Thanks everybody! I slept most of the day yesterday after traveling back east to Jacksonville. I also have notes from Saturday, but 7 days of walking miles around Austin started to catch up with me later in the week.
Working on the review this week. Still traveling, but will be adding some of those bands / artists I mentioned up there to our Spotify playlist.
SXSW overall was a really epic time and eye-opening experience for me. I’m excited for the next chapter.
@toastedcarrot I’ll add app to the list of upcoming features, and see what I can do!
I still have to look into the “nested comments” feature you mentioned, i think it’s a great idea. Just haven’t had a chance to try and implement it yet.
Glad you like it, your participation is greatly appreciated!
I remember when Dead on the Deck was free. That was when I was 19 or 20, and there were like 50 people who showed up. I was the annoying college kid shouting out songs for them to play and they actually played them sometimes back then. They also used to play at Juanitas for free on Thursday nights.
It got busier and busier over the years and in 2019 or 2020 they made it $5.
Personally, I’m cool with the increased cover charge. It’s supply and demand in action. The band needs to get paid,...
I remember when Dead on the Deck was free. That was when I was 19 or 20, and there were like 50 people who showed up. I was the annoying college kid shouting out songs for them to play and they actually played them sometimes back then. They also used to play at Juanitas for free on Thursday nights.
It got busier and busier over the years and in 2019 or 2020 they made it $5.
Personally, I’m cool with the increased cover charge. It’s supply and demand in action. The band needs to get paid, they’re up there every Wednesday for over 10 years, I’m sure that as they age life continues to become more complex and difficult to make those Wednesday night shows every single week.
Getting them an extra $2 per head could be enough to keep the series going another 5 years. Good things don’t last forever, unfortunately.
Increasing the cover will also make it more people who are there for the music rather than the social hour. It will shift the crowd older, and older people have more money to spend on booze and tip the bartenders, who are also out there every week dealing with the hippie social hour.
Dead on the Deck is now $7 on Wednesdays. I love the Reckoning, and have I gone to Poho almost every Wednesday for two years, but I hardly even have $5 in cash every week as it is.
Since I have been going regularly for the past couple years, I have noticed a bit of a demographic switch. Back when I was 19 and 20 (lol) the deck was full of people that were there for the music (myself and friends included). I feel like this year, the majority of people who go (who are around my age; seniors in...
Dead on the Deck is now $7 on Wednesdays. I love the Reckoning, and have I gone to Poho almost every Wednesday for two years, but I hardly even have $5 in cash every week as it is.
Since I have been going regularly for the past couple years, I have noticed a bit of a demographic switch. Back when I was 19 and 20 (lol) the deck was full of people that were there for the music (myself and friends included). I feel like this year, the majority of people who go (who are around my age; seniors in college, just graduated, ect.) are going to the deck to socialize rather than for their weekly Dead.
Of course I am so happy to see DOTD so popular, but it pages the question if it is for the right reasons. Older deck goers have you noticed this change over the past year? and what do we think about the $2 price change?
I’ve got one for the people here. Sorry it took me so long to chime in. I’m a big fan of Tyler Childers indeed. Great tunes mentioned here so far.
Check out “Deadman’s Curve.” This whole Red Barn Radio album is simply fantastic. Has many of what I consider to be the best Tyler Childers songs on it.
<p class=”p1″><span class=”s1″>Mike Brown’s “Bridging the Gap” Podcast is an unbiased and all encompassing talk show featuring artist, councilman, and social influencer, Mike Brown. He speaks on a range of different topics -most recently, the different perceptions of churchgoers and non-church goers, and what has affected their relationship with church.<span class=”Apple-converted-space”> </span>This is quite the topic in this day and age given that more people are starting to lean towards spirituality, and exploring that realm of faith be it through religion or other spiritual practices. On episode two, Mike spoke on the leadership of men in the community AND in the church, which has been, and needs to be a hot topic in not only the black community, but in the male community overall. I’m very impressed by this podcast because it is a well-known artist in the city, that is becoming a true agent of change in his community by speaking on topics that are much deeper than music-Mike and his rotating cast speak on matters of the mind, body and soul, in a way for listeners of all ages, sections, and creeds to understand. Tap in the MB TV on YouTube and check out Michael Brown’s bridging the gap podcast.</span></p> https://youtube.com/@MBTV843?si=AhQ2OnkSA_6qUBRt...
