Tired of the standard hurry-up-and-wait routine that accompanies traditional touring, Orlando’s Solillaquists of Sound is setting up shop in Austin for the remainder of the month. The hip-hop outfit, which visits Mohawk on Monday, has already nestled in nicely with local family the Sniders, and offered first impressions of the local scene.
OTR: What brought Solillaquists to Austin?
Alexandrah: We’ve never spent any extended time here. We want to start from the ground up and see what the city has to offer. We want to open for local bands and get a feel for what it’s really like here. If someone’s having a house party, we’ll rock it. We’re ready. We’re looking for volunteer opportunities. We’re not guiding what we do. We’re asking for suggestions and going from there. We’re really personable, easy to reach people.
OTR: What have you noticed about Austin so far?
A: There are really nice people everywhere, especially our hosts. People are very talkative and friendly and comfortable with themselves. Looking the way I do, I get a lot of crazy stares in Orlando, but here it’s fine. It’s like a more comfortable version of the strangeness people expect from New York City. It’s awesome.
OTR: Where did the idea come from?
A: Swam came up with the idea. We were all sitting around thinking about what we should do next. We went on a 40-city tour in the U.S. We got invited to go on tour with Michael Franti, but we wanted to think about what we should for ourselves. He came up with the idea to go to really cool cities, live there for a month, and learn about their culture and do as many shows as possible with as many cool bands as possible. We’re trying to connect with people the same way we do in Orlando.
OTR: Where’s next?
A: We’re thinking about Denver next, but it won’t be for a while. We have a tour in France and we’re going to take a month off between each tour just to go home and re-establish ourselves and get everything back in order.
OTR: Can you tell me about No More Heroes?
A: It’s got like a comic book feel, so our live show has taken on a bit of that. As If We Existed was an album where we sort of explained what we see in the world and what think could be made a little bit better. This album is more so from the voice of our personal experience, the things that we go through as individuals in a society that doesn’t necessarily encourage people to become their own heroes. We want to dismiss the notion of one hero at a time, whether it’s Martin Luther King or Superman or whatever. We want everyone to more or less recognize that they have the ability to become the hero they look up to within themselves.
This article appears in February 26 • 2010.