An amazing new video from our dear old friend r. stevie

R. Stevie Moore – Answers (Official Music Video) from headroom films on Vimeo.

Thank you Austin for being (sorta) weird. Thank you Austin for not stealing our keyboard when we left it outside at midnight in the busy street for 45 minutes while we were inside getting drunk. Thank you Austin for being so sunny warm up until the last day when you were 41 degrees. Thank you Twin Peaks for the Dirty Brunette Beer. Thank you Annie for the shows. Thank you Beauty Bar for the great sound (bass!). Thank you friends who came to the Beauty Bar. Thank you girl who tried to steal my hat for the photobooth. Thank you bands who we may or may not have shared the stage with us. Thank you Texas for allowing us to be from California. Thank you Kerbey Lane Cafe hostess for picking up the toothpicks. Thank you stoned Kerbey waiter dude who was so out of it yet calm and quick with the sodas. Thank you Austin.

We are hittin our stride here in Austin. Isaac and our drummer have discovered the beauty of screwdrivers and Michael just wants people to let him live. After breakfast here at Kerbey Lane Cafe we are playing a BBQ at 32nd and Red River at 4pm. Then we are playing an evening show at Beauty Bar.
Here is our official SXSW artist page.

Evening Showcase details:
Friday, March 19th @ 8:00 PM
Beauty Bar
617 East 7th Street
Austin, TX

We made it to Austin, TX. Finally, it’s 5AM. I’m reaching my breaking point. Isaac, the true road warrior, is beginning to hallucinate, experiencing rips in space and time. Michael almost puked on the hotel attendant. Now we have to get our gear up to the 3rd floor.

Our first show is today, Thursday March 18 – The Brooklyn Vegan/AnSo Day Party @ Spider House in Austin TX w/Kid Congo Powers, DM Stith @2:00PM. Here a look at the flyer & lineup.

We’re leaving the Bay Area behind tonight and headed to Austin, TX for a bevy of shows with the full 5-piece band. In anticipation for the festival Tapscott was interviewed by Spinner/AOL.

Odawas started out with a grand idea — combining classical music with gritty folk songwriting a la Neil Young. Over the course of five albums the band has perfected the mix and expanded it with dizzying layers of surreality and sensuality. Spinner recently chatted with singer and keyboardist Michael Tapscott about his band’s upcoming SXSW performances, Phil Collins, and organic trail mix.

Describe your sound in your own words.
The design or great idea of our band was to combine classical music and classically pop production with gritty folk songwriting. Whether we have achieved that, I don’t know (laughs).

How did your band form?
Isaac and I met when we were both working at a student paper. The first thing we ever made together was supposed to a soundtrack for a short film he was making.

What are your musical influences?
Certainly Neil Young, which gets said a lot. Richard Wagner, Mercury Rev, Grandaddy.

How did you come up with your band name?
Odawa is the name of an Indian tribe in Northern Michigan. Every summer when I was a kid I would go to a place called Goodheart, and there was an island near there called Beaver Island where the Indians still lived. As a kid it seemed like a magical place, but the first time I went there it was really depressing. A lot of the people were just standing around drinking in the middle of the day. And then I learned the island is sinking into Lake Michigan. I think it represents the distortion of childhood memories and dreams.

What’s your biggest vice?
Diet soda — Diet Pepsi in particular. I drink, like, six a day, and they give me stomachaches, but I still drink them.

What’s in your festival survival kit?
Probably a good book to read. Right now I am pretty into silent movies, so maybe something by Fritz Lang to watch on the laptop. Diet soda, of course, and since I work for an organic food company, a large bag of organic trail mix.

What do you think about playing about SXSW?
Played last year for the first time. Our experience was not so great because it was not an official showcase. This year we are playing as part of the official festival, and think we are playing on some good shows. Also excited because we will playing as a full band, which we did not do last year.

What’s your musical guilty pleasure?
Phil Collins ‘Face Value.’ That record is a huge influence on our latest record. Although it doesn’t seem to be a guilty pleasure. I like the idea of Jimmy Buffett being a guilty pleasure, but when I listen to it, I just don’t like the music.

Beatles or Stones?
The Beatles. When I was in college I was a teaching assistant for a Beatles course, so I was sold.

What’s the craziest thing you’ve seen or experienced while on tour?
On our last tour we were in Phoenix, staying with a girl we met. She lived in a one-room studio. She and a band member (who will remain nameless) got very drunk and had sex while we were all in the room. I just put on my headphones, as I didn’t need to hear that. But the funny thing was that he left his shoes on the whole time.