeking digital journalism will find it.” I clarified. You mean SXSW wants to include Save Point in an anti-harassment lineup? To which Caroline simply replied, “Yeah.”

You can read Caroline’s piece on this whole experience over at Slate. If you need some jokes to lighten the mood, Chris Kluwe (former NFL football player and previous hilarious anti-Gamergate commentator) has a piece on Medium.

Interviewing Badass UX Designer Caroline Sinders On Digital Harassment

Caroline Sinders is a user researcher and UX designer with two entire degrees from NYU. Among a large number of fantastic things she’s doing right now centering on women and gaming, she’s created two awesome panels for South By Southwest. Actually, that’s all I have by way of introduction—I’ll let her tell you the rest of the story. This is something every participant in social media of any kind should read.

Everyone meet Caroline! This is Caroline.

This interview has been edited for length and flow. We talked a good long time, y’all.

Ali: Congrats on putting together a panel.

Caroline: I put together two panels.

Ali: Congrats on putting together two panels which is twice as difficult as putting together one. Can you tell me a little bit about the panels? Who are the other participants? What sort of thing you will cover? That sort of thing.

Caroline: So, they are both [for South By Southwest] under geek and gaming culture. The first panel I put together was one for Code Liberation. We teach women how to code and make video games. Our panel is specifically on how do we get women coding more. How do we get women coding more in games? There is already an imbalance of women programmers. It gets even more imbalanced once you get into games. One of my cohorts, Adele Lynn, and I are just going to talk about what we do at Liberation. A lot of what we do is provide education, but we also provide a safe space to be a geek girl. We have board game nights, we have code jams; one of the themes was a Nicki Minaj song.

We host different types of conferences. I created a conference called Facets that was started in Code Liberation it has now moved out of that. It now has a focus on all different aspects of creative coding, interactive art and technology. We want to get it out there that there is this other space. It’s not girls who code and it’s not like Khan Academy. We are providing educational resources as well as community and mentorship for self-identifying women.

Ali: Where is this located?

Caroline: It’s in New York City. We’re trying to expand it even more. We’re starting a London Chapter because one of our original founders is now there.

The second panel is on online harassment. How to use design to mitigate online harassment, specifically in gaming spaces.

Ali: Can you talk a little bit more on this one and who the participants are?

Caroline: On that panel is Katherine Cross, Randi Harper and myself. Katherine Cross is a Sociologist and Graduate Student at CUNY Graduate Center. She is this amazing woman and lecturer on harassment specifically in gaming spaces. Randi Harper is a developer who lectures a lot on online harassment. She created the Good Game Auto Blocker. That is an auto blocker that essentially is for Twitter and blocks a lot of Gamergate enthusiasts. It is really great, I’ve used that.

I write a lot about interaction design and how to use design elements to start stymieing harassment. As well as this concept called “designing consent.” We didn’t design consent into our social networks because when we designed our social networks years ago we designed for a different demographic and a different user group. We designed for a small town, but right now social media is a very, very large city. The infrastructural needs have changed. We didn’t update them to reflect those needs. We designed for what we thought social media was. What social media was when the internet first came to be, which was a place to actively meet strangers. It was not a space to meet people who you’ve also met in real life.

Ali: Can you tell me what happened with this second panel?

Caroline: Yes, Katherine Cross and Randi Harper are really well-known, especially with Gamergate. I figured we would get a little bit of pushback and we did along with two other panels, one that Brianna Wu is on and one that Arthur Chu is on. Both are people who are really well known inside of Gamergate and are very actively anti-crusading and talking about online harassment specifically around Gamergate.

Gamergate started a thread in one of their Reddit forums, Kotaku in Action. Kotaku is the Gawker anime/games blog and Gamergate created Kotaku in Action to provide their version of what they wanted Kotaku to be. They started a thread highlighting our panels. First with the obvious unsaid intention of: let’s highlight these people that started a panel and do everything we can to make sure they don’t get one. Gamergate went out of their way to say in the thread (because they know lots of Anti-Gamergaters read this thread) that they’re not brigading, anyone can vote.

With SXSW you can down-vote and up-vote for a panel, meaning if 20 people want to see my panel vote yes, but 45 people vote no, my panel gets moved down further in this queue of panels you can see. Even just having people who are not going to SXSW, that have no affiliation with SXSW, that are not fans of SXSW down voting a panel that they are never going to attend it hurts that panel’s chances of being seen. One of the reasons SXSW wants voting is they want to gauge what their community and ecosystem is into. Having outside people that are not interested in SXSW skews the voting. We notified SXSW and they said they would take that into heavy consideration. They take the voting very seriously but voting only counts for 30% of your grade for selection. SXSW ultimately gets to decide, regardless of voting, who is picked. It helps sway if your panel is popular.

We saw that Arthur notified us and we talked internally and our recommendation from SXSW was to keep promoting our panel. We all started reaching out to our different networks and we started talking about what was happening. That snowballed into this positive campaign. There is a positive campaign now around our three panels to up-vote them. That is something that Gamergate is really upset about. That they are getting a lot of negative criticism for down-voting us. It is just one of these things, well, you started a campaign to take us down and lots of people read it because it is public on Reddit and then I wrote about it. I don’t know what to tell you. I wrote a piece on why we should do away with a down vote for voting situations like these. I just don’t think it is necessary when you have a one-to-many voting choice. It is one thing to have a one-to-one vote choice, such as voting for or against Proposition 8. You should vote yes or no.

You could technically get rid of the no and count the number of people voting who have abstained from voting going in. That would stand in lieu of a no. It is easier to have a yes and a no when you are voting on one thing. When you have one-to-many, meaning there are 3,000 choices, there is no reason to down-vote when you can just vote for something. The down vote doesn’t add anything. You could have a dislike button or commenting section. A down vote is an active element. It is not an emotionally passive one such as a Like button or a Dislike button, it is an active interaction design element. If it is something where you want to reach a specific community, but it is a public vote, then there is no reason to have a down-vote.

Ali: I find it interesting that not once in the panel description did you mention Gamergate? 

 Caroline: Yeah, I don’t want to talk about Gamergate. That’s the funny thing with online harassment: it is not just this one thing. Online harassment has a really long history in social media and in technology and in digital spaces. Gamergate is a really fascinating ethnographic example and I find them to be fascinating in an ethnographic way. Meaning watching how they interact online, linguistically looking at the way they communicate to each other, looking at how that communication can differ from website to website. They are a blip in the history of the internet. They’re not new and they’re not big in the sense for how long their campaign has been on.

I want talk about Penny Arcade Dickwolves and I want to talk about Anonymous before they were these white knights in black hats, right? I want to talk about AOL chat room abuse and how did you navigate that as a user. I remember being 10-years-old in an AOL chatroom making people think I was 24.

There is a lot of stuff I want to talk about that has nothing to do with Gamergate at all. It is literally a panel around how we use design to help create a different kind of social media ecosystem. How do we use it in places where users have mixed identity spaces? Meaning, anonymity and real names. Specifically what if you are in World of Warcraft or League of Legends how do you mitigate harassment in a space where you are not yourself?  How do you formulate rules when you are in space that is rooted in storytelling and fantasy? What are the rules within that and how do you navigate from there? What you are personally comfortable with but who you want to interact with when you are in a space to primarily play? You are in a space that is maybe male-dominated? That is what I want to talk about.

Ali: Why do you think Gamergate reacted the way they did having really not any reason at all to look at your panel because it is not about Gamergate? What can we glean from their reaction? Is there anything we can glean?

Caroline: Honestly, it is the names attached. For instance, Brianna Wu’s panel is on virtual reality. It has nothing to do with harassment. None of the panels are about Gamergate. My panel is about interaction design and harassment. The other two panels are about game design and theories for virtual reality. It is just the names attached. Randi Harper, Brianna Wu, Arthur Chu have very frought names in the Gamergate lexicon. They are very specific people for that group. It doesn’t matter what Randi is lecturing on. She is the persona non grata. I think it is really that. I think if Randi wasn’t on my panel, this wouldn’t of happened. I want Randi on my panel. I came up with this panel because specifically I wanted to talk with Randi and Katherine Cross. You know? I want to have a conversation in public with them there. All of our work really intersects in a beautiful way. I want to have that conversation with them.

