King Gnu, Otoboke Beaver, Shonen Knife, Scandal, PUFFY – they’ve all played Austin’s biggest music festival, SXSW.

Come with me as I hit every official Japanese showcase in one weekend fueled on nothing but tacos and tequila.

…starting with Day 1!

Arriving in Austin

I worked in the morning, burned of stack of CDs for my own band to hand out, chucked it all in a bag, and headed to Austin.

I try to avoid booking AirBnB (cleaning fees, corporate doubachery) but, the hosts made my trip. They happened to be musicians too, and kindly offered a home cooked meal.

That was a positive, but…

Something already felt off. Rolling up to SXSW this year, I was full of worries.

Only 11 Japanese artist were announced (last year there were 20+), endless talk about “cutting music”, and NO FUNK ARTISTS!!!!

But it was time to infiltrate Austin once again this year.

I dashed back and forth to the corner store to pick up my pre-game pal the Beatbox with my parking meter quarters jangling. I secured my spot and it was time to hang until morning.

On to Tokyo Calling’s Inspired by Tokyo!

The Crowd

Last year, Tokyo Calling was booming – it was the most industry-heavy of all the JP showcases, almost pushing out the local music fans.

With two whole stages dedicated to the artists, it was the place to be.

This year was a complete 180. The crowd seemed to be more of people who stumbled into the showcase. It wasn’t local J-music fans, not even labels scouting new acts.

Maybe it was due to the showcase being in the same courtyard as the exclusive pool party, clubhouses, and the official SXSW gear store.

The vibes were a little posh for me, with more onlookers judging the music as “cool anime stuff“.

(which none of it was from anime, by the way.)

@jesse.noname

Later x SXSW Party Sponsored by TikTok! By: @Later @SXSW @TikTok 📍 @Downright Austin #madeyoulook #sxsw #later

♬ original sound – DJ HASY

There were still people enjoying the music, but it felt different from previous years where community and comradery were forming around the performances. It felt less like sharing a special moment. And, most of all, it felt less like experiencing a reflection of the scene back home in Japan.

The Performances

I arrived after REJAY (indies – I think she will have a big break soon) and Banshimoku (grunge) took stage, who are two up-and-coming artists you should check out, too. But here are the artists I saw.

9:30pm – Enfants

Enfants absolutely rocked the stage. They reminded me why I woke up last year to 100 poorly taken videos of their set on my phone.

Enfants made it clear they came to spread their sound, and they even announced that one of their songs on their new album was recorded in Austin last year.

Enfants pack in the emotion and grit to their sound, making for grungey, raw performance. It feels dark and animalistic, all while keeping the alt/indie sound.

If you are already a fan of bands like early Radwimps or Bump of Chicken, or are a fan of distortion-heavy rock and shoegaze from Japan, give them a listen. They are my top pick from this showcase!

10:30 – FINLANDS

FINLANDS was next and bumped it up to a very light “summer music fest” vibe. The vocalist made it super clear she loved the USA crowd and was very thankful to be here. The crowd obviously felt the same, and the set went over very well.

Some of their riffs reminded me of KANA-BOON, so if you like melodic high energy tunes, give FINLANDS a listen!

LAST – I Scream Never Ground

By the last act, I found out that even the posh can mosh.

I Scream Never Ground sounds like Maximum the Hormone with their metal mix of screamo and girl vocals, all while making fun-loving songs about how to two step, squat, and mosh.

They literally got the whole crowd moving.

Here is their song about two-stepping that went viral this year.

I was shocked when they came on stage and used a track to introduce themselves. Like, taken completely back by the words coming through on the speaker.

I won’t say “never use a track” – it is obviously hard to fly in from Japan, not get paid enough for your performance, and hype up a crowd in a language you don’t know… but, the track said it was generated with AI.

A metal band generating their crowd banter with AI was very new to me, and even the crowd was staring at each other in awe. But by the end of the show, people were back from the AI shock, moshing and having the time of their lives. The music itself was fun, and all ended peacefully after some violent crowd shenanigans.

Afterwards, I met up with the JP music crew of Austin (shout out to Michael!)

The gang and I hit up Taiwan Beats to see the last performance. There was a big difference in the two crowds – Taiwan Beats felt more intentional and what I expected of a SXSW showcase.

On the way out, we stopped by the Chess Club to peek in and see a few minutes of ICHIGO RINAHAMU‘s idol hyperpop performance.

She was one of the only artists from Japan who performed in the wild, at a regular Austin bar outside of “Japan only” showcases.

I felt out of my element – the artists were confined to cage like showcases, not spilling out into the lively city like usual.

There was a glaring lack of my favorite genres – funk and punk. Niche, sure, but SXSW always hits hard on them.

But, I was back with friends, hitting up the same bizarre “after 2am” alleyway club, eating the same tacos as years past. Something just didn’t quite feel right yet.

With mixed feelings about Day 1, I headed back home to rest before Day 2.

More to come in Day 2! If you are new here, I write about Japan’s music scene from the inside. The goal of this blog is to help share the best of Japan’s music scene with the world.

SXSW has always been a great way for artists to gain some recognition on the global stage, but with the Yen being unstable right now, it is harder for the artists to cross borders.

So, don’t forget to support your favorite artists. And give new artists a listen, too! See you back for Day 2.

Until next time. ❤