<p class=”p1″><span class=”s1″>Mike Brown’s “Bridging the Gap” Podcast is an unbiased and all encompassing talk show featuring artist, councilman, and social influencer, Mike Brown. He speaks on a range of different topics -most recently, the different perceptions of churchgoers and non-church goers, and what has affected their relationship with church.<span class=”Apple-converted-space”> </span>This is quite the topic in this day and age given that more people are starting to lean towards spirituality, and exploring that realm of faith be it through religion or other spiritual practices. On episode two, Mike spoke on the leadership of men in the community AND in the church, which has been, and needs to be a hot topic in not only the black community, but in the male community overall. I’m very impressed by this podcast because it is a well-known artist in the city, that is becoming a true agent of change in his community by speaking on topics that are much deeper than music-Mike and his rotating cast speak on matters of the mind, body and soul, in a way for listeners of all ages, sections, and creeds to understand. Tap in the MB TV on YouTube and check out Michael Brown’s bridging the gap podcast.</span></p> https://youtube.com/@MBTV843?si=AhQ2OnkSA_6qUBRt
I went to “After Hours @ Azur” this past Saturday and it was a somewhat refreshing new vibe. Crowd is 25+ ( I don’t think this is mandated, but just the way it is), you have to buy a ticket to get in, and its a mix of European/wealthy CHS people bopping to house music. Pretty cool. Not too crazy, lots of well dressed and well behaved people. LOTS of dudes with Christian Dior sunglasses and crossbody bags (yeah, very, very European). Music was nothing mind-blowing, but I was pleased to not...
I went to “After Hours @ Azur” this past Saturday and it was a somewhat refreshing new vibe. Crowd is 25+ ( I don’t think this is mandated, but just the way it is), you have to buy a ticket to get in, and its a mix of European/wealthy CHS people bopping to house music. Pretty cool. Not too crazy, lots of well dressed and well behaved people. LOTS of dudes with Christian Dior sunglasses and crossbody bags (yeah, very, very European). Music was nothing mind-blowing, but I was pleased to not hear the BUHM BUHM BUHM horns between every few songs. By day, Azur is a higher end restaurant just off lower King. I’ve also been hearing a lot about “Loose Ends”. Looks like they’ve been doing shows at Neon Tiger, and also a very 25+ crowd. Maybe this is because you need to buy tickets to go in so you have to be somewhat put together to remember to buy a ticket? Lol. Anyways, I’m digging these house music sets in cool restaurants. Good way for them to utilize the space and make money. They bring a crowd out that I dont usually see… maybe people who love to dine their who don’t usually go out would go, and it keeps things local…. you’ve gotta know to go.
So what are some restaurants you’d love to see late night, house sets at?
-Xiao Bao would be a time… but it’s a little too exposed.
-Basic Kitchen… especially with the outdoor spot out back
-Pink Bellies — Love the woodwork and lights in here, clear the chairs… make the pass a bar.. bada bing bada boom
Some of you may have already seen this, but I wanted to reach out and inform everybody directly that I have made the decision to move to Austin, TX by October or November of this year.
There are many things factoring into this decision, and I’m going to explain them all here.
Backstory
For a long time, I have been faced with the conundrum of Extra Chill being popular locally, but still not making any money because the local music scene is so small. It wasn’t until I discovered...
Hello team,
Some of you may have already seen this, but I wanted to reach out and inform everybody directly that I have made the decision to move to Austin, TX by October or November of this year.
There are many things factoring into this decision, and I’m going to explain them all here.
Backstory
For a long time, I have been faced with the conundrum of Extra Chill being popular locally, but still not making any money because the local music scene is so small. It wasn’t until I discovered SEO (search engine optimization) that I was able to make a living off this. I wrote hundreds of articles about “evergreen” music history topics and all of sudden we started to make money.
I used that money to hire the team, and invested in the Charleston music scene with the vision of making it grow. This was working very well up until September of 2023, when Google released the “Helpful Content Update”. 70% of our traffic vanished overnight along with the income that was funding the entire project.
At our peak, Extra Chill was bringing in 350,000 visitors per month from all over the world. South Carolina was unfortunately nowhere near the top of the list of “most visited states.” Extra Chill was essentially an SEO-funded non-profit for the Charleston music scene. That phase, sadly, has come to an end.
September – March
I then spent 6 months cutting as many costs as I can and working as hard as I could. I wrote hundreds more articles, built an AI site, published 500 articles on that. Things were starting to turn around and I thought by summer/fall we would be golden.