Ali: One of the things I noticed in the SXSW panel description, you were talking about creating positive and inclusive online spaces. What online communities are looking at as examples of positive and inclusive online spaces?

Caroline: Slack, a lot of Slack channels. I feel like my Twitter can be very positive. The downside to Twitter is you have no idea who is looking at you and when. Or the bigness of your reach. They can tell you impressions but they cannot tell you how many people [who aren’t signed in] saw something. Effectively I have been looking at really small communities and looking at how to size them up. I am a part of a bunch of different Slack channels that vary in size. From five people to over 100 people.

I’ve been looking at Twitch. I went back and dug through all my LiveJournal stuff. Effectively I’m looking at smaller places that are on bigger networks that allow you to partition areas of safety. If that makes sense. Slack, for example, is the most partitioned because it starts off partitioned. You have to be invited to a specific channel, there isn’t a general big channel where all Slack members are. You are invited into a space and then you can divide that space up into other channels of topic. It’s like saying I’m in the Fantastic Bisexual Women’s Channel, which is a channel I would totally join, and then from there I am going to join the Mental Health Channel. That means in the Mental Health sub channel, I am only talking about that. I am on a Women Dev Channel and we have General, we have Hustle, we have Brag, we have Mental Health, we have Design, we have Make-up. You’re really supposed to keep whatever is in those channels intrinsic to those channels. I posted something about Adult ADHD and someone in the channel is like oh, We have a Mental Health Channel, we can move this topic there. Those are examples. Code Liberation has a Slack where we have all different kinds of channels: channel of classes, channel for mentorship, channel for a book, we have a channel for general, we have a channel for updates. For us to run effectively we have to stay in those channels with those topics.

Are there ways and spaces to put this idea, this design element, into gaming? What if I can go through World of Warcraft and have created this safety channel or this thing around me where I don’t have to interact with a good chunk of users. Meaning chat can be turned off between us or maybe I only want to see users that have similar things in common. I know that changes a lot of the structure of the game. This would be a great time to prototype. Your first idea isn’t your best idea, sometimes it is your worst idea. To get it down on paper and see how bad it was and then you learn from there.

What would that look like? I think a lot of it is understanding that these really big ecosystmes of communication and social media need to have smaller channels or they need to allow filter options for users to start creating those channels. For instance with Twitter a lot of my suggestions have been, what if you look public but you have all the offerability of privacy. Or the ability to turn the comments off on one of your tweets but it is still spreadable and retweetable. People can’t select it and put it in a tweet to write about it. They can’t respond to it. What if people can see you but they can’t interact with you if they have less than a certain amount of followers or are only a couple of days old. Things like that. That starts to build an invisible channel partition. It is not structured outwardly through UI the same way the Slack channel is but it is structured systematically like that.

Ali: So another thing that we’ve talked about prior to this conversation is institutions or groups of people or publications treating Gamergate as sort of a weird subculture that they may agree with or disagree with, but not treating them as threatening. And I wanted to ask how SXSW’s response to Gamergate has been for you?

Caroline: I’ll be totally honest. Their response has been great, and it’s also been totally evocative for people that don’t quite understand Gamergate. They have been super supportive and really responsive, they’ve been asking around Austin, and different people that they know affiliated with different companies that have an understanding about Gamergate, what they should do. I dont think they quite necessarily understand the seriousness of what Gamergate is capable of, specifically around if Brianna Wu or Arthur Chu is involved. Randi Harper — those three people I just mentioned, they are just so ill-regarded by Gamergate to a point where their safety at certain points has been compromised by specific members inside of Gamergate.

So Gamergate is just this really large grouping of people, and a small chunk of them have made violent accusations. And we’re at a point now where digital culture and our online selves are these sticky personas we carry with us into our offinlie lives, that you cant neccsarily say “I hope you get raped to death and die,” because it’s like — thats something that now has weight, because our online personas are becoming equal and as weighted as our offline personas. If somebody says that to you in real life, I think Gamergate thinks thats a different thing, think thats a joke, but we’re at a point now where actually that’s not a joke.

We’re at a point now with our digital selves and our offline selves are so completely intertwined and so evocative of our offline personas but also, socially they bleed together. I’ve met so many people offline that I’ve met online. So what you say online is actually like you are saying it to someone’s face. I don’t know if that understanding has necessarily been there. SXSW is also only going off what’s been said in the commenting for our panels, they’re not necessarily going off of the documentation that Gamergate creates on other social media channels such as Twitter, 8Chan, Reddit, and I think that that’s kind of problematic. I understand their hesitation to look into that because what if everyone said, “out of 3,000 panels, this one person said this thing.” However, I do think that conferences need to start taking that seriously as the internet is really fraught and can be a breeding spot for harassment, specifically because I think as users, we don’t quite understand what it means to have this platform that is so sticky.

Our words are data, they’re not words that melt away. I can’t yell at you once on the internet and assume it’s going to melt away the way I yell at you in real life. Because it’s data. It’s saved to a database. It has a URL. It will be there pretty much for forever as long as someone has a URL. That’s not the way our fighting matches happen in really life, unless someone records it. But you’ll forget what I said to you of we got into a fight, and you’ll remember that I got angry, and then one day you won’t remember. And you won’t have any way to pull it back up. But that’s not the case with the internet. So I feel like we’re in this really fantastic turning point, especially as a user researcher watching this. People are staring to create these really intensive social interactions, social ecosystems, online. But we’re still sort of fighting to say: “no, it’s really not quite real.” But it is real. You’ve made real friendships online, you’ve made real enemies online, you’ve found real love online, and that needs to be taken into consideration.

So, TLDR: they’re doing a great job, but I don’t think that they quite understand that where they need to be looking is not in our commenting sections, but what’s being said outside in Gamergate-approved channels.

Ali: So on to the fun question. What are your three must-play games right now?

Caroline: Ohmygod. So Lifeline… It’s a text-based iOS game [editors note: here’s the Android version]. You’re leading this man named Zachary who’s an astronaut through an alien planet. It’s like what Prometheus, that horrible movie, should have been. It’s so good. And then Papers Please is amazing. And I would say I love this game called Type: Rider. It takes you through this history of typography but you’re playing as this little thing, and you have to get through these really fraught obstacle courses. You’re interacting with these different letters and you’re learning about the history of typography.

Ali: That is the nerdiest thing I’ve ever heard. [We both laugh. Because we’re both huge huge nerds.]

Caroline: It’s exciting. I’m a type nerd, so I thought it was fantastic.

Ali: Amazing. And is there anything that you wish I had asked that I didn’t? Anything you want to share, completely outside of what we talked about?

Caroline: I guess I always feel like I want to stipulate that I’m a researcher, so I find Gamergate to be completely fascinating. And while there are aspects of Gamergate that I think are dangerous, I also think that’s evocative of most online groupings and large groups of people. And I don’t want to downplay the seriousness of the situation for people like Brianna or Anita. This is serious, this is our everyday life, and it’s fraught. But I also think it’s important to highlight that we’re at this really specific place and intersection of online and offline personas, and really what does it mean to be a person on the internet? But also what does this do for internet culture and for social media? The internet is expanding. So we’re at this point where it’s a fascinating place and time to be a researcher, watching people use technology and seeing culturally how we start to group ourselves.

Ali: And then the very last question I have is: where can we get a copy of Night Witches?

Caroline: It’s coming soon!

Ali: First of all, tell everyone what Night Witches is.

Caroline: It’s my thesis from grad school, it’s an experimental iOS story that I built in to Unity. It’s language, like what you hear people talk in, is Russian but it has English subtitles. And you’re exploring this world—it’s a really short game. It feels wrong to even call it a game—it’s a really short story world experience and it’s super weird and experimental and it should be out hopefully within a month on iOS and Android.

