SXSW seems to grow larger each year. What began as a small get-together of industry insiders and aspiring bands angling for a break has turned into an unwieldy, bloated clusterfuck of corporate sponsorship, headlined by arena-packing artists hoping to glom a little secondhand cool. But beneath all that surface bullshit, the heart of the little-festival-that-was is still beating. 

Look — we love Green Day and Paramore as much as the next guys and gals, but are they really hurting in the promotional department? Instead, we’ve decided to highlight a handful of smaller artists performing on each day that you might find simpatico. Of course, with over 2,000 bands performing throughout the week, we’re undoubtedly missing out on some great acts too. Reblog and let us know who we need to see while we’re in Austin this week!

Tuesday 3/12

Driver Friendly (Red 7 Patio, 9:00PM)
Austin’s own eclectic pop-punk-with-horns band Driver Friendly  — you might remember them as Driver F — signed with Hopeless Records last fall, but other than a few local shows (including one opening for The Front Bottoms) things have seemed quiet in their camp as of late. Turns out, they’ve been in the studio — fingers crossed we’ll get a sneak preview of the results this week.

The Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band (Bungalow, 10:00PM)
These Warped Tour vets’ stock in trade is raucous country blues, played on vintage guitars, washboards and plastic buckets. We can’t think of any better way to get into the Austin mood on the first night of the festival than hootin’ and hollerin’ with The Reverend.

MC Lars (Flamingo Cantina, 1:10AM)
Nerd-rapper MC Lars might feel like a throwback to 2005, but if popular attention has drifted over the last few years, it hasn’t slowed Lars down — he’s continued to steadily release new material, including an Edgar Allan Poe-themed EP last year. Here’s a chance to see what he’s been up to while you weren’t looking.

Other acts we’re looking forward to seeing on Tuesday: Jenny Owen Youngs; Macklemore & Ryan Lewis; Tegan & Sara.

Wednesday 3/13

Laura Stevenson And The Cans (Holy Mountain Backyard, 9:00PM; Barbarella Patio, 12:30AM)
One-time Bomb The Music Industry! keyboardist Laura Stevenson might be a small lady, but she’s got a humongous voice, and isn’t afraid to show it off in concert. Her third LP, Wheel, is due out next month; the recently released advance track, “L-DOPA”, might be the best we’ve heard from her yet.

Twin Falls (Central Presbyterian Church, 8:30PM)
OK, so Chris Carrabba isn’t exactly a small fry. But we’d be lying if we said we weren’t super stoked for the debut of his new band, featuring Suzie Zeldin of The Narrative and Ben Homola of Bad Books and Shone (if you could major in “playing drums in side projects”, Homola would have his Ph.D. by now). We’ve only heard one song so far, titled “Scraping Up The Pieces”, but its mixture of bouncy, folky Americana and Carrabba’s soaring vocals sure has us intrigued.

June Divided (Burnside’s Tavern, 10:00PM)
Straightforward rock music might not be in vogue right now, but June Divided are proof that there will always be room for rock done right. Their live set earned them a stint on Warped Tour, and slots as a local opener for bands like Further Seems Forever and The Almost.

White Lung (Holy Mountain, 1:20AM)
Canadian quartet White Lung marry modern punk and hardcore with personal politics and a fearlessness that recall the riot grrrl 90’s. Vocalist Mish Way sports a ferocious roar, but it’s backed with intelligence and empathy, as she proved on our 100 Words Or Less Podcast a few weeks ago.

Other acts we’re looking forward to seeing on Wednesday: A Life Once Lost; Barcelona; Paramore; Skinny Lister; So Many Dynamos; The Specials; Twenty One Pilots; Vacationer; Waxahatchee.

Thursday 3/14

Topshelf Records / Count Your Lucky Stars Showcase Day 1 (Pearl Street Co-Op: 2:00PM)
Empire! Empire!. Joie de Vivre. Caravels. Weatherbox. Kind Of Like Spitting. Look Mexico. Pentimento. Candy Hearts. And that’s just half the acts performing at day one of what might be SXSW’s strongest showcase event. You could be excused for spending your entire day there; I know I’ll be tempted to.

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PropertyOfZack met up with June Divided mid-way through Warped Tour to film a new Session. Check out the band performing a stripped down version of “Drive” below by clicking “Read More!”

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From Melissa Menago:

What a trip! The last few days felt like quite the home stretch but I’m pretty sure we’re all sad Warped is over. Before heading north again, we played three dates in sunny Florida. And they were all hot. Very hot. But also a blast.

In Orlando, I had the honor of being casted by the Keep A Breast foundation. They work to create breast cancer awareness among young people by providing methods of prevention and support. We’ve had the pleasure of playing a few acoustic sets at the Keep A Breast Tent throughout our run on Warped, so it was a really amazing experience for me! 