However, Google struck again earlier this month, just as I was leaving for SXSW. Extra Chill took another 50% hit, and Sarai’s site was close to eliminated from the search results. Google is currently in the process of killing off small, independent publishers, and spam sites, and Extra Chill has been lumped in with that, unfortunately.
Things are currently looking bleak in our bank account, despite the external appearance of success, and the time has come to reassess our business strategy.
SXSW – AUSTIN
Arriving in Austin, feeling broke and defeated, being handed the media badge was a bit of an eye-opener. I might be going broke, but it doesn’t negate the work we had already done in Charleston. Our years of work in our small scene is what opened the doors in Austin, 1200 miles away. This was step one in my realization that I need to move there.
The entire week was filled with moments like this, because of connections that have been made through Extra Chill in Charleston. There are several examples I could list off here but the point is, Extra Chill already has a presence in Austin based on people we know who moved there and still work in and/or play music.
Additionally, the music industry is absolutely crippled by Live Nation and other corporate interests. The door is WIDE OPEN. Rolling Stone is bought and sold. Billboard is bought and sold. Extra Chill is scrappy and independent and we give real, first-hand accounts of our experiences. We have a real opportunity to rise up as an important voice in independent music.
This is what is valued by fans. We’ve seen this in Charleston, but I’ve also seen the same thing in the much larger, more established community of Austin (which essentially represents the national music scene). With the rise of tech, people are really looking to read human thoughts and opinions from someone who was actually there and thinking about it.
What that means for Charleston
We will continue to cover the Charleston music scene and host events in Charleston as we currently do. Most of our output will remain the same. This means, if you write concert reviews or interview people, your role at Extra Chill will remain the same.
@qrisg and @indigxld will become my two main people for events. All content will continue to be filtered through me. The main difference is that I’ll be writing about Austin instead of Charleston, while y’all will carry the banner in Charleston. We are going to stop doing it under the flag of “based in Charleston, SC.” Instead, we will be “founded in Charleston, SC,” but will cover the scene anywhere.
This means our content will be mostly concert reviews, interviews, and in-depth local features. This is basically what we’re already doing, however we will be putting an end to the roundup, as we are looking to attract a national readership. Our events calendar will be redesigned so that users can filter it by city and community members can add their own events, further driving incentive to join our fortress for independent music.
The whole ethos of Extra Chill is to bring people together under a common love for music. We have already impacted the scene in Charleston a lot. We will not lose that, nor will I be abandoning Charleston completely. I have a house there and I won’t be selling it, so I’ll be back and forth when it makes sense.
Closing Thoughts
Thank you all for what you’ve contributed to Extra Chill thus far. Y’all have each brought a unique perspective to the team, and have all made super valuable contributions that have helped us reach the level of recognition that we currently have locally.
I am looking forward to this next evolution both personally and professionally. I have been in Charleston 13 years and I’m ready for a change in my personal life, for various reasons. Charleston has me feeling like I’m inside of a box at this point in my life, and I really just have to do this.
Much love to the whole team. I know that I’ve been changing things left and right lately, and I appreciate your patience as we navigate these evolutions. Please let me know if anything outlined above is confusing, frustrating, or if you have any ideas.
of Montreal dropped “Yung Hearts Bleed Free” earlier this month. A track that utilizes the full capacity of synth and eclectic effects. Heavily draped in an 80s French pop blanket even next to their edgy discography. A casual yet psychedelic” call and response” tune.
chris, thank u for the sticker. it looks great on my water bottle!
glad u enjoyed Austin.
some people who live here talk about the music scene got worse after Covid. that might be true but your experiences during SXSW show that there is still plenty of live music magic to be found in Austin. especially during SXSW
Noah Kahan does suck and I won’t be going to High Water this year because I don’t want to pay $400 for a ticket to see some 25 year old social media darling. Not worth the money anymore.
How do we go from My Morning Jacket just a few short years ago to Noah Kahan in 2024? How can those two acts even compare?
The saddest part is …. Noah Kahan’s inflated popularity will sell more tickets than an epic band like My Morning Jacket.
RIP to High Water Fest. Had a good run. Live Nation strikes...
Noah Kahan does suck and I won’t be going to High Water this year because I don’t want to pay $400 for a ticket to see some 25 year old social media darling. Not worth the money anymore.
How do we go from My Morning Jacket just a few short years ago to Noah Kahan in 2024? How can those two acts even compare?
The saddest part is …. Noah Kahan’s inflated popularity will sell more tickets than an epic band like My Morning Jacket.
RIP to High Water Fest. Had a good run. Live Nation strikes again.