Ali: I saw it on your website and I was like: “I have to have this.”

Caroline: It’s pretty good. It’s a pretty straightforward, strange experience. It’s not even really a game. You’re wandering around a world trying to put together a story with this woman who you can’t tell if she’s dead or alive.

Ali: I’m so excited.

Caroline: It’s like a really chill “Gone Home,” is the way I think about it. You’re just walking in a world. It’s probably a thirty, forty-five second game. That’s why it’s free.

Ali: That’s all I have!

Caroline: Okay, cool. I guess the big thing I want to stress is that Gamergate is very serious, but not just for Gamergate. It’s also time to start paying attention to online harassment campaigns and their tactics. To understand that we design these systems that allow for this completely. It’s not about Gamergate, it’s about how we got here. It’s about what happened prior, what will happen after. The reason I don’t like to talk about Gamergate anymore is that I feel like I’ve explored ethnographically all the things that are fascinating about them. But something else is going to happen in a year, and it’s going to be to the scale of Gamergate. Because our systems allow for that.

If you’d like to see Caroline’s panels at SXSW, head over to the panel picker and check out Code Liberation: Getting Girls Gaming and Level Up: Overcoming Harassment.

This has been the one-hundred-forty-second installment of Queer Your Tech with Fun, Autostraddle’s nerdy tech column. Not everything we cover is queer per se, but we talk about customizing this awesome technology you’ve got. Having it our way, expressing our appy selves just like we do with our identities. Here we can talk about anything from app recommendations to choosing a wireless printer to websites you have to bookmark to any other fun shit we can do with technology. Header by Rory Midhani.

But I’m Jamie Babbit: The Autostraddle Interview

Jamie Babbit is somewhat of a queer icon. She is our collective root. What would it be like to be a baby lesbian if there was no But I’m a Cheerleader? How could we properly function as a queer society? What would we dream about had we no Clea Duvall smoking a cigarette?? Thank you, Jamie, for giving us these beautiful reveries and hopes for the future.

Babbit’s new film, FRESNO, premiered at SXSW this weekend and I sat with her before it happened, so this interview is sort of out-of-date, but it’s whatever. During the interview I learned a few key points:

(1) Jamie Babbit works with all of her wives.

(2) Jamie Babbit has been trying to put dildos in her films for YEARS.

(3) Jamie Babbit did not want to hang out in Cleveland for long enough to make a movie.

Below is the interview, once you’ve finished reading, please tell me what you’ve learned.

Photo credit: the CW Austin

…in San Francisco, they did a special night honoring Natasha Lyonne.

Oh, really?

Yeah. It was at the Castro Theater, and they did a Rocky Horror Picture Show staged version of But I’m a Cheerleader with a drag ensemble.

Oh my god!

We should mention too that people can get the rights to do But I’m a Cheerleader: the Musical. So many queer college kids are going to flip a nut over that.

I know. It will be so cool. Okay, let’s do this thing. So let’s start by you telling me about Fresno.

So Fresno is a movie that is a comedy. I really wanted to do another movie with Natasha, because now that she’s healthy and sober and working, I wanted to re-team with her.

[JB’s dog begins barking emphatically.]

Boris really wants to get in here too. He got put out because he was bad, and now he’s going to get brought in because he’s bad. Boris, please don’t ruin my interview. So basically, I knew we wanted to do a comedy and I also knew that I really wanted to work with my girlfriend, Karey. And she had never written a movie before, so she was really excited to write an indie movie. And so we knew we wanted to work together. So she pitched me like five ideas. The first one was a road trip movie, and I was like, that’s the most unvisual thing in the world. And plus, every director knows it’s horrible to shoot in a car. So I was like, I don’t want to do that. But anyway, we finally settled on Fresno. It’s a story about two sisters. And it kind of takes off where But I’m a Cheerleader ended, where if But I’m a Cheerleader is about Natasha going to rehab, this story is about someone coming home from rehab. And it’s about how your family, you’re still in the same dynamic you were in when you were in rehab. And you have to come back from rehab and re-establish your family dynamic. Because the dependent addict sister and the codependent sister who enables her — that dynamic is still in play. It’s basically from the view of the codependent sister who has always enabled her sister and taken care of her sister and tried to prevent her horrible life from happening. And it’s kind of from that point of view, and that character is played by Natasha. It’s about untangling from your family bullshit.

Photo credit: the CW Austin

That’s a good one-liner.

Untangling from your family bullshit. I agree.

Well, we got what we need. So, another question – on Instagram, I did see lots of pictures of dildos. Just wondering how that factors in.

We actually had dildos in But I’m a Cheerleader, and they got cut in the editing room because people were freaked out. So we decided to really embrace it this time. I feel like the world is ready for lesbians and dildos. There’s a scene in the movie that has hundreds of lesbians and hundreds of dildos.

Beautiful. Hundreds of lesbians. You’re good for taglines. So you shot Fresno in Fresno?

We shot it in Los Angeles. Originally it was called “Cleveland” and we wanted to shoot it in Cleveland. I’m from Cleveland. Then we went to Cleveland and we realized Cleveland is not a good place to shoot a movie. And I really didn’t want to spend that much time in Cleveland, to tell you the truth. So a weekend was long enough to understand that I didn’t want to shoot there. So I decided that I’d actually rather shoot in LA and just think of, what is the Cleveland of California? And based on research, that’s Fresno.

Beautiful. And that’s premiering at SXSW.

It premiers March 14 at SXSW, and we’ll be hoping to secure a distributor there. But in the meantime, we’ve applied for every gay festival known to man, so we’re hoping that we get to play that round also.

Are there many queer elements in the movie, or do you just get extra points?

No, I get no extra points. One of the sisters is a lesbian, which is Natasha. And her girlfriend is Aubrey Plaza.

Oh, this whole time I thought Aubrey Plaza was the sister.

No, Aubrey Plaza’s the girlfriend of Natasha! And they have really good chemistry. They’re a very cute couple. And I already told Aubrey that she has to do the cover of OUT Magazine, and she was like, “I’m very excited if Natasha does it with me.” So they were super cute together. And the lesbian sister is Natasha because I only cast her to play lesbians, which she said is very hard on her sex life. And Judy Greer plays the other sister, the addict sister.

Photo credit: the CW Austin

Everything’s coming together now for me and my Instagram watching. I wanted to talk about SXSW a little bit. Because I feel like it was such a different festival five years ago, and premiering a film there five years ago didn’t mean a ton. And now I feel like is a really really cool time to do that.

Yeah. I hope so. I premiered my last comedy, Itty Bitty Titty Committee, at SXSW. And it was super fun, and I ended up winning the Grand Jury Prize which was great. But I don’t think many people in the industry saw that movie. I don’t know if it’s because it’s a radical feminist comedy, or if it’s because no one was really going to SXSW so many years ago. And that was actually 2007, so that was 8 years ago. So I think Lena Dunham and Andrew Haigh – the guy who did Looking – and Lena, who did Girls. Both of them had movies that exploded at SXSW, so I feel like that’s kind of put the festival on the map. So I’m hoping that it will be good for our film.

That Fresno will be the next explosion.

I hope so. I mean, it would just be nice to have a distributor behind it to help get it out into the world.

Absolutely. I feel like everyone that I talk to, when I say your name and Natasha’s name and then Aubrey Plaza — people freak the fuck out. So I think it’s good. You’re doing good things. And then after you premier at SXSW, are you just gay festivaling all over?

Gay festivaling, and hopefully the movie will be VOD in theaters. So we’ll see. But I’m excited to be at SXSW, because Natasha, Aubrey, and Judy are actually going to go too.

Everyone’s going? Man, that’s going to be such a great thing.

Yeah, it will be really fun.

Are you doing a big party and a panel? Are you doing all the whistles and bells?

Yeah, that’ll be that night. We’ll do a dinner that Joellen is planning.

Is it a thing that anyone who’s at SXSW can go to, or is it a special thing?

