'47 x Fader Sessions

For three decades, the annual SXSW Festival has been rooted in discovery and innovation – be it new technologies, music, art, films, brands, burritos and beyond. ’47 joined Texas A&M University, a top international institution, in their activation that keeps this theme alive during the 2017 SXSW Interactive Conference. It wouldn’t be SXSW –– or Austin, Texas –– without ample live music and culture, so ’47 was thrilled to help inject these elements into the Texas A&M House, as the University’s sports lifestyle partner. In their takeover of the eclectic Hotel Van Zandt off Rainey Street, Texas A&M hosted the ’47 x FADER Sessions – a showcase of seminal music talent from a range of genres. By tapping into The FADER gurus, we were able to curate groundbreaking, discoverable new artists in the space, who performed live sets in front of a science-experiment-like backdrop.

The stage design was built to emphasize the live experience of a small club; we created a "speaker forest" comprised of vintage guitar amps, reel-to-reels, and old stereo components. We then reduced the standing room by half, to create a more intimate connection with the artist and visitor. The result was an experience which put up and coming artists within reach of their fans.

One of our goals for this activation was to produce short videos of each performance along with interviews with the artists. With the help of visual artist SAMO (http://samokerstromlang.com) we were able to create unique animations for each artist, which helped diversify the palette for each stage performance.

Marketing materials consisted of band posters and social posts which call back to the "speaker forest."

The set was dressed with large format prints of a gymnasium. These facilities house a range of sporting events which is what '47 is all about, but also hosts music. Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" video was a source of inspiration for us. Rather than searching for images of a gym, we built one in 3D which allowed us to brand it and adjust the camera to find abstract angles for the prints. We then "remixed" the images to a distorted half-tone to allow the images to fall into the background and change with the lighting.

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