Ed. Note: What follows is a repost of an item by CL Marketing Director Joran Oppelt from his recent trip to SXSW. At the time, I thought it was just a really cool video. Today I think it’s become something more. You can see Joran’s original post here.

Quincy recalls his first encounters with Michael Jackson and their work on the best-selling records Off the Wall and Thriller, as well as the birth of MTV and how they broke through the “no black artists” mandate.

This exclusive CL TV video was shot in March at Jones’ 2009 South by Southwest keynote address. Video after the jump …

On Thursday, March 19, legendary music/film producer and arranger Quincy Jones spoke for 2-and-a-half hours to a packed house at the Austin Convention Center about the state of the music industry, the future of the music business, his first encounters with Michael Jackson, brain science, nanotechnology and the success he has enjoyed around the globe by being a ”Ghetto Gump,” happening to be in the right place at the right time. He also shared some personal anecdotes from his years in the industry. 

Jones recounted how he discovered Oprah Winfrey, having cast her in The Color Purple, a film adapted from Alice Walker’s novel and directed by Steven Spielberg. Walker was apparently hesitant to have such a young (not to mention Jewish) director at the helm, who until then was best known for the sci-fi/action blockbusters Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Raiders of the Lost Ark, but Quincy was able to convince her that this was the man for the job. Executives even doubted that they could get Spielberg to commit to Color Purple “before Schindler’s List was made.” Spielberg himself asked Jones, “Don’t you want a black director to make this film?” Jones’ reply: “Did you have to go to Mars to film E.T.?” 

During one especially tender moment, during a screening of Ray Charles performing “My Buddy (Quincy)” at Montreaux, the producer teared up and turned away from the crowd.

On the future of the music business, Jones was at a loss. He cited Napster, iPods and other technology for the decline in sales and said there would never be another multi-million-selling record, stating “I got mine,” and that it’s now up to future generations to figure their way out of the box. Yet, he sympathized with up-and-coming artists that find themselves surrounded by ”an entire generation that does not know people ever paid for music.” At one point, he even said he was “open to any ideas” for solutions to new revenue streams and suggested music could monetize itself through advertising similar to television.  

Jones has put forth a new idea, however. This year, he started a petition and at last count has aquired over 240,000 signatures in an effort to lobby President Obama to create a cabinet-level position entitled Secretary of Culture (or Minister of the Arts) - which most other countries already have – a postion that would be tasked with music education and artists’ rights.

VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS from Jones’ address in five parts after the jump.

Part 1: The legendary producer talks about his roots in gangsterism, the moment he discovered the piano and the invention of the electric bass.

Part 2: Quincy recalls his first encounters with Michael Jackson and their work on the best-selling records Off the Wall and Thriller, as well as the birth of MTV and how they broke through the “no black artists” mandate.

Part 3: Quincy talks about the collapse of the music business (Napster, iPods), the future of the music industry and the possibility of new revenue streams as well as the human brain and the 7 paradigms of nanotechnology.

Part 4: Quincy asks the audience to hold hands and leads them in a poignant closing prayer, then introduces up and comers Bianca Ryan and Alfredo Rodriguez.

Part 5: Bianca Ryan and Alfredo Rodriguez perform.

Friday, March 20: Day 3 of this madness. Yesterday, Joran and I must have walked at least 5 miles trying to catch as many bands as we could, so my calves were a bit sore. Regardless of the bodily pain, today was the best day.

Taking advantage of all the free stuff you could get, I moseyed over to the Natural American Spirit cig table and got 2 free packs of smokes. I don’t usually smoke, but today I felt like it. While I was lighting up, I met two French filmmakers, in town to make a documentary for the French Government (so they said). I thought they were cool enough, so I did a quick interview with them.

Afterwards, I went to a panel discussion about how to survive as a musician in the current economic recession. The panel featured big wigs from Sub Pop Records, Jive Records and Atlantic Records. Also, Ian Montone of Monotone Inc. was on the panel. He is the manager for bands like The White Stripes, Cold Ward Kids and Dredg.  The discussions themselves were standard: times are tough, the internet killed the biz and everyone has to work hard to make it.

