The FeedBak Podcast

We recap the weekend. Micco follows up on our previous show about ridesharing with workaround, black market peer-to-peer solutions, and driver feedbak.

Austin rapper, founder of the Austin Mic Exchange and Weird City Hip Hop Festival, Protextor aka P-Tek joins us on this episode. We talk about:

• Growing up in Iowa as a RnB and Hip Hop fan
• How Dr. Dre's The Watcher from The Chronic 2001 was life-changing.
• Pursuing movies and music.
• Introduction to the Austin Hip Hop scene
• The incubator that is Austin Mic Exchange
• Exporting Austin Hip Hop with the Weird City Hip Hop Tour
• The concept behind SHIFT album
• The rise of Trap Hip Hop vs Underground Hip Hop

"I have seen people who were coming to AMX when they were newer and less established and who have gotten their game tight and are just ruling stuff." - P-Tek

The FeedBak Podcast is BAK!! We had talk about the ACL line-up with Festival Expert Micco. Attorney and TNC Guru Jeff Kirk breaks down Prop 1 and its outcome:

• Micco covers the ACL Line-up:
  • C3 Presents
  • The switch from 1 weekend to 2 weekends
  • Percentages of acts by genre
  • Local acts vs national/international acts
  • Differences between Weekend 1 and Weekend 2
  
  
• Jeff Kirk attorney and writer for Medium.com breaks down Prop 1:
  • The pilot ordinance of 2014
  • The influence of the taxi lobby
  • The situation in Austin vs Houston
  • Uber and Lyft's failed $9 Million campaign
  • Background checks for taxi drivers vs Uber/Lyft background checks
  • Is the debate really about a public safety issue?
  • The alternative solutions and their incentive problems: GetMe, Ztrip, taxi cabs
  • Statewide legislature to get involved in 2017
  • Unregulated corporations vs government involvement
  • How viable are optional fingerprint background checks?
  
  

"11% of the line-up is from Austin." - Micco

"One of my main specialties was consumer law. I was there as a proxy looking out for the needs of the Austin citizenry and drivers, taxis and TNC drivers." - Jeff Kirk

SXSW 2016 came and went. We did a preview episode. Now we recap the festival with Micco and Lane with stories, reviews, rants:

• How we prepared, Domination Team (260+ SXSW goers in GroupMe);
• ATX Startup Crawl: Atlassian, Blacklocus, Capital Factory;
• Highlights of SXSW Interactive: President Obama Keynote Speech, Spredfast Lounge, Samsung Galaxy Life Fest, Questlove at WeDC;
• Reviews of Fader Fort, Spotify House, Hype Hotel, Bud Light Factory, Mass Appeal Live at the BBQ, Pandora Discovery Den, The Illmore;
• New artists we discovered: BJ The Chicago Kid, Anderson Paak and the Free Nationals, Emily King, Kehlani and more;
• Hustle stories;
• Biggest let-downs;
• Dirty 6th Street like Texas Relays, people on their phones, turn up hip hop;
• Boris Wright calls in with insight on the SXSW vs Bud Light story;
• SXSW Awards and Domination Team Awards

"Unlike other years when I don't get anything for my donation but maybe a tax credit. This year I got to see Obama and J. Cole for my donation." - Micco

"I saw everything that I wanted to see. I wasn't just following somebody around and doing their own agenda. I was on my own agenda." - Lane

SXSW is right around corner. Festival experts Micco, Lane, Boris Wright (who's worked SXSW for 19 years) join the podcast to share tips, insights, and stories:

• How to prepare for SXSW: RSVPster, SXSW Domination Team on GroupMe, @ChrisKeegan's SXSW Guide, @SXSWMafia
• Doing SXSW with VS without a wristband;
• Transportation/Parking tips: use B-Cycle, where to park, Uber Pool, Lyft;
• Tech tips: mobile chargers, use your phone the least possible;
• How to get a hook up: take care of volunteers, staff and they'll take care of you;
• How to strategize: meet people, have your own agenda, use print outs, and more tips;
• Story time!
• President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle's keynotes

"If you're new to SX and you don't have a wristband or credentials, when you go somewhere, you really should stay at one venue because it's hard for you to get anywhere" - Micco

"My #1 tip for SXSW: meet people in the line" - Lane

"I see the list of bands and I'm like 'oh my god they're coming'. I get excited. I got more excited when I let someone know about it." - Boris

Matt Ford, Lauren Bruno, and Adrian Tavares introduce Solstive Live, a online booking platform that helps artists find venues and venues find artists:

• Their connection to Austin,
• The Solstice Festival, From France to the US,
• How they brought it to Austin,
• How Solstice Live works for the artists and the venues,
• Working with venues and partnering with event producers,
• How to improve the Austin music scene

