Image via Complex Original
South by Southwest may have expanded into a two-week extravaganza that ranges from documentary film premieres to social media seminars, but the core of the festival, even after all these years, is still music. More than ever, SXSW remains a necessary stop for any burgeoning band to get heard by critics and fans alike, not to mention a place to showcase established acts right next door to the up-and-comers. From established artists who are new to SX’s showcases, to younger bands that are just plain new, these are 10 First-Time SXSW Performers You Should Know. Come next year, they’ll be hardened festival veterans like the thousands of other acts they’re playing alongside, but as of 2015, they’re the hottest and buzziest bands headed to Texas.
Fort Romeau
Hometown: London
Sounds like: Chicago house with a worldly twist
British producer Mike Greene (a.k.a. Fort Romeau) takes classic house beats and reinvigorates them with sounds from all across the world. For his new album, Insides, Greene has teamed up with lauded indie label Ghostly and has pushed his sound to deeper, more fully-realized places.
Shamir
Hometown: Brooklyn (via Las Vegas)
Sounds like: The most fun dance party you’ve ever been to
Shamir’s voice has to be heard to be believed. The Las Vegas native has made a name for himself releasing buoyant pop tunes on Brooklyn label Godmode, but it’s his incredible vocals that round out his sound. Catch him before his new album, Ratchet, turns him into the star that he’s destined to become.
DeJ Loaf
Hometown: Detroit
Sounds like: Silky smooth Motor City rap
When it dropped last year, “Try Me” became a sleeper hit, with the Detroit rapper working her way into the hip-hop subconscious and refusing to leave. With a voice and flow as smooth as butter, but lyrics as cutting as a switchblade, the 23-year-old MC has already become one of rap’s biggest new stars.
Girlpool
Hometown: Los Angeles
Sounds like: Indie pop with an edge
Girlpool is comprised of Harmony Tividad and Cleo Tucker—two young Angelinos with just guitar, bass, and their own unconventional voices. Taking elements of twee and mixing in scratchy riffs and slightly incongruous harmonies, the two sound like something that would have come from K Records circa 1988. But in a landscape that’s full of polished pop, they’re just off-kilter enough to be immediately unmistakable.
Chastity Belt
Hometown: Walla Walla, Wash.
Sounds like: Irreverent rock from the Pacific Northwest
The four women in Chastity Belt may like to poke fun (their 2013 album was called No Regerts—typo intended), but they’re also remarkably good at writing fuzzed-out rock songs that stay stuck in your head. Don’t let their ironically retro press photos fool you: Chastity Belt are coming to Austin to bring the noise.
Natalie Prass
Hometown: Virginia Beach, Va.
Sounds like: The future of Nashville
Natalie Prass is the real deal: American soul music straight from the heartland. A current resident of Nashville, Prass takes her cues from classic country and wistful Americana. Her music—often tragic, always gorgeous—is the sort of timeless stuff that grandparents and their grandchildren alike can appreciate together.
PC Music
Hometown: Various
Sounds like: The 1990s meet the 2020s
What is up with PC Music exactly? Are they ironic? A goof? Or totally sincere? And, hey, does it even matter? The British crew, headed by label-head A.G. Cook and a virtually endless roster of sub-acts and offshoots, smashes ’90s touchstones into 21st century pop. (Think K-Pop, house, happy hardcore, and bubblegum pop stuck in a blender and you’re halfway there.) Catching the whole crew together—including British whiz-kid producer and SX veteran Sophie—should be one of SXSW’s true highlights.
Mitski
Hometown: Brooklyn (via everywhere)
Sounds like: Best Coast with bite
Mitski may have been born in Japan and raised all over the place, but her sound is grounded firmly in classic garage rock. Last year’s Bury Me at Makeout Creek was a power-pop pleasure, and Mitski’s music—with its distorted guitar and imminent hummability—is only destined for a bigger audience in Austin.
Emmy the Great
Hometown: London (via Hong Kong)
Sounds like: Lykke Li
Who better than a blogger to find success at SXSW? When singer/songwriter Emma-Lee Moss (a.k.a. Emmy the Great) isn’t making delicate, emotionally resonant pop songs, she’s writing about music for Noisey. Though Emma-Lee actually did play SXSW back in 2008, opening for Dev Hynes and Noah and the Whale, she’s back again seven years later on her own terms with new breakthrough solo material.
Allan Kingdom
Hometown: Saint Paul, Minn., via Winnipeg Canada
Sounds like: Melodic Minnesota rap
Allan Kingdom may already be semi-famous for his feature spot on Kanye West's new hit "All Day," but SXSW is a chance for him to step out as a solo artist on his own right. Still, it helps to have friends in high places, and with other cosigns from Kanye cohort Virgil Abloh, producer Doc McKinney, and a host of well-respected Minnesota rappers, he should have no problem stepping into the spotlight.