The highlight for me was when I offered up an idea for a federated, regional music business model. After my statement and a follow up question, Montone and the guy from Atlantic looked at each other and I could read their lips, “That’s a good idea.” I hope they don’t steal it, but oh well. After the panel I met Montone and an old friend of Soulfound’s, producer David Eaton. I gave Montone props for sticking with Prog band Dredg through all these years and he invited me out to the show that night at Buffalo Billiards.

Joran had been hiding most of the day, catching up on work that our partying had derailed. I met up with him at T McG’s crib and from there we planned our evening. After catching a cab with the drum tech and tour manager for Smile Empty Soul, I got the pleasure of catching 3 songs from Little Thief (previously mentioned in Day 1 post). This is a good, fun band from whom I hope to hear more from. Ewan was knocking the ladies dead after their set. I broke through the groupies and bought the guys a round of Miller Lites. Then, Joran and I marched over to the Scottish showcase at La Vie Rose and caught The Proclaimers. After a few beers, we kicked into overdrive.

The whole time we were there, Joran and I wanted to make an NPR-style audio recording of the streets of Austin. So we did. From Congress until I-35, we walked E 6th street in 11 minutes, capturing street musicians, dozens of conversations, ambulances and a hodgepodge of randomness. It was the most scientific thing we had done.

After working up a bit of a sweat, we checked out a bunch of cool venues and ended up at the Red Eyed Fly, where we met Little Stevie van Zandt from the E Street Band. He was repping a great looking Norwegian girl band called The Cocktail Slippers. Quite easy on the eyes. Then it was on to see Esser at Maggie Mae’s rooftop, who were recommended by Little Thief. Then, we split and I went to catch Riverboat Gamblers (best punk band I have seen in YEARS) and Dredg. After almost 30 minutes of “dealing with a monitor issue”, Dredg took the stage and rocked it. There, I saw Ian Montone again, who remembered me and introduced me to Dino, the drummer from Dredg, as “the guy I told you about.” Not sure if that is good, but I’ll take it. Then, I struck up a conversation with Peter Orullian, Senior Global Marketing Manager for Xbox Live, whom I recognized from a panel earlier that day. We had a common love for Dream Theater and a distaste for all things “too cool and too indie”.

By 2:30am, I was back on my way to catch the shuttle back to my hotel. While waiting, Joran and I met the drummer for Attack! Attack!, a Welsh band on Rock Ridge Music that will be featured on the next Guitar Hero…

Overall, it was a great 3 days. Gnight Weird City.

Thursday, March 19: Day 2 began well. I was refreshed and ready to go to some sessions. SXSW is not only a music showcase, but it is also a conference and has a trade show floor. The sessions were geared towards music business professionals, offering panel discussions on topics from songwriting, using the Web to promote music, bands and brands and how to survive in the current economic climate. Every panelist was an accomplished professional with an impressive resume.

The first session I went to featured Todd and Jeff Brabec, twin brothers that have some helpful advice about how to make money through music publishing and songwriting. Jeff works in publishing for Chrysalis and Todd is a VP at ASCAP, so these guys know what they are talking about.

(Bad photo… I know…)

According to the Brabec Brothers, musicians can make a living (relatively) by honing their songwriting and submitting their music to TV shows, films and video games. I got a crash course in music contracts and publishing during this session and I learned a lot of things that I need to try out. Musicians should NEVER keep their music stowed away, if they want to make any money from it. They recommend that you get a copy of Variety or Hollywood Reporter and scout out which movies and shows are in production and that you send them your music. But a one time mailing won’t do: you must be persistent and do your homework to ensure you are submitting a relevant piece of music. So don’t send a metal song to “The Gilmore Girls” or a mellow love song to the music producer for “Saw 6″. They have a book out that covers everything they went over in the session called “Music, Money and Success“. I got it on the spot. :)

Then, Joran and I met up and enjoyed the 2.5 hour keynote address from music’s biggest gangsta, Quincy Jones. I won’t spend much time on this, as Joran should be posting the video clips soon, but man… This guy is a national treasure. In his keynote, he advocated music education (Jazz is being forgotten) and that the Federal Government needs to appoint a Secretary of the Arts to preserve our artistic heritage.