After Florida, we hit Charlotte, NC and the heat didn’t let up there either. It was a brutal 11 hour drive to the venue but somehow, we pulled through. By the time we hit Cincinnati, we were drained- I almost even missed our set after passing out in our RV. I don’t even remember falling asleep but the next thing I know, my phone is going off and Chris is like “where are you?! we’re about to go on!” I hightailed it down to the venue in time, but man, that day was when the exhaustion finally hit me. 

Luckily, I was able to grab some extra zzz’s before we got to our last stop on the tour- Milwaukee. It was such a great venue, and the weather cooled down just enough. We had a beautiful last day on tour: we caught Yellowcard’s set from an arial view behind the stage, the showers were decent, and the crowd for our set was great. It was a perfect day to say goodbye.

We were exhausted from the after party so we crashed in a nearby hotel. The last thing I remember thinking before drifting off to sleep was “we did it. we made it through Warped Tour alive. i’m .. so…. happy…” 

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From Melissa Menago:

It’s been a hot past couple of days as we’ve been venturing further and further down the east coast. Current Location: West Palm Beach, FL. Current temperature: one million degrees- or at least it feels that way, and its only 10 am.

We played Orlando yesterday and that was pretty awesome. We had a good crowd because we had played Orlando’s Florida Music Festival this past April. Since the drive was only a short three hours, the Warped Tour BBQ last night was insane!  Me, Chris, and our TM hit the hay pretty early, but the rest of the group had a wild night- apparently there was some glow stick throwing party with Transit, and Kevin Lyman, himself. Part of me is pretty bummed I missed that, but my voice is thanking me that I did

I’ve been trying really hard to keep my voice and lungs healthy- these conditions are brutal and lack of sleep, humidity, and overuse can take a serious toll, but so far, by the time we hit the stage, I’ve been alright. There’s also been some (not too serious) injuries amongst the group. Lenny has hit himself not once, but twice, in the head with his own bass (we can laugh at that one). Keith cut his hand on his cymbal. Chris had a crazy nosebleed from being in the sun too long, and our merch guy, Kevin, had his leg attacked by fire ants. But surprisingly, everyone is okay and in good spirits- I think they’re all still stoked on the glow stick party.

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June Divided have been out on Warped Tour, and the band will be keeping track of their journey on PropertyOfZack with a new Warped Blog. Check out the band’s first update below and come back for two more!

From Melissa Menago:

Life on the road has been crazy! Warped Tour is definitely not for the weary. We were in Virginia Beach today, and so far, it was my favorite stop on the tour. (Don’t get me wrong, all the stops were great! But the layout of this venue was really cool, the weather was beautiful, and the showers in the venue were clean. That’s all a girl can ask for.) 

Another reason why today was so special because we’ve never played in Virginia before. So when we took the stage at 2:20 today, there were like, zero people watching, since no one here knew who we were. By the end of the first song, there were tons of kids! That’s the coolest part of being a new band- there’s definitely satisfaction in winning over a new city when you’re the newbies. It’s a good feeling to see their faces, watch them clap along- it’s connecting with people you don’t even know. Today was definitely a success.

We met so many cool kids on this tour so far- true music fans who trek through rain, heat, humidity and all to hear their favorite bands and discover new music. It’s been a pleasure to meet everyone one of them. Today, a fan gave me a necklace with a bullet charm on it. She had never heard of the band before seeing us on the stage today, but she said when she heard us play Bullet, she knew she had to give it to me. I’ve never had a fan do anything like that before, so that was pretty damn cool

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Melissa from June Divided was kind enough to write PropertyOfZack a great Track-By-Track guide for the band’s new album, Backbone, which is coming out next week. Check out the guide below!

WAVES
We’ve encountered a few uphill battles when it comes to the way people have perceived us in the past year and a half as a band. Some people are only focused on superficial details. ‘Waves’ was written as somewhat of a response to that, which we felt was an appropriate way to kick off the album.
It’s a pretty technical song on the record, which was also aimed at the people who’ve seen us as a band that we’re not. While it sounds like a serious song, the track came about as a way of poking fun at the issue.  We’re big Thrice fans, and there’s some influence in this song.
Lenny is not only the new guy, but also the bassist. We like to give him a hard time. He has so many great fills in this song, that he was uh, super proud of. So during playback when recording, our producer, Alec, would always mute his fills, and he’d always get upset. Hilarious, and it worked every time.

