So back in March, a bunch of Ivy League bands hit the USA to peddle their wares at the annual BBQ + music fest, South by Southwest in Austin, Texas. There was laughter, joy and maybe even a few tears as lives were changed FOREVER. OK, that might be a slight exaggeration, but hey, everyone had fun, played awesome sets + saw some cool bands. Unfortunately we may or may not have left one band behind. Youth Group were last seen in New York City eating pastrami on rye + playing sold-out shows at Pianos. We hope they find their way home at some point…
Here is some photographic evidence, albeit not of the highest photographic quality, of Ivy League at SXSW:
YOUTH GROUP PLAYED A SHOW
Actually, they played quite a few shows, and wow, they played them well. This is them playing at a Chop Shop Music showcase. It was the last night of SXSW so there was much party-time fun after this show, including a killer drunk + disorderly set by And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead at a SPIN mag party. That’s a pic of them below. A very small pic.
JAMES MATHIESON VS TOBY + DANNY
Grizzly Bear played an amazing show in a church. It was a very popular show so there was a very long line to get in. Certain Ivy Leaguers may or may not have jumped said queue to stand in front of James Mathieson. Thanks James. He then did an interview for Nova with Toby + Danny from Youth Group as everyone queued.
Josh Pyke also took a photo of Toby + Danny being interviewed. Pat from Youth Group was mildly amused.
RED RIDERS ROCKED OUT
This was the guys playing at the Aussie BBQ where all the Ivy League bands showcased alongside other excellent Australian bands like The Drones + My Disco. They also played an odd party where hairdressers were on hand to do hair while people watched bands.
JOSH PYKE HAS INTERESTING FANS
Here’s Josh playing a showcase in a slightly swanky hotel bar. There was an old dude up the front singing along to EVERY song. Funny thing was he didn’t actually know the words. We give him a gold star for effort though.
WHEN GOOD SQUIRRELS GO BAD
When we caught up with our friends The Boat People in Austin, we noticed Robin had a funny scratch on his hand. When he told us that a squirrel attacked him, we scoffed + told him he was dreamin’. Then he showed us this pic:
Apparently in LA, he graciously decided to share some pie with the cute, furry lil guy. Alas, that wasn’t enough for the homicidal creature - it wanted flesh, and took a flying leap towards unsuspecting Robin’s outstretched hand. Impressive… and vicious.
April 22nd, 2009
Who likes GUITAR BOATS?
This week at Ivy League headquarters we have been busy filming Josh Pyke’s latest video ‘Make You Happy‘ which, incidentally, features a rather spiffing guitar boat.
In case anyone is concerned that we used a radioactive ray beam to grow Josh and his guitar ala ‘Honey, I Blew Up The Kid’ (the powerful and compelling sequel to ‘Honey, I Shrunk the Kids’) we would just like to confirm that while the guitar is large, Josh remains at his normal size and will not be stomping around the city Godzilla style. Although truthfully, we have nothing to back this up either way.
Giant or not, Josh Pyke WILL be in the city today, playing an instore gig at the Virgin Megastore Sydney (MEGAstore…coincidence? that’s all we’re saying…) Josh will sign copies and play y’all some sweet tunes from his latest album ‘Chimney’s Afire‘ which was released last Saturday. Come down to 343 George St at 1pm and maybe Josh will impart some top secret information about the guitar boat? And because everyone loves free stuff, the first 50 people to buy an album from the store will also receive a FREE poster. Loves it.
October 10th, 2008
So it’s Mairi the work experience kid talking here, fresh from my second day inside the living, breathing organism that is Ivy League, ready to dish on what exactly goes on around these parts.
Yesterday we caught a taxi that took a suspiciously long ’short-cut’ over to The Factory in Newtown, to watch Josh Pyke film the video for his latest single, ‘The Lighthouse Song’.
Now aside from the fact that I was able to make most of my work-experience chums insanely jealous (whilst I’m on set for a JP video, they’re fetching coffee, dissecting test-tube rats, and sweeping the floors of hairdressers), I’ve got to say it was quite a bundle of fun being on set.
The set, of course, looked great - the artwork on the projection screen was made by a Sydney team called Greedy Hen - and I’ve got the pictures to prove it.
As any good music-type would know, shoot days are long days. Luckily, though, we had plenty of entertainment for the mean time - in the form of hair-teasing that clearly saluted the glory days of 80’s metal.
Today I also came across this clip from The Mess Hall (that’s an Ivy League band, by the way. Represent.) that I thought was so particularly awesome I’d post it too.
(I’m actually too un-technologically capable so I’ll just post the link.. here).
August 7th, 2008
Here at Ivy League, we’re currently baking fruit cakes and polishing the good silver in preparation for our massive ten year anniversary celebrations. We want more than anything for you to partake in the festivities with us though, which is why we’re letting you in on a little secret – from midday this Friday, September 28 until midnight that very same night, you’ll be able to get pre-sale tickets to the two ‘Ten Years In The Trenches’ shows happening at Sydney’s Metro Theatre on November 2 and 3. In case you weren’t looking when the Ivy League jet flew overhead and wrote details of the shows in the clouds, here’s who’s playing:
Friday 2 November
The Vines, Youth Group, The Silents, The Monarchs & Hoolahan
Saturday 3 November
Red Riders, Josh Pyke, 78 Saab, The City Lights & Peabody
Both gigs are all ages and will sell-out, so if you want to celebrate with us, click this link after midday on Friday to get yourself to the Ticketek pre-sale page. We can’t guarantee there’ll be any fruit cake left if you wait until tickets go on sale to the general public on October 2…
September 26th, 2007