He ended by showcasing his 2 latest projects: Bianca Ryan (winner of America’s Got Talent with a SICK voice) and Alfredo Rodriguez (former Cuban national, now defected and a bad ass piano player).

Later that night, we were back on the street checking out the bands. The stand outs of the evening were Mother’s Anthem (from Austin) and 3 Kisses (from Austin).

Wednesday, March 18: I arrived to Austin by 9:30am, exhausted from the previous night’s St. Patty’s Day festivities. On the plane Flee and Jo Ellen (from WMNF and The Globe respectively) had the privilege to watch me zonk out with mouth agape for most of the 2 hour flight.

Excitement was high as soon as I deplaned. Dozens of people carrying guitar cases were scurrying about the terminal as if late for a very important meeting. I took a shuttle to the “Little” Ramada on the far ass north of town, where I would be staying during my visit. The driver ran me down the key places to visit in Austin (Bat Country, The Capitol), the great restaurants to visit (Guero’s) and that I shouldn’t walk the streets around my hotel alone at night. At first impression Austin seemed tired and run down, with haggard bums adorning every street corner.

Upon arriving to the hotel, I met two bands off the bat: Colombia’s Raton Perez and London’s Little Thief. I took advantage of my “journalist status” and did a quick interview with each:

Raton Perez (Screamo Heavy Metal)

Little Thief (Pop Punk ala Arctic Monkeys)

I hopped the shuttle to the Austin Convention Center and got my badge. I hooked up with Joran and T McG, who took us to the BAAMO showcase in South Austin. There we saw great sets from Have Gun, Will Travel, The Beauvilles and Mojo Gurus.

Time seems to fly without remorse as “South by”. 3pm became 8pm and I was hurrying to catch Raton Perez’s set at the Speakeasy. Unfortunately, Joran and I underestimated the distance and I missed their set. I did, however, get to hang out with Little Thief (had a few shots of Wild Turkey with Joe) for a bit before I went on my first walkabout downtown.

I ran into Rebekah Pulley, Rob Pastore and Max from Roppongi’s Ace at One 2 One. We walked around downtown together for a few minutes, eating some free Zone bars we got and commenting on how we wished our town was this hip. I spotted a hot dog cart and broke away from the team.

After a bit, I met up with Joran and we scoped out the Elephant Room, the coolest jazz club in Austin. Unfortunately, the band wasn’t cookin’, so after a brew we decided to meet up with Alejandro from CL Atlanta at the Cedar Door to catch the end of the Modern Skirts‘ set. We left and stood in line at Stubb’s to see the Decembrists, only to be turned away because Joran had a video camera. Instead, we serendipitously ended up at Emo’s where we caught 4 songs by Canada’s sludge rock princes Priestess. Hands down, the best band I saw at SXSW.

The end.

It took me a minute to readjust to driving on once-familiar roads and to which drawer the silverware was in, but I’m home. It’s my first day back at work, and I’ve re-told the stories countless times and am looking forward to doing it again next year. Plus, who knows, there’s always CMJ in October.

If you haven’t been following along, I suggest you read these posts in reverse order (1 – 9) and I’ll also be spending this week editing a ton of video from the bands and from Quincy Jones’ emotional keynote address. One especially tender moment I did not capture was a video tribute to Jones’ good friend Ray Charles that forced the legendary producer to turn away from the podium in tears. 

If there’s anything I learned from covering the entire week of South by, it’s a sentiment that was expressed by Mr. Jones (”Q” to his friends) and that is, “You’ve gotta go to know.”

I used to scoff at industry panels and workshops, but I’ve learned (and forgive me if I’m a little late to this party) that if you open yourself and participate, it’s not the panel that presents any new idea, it’s that you can have new ideas by participating in focused and elevated dialogue. Innovation is not handed to you at an industry conference, but it is born there.     