THE WAY WE STARTED OUT
Life is insane. Sometimes you need to figure out exactly where it got crazy, and if it’s your fault, then own up to it.
This song was a lot of work! Chris and Alec had some fun on this one. We tried to establish some of Chris’ voice as a lead guitar player by using some stereo-delay effects featured in this song.  Keith and Alec also worked really hard on the drums for this track, laboring over every hit. Now we all can’t stop air-drumming when we hear this son.
This track shows our serious Jimmy Eat World love. Those guys are definitely one of our biggest influences.

DRIVE
This was the hardest song for me to sing in the studio. The lyrics are very near and dear to me. 
Writing it was also a pretty interesting process. Chris wrote some rhythm guitar parts, and I wrote some leads - it’s rare, but sometimes we swap like that. This is also the first song that Lenny wrote bass for. Before Lenny stepped in, we had it hanging around, unfinished for a while.
We were pretty minimal with production and recording when it came to this album as opposed to our EP.  We’re inspired by bands that have stuck to the ‘less is more’ concept, and we want try and keep that alive. Drive is a pretty good example of that.
There was a blizzard in the studio when we recorded this song. Pretty funny when the lyrics to the chorus are “Here comes the rain.”

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Warped Tour is running strong in the summer heat, and PropertyOfZack is stoked to bring you another brand new Playlist from two of our favorite bands, Bayside and Man Overboard in addition to a young band called June Divided. Check out the Playlists and listen to the songs on Spotify while reading everyone’s thoughts!

(Click on image to listen in Spotify)
Next time the sun is out, its above 70 degrees and you are lounging with a refreshing drink in your hand, press play on this playlist and relax your life away. Every song has a female vocalist and has a light and pleasant disposition. Start it off with the ultimate summer 2012 song “The Only Place” by Best Coast & you might want to move to California by the end of that song. - Nick Ghanbarian

(Click on image to listen in Spotify)
Bad Religion - Recipe For Hate
It was the summer of 1998 when I first heard Bad Religion. My brother, who is 10 years older than I am, had moved out. But with each visit, he would drop off a few bands to check out. Everything from The Beastie Boys to Saves The Day, Sick Of It All, NOFX, and everything in between. At the time there was only one kid in my elementary school who listened to punk rock and that was my neighbor. We would skate out front of our house and blast these CDs my brother had left behind. We caught wind of Warped Tour and the bands that were on it. It seemed like heaven and we had to go! Bad news was that we were only eleven and no way our over protective Italian mothers were going to let us go. My brother showed up the morning of the Warped date in Philly (when it actually was in Philly) and says, “Get in the car we are going to the mall”. We walk into ticket master in MACYS and he buys 2 tickets to Warped Tour and says “Don’t tell mom”. We got on the road to Philly and he hands me his CD book and says to me that this thing was the bible. He had EVERY album. He told me to pick something out. At the time I had never heard Bad Religion, so I picked Recipe For Hate based on how awesome the album title was. I’m glad that I did. I will never forget the way the beginning riff sounded and the picture it painted in my brain. That moment was a huge turning point in my life that my brother and I still talk about today. 
Millencolin - Dr. Jackal And Mr. Hide
I got into skateboarding and punk with my neighbor Nick. He had an older cousin from North Carolina, and he would come visit on the holidays. We would count down the days ‘till that guy would come because that meant new music was on the way. I’ll never forget the first time I heard Millencolin, it was a game changer for me. I had never heard anything so fast and melodic. I got to see them at Warped Tour a few years later and It was at that point I knew I wanted to play in a band. They just had so much fun playing and it showed with their live set. 
Bouncing Souls - EAST COAST! FUCK YOU!
Being from New Jersey, The Bouncing Souls always had the most insane crowds when Warped rolled through the area. I could write a novel on this band and the influence they have had on my adolescence. The Souls are like The Beastie Boys of punk rock — everybody loves them. Nothing makes me more proud to be from the East Coast than when I hear The Souls play “East Coast Fuck You”. This is the anthem for all the punk kids and punk bands that come from our part of the world and it says it all: “You can say we’re weather martyr’s, But snow and ice makes us rock harder. Punkers should be pale and pasty. The pizza here is fierce and tasty. East Coast! Fuck You!” ‘Nuff said.
AFI - Fall Children
Warped Tour 2001 was probably my favorite year band wise. I had seen AFI open for Rancid a few years before and remember being so stoked to see them again since the releases of All Hallows and Art Of Drowning. I remember that year they had switched clothes with Me First And The Gimme Gimmes so they came out with all Hawaiian tourist gear on. They opened up with Fall Children and it was ON. They had one of the biggest crowds that day, and everyone was singing along to all of the “gang” and “woah” parts. The whole set, both the band and crowd, were mesmerizing. It was like no other experience. From that point on, AFI has seemed more like a cult to me than a band, and it just makes me love them even more. Every time I put on that song, I remember how I felt when they took the stage.
NOFX - Theme Song Of Neverland (Fuck The Kids)
I think it’s impossible to pick my favorite NOFX Warped jam. Hands down, they have the best, coolest, funniest live show. First time seeing them on Warped, they spent the first ten minutes of their thirty-minute set talking about how much they hate New Jersey. It was hilarious. Everyone was throwing trash at them, and Fat Mike just got the crowd more and more rowdy. Back in fifth grade, I had traded RATM “Evil Empire” with this older kid in my grade school for “I Heard They Suck Live” and was blown away when I listened. It was a record you couldn’t play in the house because all they did was curse and talk about how fucked up they were. So when I saw them live I didn’t mind that they only played five songs and talked shit the rest of the time. Everyone was yelling track titles from Punk In Drublic for them to play, and Fat Mike kept saying, “Fuck that. We play what we want to play - this is our show.” I remember thinking he was the coolest dude in the world. Over a decade later I still feel the same way. I can’t narrow down one song, so I found a clip of them doing what they do best - making everyone uncomfortable. Enjoy. - Wayne Wildrick

