We’ve got FOUR DAYS of day parties planned during SXSW this year and we’ll be bringing you over 60 bands on both stages at The Blackheart. We’re partnering with Frye for our last two days (Thursday, March 16 and Friday, March 17) and you can RSVP here: https://do512.com/fryedays
To help get you ready for the musical melee of our FryeDays day parties at The Blackheart (3/16-3/17), here’s a spotlight interview with Ron Gallo.
NoiseTrade: Your new album HEAVY META has been garnering some incredible press. How has it been to hear what other people are getting from your songwriting and how has it been to take the songs out on the road and have audiences respond to them live?
Ron Gallo: It has been incredible to see the impact music can have on complete strangers. I never expected it to reach anyone so when people from all over the world write me messages about how the record really spoke to them, or prevented them from killing themselves or empowered them it is the greatest gift imaginable. That is the only reason to do it.
NT: Along with playing SXSW, you’ve got some incredible summer festival appearances lined up, as well as a UK summer tour planned. Do you feel your songs may land any different or in unexpected ways in a wide-open festival context, as opposed to smaller club shows where fans came to see you specifically?
Gallo: I always prefer the smaller club setting because I don’t like any wall or space between crowd and band, but we will have to find a way to create that in festival context.
NT: If this is your first SXSW, what are you looking most forward to? If you’ve been before, what are you looking forward to experiencing again?
Gallo: It is not my first SXSW but probably my last and I am looking forward to destroying it from the inside and making sure we never get welcomed back.
NT: Do you have any favorite SXSW memories?
Gallo: Tacos and hugging friends.
NT: Are you altering your normal setlist/show in any way for the SXSW audience?
Gallo: One louder.
NT: Are there any bands or panels at SXSW that you are planning to check out yourself?
Gallo: I am excited for the entire lineup of the “Quit Your Day Job” show we are playing Wednesday. It is like a family gathering of bands presented by friends. Siren Sounds/Alt citizen/Soft Junk are putting the show on and our friends Nude Party, Thelma and the Sleaze, Queen of Jeans, Stuyedeyed, Breanna Barbara, Faux Ferocious, The Medium, Burning Peppermints and more are playing. Good rock show.
NT: What made you pick the song you did for our NoiseTrade SXSW sampler?
Gallo: Standard strategies for asset monetization and corporate synergy by constructing content in a digestible way to allow for maximum cash flow in the 1st quarter.
