SXSW 2019 Reveals Initial Artist List

The South by Southwest Music conference, five months ahead of its March 11 kickoff, announced its first wave of acts – an extra long list highlighted by bold conceptualist Amanda Palmer, psychedelic garage energizers Oh Sees, UK shoegaze heroes Swervedriver, Against Me leader Laura Jane Grace & the Devouring Mothers, and Fugees founder Wyclef Jean.

Other notable acts coming to Austin for the 32nd annual Music Conference include Matador-signed UK atmospheric trio Haelos, New Zealand guitar pop veterans the Chills, Swedish garage -punk ne’er-do-wells Viagra Boys, California mellow upstarts Bane’s World, and Finnish outfit Steve’n’Seagulls, known for stringboard adaptions of hard rock classics.

As usual, SXSW’s inaugural list pulls from all over the globe, giving musicians time to ready their visas. The initial cull finds 36 acts from the UK, including London rapper Flohio, stylistically diverse, in-demand drummer Yussef Dayes, Leeds post-punk trio the Drahla, mood-pop artist Art School Girlfriend, and London jazz breakouts Ezra Collective. Other international intrigues include Melbourne punks Amyl & the Sniffers, South Korean indie rock throwbacks Say Sue Me, Argentinian rapper Ecko, all-female Japanese spazz punks Otoboke Beaver, Berlin power-pop bashers Pabst, and four acts from Kenya: Khalifgraph, King Kaka, Naiboi, and Phy.

Seventeen central Texas acts, including San Marcos rap breakouts Pnthn, local noise-punk trio Xetas, and high energy, South Austin R&B/soul revue Tomar & the FCs, add to the festival’s early ranks. Other SXSWers coming out of Austin are Arkansas Dave, Blushing, Bubble Puppy, Charlie Belle, Charlie Faye & the Fayettes, Cilantro Boombox, Darkbird, Fanclub, Fuvk, Lion Heights, Otis Wilkins, Quiet Company, Sphynx, and Western Youth.

Here's the full first list, which is about 12% of what will ultimately get booked for March 11-17 in Austin:

47Soul (London, England)

Acharné (Sydney, Australia)

Alexandra Cardenas (Berlin, Germany)

Amanda Palmer (Boston, MA.)

Amaru Tribe (Melbourne, Australia)

Amyl & the Sniffers (Melbourne, Australia)

Annabel Allum (Guildford, England)

Apre (London, England)

Arkansas Dave (Austin)

Art School Girlfriend (Wrexham, Wales)

Audiobooks (London, England)

Ayelle (Stockholm, Sweden)

Bad Bad Hats (Minneapolis, MN.)

Bane’s World (Long Beach, Calif.)

Baseball Gregg (Stockton, Calif.)

Baywaves (Madrid, Spain)

Be Forest (Pesaro, Italy)

Berndsen (Reykjavik, Iceland)

The Beths (Auckland, New Zealand)

Big Phony (Seoul, South Korea)

Birthh (Florence, Italy)

Black Rheno (Sydney, Australia)

Blood Cultures (Jersey City, NJ.)

Bloods (Sydney, Australia)

Blushing (Austin)

Body Type (Sydney, Australia)

Bohemian Betyars (Miskolc, Hungary)

Bones Garage (Tel Aviv, Israel)

Boy Azooga (Cardiff, Wales)

Breathe Panel (Brighton, England)

Brett Newski & the No Tomorrow (Milwaukee, WI.)

Bror Gunnar Jansson (Gothenburg, Sweden)

Bubble Puppy (Austin)

Capsula (Buenos Aires, Argentina)

Castlecomer (Sydney, Australia)

Catherine Britt (Newcastle, Australia)

Cats On Trees (Toulouse, France)

Ceramic Animal (Philadelphia, PA.)

Charli Adams (Nashville, TN.)

Charlie Belle (Austin)

Charlie Faye & the Fayettes (Austin)

The Chills (Dunedin, New Zealand)

Chkbns (Saint Petersburg, Russia)

Cilantro Boombox (Austin)

Cones (Los Angeles, Calif.)

Creamer (Nashville, TN.)

