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BMI®
For Immediate Release
INDIE HEAT ON BMI’S SXSW STAGE
BANDS FEATURED FOR 2007 INCLUDE CAGE THE ELEPHANT, E>K>U>K, ENTER SHIKARI, FAKTION, HUMMERSQUEAL, MIRACLE DRUG, THE ENVY CORPS AND TRANCES ARC
NEW YORK, February 14, 2007 – BMI, the leading U.S. performing right organization, will partner with South By Southwest to provide a stage for some of the world’s most auspicious up-and-coming bands as SXSW 2007 takes over Austin, Texas, March 13-18. BMI’s showcase invades Club de Ville (900 Red River) Thursday, March 15, and features a slate of young artists. Admittance to the show is granted with SXSW Festival badges and wristbands, while a limited number of tickets will be available at both venues.
The stout line-up for Thursday night’s showcase includes Mexico’s Hummersqueal; Bowling Green, Ky.’s Cage The Elephant; South Bay, Calif.’s E>K>U>K; the U.K.’s Enter Shikari; Ames, Iowa’s The Envy Corps; Atlanta’s Trances Arc; Nashville’s Miracle Drug; and Denton, Texas’s Faktion.
7:30pm MIRACLE DRUG (Nashville, Tennessee)
www.myspace.com/miracledrugmusic
Miracle Drug’s intrinsic swagger and dominance belie their youth, but that’s the only misleading bit about this Nashville four-piece. They are honest to goodness rock and roll at its finest—ripe and arrogant, sweating with tangible promise that hangs in the air at their live shows. Posh arrangements featuring refreshingly tasteful guitar, sly lyrics and a 20-year-old lead singer dripping with charisma leave you knowing that these guys will end up somewhere—everywhere.
8:15pm HUMMERSQUEAL (Distrito Federal, Mexico)
www.myspace.com/hummersqueal
Young Mexican exports Hummersqueal personify the adage “charms of rock and roll lose nothing in generational and linguistic translations.” With their debut album Di:Hielo, the Latin rock quartet displays a focus achieved through over six years of relentless gigging and self-discovery. Guitars in a steady snarl and surprisingly sensitive lyrics help define Hummersqueal, as they stand poised on the cusp of international radars.
9:00pm TRANCES ARC (Atlanta, Georgia)
www.myspace.com/trancesarc
Atlanta’s Trances Arc serves up optimistic melodies, pretty, angst-tinged harmonies and soaring choruses for an OC generation that can’t seem to get enough of all three. MTV featured songs from the quintet’s debut album Color TV Influential on the instructional “MTV Cribs Presents: How to Live Like a College Student,” while their single “Champagne Wishes” earned a spot on Starbucks’ Hear Music compilation album set for April 2007 release in the coffee giant’s stores nationwide.
9:45pm THE ENVY CORPS (Ames, Iowa)
www.myspace.com/theenvycorps
Fresh-faced Iowa boys The Envy Corps give pop-rockers on either more famous coast and across the pond a little friendly competition. Comparisons to Vertigo label mates The Killers and a hearty endorsement from Killer Dave Keuning himself buzz around the four-piece, but their snappy melodies and sweet harmonies layered on top of a healthy dose of non-pretentious rock certainly speak for themselves. Their current EP, The Story Problem, is a propitious teaser for The Envy Corps’s full-length debut set for release in May.
10:30pm CAGE THE ELEPHANT (Bowling Green, Kentucky)
www.myspace.com/cagetheelephant
Bowling Green, Ky.’s Cage the Elephant formed in 2006 and already present a promising front; musing over what musical exploits lie in store for the group is downright intoxicating. The five-piece band’s causerie “Ain’t No Rest for the Wicked” and sauntering “Tiny Little Robots” expose a modern punk band whose warts are prettier than others’ roses. Cage the Elephant’s self-released debut will hit shelves March 27.
11:15pm E>K>U>K (South Bay Los Angeles, California)
www.myspace.com/ekuk
Rock quartet E>K>U>K calls the South Bay – a community just outside L.A. – home. Growing up in the pretty burbs on the fringe of the dueling dirt and shine of Los Angeles must have influenced the young band’s pretty but anxious sound. E>K>U>K is happily exploiting their knack for making inner turmoil delightful. L.A. tastemaker KXLU 88.9 FM fell hard for the boys in 2005, spinning their single “Psycho” heavily until it became the station’s most-requested track of July that year.
Midnight ENTER SHIKARI (United Kingdom)
www.myspace.com/entershikari
The U.K.’s Enter Shikari is making quick work out of Europe’s rock circuit and the status quo. Unsigned and under the mainstream radar, the hard rock/techno trance hybrid ranked fifth in the BBC News Sound of 2007 critics’ poll and were only the second band in history to sell out the London Astoria. Word of mouth has made Enter Shikari’s packed live shows contemporary legend. By rejecting major label offers and choosing instead to self-release their full-length debut in March of 2007, they maintain full artistic control—and the industry, along with their peers, are watching.
12:45pm FAKTION (Denton, Texas)
www.myspace.com/faktiondallas
Hard rockers Faktion couple lyrics intent on exploring the human condition with heavy guitars intent on moving audiences to their feet. The five members joined forces in Denton, Texas, in 2002 and have made angry melodies good for bad days and break-ups ever since. An impressive following swears by their tunes, and thanks to Faktion’s rigorous touring and intense live show, crowds keep growing.
For more information on BMI events at SXSW, please visit www.bmi.com/sxsw. For press information, bios and photos of the showcasing artists, please visit www.bmi.com/sxsw/press. Ongoing coverage of all BMI events at the SXSW Music and Film festivals will be at www.bmi.com/sxsw.
To purchase SXSW wristbands or badges please go to www.sxsw.com.
Broadcast Music, Inc.® (BMI) is an American performing right organization that represents more than 300,000 songwriters, composers and publishers in all genres of music. For more than 65 years, BMI has represented the most popular and beloved music from around the world, a vast repertoire that includes more than 6.5 million works. The non-profit-making corporation collects license fees from businesses that use music, which it then distributes as royalties to the musical creators and copyright owners it represents.
Contacts:
Hanna Pantle, BMI
310-289-6328; hpantle@bmi.com
Kay Clary, BMI
615-401-2728; kclary@bmi.com
Jill McGuckin, BMI
512-478-0578; jill@mcguckinpr.com
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