Anyone at SXSW can go to see the movie, and not everyone at SXSW can come to our dinner. There’s just not enough money in a lesbian bank account to afford that, now is there? If only 13,000 people could go to dinner.

Is there anything that you specifically want to talk about?

I don’t think so… I’m looking forward to producing and directing the FX show Married, which Judy Greer is on. And I start that in two weeks. And then I’m also really looking forward to mentoring all the AFI women filmmakers this year.

Photo credit: the CW Austin

I forgot, we were going to talk about — what is it like to work with your wife on set? Or just in general, in that capacity of writing and directing?

It was really fun in the development of the script – although maybe just more time has passed, so that’s why it feels really fun. I would say probably we did 40 drafts of the script.

Holy shit.

So I think she wasn’t quite understanding that when you live with the person who is developing and directing your script, that they have full access to get rewrites at all times. So I think that was exhausting for her. She had never really dealt with that before.

Wasn’t she also working on two other shows at the time, too?

Yeah, but so was I. So I had no sympathy. But I think being in production, she wasn’t around so much because she was working on a TV show, so she couldn’t be around as much as she wanted to be. But she was definitely around a lot in post. Actually, the funny thing – it was very lesbian – I directed it, Karey wrote it, and my ex-wife who I have two kids with produced it. So it was the three of us together.

The trifecta.

Yeah, the trifecta. So I would say it’s great, because Karey and Andrea get along really well.

And you don’t get along with either of them?

Well, it’s not that I don’t get along with either of them. But it’s just that I can be the more demanding one to both of them, so I think they commiserate in that. It’s so much work. It’s so much time. But what I like about working together is that you’re spending insane amounts of time with someone that you love and that you’re getting closer to, even if it’s hard. And if it weren’t that person, then it would be some random person that you’d be getting closer to creatively, and there’s something bonding about creatively working with someone too. So I’ve always liked that. But I’ve always worked with my wife. Always. Even from my first short film, Andrea was the producer. I’ve always worked with my wife so to me, that just feels very normal. I don’t know if it’s healthy, but it feels normal.

Well, isn’t that how it goes?

Well, I guess so. But you’re not in the music industry yet.

Yeah, that’s true. But I’m filming a bunch of things for her.

You could be her manager in a millisecond. Like her tour manager.

Might as well be.

Well, here we go. That’s how marriage is, right, Boris? Just kidding. He’s not married. I feel like we can end it.

Yeah. Cool. Gay stuff.

Gay stuff!

Top Five SXSW Memories I Treasure In Lieu Of Being There

We’re celebrating Autostraddle’s Fifth Birthday all month long by publishing a bunch of Top Fives. This is one of them!

When Autostraddle first began, a large portion of my music coverage sprung from my dedicated attendance of SXSW, a music festival that eats the entire city of Austin, TX alive each year. Every March, billions of music industry professionals convene upon downtown Sixth Street to pore over the bands who might or might not become the biggest hype acts of the upcoming concert season, and the Lone Star flows like water. I’d leave my hotel room each morning with a digital camera and a dream, and by the end of the night I’d have seen so many bands and gone so many places that I’d actually need to review the day’s photos to remember them all.  I haven’t been to Austin in a couple of years and unfortunately won’t make it this year, but here are some of the most amazing things I remember from years past.

5. Hesta Prynn

The first time I visited SXSW for Autostraddle, we were lucky enough to score our first ever music interview with Hesta Prynn, formerly of Northern State. We were still a brand-new little baby website with really no idea what our music coverage would even look like, so the world was filled with crazy possibilities and we were all terribly excited. Hesta was completely gracious and lovely and told us all about her brand new solo project, her feelings about hip-hop and women in music, and she even let me recruit her for my imaginary riot-grrrl revival band, Tyra Mail.  Hesta, if you’re reading this, it’s been five years; it’s about time we had our first practice.

4. Serendipity

Sometimes the random friends you end up splitting a hotel room with happen to be doing publicity for a certain British lesbian rapper who got sick and couldn’t perform, so said friends pull through and give you her artist laminates to Perez Hilton‘s ridiculous showcase.  I was really gunning for the last set of the night, French electro-pop chanteuse Yelle, but everything was running several hours behind — which wasn’t helped in any way by a surprise performance by the man of the hour, special guest Kanye West. Some people absolutely lost their minds when Kanye got on stage. Others (like me) were annoyed that Kanye’s extra set was pushing the regular schedule back by another hour or so. I checked the time, shrugged, grabbed a cognac sno-cone and wandered into the artist area, where I ended up befriending a very drunk Little Boots and her cute British entourage. It was one of the most serendipitous moments of any festival I’ve ever attended, so thanks, Kanye!

3. Skipping the Hype

SXSW is great for seeing new music, but sometimes when I look over the hype bands I’d been thrilled to have the opportunity to see, I realize that I haven’t thought of those bands since that particular showcase.  Sometimes, everybody at SXSW is focused on getting into one particular new band’s showcase, and it’s amazing to see an artist with a ton of potential riiiight before they explode, but sometimes it’s just awesome to see the ridiculously huge bands who play tiny spaces.  Some of my absolute favourite SXSW memories are seeing Echo and the Bunnymen, PJ Harvey and Hole at Stubbs, Peter Murphy from Bauhaus at Elysium and Tricky and Devo at the Austin Music Hall.

2. Street Riots

That time Riese and I got into a screaming match on the street outside an Uh Huh Her DJ performance after I’d been drinking shots in the sun and making out with a semi-famous rapper’s girlfriend all day like the poised professional I clearly am. We got over it, obvs, but it’s a moment that continues to live in infamy. Thanks, Crystal, for capturing this beautiful memory.

1. Belvedere with a Classic

A woman I’d done an internship for about eleven years ago happened to work at AOL, and since she and I had maintained a pretty excellent relationship, she got me and my girlfriend at the time into AOL Music’s SXSW event. There was an open bar, there was BBQ, and most importantly, there was Smokey Robinson.  As I said, you can spend your entire SXSW experience watching up-and-coming unknowns, and you might even have the chance to see a really quality artist who’s about to make it big, but there is truly nothing like sipping Belvedere and watching an actual living legend performing all of his timeless classics.  It’s nothing we could have planned, but like all of SXSW, the best moments are the ones that come as a total surprise.

Header Image by Rory Midhani

SXSFAIL: A Queer Takes on The Madness of Austin

all images © Najva Sol

I’ll tell you the truth: I’ve avoided writing this article. Why? Because I’m still recovering from South By Southwest (aka #SXSW). How is that possible? I’m a seasoned traveler. I’ve shaken my booty in music festivals across the country, diligently attended poetry conferences and shot the kinkiest of summer camps — basically, this ordeal should have been a piece of babely warm-weather cake. A musician bought me a plane ticket in exchange for a photoshoot, but my actual job there cancelled* (see: Mercury retrograde) three days before my departure. I decided I’d go regardless, heart and suitcase full of optimism. Instead, SXSW kicked my ass, and laughed while walking away.

Day 7

SXSW, if you don’t know, is a two-week music, film, and tech conference/festival/shitshow that has happened in Austin since 1987 (we’re the same age!). It’s got over 40,000 registrants, over 100 venues, and upwards of 2000 bands, which basically rounds up to a million things to do at every moment (just thought I’d help you with the math).

Day 7

Somehow though, when you look at the photos, you can’t tell that I made every mistake possible! (Ok, maybe not all the mistakes — just many, many mistakes that caused undue anxiety that led to teary calls to my friends back in Brooklyn who all dismissed me and were like, “You’re in 80 degree weather? Surrounded by free music? Oh, yeah, tell me how hard your life is. Not.”)

This self-portrait is full of lies

SXSW Life Lessons

I learned some life lessons immediately:

-Everyone was right, you don’t need a badge. The stupid long long long long long impossible lines will still exist with them. Even the VIP $1600 platinum bage holders have a line.

