Shearwater Interview

DCIst interviews Shearwater today. I swear I didn't even realize the Okkervil River connection. Or the Wye Oak one.

Here is how Jonathan Meiburg describes the contrast between the Austin and the DC music scenes:

How do you perceive the mid-Atlantic music scene of DC and Baltimore in contrast with Austin’s?

My sense is that Austin is such an easy place to be a musician in a lot of ways. It’s very relaxed and informal. It’s easy to find a place to rehearse, or play. I feel like the bands I know from DC and Baltimore really have to suffer. They have to work a lot harder to find a place to practice, cheap rent. You have to work a lot harder than you do here.

On the other hand, it’s hard to achieve escape velocity from Austin. A lot of bands here rarely leave town, but a lot of bands where you are manage to slingshot themselves up the East Coast. And Texas is just so far from everywhere else. It’s easier to get to where the people are from where you are, which I think can make you feel more connected, if not the entire United States.