What Thumpers Learned at SXSW

Okay, so when we told London band Thumpers to write about their first ever SXSW we expected them to file promptly on Monday, when everyone was still talking about the Austin festival. But chances are if you’re in a band it’s not because you’re big on punctuality. Thumpers handed in their homework late. We would rap those boys across the knuckles and give them a spank on the rump except the Sub Pop-signed band are currently all the way on the West Coast. They haven’t had any time off since Austin— they’ve been touring their socks off—so we’ll let them off with a misdemeanor and a promise that they’ll do us a Noisey Acoustics session when they make their NYC debut later this year.

If you haven’t heard of Thumpers, why haven’t you been paying attention? We’ve been banging on about them since last year because their music sounds like pure joy and their debut album, Galore, was released on Sub Pop last month. Get it.

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Over to you boys…

Words by Marcus Pepperell (singer), photos by John Hamson Jr (drums), and Oliver Smith (keys).

Thumpers from the rear. Photo by: @kstack.

PLAY MUSIC IF YOU’RE NOT WATCHING IT if you’re lucky enough to get to SXSW then you should probably be playing as many times as possible in as many places as possible. because, y’know, there are 2000 other bands playing. and some of them have pun names on their side (wow). so you have to up your game. luckily anywhere in austin with more than one wall to prop up against will be happy to host your band. we played 2 diners, 1 hotel lobby and 1 bike shop during our stint. This is Marcus. He sings and plays guitar in Thumpers. He also wrote this piece. This is Oli. He plays keys in Thumpers and is really good at ART and sitting on amps. WATCH MUSIC IF YOU’RE NOT PLAYING IT Jesus it was amazing how many people we ran into this week who couldn’t name any of the shows they’d seen for whatever reason. And they’d always seem to expect props for that feat too, which is weird because it is, of course, pathetic and, woah, doubly so if you’re an artist there. Shame on you, artist! Not to get evangelical about it, but if you’re doing it right, this festival will reconfirm your true and just belief in the primal, tectonic, darkness-obliterating power of live music. Our personal highlights were:

– All of Kelley Deal’s mesmerising vocals with R. Ring at Sub Pop’s North Door showcase. DEBBIE!

– Dum Dum girls inviting Debbie Harry on stage with them for a version of “Dreaming.”

– Slaves’ “Where’s Your Car, Debbie?” The best song about Tunbridge Wells ever. Possibly the only song about Tunbridge Wells. ST VINCENT! FUTURE ISLANDS! (Thumpers did not take this.) – Future Islands’ eyebrows. We could watch Samuel Herring’s facial expressions on a screensaver loop foreverrrr.

Near-naked Thumpers!

SWIM
Barton Springs is just out of town is like an elixir. Go.

STAY THE FUCK IN TOWN
We confess that we have no idea what taxi drivers in Austin are like for the 11 and a half months that SXSW isn’t on. We only know that for the duration of the festival itself, as a band you have more chance of being crowned joint executors to Linklaters’s Dazed and Confused’s DVD royalties than of convincing a cab driver to take you beyond 10th street. They just won’t stop for you. As soon as you get confirmed for SXSW you should be looking into downtown accommodation. otherwise :( :( :( for your nights out.

Jack and Snoop.

BUDDY UP

Every (non-taxi driving) single person we met from Austin was fucking awesome—from the old guy sunbathing in a tiny thong at Barton Springs to Austin über-fan legend panda (she wears a panda costume 24/7). The next very good thing—it rubs off on out-of-towners too. We got given wristbands that let us see snoop play to 200 rabid SXSWers all because of this. It ruled, so buddy up.

Oliver Smith made this sweet .gif.

I mean, look at the size of Snoopzillas’ bodyguard’s head! It’s got to weigh 80lbs.

ROLLERCOASTERS
Thumpers hail from the country that invented a dog competition called Crufts—of course our rollercoasters are no good!Sso, against the advice of every Austin-ite we met, we drove out of town for one of our days off before the festival started to revel in the monstrous puke fest that is Six Flags San Antonio. And we don’t regret a thing. Here’s a photo of us being dorks, because you cannot play good music unless you’ve fully explored the spectrum of G-force mechanics the previous day.

Yeah this won’t give you gut rot. NO WAY!

SAUCE IS YOUR FRIEND
SAUCE. Y’know? Sauce. It’s good for you, with the moisture and that, especially when you’re hungover-sunburnt. Austin has sooo many great food trucks and restaurants and not one of them is ashamed to use condiments to their competitive advantage. I had a Texan french toast turkey sandwich with strawberry jam AND chipotle dressing in it (from Gonzo truck, 1104 E6th Street) and didn’t shut the fuck up about it for two days after. This photo is from Frank on 4th and Colorado. The tomato sauce at 311 Detroit Pizza (1111 E6th street) ruled too, but the best part about sauce is how much more food you can fit in using it as lubricant. We ate at salt lick BBQ at Driftwood and their spicy sauce is unreal-good. On the way back into town along Nutty Brown Road—a name that took on pretty harrowing connotations when in the grip of the meat sweats later—we had to pull over twice just to lean against lampposts and pray that our digestive tracts didn’t come unstitched. Totally worth it.

THUMPERS SLEPT HERE. Swoon.

FINALLY: DO WHAT YOU CAN TO GET THERE
Are you the kind of new band that has $10,000 to spare? No? Neither is ANYONE. If playing a gig in a giant Doritos bag means you can get to the debaucherous streets of Austin then you should probably just suck it up and do it. Just ask Gaga. Or Jay-Z. Or literally anyone in a band right now. We did a couple of pre SXSW shows in Austin that meant we could make our whole trip (and future US tours) possible, plus they put us up in these suites which made us feel like The Eagles. Every single show, sidewalk, breath you take at SXSW is now sponsored… but if that means you can get free tacos and ‘ritas while watching new bands play excitedly for no more (or less) than the best BBQ of their lives then what’s not worth it about that?