-Carry snacks. And cash. SXSW is Austin’s largest source of event based revenue, which means ATM fees can go up to $7. Even roadside coffee (not a latte, mind you) is $3.

-Teenyboppers will threaten to cut you if you shove ahead of them. If you’re press, attempt to get a press pass instead of pushing to the front of a sold out cant-breathe show with Macklemore and Tegan & Sara.

I offer the reflection of these sunglasses as proof.

-Don’t let #FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) get to you. Don’t fixate on the shows you can’t get into *cough* Justin Timberlake’s secret show for Myspace *cough* Prince’s exclusive showcase for Samsung *cough* and instead think about how great it is that you can see the DJ from down the block spinning all the way in Austin! (Just kidding. But chances are that neighborhood DJ can get you in & you can stick around long enough to see someone you aren’t already friends with, too.)

If you can avoid all those things, you can probably avoid my fate: hungry, defeated and alone for hours charging my phone in a random bar, begging my internet to work so I could come up with alternate plans after a show I’d wanted to see had a line that was four blocks long. #Fail

On FOMO

Some people don’t have to miss out because they have private roof access. I am not one of those. My view is often this:

But when you get stuck outside, sometimes you stumble upon a midnight retro yard sale, or generous stranger to share a smoke & wait for the next adventure.

On Mercury Retrograde

Can you believe this tarot reading was in a crowded queer dive bar? I can. Queers love their woo, even in Texas.

Admission: Until this go-round, I underestimated Mercury retrograde. My flight into Austin was cancelled and I almost had to spend 24 hours in the Dallas airport. My phone mysteriously stopped working for three hours. During SXSW, I had one possible commercial and one photoshoot cancel. One night I sat in a warehouse alone because it was too dark to shoot the girl emcee, Zuzuka Poderosa, and all of my buddies had cancelled. Finally I got a text to come to a bar a few blocks away, where a guy friend was debating going to another event in search of a hot girl from earlier in the day. Utterly exhausted and with nothing else to do, I decide to tag along. It’s only after we arrive, and I decide to enter even though I’m not allowed to take photos, that I realize one of my favorite DJ’s (Gaslamp Killer) is playing an extended set! THIS is how Mercury retrograde breaks you, like some crazy zen lose-all-your-hope-and-desires-before-you-seek-the-truth shit.

Everything sucked until retrograde ended on my last day, which was GayBiGayGay (more on this later,) and I actually dropped my phone in toilet and it DIDN’T DIE (totes MIRACLE.) Point being: plans will fall through. Just stop trying so hard and chill the fuck out.

next: food, accommodations, running away and austin

Gallery: Tegan & Sara at the Waterloo Records Day Party SXSW

Tegan and Sara played at the Waterloo Records Day Party on March 13. Here are some pictures for you to cherish, tumbl, print on glossy paper and frame, etc.

The LGBTQ Side of SXSW: OUTLander Spring Festival

After noticing a surprising lack of LGBTQ friendly media at Austin’s annual South by Southwest Festival, the good people at One More Lesbian hooked up with The OUTLander Project to do what most of us like to talk about in theory but don’t ever actually put the effort into doing ourselves. (Not because we’re lazy. We’re just busy, ya know.) The OUTlander Spring Festival will take place from March 8th through 16th during SXSW and will be the largest showcase of local, national, and international LGBTQ musicians performing over five days right in the heart of one of the iconic events of the music industry. In conjunction with Tello Films, OUTlander and OML are showcasing a ton of web series during an event called Main Screen. Among them are Autostraddle’s very own web series Unicorn Plan-It and Words With Girls. PLUS Julie and Brandy’s new venture on Tello, Gay Street Therapy because they want to help you…sort of.   March 9th at Oilcan Harry’s in Downtown Austin you’ll be able to catch screenings of the aforementioned web series and a three song set by Unicorn Plan-It co-creator/writer/producer/star Haviland Stillwell. She performed at the Oscars. Did you know that? The event kicks off with a networking happy hour from 3-5pm featuring a DJ set from Girlfriend ATX, drink specials from LGBT owned and operated Frot Vodka, and catered food from lesbian owned El Sol y La Luna. After you’re stuffed on gay food and drink, you’ll be able to settle in and check out episodes, exclusive premiers, and trailers for the other web series featured: Once You Leave, Orange Juice in Bishops Garden, Lips, Easy Abby, Cowgirl Up, I Hate Tommy Finch, The Throwaways, Kiss Her I’m Famous, Lez Find Love, and Kam Kardashian. AND there will be other musical performances from Stirling and Goddess and She sprinkled throughout. Since they know that watching lots and lots of women prancing across screens, being witty, funny, dramatic, and/or adorable will make you want to find your own series of lesbian events, there will be a dance party from 10pm-2am to close the event. In conclusion, if you are going to South by Southwest, live in Austin, or really really like LGBTQ media and music, go to Main Screen and enjoy yourself. You deserve it.

Music Fix: Sleigh Bells, Garbage, Jack White, Butterfly Boucher, More

Here are a few things that happened in music this week that didn’t involve the Grammys or C***s B***n.

Sleigh Bells’ Reign Of Terror Streaming Now
The New York Times have exactly what you need right now, and that is the entire stream of the Sleigh Bells’ forthcoming album, Reign Of Terror. The accompanying article is also worth your while. Go listen and then let me know what you think!

Garbage Is Such A Tease
As I mentioned last week, Garbage is making their long-awaited return to music this year with the release of Not Your Kind Of People, the first album from the band in seven years. To celebrate Valentine’s Day, the band released a snippet of one of their forthcoming tracks, “I Hate Love,” which took the form of a short video featuring some rather morbid fan art. In a strange way it’s sort of sweet.

Any thoughts? Game enough to make an early call? I’m not. I hope those four bars tide everyone over until May 15.

Jack White Is Doing His Solo Thing
Does everyone love Jack White as much as I love Jack White? In my eyes the man can’t put a foot wrong. The clip for his new single, “Love Interruption” features Ruby Amanfu (vocals), Emily Bowland (bass clarinet) and Brooke Wagonner (piano) and makes me a little less sad about that White Stripes break-up thing. This track is from his forthcoming solo album, Blunderbuss (April 23).

Butterfly Boucher Gets Dancey
Australian-born, Nashville-based singer slash songwriter slash multi-instrumentalist slash producer Butterfly Boucher has released the first track from her forthcoming self-titled album. In case you’re not familiar with Butterfly Boucher, you should know that she is a very talented and very busy human. She’s a member of the Nashville collective Ten Out Of Tenn and in the last year alone she toured with Sarah McLachlan and produced Missy Higgins’ third studio album.

The new track is a super hooky number called “5678!” It was co-written by Katie Herzig and reminds me a little of The Young Ones soundtrack. That’s a good thing.

OUTlander Music Festival x South x Southwest
Anyone heading to Austin, Texas during South by Southwest should check out the 2012 OUTlander Spring Festival, a 9-day multimedia event for the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered community held from March 9 – 17. The lineup is jam packed with all your favorite artists including but not limited to Rachael Sage, Hunter Valentine, Sick of Sarah, Melissa Ferrick and God-des and She. Everything else you need to know is on the OUTlander Facebook page.

Meet Ellie Herring
Ellie Herring is an up-and-coming American electronic musician and producer who’s just released her first full-length record, Satiate.

Ellie’s been on the electronic scene for quite a number of years, earning herself places on the same stage as artists you probably enjoy, such as MEN, Bitch, Class Actress and SSION, just to name a few. Have a listen to one of Ellie’s latest tunes, “Died To Meet You.”

2011 Summer Music Festival Guide

If you’re a music loving queer living in the USA then you’re probably aware that the music festival season is just around the corner. In fact we should all be packing our bags / festival battle gear for South by Southwest right now.

In case it has escaped your attention, the lineups for this year’s U.S. music festivals are killer. With so many amazing events and so little time (and money), we’ve asked a few of our team members to make some recommendations. Some of them may be attending / live-blogging their nominated festivals.

Which festivals are you looking forward to this year?

If you happen to live someplace outside the USA, then the content below may make you feel a little sad. We’re sorry. You should brag about your country’s festivals so we can be sad, too.

South by Southwest

“Music Industry Spring Break”

March 16-20 // Austin, TX

[tickets / info]

by Stef

Lineup Highlights: Hundreds of bands play in dozens of venues all over downtown (you’ll quickly see why Austin is the live music capitol of the US), but I’m excited for the Black Angels, the Bangles, Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears, Calvin Harris, Bloodgroup, Candy Claws, CREEP, Fitz & the Tantrums, Glasser, HANSON (shut up), Heaven, Innerpartysystem, Jukebox the Ghost, Le Butcherettes, MNDR, Phantogram, A Place To Bury Strangers, the Raveonettes, Screaming Females, Sharon Van Etten, Shilpa Ray & Her Happy Hookers, Tamaryn, Thao with the Get Down Stay Down, Those Darlins and Tune-Yards. Also uhh, Yoko Ono is playing.

Reason to attend: SO MANY BANDS. Odds are good if you just wander down Sixth St., you’re bound to come across a totally unknown band who’ll blow your mind. This is where the industry gets together and figures out who’s going to be the most-hyped acts of the next year Also it’s an awesome excuse to get wasted all day long and schmooze with a very relaxed crowd of music industry professionals. All the bands you’ll be obsessed with next year are wandering around checking each other out, and everybody in Austin is straight up there to PARTY.

Read About It: Stef@sxsw 2009, Stef@sxsw 2010

Bonnaroo

“Summer camp for weirdos, with music.”

June 9-12 // Manchester, TN

[tickets / info]

by Laneia

Lineup Highlights: Arcade Fire, Black Keys, Ray LaMontange, Scissor Sisters, Mumford & Sons, Old Crow Medicine Show, Girl Talk, Iron & Wine, Florence + the Machine, Robyn, Loretta Lynn, Big Boi, Beirut, Sleigh Bells, Abigail Washburn, Justin Townes Earle, Best Coast, Jessica Lea Mayfield, Phosphorescent

Reason to attend: Unity. I want to tell you that it’s all about the music — and there’s an impressive variety, spanning decades and genres — but sometimes it felt like the music took a backseat to how much I loved every sweaty humanperson wandering around on that farm. Like, these are my people. I didn’t even know I was missing them.

“I get it now: why people promise to go back every year; why, on Thursday, when someone yelled “Bonnaroo!” into a crowd, it was met with enthusiastic echoes of “Bonnarooooo!”; why everyone wears their entrance bracelets from past festivals. Bonnaroo’s like summer camp for weirdos. It’s bragging rights. I didn’t just see this gaggle of amazing bands that will probably never be in the same place again – I put up a tent, stayed awake until dawn, walked over 20 miles, lost 3 lbs., washed my hair using a five-gallon jug of water, shaved my legs in the front seat with a beer for breakfast, ruined a pair of shoes in the mud, ate stale tofu, witnessed humanity and saw some amazing bands.”

– Bonnaroo 2010: Autostraddle Takes Tennessee

Lollapalooza

“Perfect for first-timers, with a lineup to make even festival veterans happy.”

August 5-7 // Grant Park, Chicago, IL

[tickets / info]

by Sarah

Lineup Highlights: TBA. Lolla is late in the festival season, so the lineup won’t be out for a while. They usually put together a good bill that looks something like Coachella and Bonnaroo. The headliners last year were Lady Gaga, Phoenix, and Arcade Fire. Fingers crossed that this year is half as good.

Reason to attend: Those city lights. The downtown Chicago location makes Lolla a very different experience than most of the other big U.S. festivals. It’s not about acquiring a four-day layer of mud and sweat (though it has it’s fair share of both). During the day, you get to start your music viewing fresh, with a nice shower. You can enjoy the breeze off Lake Michigan and the excellent food trucked in from Chicago eateries. And when the headliners end their gigs around 10 p.m., everyone floods downtown and fills the clubs, which bring in some great acts for the weekend. The whole thing is a bit more commercial than any other American fest, making it perfect for people who aren’t quite ready for the Bonnaroo/Coachella intensity. But it’s still got plenty for all experience levels. Also this year is the 20th anniversary of Lollapalooza, so they will probably pull out all the stops. Do you want to miss that? Didn’t think so.

Read About It: Sarah goes to Lollapalooza

Pitchfork Music Festival

“Arbiter of musical taste curates three sweaty days in Chicago; scarves in July”

July 15-17 // Union Park, Chicago, IL

[tickets / info]

by Lindsay

Lineup Highlights: Animal Collective, TV on the Radio, Fleet Foxes, Cut Copy, The Dismemberment Plan, Deerhunter, James Blake & more.

Reason to attend: Affordability, for one — as one of the few festivals where three-day passes have never exceeded $100 (last year topped at $90), you can see some fantastic under-the-radar indie acts and festie favorites like Modest Mouse, LCD Soundsystem and The Flaming Lips for a pretty reasonable price. P4K also does a good job of showcasing local food and beverage purveyors (including the good-enough-to-convert-the-carnivores vegan Chicago Diner) and features Flatstock, a concert art expo featuring screen-printers and poster artists from all over the country.

Summerfest

“Massive gig + carnival + miniature civilization = Megazord of music festivals”

June 29-July 3 & July 5-10 // Milwaukee, WI

[tickets / info]

by Lindsay

Line up: Of the roughly 800 acts that will play throughout the festival, the only three that have been announced are Katy Perry, Toby Keith and Sugarland (with Sara Bareilles).

Reason to attend: Variety. From pop-punk to alt-country to classic rock greats to blues to worldbeat, there is quite literally something for everyone, and day passes usually run pretty cheap for all the music you’re getting. Plus, it’s Wisconsin, so you can be assured there are beer gardens, for you to DRINK ALL THE BEERS.

OTHER FESTIVALS TO CONSIDER

kstew @ coachellastew

Coachella
April 15 – 17 // Indio, CA
Lineup Highlights: Arcade Fire, Kanye West, The Black Keys, Robyn, PJ Harvey, Slash, Mumford & Sons, the National, Sleigh Bells, Crystal Castles
Reason to attend: Coachella 2011 probably has the best line up of any festival line up ever. Also you know Kristen Stewart will probably be there. It sold out in a hot minute, however you might luck out and find a spare ticket.

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The Beale Street Music Festival
April 29 – May 1 // Memphis, TN
Lineup Highlights: Jerry Lee Lewis, Stone Temple Pilots, Jason Mraz, MGMT, Cee Lo Green, The Flaming Lips, Ke$ha
Reason to attend: Beale Street is historic hot spot for American blues. Also where else will you find Ke$ha and Jerry Lee Lewis in the same line up?

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Sasquatch!
May 27-30 // Gorge Amphitheater, George, WA
Lineup Highlights: Foo Fighters, Death Cab For Cutie, Robyn, Iron & Wine, Bright Eyes, Modest Mouse, Wilco, Sleigh Bells, Matt & Kim, Cold War Kids, more.
Reason to attend: If the line up isn’t a good enough reason to attend, check out the venue and its stunning backdrop. Want.

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Rockstar Energy Uproar Festival
August 17 – October 4 // Various Cities, USA
Line up: Disturbed, Avenged Sevenfold, Stone Sour, Halestorm, Airborne, more.
Reason to attend: Traveling hard rock & metal festival. Do your best to ignore the tacky energy drink sponsorship and get your horns up. \m/

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Michigan Womyn’s Music Festival
August 2-7, 2011 // Hart, MI
Line up: Andrea Gibson, Alix Olson, Hunter Valentine, Erase Errata, Melissa Ferrick, more.
Reason to attend: This 5-day women-only musical camping experience is a lesbian’s rite of passage, as reported in Autostraddle’s Girl-on-World article, “How the Michigan Womyn’s Festival Topless Women Changed My Lesbian Life Forever.”