"We're the kids that grew with Facebook and YouTube and we brought that whole world into the promoting world." - Matt Ford

"I had been looking for something music-related that I could really dive into and commit to." - Adrian Tavares

"There are so many things in the music industry that needs help and fixing. What we're trying to hone in on is improving that process." - Lauren Bruno

Happy New Year! For the first show of 2016, Micco joins to talk about:

• New Year's Eve and the hype;
• Uber and transportation woes;
• Sheena 2.0 and her friend Marcia call in;
• Events and places to look forward to in 2016:
  • Carnaval Brasileiro on Feb 27;
  • I Love The 90's featuring Salt N' Pepa, Vanilla Ice, Coolio, Kid N Play, Rob Base and more on Feb 5;
  • Antone's is back on W. 5th;
  • Black Fret, a non-profit that supports Austin live music;
  • Teller's on Trinity between 6th/7th;
  • Lustre Pearl's return on Rainey Street and the East side;
  • The Townsend on Congress between 7th/8th;
  • The Domain Rock Rose expansion with Dogwood, Kung Fu Saloon, 77 Degrees, Saint Genevieve, Jack & Ginger's Irish Pub, Rose Room;
  • The Steampunk Saloon on W.6th and Rio Grande;
  • Stand-up Comedy Open Mics all over town
  • Moontower Comedy Festival on April 20-23
  
  
• Challenging venues to be different;

"Nothing new to Austin, but new to me. I always miss it every year. There's a Carnival Brazilian festival. I'm trying to make it a point to go this year" - Micco

Our returning champions Sheena Simmons and Ekwhoa help me review 2015 and preview New Year's Eve:

• Recap of The Feedbak 5 Year Anniversary at Vulcan Gas Company;
• Best parties of the year;
• Lessons from 2015;
• West 6th vs Eastside vs Dirty 6th vs Warehouse District;
• Uber and Lyft vs Austin City Council (sign the petition to keep Uber & Lyft in Austin);
• Sheena's new year resolutions;
• New Year's Eve is overrated;
• Good plans for NYE 2016;
• Sheena's friend calls in to invite her to her NYE party in Leander

Quotes from the show:

2016 is going to be ON in my life! - Sheena Simmons

Every year, we play a mystery game (for New Year's). We wake up the next day and try to figure out what the fuck happened - Ekwhoa

Ter’ell Shahid is a musician, songwriter, producer, real-estate agent, CEO of Urbanian Entertainment, and has been in Austin music scene since he was a teenager:

• His musical background and learning the instruments;
• Austin back in the day as music heaven with the agencies and mentors;
• Going from band to band and the solo career;
• Neckbone, The Funk-Hop Supergroup for and by musicians;
• The Hip Hop/Urban music scene in Austin (Hip Hop Humpday, Boombox, and beyond);
• The power of cross-marketing and the responsibility of the venue;
• Taking the Austin music scene for granted;
• Defining what “Live Music Capital of the World” is;

In my stuff, I try to include as many super bad producers and musicians as possible. […]. When you check me out, you’re checking them out. And everything that happens for me, I spread that to all the musicians around me. – Ter’ell Shahid

Marc Piatkowski is co-owner of Vulcan Gas Company, a state-of-the-art music venue on 6th Street:

• Moving to Austin and getting into the bar industry;
• The importance of sound at a venue;
• Choosing the electronic music as a format;
• Acquiring the name of Vulcan Gas Company from an old psychedelic rock venue from the 60's;
• Being on Dirty 6th Street, the homeless situation, charging cover, the college crowd;
• Growing a multi-function venue with Hip Hop, comedy,

Good sounding music makes you feel good. - Marc Pietkowski

Jennifer Houlihan is the Executive Director at Austin Music People (AMP). Bobby Garza is the General Manager at Transmission Events and Chair of the Executive Committee at AMP. We discuss the state of Austin as a music city:

• Why we need organizations like Austin Music People;
• How the disconnect between the politics, the music community, and the Austin population happened;
• The findings and propositions from the 2014 Austin Music Industry Census;
• Austin getting a C- on the Music City Report Card;
• People's unwillingness to pay cover charge to see live music;
• How to educate people about the music Austin offers and cultivate music Evangelist;
• Tips and advice for artists;
• The sound ordinance and the agent of change principle;
• How you can support the music scene

The story that we sell about Austin [...] looks like the front of a show. What you don't see is the back; where there's a toilet broken or somebody is trying to plug an extension cord. - Bobby Garza

What we hope to do is give people the tools they need to make the change in the community that's going to keep us the Live Music Capital of the World - Jennifer Houlihan