Damien McFly (Padova, Italy)

Darkbird (Austin)

David Boring (Hong Kong, China)

David Keenan (Dundalk, Ireland)

Dawn Avenue (Mexico City)

Death Bells (Sydney, Australia)

Deeper (Chicago, IL.)

Diego Guerrero (Madrid, Spain)

Drahla (Leeds, England)

Drinking Boys & Girls Choir (Daegu, South Korea)

Dstr (Leipzig, Germany)

The Dunts (Glasgow, Scotland)

Dwagie (Tainan, Taiwan)

Dygl (Tokyo, Japan)

Ecko (Buenos Aires, Argentina)

Ellis (Hamilton, Canada)

El Tambor de la Tribu (Guatemala)

Emily C. Browning (Christchurch, New Zealand)

Emily Fairlight (Wellington, New Zealand)

Ex-Girl (Japan)

Ezra Collective (London, England)

Faded Ghost (Shanghai, China)

Fanclub (Austin)

Favx (Madrid, Spain)

Feels (Perth, Australia)

Femme (London, England)

Flohio (London, England)

Foa (Eugene, OR.)

Fontaines D.C. (Dublin, Ireland)

Forever (Montreal, Canada)

French for Rabbits (Wellington, New Zealand)

French Vanilla (Los Angeles, Calif.)

The Fur (Taipei, Taiwan)

Fuvk (Austin)

Gaddafi Gals (Munich, Germany)

Gaelynn Lea (Duluth, MN.)

Georgi Kay (Perth, Australia)

Giungla (Bologna, Italy)

The Gooch Palms (Newcastle, Australia)

Goo Munday (Sydney, Australia)

Grim Streaker (Brooklyn, NY.)

Gudrun Gut (Berlin, Germany)

Gustavo Casas y Los Que Buscan (Caracas, Venezuela)

Gypsy Kumbia Orchestra (Montreal, Canada)

Haelos (London, England)

Hala (Detroit, MI.)

Hans (Auckland, New Zealand)

Hayden Pedigo (Amarillo)

Hazey Eyes (Philadelphia, PA.)

Her’s (Liverpool, England)

Her Skin (Modena, Italy)

Hickeys (Madrid, Spain)

Hot Flash Heat Wave (San Francisco, Calif.)

Husky Loops (London, England)

I’m Glad It’s You (Redlands, Calif.)

I Am Waiting for You Last Summer (Ryazan, Russia)

Jackie Bristow (Gore, New Zealand)

Jambinai (Seoul, South Korea)

Jazzy Amra (The Bronx, NY.)

Joe Armon-Jones (London, England)

Jonathan (Rijeka, Croatia)

JonZ (Tel Aviv, Israel)

JP the Wavy (Shonan, Japan)

Kabul Dreams (Kabul, Afghanistan)

Kandle (Victoria, Canada)

Khaligraph (Nairobi, Kenya)

Kidsmoke (Wrexham, Wales)

King Kaka (Nairobi, Kenya)

King Kanja (Kensington, MD.)

Kite (Jessheim, Norway)

The Klitz (Memphis, TN.)

Kofi Black (Staten Island, NY.)

Kolars (Los Angeles, Calif.)

Koran Streets (Berkeley, Calif.)

The KVB (London, England)

L3ON (Benito Juárez, Mexico)

La Mojarra Electrica (Bogotá, Colombia)

Laura Carbone (Berlin, Germany)

Laura Jane Grace & the Devouring Mothers (Chicago, IL.)

Laurel (London, England)

Le Big Sur (Bogotá, Colombia)

Leyla McCalla (New Orleans, LA.)

Linying (Singapore)

Lion Heights (Austin)

Litany (Harrogate, England)

Locate S,1 (Athens, GA.)

Lost Under Heaven (Manchester, England)

Los Wilds (Madrid, Spain)

Louis Prince (Nashville, TN.)

Lowly (Copenhagen, Denmark)

Lucia (Glasgow, Scotland)

Lucia Tacchetti (Buenos Aires, Argentina)

Lucy Lu (London, England)

Lunar Vacation (Atlanta, GA.)

Madge (Los Angeles, Calif.)

Madison Cunningham (Orange County, Calif.)