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“Julie promised that there would be girls with their boobs out everywhere, and there has been.” – Brandy Howard on MichFest

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CMJ Music Marathon
Oct 18-22 // New York City, NY
Line up: TBA
Reason to attend: For one week, hundreds of up-and-coming acts take over New York City’s music venues. If you get in early, you can get your badge for half price.

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If you attend a particularly brilliant music festival that’s not on this list and should be, tell us about it in the comment section ’cause when we have to shut down Autostraddle and get ‘real jobs,’ we’re gonna want to come see you.

SXSW 2010 Captain’s Log #4: Because I Got High

Ladies and… ladies of Autostraddle, it’s time for a confession: on the last day of SXSW, I didn’t go to any shows.  I have a laundry list of excuses. Here’s some of the ones I feel like sharing:

1. Despite the previous day’s gorgeous summer breeze, it was freezing cold and very windy on Saturday. I hadn’t packed for less-than-perfect weather, and all the big shows that day took place at outdoor venues.
2. All the daytime gigs I wanted to see had lines down the street and around the block by the time I got there.
3. I had access to a cute girl with a car who wanted to take me to see The Runaways movie.

This is not to say I abandoned my responsibilities to you.  For every hour I spent in Austin, I had a full schedule loaded with at least three options for every hour, and determined which shows I actually would attend with mathematical precision.  I had spent many hours researching and whittling down this schedule, and thus I am ready now to present to you all the bands I would have seen, had I been physically and mentally prepared to do so.

Presenting: The Top 10 Bands I Totally Wanted To See But Missed.  Now with cartoons!

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10. Miss Li: for fans of dancing alone in your bedroom and singing into a hairbrush.

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When I first saw Miss Li listed on the SXSW calendar, I assumed this was a strangely formal way of telling me that Lykke Li would be back this year.  Although they are both young Swedish singers with rather sweet singing voices, I was incorrect.  Miss Li (real name Linda Carlsson) is a particularly adorable new singer whose music is a mix of jazz, cabaret, blues and sweet indie rock’n’roll – a fresh sound made up of many well-known genres. You probably know who she is because her song “Bourgeois Shangri-La” was used in an iPod Nano commercial. I know who she is because I’m a sucker for Swedish pop singers. Check out this insanely cute video for “Dancing the Whole Way Home” if you don’t believe me:

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9. Neon Indian/Neon Trees: for fans of chirpy synthesizers, previous fans of bands called Gold/Deer/Black/Crystal/Bear anything

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It’s so hard when a bunch of hype bands have really similar names, and I can never remember which one of these is the band I actually like. Upon further inspection, it turns out Neon Indian are the guys with the electro-psychedelic songs called things like “Should Have Taken Acid With You” and “Terminally Chill,” so take that for what it’s worth. Neon Trees are a catchy-if-a-little-generic pop band who’ve opened for the Killers and have cute hair.  Both of these bands have male lead singers and female musicians, which is a plus.

Don’t make this mistake:

8. Cruel Black Dove: for fans of Depeche Mode, PJ Harvey

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I have a feeling Cruel Black Dove are really tired of people telling them they sound like an electronic PJ Harvey side project, but they really do – and it’s fantastic.  I also have a soft spot for this Brooklyn band because they appear to have been named after the tracklisting to Tori Amos’ album From The Choirgirl Hotel.  Check out this video for “Love Song.” (more…)

SXSW Captain’s Log #3: Courtney Love and Smokey Robinson Make Dreams Come True

Day 3 of SXSW was a tough one, because it’s so difficult to budget time.  On the one hand, the purpose of being here is to see as many new bands as possible, but on the other hand there are incredible major artists performing in small venues all the time.  If I had a third hand, it would be drunk and making out with strangers. There was just not enough time to be everywhere I wanted to be.

My first stop was Red Eyed Fly, where a psychedelic indie band called Darker My Love were playing.  I first saw those guys when they opened for the Dandy Warhols in New York, and knew I’d really enjoyed their huge, noisy pop songs.  I also remembered somewhere in the back of my mind that Andy Granelli from the Distillers had been their drummer, which was an added bonus.  However, it had been two years, and Andy Granelli is no longer a part of the band – and it turns out that my Roky Erickson experience Wednesday afternoon was not an isolated incident.  I just cannot begin my day properly with psychedelic rock bands.  They make me cranky.  Perhaps tomorrow I will start my day with a nutritious breakfast instead.

Darker My Love sounded great, and the vocal harmonies were just lovely, but I was anxious about the main event of the day…

Coming for you, @CourtneyLoveUK.

Without getting into it too much, I should note that I have a history with Courtney Love. Last autumn I started a Twitter account called @CLTranslated to help translate the internet ramblings of Courtney Love into plain English for the rest of the world.  It got a lot of attention from various major publications around the world, from the Guardian to the Village Voice (2009 Best Of issue!) to an interview in SPIN.  It was EXTREMELY IMPORTANT that I attend Hole‘s first American concert in about ten thousand years. Unfortunately, there was a guest list issue, and I ended up arguing with the women at the door. I’ve spent years working the guest list at clubs all over New York City, and I would have found my entitled attitude totally insufferable, but there I was. I needed to see this show.

SXSW Survival Tip #4: Don’t be a dick. The people working at these clubs are already stressed enough.

While I was waiting to get sorted out, a band across the street from Stubb’s were playing “Please Mr. Postman,” one of the best songs ever.  Just saying. (more…)

SXSW Captain’s Log #2: Kid Sister, Duchess Says, Ukuleles & Random Acts of Rock ‘n Roll

Good morning/afternoon/evening, my darlings.  I apologise for the lateness of this post, but yesterday was a very full day and if not for the glorious Red Bull truck circling the premises, we would surely be dead by now.  What were you up to yesterday?  I saw bands!  Let’s get to it!

i. Kid Sister & Me

Thursday morning, I scraped myself out of bed with one mission in mind: to finally see Kid Sister after three years and about eight or nine failed attempts. For those of you who haven’t heard her, Kid Sister is Melisa Young, a Chicago-based rapper who rhymes over electro beats.  She’s best known for her single “Pro Nails” featuring Kanye West:

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Anyway, I’ve loved Kid Sister for years but every time I’ve tried to see her (ie, last night) I’ve been thwarted somehow.  I arrived at the outdoor stage early, and was pleased to see that a decent-sized crowd had the same idea. I even spotted British synthesizer chanteuse Little Boots lurking around, commenting loudly to a friend how grateful she was to not be playing 45 times a day like last year.  When our hero finally took the stage, she announced “Hello Austin! It is EARLY AS HELL!” Despite it being the crack of dawn (um, a little after 2 PM) and the blazing hot sun beating down upon the stage, Kid Sister gave her performance everything she had. Also, she was wearing possibly the world’s most adorable outfit:

Can’t see her toes, but they’re probably done up much like her fingernails.

The set was energetic enough for us to forget our hangovers, and we were treated to almost every song off Kid Sister‘s debut album Ultraviolet.  The highlight for me was “Big n Bad,” which samples Yaz’s “Situation.”  At the end of her set, she and her DJ threw lollipops into the crowd, potentially blinding dozens of hip concertgoers.  Because I love you, here is Kid Sister’s single “Right Hand Hi.”