The 2009 Interactive Keynote with Virginia Heffernan and James Powderly.

And to the detractors at the NY Times that implied that marketing competed for attention with the music, I say, “that’s the point.” The parties would not exist without them. The bands themselves will soon be indebted to individual sponsors and be forced to sell ads around their liner notes.

And, finally, a shout out to all my new friends that I made in Austin: Travis McGuire (T. McG), Dave Schacherl, Monica Armmendariz, Sheppa, Iggy, Starsailor, Hannah (Montana), Logan Youree and Michael Bartnett at the Austin Chronicle, Amy Wanke at SXSW and to my old friends Chris Ledwith and Brian Austin (of Ivison). Thanks for everything guys. See you next time!

Click Here to View the Full Set

Around 3 p.m. yesterday, I caught Rec Center and King of Spain at the New Granada showcase at Ginger Man Pub. I grabbed a bite with Flee, Laura, John McNicholas as well as Scott Harrell and Mike Delach from the REAX crew. So awesome that the conference was bookended by Tampa-centric showcases. Maybe we can add a Mohawk Bomb showcase to the roster next year?

Unfortunately, I had to jet before Hankshaw took the stage in order to catch Flatstock by 6 p.m. Flatstock is a quarterly exhibit that features artists, concert posters and prints for sale. I got to meet Jared from Mexican Chocolate. I’m a big fan of this guy’s work for the Mars Volta and I picked up a couple more prints for my collection.

Now here’s where my heart starts beating. I left an hour early to ensure I got a good spot for PJ Harvey and John Parrish’s set at Stubbs. I got there in plenty of time - the Indigo Girls and Third Eye Blind fans had no interest whatsoever, so I was able to wriggle my way down front. The only downside – enduring an entire set by Razorlight. Wow.

PJ Harvey on stage at Stubb’s. Photo courtesy of Carol Copfer.

In a rare US appearance, Polly Jean Harvey took the stage looking like a straight-jacketed geisha, and delivered a set of mostly new material - at turns crying, laughing and screaming - one minute delivering lines like “there’s no more laughter in the garden,” with a tiny, childlike voice and the next, snarling “stick it up your fucking ass,” with an empowered roar. The crowd responded with riotous screams and applause, and she humbly, quietly thanked them each time. When she announced that the next song would be their last, the audience loudly protested, and she tried to explain that everyone was being kept to strict time slots. To the chants of “come back soon,” she had no reply.

Afterward, I ran into John Barker and Jennie from MerchGirl. They were headed down an alleyway to catch the DJ duo L.A. Riots. They asked if I’d like to tag along, but I was still a bit shellshocked from the whole PJ Harvey thing and needed to walk it off in the night air for a bit.

I ended up being drawn into The Parish (where I’d seen Ivison perform earlier in the week) by a heavy-sounding band with a saxophone. I stuck around for one of IrRadio’s tunes. Overall, impressive, but they lost me with an extended jam, so I moved along.

The Beauvilles‘ 6 p.m. headlining showcase at B.D. Riley’s had gotten moved, and I was well on track to at least making an appearance at the rescheduled rooftop show at The Wave. Creative Loafing was the official band sponsor, so I at least needed to show up and buy a couple drinks.

The Wave was a small little tourist trap of a bar, and you had to force your way to the back of the room, then squeeze between the sound board and the left side of the stage in order to access the stairway to the second level. This level was also standing room only, and I was greeted upstairs by none other than Shawn Beauville himself.

“You’re just in time to see the band from New Zealand with a #1 single that just got signed to Warner Brothers,” he said.

I actually couldn’t tell at first whether he was being sarcastic, but after Midnight Youth played their first song, it was obvious to everyone that these guys were tight as hell (If you can imagine a cross between Spacehog and Night Ranger). Yeah, maybe not the greatest example, but you have to give their new single, “All on Our Own,” at least one listen.