(Click on image to listen in Spotify)
Yellowcard - See Me Smiling
We’ve been known to list Yellowcard as one of our influences and a lot of that is because of the drums. It’s awesome that Keith will be able to watch one of his favorite drummers on tour this year and the rest of the band is pretty pumped for that as well.
Dead Sara - Weatherman
This band is a new favorite of ours and Weatherman is a killer song. We’ve heard amazing things about their live performance, so we can’t wait to check them out.
Senses Fail - The Irony Of Dying On Your Birthday *Song is currently not on Spotify
We grew up listening to Senses Fail and they’ve definitely been an influence of ours. Lenny has a cool story of seeing these guys debut this song live, so it’ll be awesome to hear this tune on Warped this year.

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June Divided will be releasing Backbone on July 10th. Check out the track listing below by clicking “Read More.”

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PropertyOfZack is happy to be posting a new interview with June Divided that reviewer Jesse Richman conducted at this year’s SXSW Festival. In the interview, Jesse and the band discuss their SXSW visit, select dates on the 2012 Vans Warped Tour, influences, and more. Check out the interview below!

Just to start with formalities, can you all give your names and what you do in the band?
Melissa: I’m Melissa, I sing and play guitar.
Chris: I’m Chris, I play guitar.
Lenny: I’m Lenny, I play bass.
Keith: I’m Keith, I play drums. 

When did you guys get down to South By Southwest?
Chris: Monday.

Okay so you’ve been down here a couple of days. Had a chance to see anything good?
Melissa: We’ve been playing mostly.
POZ: Yeah it looks like you had quite the showcase schedule.
Chris: Show every day.
Melissa: Last one today.

Are you staying beyond today?
Melissa: Yeah. We did it right this year. We came down, got all of the business out of the way, and then had Saturday to hang.
POZ: What are you looking forward to? What are you going to try and catch?
Lenny: Well first of all, our showcase yesterday with Every Avenue and States was awesome. We caught The Used doing an acoustic thing last night which was really cool.
Melissa: I don’t think we’ve even looked into Saturday. I don’t even know what’s going on Saturday yet. Taking it one day at a time.
Keith: Of our friends bands that are playing down here, I think there are a few playing on Saturday. So we’ll try to catch them.
Lenny: I want to try to catch Motion City Soundtrack. I think they are playing tomorrow night.
POZ: Yeah, they are very plugged into the Drexel music program.
Lenny: Yeah. I don’t know. I have a schedule.
Keith: Somewhere.
Lenny: Yeah. 

Did you guys tour your way down here?
Melissa: Coming down, we stopped in Nashville and played a show at the Rutledge in Oprey Land and then we just kept driving.
POZ: Okay cool. Any plans on the way back up?
Melissa: No. We have to get back because we are going back into the studio to finish up our record. We did the bulk of it before South By [Southwest] and we have just a week’s worth of work to do left. 

Do you have any details on when that’s coming out? Any of that kind of stuff?
Melissa: Yeah it should be around June.
POZ: Okay. Got a name?
Melissa: We can’t really say it. Super secret.
POZ: Can you say who is putting it out?
Chris: We are.
POZ: Are you guys putting it out?
Lenny: By ourselves. As of right now.
Melissa: We’ve had a couple of offers over the past year from some smaller labels, but we just want to wait for the right one. And if you can afford to own your own music, why not?

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Philadelphia’s June Divided will be performing at the Ernie Ball/Warped Tour Battle Of The Bands Finals on December 1st at The Key Club in Hollywood, CA. The Dirty Heads will be headlining the show. Admission to the show will be free with a suggested $10 donation that will be donated to charity.