Here's What The Gooch Palms Packed For Round Two Of SXSW

So this is our second trip to SXSW and we're a little older, a little wiser. This time we are proper prepared for the crazy week that we're about to embark on. But not just the week in Austin, also the tour to and from SXSW with our good buddies Guantanamo Baywatch!

 

We left for this tour in the morning of March 3, two days after getting back to Los Angeles after being in Australia for most of the summer. It was a hectic two days leading up to leaving but we managed to get everything done. 

 

The first thing we did was pack a tiny bag between the two of us as we finally realised we pretty much wear the same clothes every day on tour. We did bring an assortment of underwear and sunglasses though! 

 

 

We have converted our tour van into a camper that we can sleep in really comfortably, so that has been a massive game changer. We've been driving after the shows and sleeping at rest areas. It's free and surprisingly peaceful, plus the endless episodes of vintage Simpsons we have on the laptop are great to fall asleep to if we need to drown out outside noises! 

 

Our most exciting addition to the crap we bring on tour is this magic concoction we whipped up of New Zealand Manuka honey and coconut oil (the good stuff). We put it in an old pickle jar and have it in the cup holder. It looks really gross but it's pretty much good for everything. It tastes yum so we just eat it. It's good for our throats after singing, then talking over the loudness of the DJ or house music when we're selling merch and meeting people after the show. But it's got so many medicinal properties that we're using it for everything! Might have to go into business. DON'T STEAL OUR IDEA!!!! 

 

 

So we've got the magic cocohoney and a tiny bag and all our music gear and we're heading for Austin via a bunch of other cities/states. So far, the shows have been insane! Most have been sold out and if not, very packed and full of happy, awesome folks. It's off to a roaring start. And our merch game is STRONG! We have two jam packed boxes of merch and it's really satisfying to reduce it down to one box and then no boxes by the end! We've got a cooler and a food bag full of good healthy stuff so we don't pack on the pounds, which is too easy to do over here. We've also got a big square thingy of water, like 10 litres that we keep filling up our water bottles with. And that's pretty much it. 

 

In the past we've had way too much stuff and also tried to see as much nice scenery as possible and have gone off the beaten track to do so, but after touring across the country most of last year we've seen a lot of the best stuff so this tour we're taking the shortest, ugliest routing cause sleep is now our best friend! We've got this DIY touring thing down to a fine art!!!

 

 

Accommodation in Austin during SXSW is quite frankly, absurd. It's soooooo expensive and last year we paid a million dollars to stay in a hotel that was pretty far away from everything. The parking situation is also a nightmare at SX so we were getting Ubers into our showcases which was also uber expensive. So this year, we booked 4 solid showcases instead of 50 (slight exaggeration) and are staying in a cabin out in the sticks, but near a train station that has a line to Austin. It's cheap and about half an hour away. Austin gets crazy hectic so we can pick and choose when we want to come in and can get the train in if we want to get "Australian drunk". We can also afford to pay for parking as we're now going to save a motsa from our savvy cabin booking! 

 

But all in all, we're really looking forward to SXSW again this year and the rest of the tour and even went and got some flashy business cards made up, which we have already been making good use of! Hey big festival booker, how you doin'...?

 

The Gooch Palms at Burger Records X Observatory Five Year Anniversary

 

The Gooch Palms at Burger Records X Observatory Five Year Anniversary