Our boys were under some palpable pressure to follow up with a really strong performance and it didn’t help that the patio was so small that the sound man ordered everyone ”away from the stage” to do the changeover. Once in position, Shawn wasted no time, immediately taking control of the sound check, and starting to get everyone back into the room for the impending rock show. Before they began, Shawn leaned down to hand me his camera and said, “We’re going to wreck shit.”

And wreck it they did.

The sound carried off the roof and filled 6th Street. Shawn snarled lyrics into the mic about Ybor City and Tampa cab rides, and girls in cowboy boots and sundresses screamed right back at him. The guys in the crowd were banging their heads with half-closed eyes. Shawn offered CDs to the crowd for donations, but the dancefloor was so tight that we had to form an assembly line of money to the front of the stage and an assembly line of CDs back out to the crowd. Eventually, as Shawn was off tangled in cables atop the kick drum, soloing with a bottle of Lone Star, John yelled, “Fuck it,” and handed the entire box of discs to the girls in the front row, who proceeded to fling them into the screaming crowd, who all dove and fought for the discs as if they were candy. I wondered where the rest of the Tampa people were at, but found out the next morning that the BAAMO crew couldn’t even get in because the fire marshall stopped letting people into the building.

When the show was over, the sweat-drenched band signed autographs and took photos with the crowd until the last-call lights came on. As I left, I heard one of the band members say, “Best. Set. Ever.”

I considered this a pretty good note to end, so I skipped the much-hyped Monotonix show that had by that time spilled out into the street. There’s always next year. 

I got back to the house and packed my bags for the 8 a.m. cab ride.

And, yes, there’s more to come.
@jorantampa

Last night around 9 p.m. Ivan and I hailed a cab into downtown and ended up riding in with the tour manager and guitar tech for 90’s rockers Smile Empty Soul (”I do it for the drugs”). When our driver dropped us off in front of Lambert’s to catch a set by UK artists Little Thief, I realized I’d left my badge back at the house. It’s been a very long week.

When I finally got back into town, we hoofed it over to La Zona Rosa where we narrowly missed Camera Obscura (still pissed about that), but got to see a couple acoustic songs by Scottish phenoms The Proclaimers.

Dinosaur Jr. with Kevin Drew (Broken Social Scene) at Cedar Street Courtyard.

I wanted Ivan to check out Red Eye Fly (Tampa residents, try to imagine a smaller, more evil version of Skipper’s Smokehouse) and try a pint of my new favorite beer, Magic Hat #9. As we got in line, we heard the final strains and “Good night Austin!” of Metallica’s closing number over at Stubbs. It seems the DJ Shadow billing was a ruse and they played that secret set after all. Waiting for a drink at the bar, we met Little Stevie of Springsteen and Sopranos fame, who was hosting the show. One of his bands, The Cocktail Sippers was plying their all-girl garage craft on stage, and as they would stop to catch their breath between songs, he would look toward the stage and shout, “Go! What are you waiting for?” Apparently the years of Springsteen tutelage has rubbed off on him.

Little Stevie says, “GO!”

We then dipped out to Maggie Mae’s rooftop to catch Esser (also from the UK) before I went to Cedar Street to see Dinosaur Jr., and Ivan ventured to Buffalo Billiards to catch a set by Dredg.

The Dinosaur set was loud, crowded and amazing. The band was joined by a guest vocalist Kevin Drew from Broken Social Scene for “The Wagon.” I’ll have to do some research and find out who that was. Ivan and I eventually met back up and made a field recording of the walk down 6th St. from Congress to Red River. This sounds really cool on headphones, and I’m sure we’ll post it here eventually.

At the end of the night we met Ryan, the drummer for Attack Attack, and I sent Ivan off on the trolley back to his hotel. He flew out this morning. This is my last day. Detailed FINAL REPORT tomorrow. For now, I’m off to see PJ Harvey at Stubbs! 

More to come
@jorantampa

On Wednesday, March 18, 2009, The Dicks were inducted into the Austin Music Awards Hall of Fame. David Yow presented the award and then joined them onstage for “Wheelchair Epidemic.” Here’s the video: