Britt Daniel (spoon)

Photo by Jason Bergman

Vice: What is the hands-down most ridiculous thing you’ve witnessed at a festival?

Britt: You were the guinea pigs.
That’s a little troubling. They thought that if the speakers were going to crush a band, let it be you guys.
Even though SXSW is a different animal from Bonnaroo or Langerado, it often feels like a trade conference disguised as a consumer festival. Do you consider it antiquated compared to those festivals, or do you see it as an event that’s kept up and adapted accordingly?
Being from Austin, you have a certain point of view because it’s been a regional part of your life, and I imagine there was a stretch of time that you attended as a music fan that wasn’t in a band.
It’s become a sort of circus, with people performing in the streets and all of these extraneous events and things going on. I mean, I realize that a mime performing in the street is not an official SXSW event, but do you feel like it’s become too chaotic over the years?
Compare the SXSW of ’92 to today’s version.