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ii. I Find My People at the Ukulele Festival

My next trip was to Jaime’s Spanish Food, where a ukulele festival of sorts was taking place on the patio.  The mission of the two-day event was to play every single Beatles song on the uke, with the assistance of various guest vocalists and backing instrumentalists.  I am a fan of anything that can be done with the ukulele (ie, I sit at home playing Lady Gaga songs all day and night, much to the chagrin of my housemates), so I stuck around for a few performances. Here is a kid I estimate to be about 11 playing the cello and singing a Beatles song I shamefully do not know the name of:

Anyway the important factor here is that somehow I ended up sitting at a table at the restaurant inside, talking to Nigel Harrison from Blondie while he ate a taco salad.  He was very nice, but the conversation was very strange.  I was wearing a Stooges t-shirt, and Mr. Harrison told me about the days when he used to play with Iggy (“I call him Jim, of course.”) and how Iggy would slice his chest up with razors on stage.  I mentioned that I was a huge fan of everything Joan Jett has ever done, and he casually dropped that he’d played bass on a Runways record.  These things are all true (I know because I snuck off to the bathroom and Googled them), but I had nothing constructive to add.  SXSW, you are so random and amazing.  I love you.  Let’s make out.

iii. A-Claud Moves Members of the Audience Around,
Poses Them As if They Are Furniture

I stopped at Club DeVille for about thirty seconds to catch three songs of Vivian Girls‘ set.  Everybody loves Vivian Girls!  Do you like the Vivian Girls?  It was very crowded!  Here they are:

Next on the agenda was a French Canadian party on the upper level of the Paradise.  I was there to see one of my first unexpected SXSW discoveries, a Montreal band called Duchess Says.  Sonically, they’re what would happen if the Yeah Yeah Yeahs never wrote melodic love songs and focused instead on making dissonant noise (in fact, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs took them out on a European tour after Nick Zinner spotted them at last year’s CMJ Music Marathon in New York).  Singer A-Claude is notorious for getting the crowd involved in the band’s performances, and she’ll climb sound equipment, barstools or actual members of the audience to make her point.  When the boys in the band finally took the stage, the kids in the crowd gave A-Claude a wide berth to do what she does best.

A-Claude didn’t disappoint us for a second.  She moved members of the audience around and posed them as though they were furniture.  She climbed on top of a table, played with the table cloth, brought a girl up to dance, and then dragged both the girl and the table into the center of the room.  At one point, she unlocked a door to the patio and instructed everyone in the room to exit the performance space one by one.  We obliged.  I have never seen a band make its audience leave the show before, but we all snuck back in through another open door.  When she shouted “EVERYONE!  We all need to lie down!” we did as we were told.

If I’ll lie on the floor of a bar for you, you’ve gotta be good.

Nobody ever really watches the boys in the band while A-Claude is bossing the room around, but I enjoyed watching them for a few songs.  I was surprised to notice that the guy on the Moog plays most of the basslines, while the bass player seemed to play parts I would have assumed were keyboards.  I sort of hope Duchess Says stay small, because I always want to see them in tiny rooms and examine them from every possible angle.  Their set was completely entertaining. (more…)

SXSW 2010 Captain’s Log #1: Hipster Spring Break Begins

Last year when Autostraddle was only two weeks old, our dear music lover Stef reported live from SXSW for you, and well, you really liked it so you will all be happy to know that Stef is back for SXSW 2010: The Captain’s Log! Live from Austin, Texas, South by Southwest 2010!

Once a year, the music industry gathers from the far corners of the universe to convene in the Live Music Capital of the Universe, sunny Austin, Texas.  This event, known as South by Southwest or SXSW for short, is part festival, part showcase, part seminar and many parts ridiculous.  The purpose of SXSW is essentially threefold:

1. to discuss new ideas and approaches in various fields of music, from digital distribution to marketing to artist management
2. to showcase new artists and figure out who will be the hot ticket for the upcoming year
3. SPRING BREEEEAAAAAKKKKK!!

As a depraved human being who eats, breathes and lives for rock’n’roll, SXSW has historically been mostly the latter for me.  This is my third consecutive year, and each time I find my mission statement focuses slightly less on discovering new music obsessions and slightly more on locating the open bars and making out with cute strangers. That said, this year’s schedule is full of absolutely amazing acts and I’m ready to experience as many of them as possible and share the experience with you, just as I did last year.

i. Lap of Luxury/Back of the Venue

On Wednesday I arrived in Austin feeling a bit frazzled from my 6 AM flight.  I met up with my darling friends Jill and Mildred, and thus began our great Texan adventure. After discovering we had accidentally checked into a really swanky hotel complete with a king-sized sleep number bed (hello ladies), we took off almost immediately for the first act of the day, Roky Erickson with Okkerville River at the Galaxy Room. Roky’s hardly a new act – as the brainchild behind the 13th Floor Elevators, Roky was hugely influential on psychedelic rock in the late 1960s – but we figured it would be a mellow start to our day.

SXSW Survival Tip #1: If an amazing artist’s super-intimate set sounds too good to be true, guess what?  It also sounded that way to like ten thousand other people who also enjoy that band. Roky sounded great, but we couldn’t see a damn thing. (more…)

SXSW Spotlight: First Aid Kit, Swedish Sisters Do Indie Folk

Sisters Johanna and Klara Söderberg are the talented young women behind the indie-folk duo, First Aid Kit. The Söderberg’s hail from a small suburb of Stockholm, Sweden, and have been gaining momentum ever since the release of their 2008 Drunken Trees EP.

The maturity of their story-telling and the tight vocal harmonies by these young sisters — only 15 and 17-years old at the time the EP was recorded — is striking.

Watch this performance from a 2008 appearance on Swedish television:

These incredible live performances are not in short supply. Check out a series of performances for Bandstand Busking on YouTube, including videos of “Hard Believer” and “Tangerine”.

The one that brought them the most attention, however, was their 2008 cover of Fleet Foxes’ “Tiger Mountain Peasant Song.” Many of you have probably heard it. (more…)

Weekly Music Fix: SXSW, Laura Marling, Sparklehorse, Gaga and Nicki Minaj

After exhausting myself with the small task of churning out daily SXSW posts (it’s not that hard — I know), here’s this week’s Fix!

Laura Marling

Singer-songwriter Laura Marling discusses the title track from her upcoming album I Speak Because I Can and gives an intimate acoustic performance of the song at The Guardian UK. Now, after hearing two tracks from her sophomore release, I’m thinking one thing and one thing only: Will this be a sophomore slump? I hope not. I was a big fan of her debut release, Alas, I Cannot Swim. Revisit Laura Marling’s greatness with a live performance of “Ghosts” below — bonus points if you recognized Mumford & Sons as her backing band.

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Lady Gaga

New stills from Gaga’s “Telephone” video looking very Desperately Seeking Susan/Women Behind Bars. The video will debut Thursday.

Mark Linkous of Sparklehorse

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Mark Linkous of Sparklehorse took his own life this past Saturday, just days after the announcement that Dark Night of the Soul — a collaborative project with Danger Mouse, Sparklehorse, and David Lynch — would finally see physical release. Linkhous was a talented musician and multi-instrumentalist who struggled with personal demons throughout his life. He was 47. Remember Linkhous with his to “It’s A Wonderful Life” by Sparklehorse below.
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SXSW Spotlight: Local Natives Has Five Pieces, Gets Nine Shows

This LA-based band released their debut album, Gorilla Manor, last month in the U.S. and though it’s been floating around in the U.K. for over a year, it’s just starting to gain momentum. At first glance, Local Natives seems like just another nondescript indie rock band. There’s a lot of music to sift through lately, after all. But give their album a listen, and you’ll realize that this band stands out among the rest.

Local Natives features three-part harmonies that I can only liken to the hobochic phenomenon. Unlike the perfectly choreographed voices of a band like Fleet Foxes, Local Natives sound like they’re winging it. Yet their songs’ construction is too elaborate — too unusual — to write off as unplanned. When they’re not busy harmonizing, guitarist Taylor Rice and keyboardist/percussionist Kelcey Ayer trade lead vocals while guitarist Ryan Hahn lends his voice for back-up.

Ayer’s percussion, combined with that of drummer Matt Frazier, is another Local Natives’ hallmark. Their polyrhythyms make each and every track from Gorilla Manor a joy to deconstruct. These guys love snare like Christopher Walken loves cowbell. To those with a less critical ear, don’t be dismayed — this album is accessible to all, and you won’t find yourself skipping any tracks.

Check out their video for “Airplanes” below or click through to listen to my favorite track, “World News.” You won’t be disappointed! (Or if you are, let me know in the comments.)

Local Natives are playing a whopping NINE shows at SXSW, so be sure to catch them at one of them if you’ll be there. You can find dates on MySpace.