beatlanta.com
INTERVIEW with Bret from Hijacking Music: taking an Atlanta showcase to SXSW w/ a kickoff show TONIGHT at the Cottage
B:When did you first decide to head to SXSW 2012?
At the turn of the year, we were trying to figure out how to branch outside of the Atlanta area. Sarah came up with the idea to put on a Atlanta music showcase at SXSW. We all immediately agreed that it was a good idea and set out to make it happen.
B: Was if difficult for you to get a stage for an Atlanta showcase?
Surprisingly it was not that hard for us. We already had a connection at Hole in the Wall from playing shows there in the past. We priced them against other places around town for the same days and it would have been stupid for us not to go with them. Good people, great price to rent the venue, we could not beat it.
B: What do you hope to accomplish by taking Atlanta bands to SXSW? Will you be advertising for the broader Atlanta music community and/or Hijacking Music?
Our hope is to shine some light on the Atlanta music scene as a hole. Even though we only have room for a few select artists to perform, we are trying hard to bring everyone from Atlanta together down in Austin in order to make a real big stink. It’s time for people outside of Atlanta to know how awesome this cities music scene is.
B: What was your thought process when deciding on a lineup to represent the stage at the festival?
We had a list of artists that we really enjoy working with. These artists all have their shit together in more ways than just writing good music. They tour, they promote, they come out to other peoples shows, and generally are active and growing in the scene.
There are SOOOO many good bands out there, it makes it hard to pick who gets to be apart of these events. We try to keep the quality control for any of our events, and trying to work with others who are also already working hard just seems like the right choice.
Anyways, once we picked our list, we sent emails to everyone and whoever got back to us first was on the line up.
5. Tell us a bit about the kick-off show at the Cottage on March 10th. What can folks expect out of that? Is everyone from the trip to SXSW going to play the show?
We hope everyone going to SXSW will be there to support, but not everyone will still be in town. Most of the artists on our Austin line up have set up tours around SXSW and will be on the road.
The bon voyage party is our first Hijacking Music show of this new year. We are only doing one per quarter and thought this would be a fitting way to send everyone off to Austin.
You can expect this to be a great networking party for anyone in the music scene, as well as a straight up awesome time.
B: Anything you want folks to know about the Atlanta showcase at SXSW that we didn’t mention, anything about Hijacking Music, closing thoughts?
We would like to thank everyone that has helped make this event possible. Hopefully by doing this we can inspire others to take a leap in the future with what they are doing, and make some big stuff happen for themselves and others around them.
Work together, work hard, and never sell out.
