CONFERENCE CALL : Inspired by Save Ferris, O.C. Bands Try to Create Industry Buzz at Texas Showcase of Nearly 800 Acts

Unlike last spring, aspiring but relatively unknown Orange County bands that played over the long weekend at the South by Southwest (SXSW) music conference here did not set the industry’s tongues wagging.

By the end of 1997’s festivities, the O.C. ska-swing group Save Ferris had finalized a label deal with Epic Records. But this time, nothing out of O.C., not Fold Zandura’s Oasis-goes-electronica or Mr. Mirainga’s Latin-tinged rock, seemed to jump out as the Next Big Thing. They were among almost 800 bands from around the world that descended on club-infested Austin in hopes of creating a buzz among visiting talent scouts, label executives, managers and other music business types.

Of all the Orange County bands, the punk-poppish Supernova seemed to enjoy the most buzz, if only through its good timing. Because of various delays, the band, forsaking its usual spacesuit costumes for cowboy hats covered in foil, wound up opening (albeit on a separate stage) at the club La Zona Rosa for Sonic Youth, the influential experimental-noise band from New York. Supernova might have had even more exposure if had they remembered to turn on the bass amp before a Fox-TV news crew left.

Neither techno nor ska, the two forms that offered a respite from rock last year, returned to any significant degree over the five-day event that ended Sunday. If they had, the Nine Inch Nails-after-a-manicure synth-pop duo Joy Electric from Santa Ana might have made more of an impact. But the few who appreciated their disposable pop said they did so purely out of ‘80s nostalgia. The band attributed its lackluster set to technical difficulties.

“The sound cut out a bit,” singer Ronnie Martin said after the show, “and since we’re 100% electronic, we live and die by that.”

Without some industry hype, either via a mention in the trade magazine Hits or strong word-of-mouth, unsigned and independent-label bands vying for attention here have little chance of attracting scouts and landing a label deal. This courtship ritual once dominated the conference. But with major labels hosting showcases for already established artists (Sonic Youth, Spacehog, Soul Asylum) or recognizable names (Austin’s own Fastball, Nick Lowe, Sean Lennon), the focus has shifted over the past few years toward highlighting new music and predicting trends.

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This year, buzz-heavy showcases pointed to the emergence of the underground sound known as emo core (for emotive hard-core), as well as a potential resurgence of pop, as in the kind strongly influenced by the Beatles’ psychedelic period, the Beach Boys, Cheap Trick and Big Star. Fans of emo core cite the Foo Fighters’ 1997 song “Everlong” as its most mainstream representative, partly because the band contained ex-members of Sunny Day Real Estate, a Seattle forerunner of the genre.

An informal poll of SXSW attendees indicated that emo is ready to bubble up, fueled by the Foo Fighters and an impending release by the newly reformed Sunny Day. All emo needs, they said, is a band to do for emo what Nirvana did for grunge--prove it has commercial viability.

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O.C.’s strong emo scene, headquartered at Koo’s Art Cafe in Santa Ana and driven by such groups as Gameface and Smile, was not represented at SXSW. Other bands that practice the jangly, emotive subgenre of hard-core punk enjoyed big crowds here, as well as strong word-of-mouth among industry reps. The crowd begged Arizona’s Jimmy Eat World, for one, for an encore, a rarity at industry showcases with tight set changes. And, according to selected scouts, Kansas City’s the Get Up Kids appeared most-likely band to return home with a label deal, with Sub Pop, Nirvana’s original label home, in the forefront of negotiations.

“Ska was the next big thing for a while because it was so happy-go-lucky,” said Patrick McDowell, who signed O.C.’s Reel Big Fish and Goldfinger to Mojo Records. “But emo is so heartfelt and so powerful if it’s done right. It’s the best new thing that’s out there right now.”

As for pop, long-revered critics’ darlings Apples in Stereo (from Denver), Olivia Tremor Control (from Athens, Ga.) and the High Llamas (from England) each arrived in Austin to high expectations. The L.A.-based the Negro Problem, one of the buzz bands from last year’s conference, attracted the attention this year of Capitol CEO Gary Gersh, the band’s manager said.

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Among the myriad conference panels was one titled “So Is Paul Dead?,” intended to take Paul McCartney to task for not recording anything vibrant since his days in the Beatles. Panelist Jim DeRogatis, a renowned rock critic and author, suggested that McCartney ought to pass the pop torch to a deserving band such as Olivia Tremor Control.

“I’m not advocating rock euthanasia,” DeRogatis said, “but to 16-year-olds, ‘Yesterday’ is what you hear in the elevator. He’s trapped in his role, like Pink Floyd is in theirs. They’ve become Pink Floyd Inc., when they would rather be like [ambient/electronic up-and-comers] the Orb.”