Magnolian (Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia)

Mamalarky (Los Angeles, Calif.)

Marina Maximilian (Tel Aviv, Israel)

The Mauskovic Dance Band (Amsterdam, Netherlands)

Maybe April (Nashville, TN.)

Mikal Khill (Charlotte, NC.)

Miknna (Los Angeles, Calif.)

Mirella Cesa (Guayaquil, Ecuador)

Moira Mack (Madison, WI.)

Moritz Simon Geist (Dresden, Germany)

My Life as Ali Thomas (Bangkok, Thailand)

Naiboi (Nairobi, Kenya)

Nerija (London, England)

New Fame (Da Nang, Vietnam)

The Ninth Wave (Glasgow, Scotland)

Noire (Brisbane, Australia)

Nsimbi (Los Angeles, Calif.)

The O’My’s (Chicago, IL.)

Oh Sees (Los Angeles, Calif.)

Ori (Jerusalem, Israel)

Otis Wilkins (Austin)

Otoboke Beaver (Kyoto, Japan)

Pabst (Berlin, Germany)

Palberta (New York, NY.)

Palo Duro (Austin)

The Parrots (Madrid, Spain)

Pastel Ghost (Austin)

Phy (Nairobi, Kenya)

Pnthn (San Marcos)

Polyplastic (Los Angeles, Calif.)

PowerSolo (Aarhus, Denmark)

Private Island (Los Angeles, Calif.)

Puerto Arena (Montería, Colombia)

Puma Blue (London, England)

Quiet Company (Austin)

The Rain Within (Charlottesville, VA.)

Raquel (Boston, MA.)

Reptaliens (Portland, OR.)

Riley (New York, NY.)

Rob Markman (Brooklyn, NY.)

Ruby Rushton (London, England)

Ruth Koleva (Sofia, Bulgaria)

Sarah Tandy (London, England)

Say Sue Me (Busan, South Korea)

Seán Barna (Brooklyn, NY.)

Seratones (Shreveport, LA.)

Shadowparty (Manchester, England)

The Sha La Das (New York, NY.)

Skegss (Byron Bay, Australia)

Slow Caves (Denver, CO.)

Slow Pulp (Madison, WI.)

Sneaks (Baltimore, MD.)

Sofie Winterson (Amsterdam, Netherlands)

Soft Streak (Los Angeles, Calif.)

Sontalk (Nashville, TN.)

Sphynx (Austin)

Stealth (Birmingham, England)

Stereogirl (Chofu-City, Japan)

Steve’n’Seagulls (Jyväskylä, Finland)

Subhi (Chicago, IL.)

Summer Cannibals (Portland, OR.)

Swallow the Rat (Auckland, New Zealand)

Sweet Crude (New Orleans, LA.)

Swervedriver (Oxford, England)

T$hego (Mafikeng, South Africa)

Tamino (Antwerp, Belgium)

Theodore (Athens, Greece)

Tia Gostelow (Mackay, Australia)

Tirman Kid (Buenos Aires, Argentina)

Toflang (Barcelona, Spain)

Tomar & the FCs (Austin)

Trudy & the Romance (Liverpool, England)

Twin Tribes (Brownsville)

Twist (Toronto, Canada)

Unge Ferrari (Oslo, Norway)

Upsahl (Phoenix, AZ.)

Viagra Boys (Stockholm, Sweden)

Viva Non (Winnipeg, Canada)

Vlad Holiday (Jersey City, NJ.)

Waax (Brisbane, Australia)

Wafia (Brisbane, Australia)

Warm Drag (Los Angeles, Calif.)

Warmduscher (London, England)

Warm Human (Chicago, IL.)

Weakened Friends (Portland, ME.)

Westerman (London, England)

Western Youth (Austin)

Whyte Horses (Manchester, England)

William Harries Graham (Austin)

William Wild (Knoxville, TN.)

Willie J Healey (Oxford, England)

Wyclef Jean (New York, NY.)

Xetas (Lockhart)

Yahyel (Tokyo, Japan)

Yehaiyahan (Shanghai, China)

Yorka (Santiago, Chile)

Yussef Dayes (London, England)

Zrn (Aarhus, Denmark)