25 Emerging Artists You Should Check Out At SXSW 2017

We dug up 25 emerging SXSW artists to shed a little on and bring awareness too as SXSW attendees traverse the sea of eclectic acts that are in town this week.

Also check out “11 Austin Bands to Catch at SXSW 2017” and “10 Must-See SXSW Festival Headliners”

1. Chrissy and Hawley – Chicago, IL (Dance)

Lose yourself in the bubbly pop dance fun but pay attention to the fine print. This is a magnificent debut from this duo that doesn’t skimp on fun or flawless execution.

2. Wet Baes – Mexico City, Mexico (Synthpop)

EP debut that contains a collection of five songs produced in his home studio full of groove and influences that come from genres like disco, house and vaporwave.

3. White Reaper – Louisville, Kentucky (Alt Rock)

Boasting textured melodies, layered guitars and more seasoned lyrics, The World’s Best American Band finds the quartet busting out of the basement sound established on their previous full length (2015’s White Reaper Does It Again) and setting their sights on the arena.

4. The Lemon Twigs – Long Island, New York (Classic Rock)

Their music can soar like a carnival calliope and then swiftly drop down to its knees in the hushed tones of a confessional booth. Their vocals move seamlessly from a cabaret croon to classic la-la-la harmonies. They mine inspiration seemingly from every era of rock, stitching it all together into a baroque-pop quilt of many colors.

5. Maggie Rogers – Brooklyn, New York (Pop)

Her music made Pharell cry…. ‘Nuff said.

6. Chrome Sparks – Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (Dance)

Inspired by a background in classical percussion and an obsession with synthesizers, Malvin creates dazed, melodic beat-centric tunes that loosely hang between down-tempo head nodders and up-tempo club bangers. FADER has described his music as ‘form-shifting beats [that] seem to resonate with spaced-out chillers and hyperactive party kids alike’.

7. Joel Sarakula – Sydney, Australia (Soul)

Joel Sarakula (AUS/UK) writes, produces and sings Soulful Pop, gazing through vintage glasses at his 70’s tinged world… or just imagine Ray Manzarek fronted a 70s soul band.

8. Vockah Redu – Houston, Texas (Hip Hop)

More than your typical hip-hop act, this theatrical performance sets the stage for a sweaty hands down booty up good time, transforming any party, bar, or dance floor in your neighborhood.

9. Meatbodies – Los Angeles, California (Punk)

Heavy pop band Meatbodies describes their band as “metal on molly”. If you can’t decide whether to put on Carly Rae Jepsen or Slayer, maybe you should listen to Meatbodies.

10. Young M.A. – Brooklyn, New York (Rap)

OOOUUU! Young M.A has one of the hottest records of the year with her latest single, “OOOUUU,” which has amassed over 64.2 million SoundCloud streams and 161 million YouTube plays in 8 months.

11. GoGo Penguin – Manchester, England (Jazz)

Their trademark mash-up of minimalist piano themes, deeply propulsive bass lines and electronica-inspired drums has seen them shortlisted for the Mercury Prize and fueled their exhilarating live shows from Manchester to New York and Berlin to London.

12. Little Simz – London, England (Rap)

Young MC has more incisive and crisp rhymes than some of the biggest rappers. Never mind the fact that she is female and English.

13. Hot Sugar – Manhattan, New York (Electronic)

Nick Koenig is a multidisciplinary artist best known for his music under the name Hot Sugar. He is the founder of a musical philosophy referred to as Associative Music, a modernized branch of musique concrete. His latest project, The Melody of Dust premieres at SXSW alongside an album of the same name

14. Robotaki – Toronto, Canada (Indie Pop)

There is a lot more behind the name and the mask than most people may perceive. Coming in to the spotlight with his top-tier remix work, and being recognized for his impeccable sounds, Preston Chin, the man behind the moniker has prepared himself to take on a much greater task. A task that entails enveloping the world with a powerful new take on funk and disco. A responsibility to brighten peoples days and to make people dance. A quest to bring a fresh musical experience to humans that has never been done before.

15. Hockey Dad – Wollongong, Australia (Pop Rock)

The two-piece surf rock duo, made up of Billy Flemming (Drums) & Zac Stephenson (Guitar / Vox) began from humble beginnings, like most surf garage bands. However, having developed a knack for writing addictively catchy surf tunes and a live set to back it up, the pair quickly worked their way through local bars & venues and solidified themselves as the hottest new thing.

16. Duchess Says – Montreal, Canada (Punk)

Duchess Says’ influences range from no wave, new wave and punk, to cinema and the visual arts. Their penchant for blending dance music and aggression works well and makes them comparable to other acts such as Devo, Fucked Up and DAF.

17. Iman Omari – Los Angeles, California (Soul)

With the “new sound” of West Coast music upon us, a young prodigy from the left coast is prepared to continue to make his mark on the music industry. With such a diverse display of talents, 26-year old Los Angeles-based composer, producer, writer and singer Iman Omari is using that “Vibe Music” sound to takeover the game.

18. Boogarins – Goiania, Brazil (Pop)

“There is a Brazilian psychedelic-rock tradition, for sure. But Boogarins doesn’t sound beholden to the documents of it. It’s not a band of formalists doing homage work.

19. Lights on Ceres – Nogales, Mexico (Pop)

Lights On Ceres is an alternative-funk-pop independent band from northern Mexico consisting of musicians Alberto Espinosa, Pablo Zarate, and Roberto Garcia.

20. Red Velvet – Seoul, South Korea (K-Pop)

The quintet girl group Red Velvet of S.M. Entertainment managed to quickly emerge as one of most anticipated K-pop acts today.

21. Youth Code – Los Angeles, California (Industrial)

Skinny Puppy and Throbbing Gristle live on through this banshee hellion singer and their industrial grime.

22. Hoops – Bloomington, Indiana (Indie Pop)

Drew Auscherman began Hoops as a teenager in Indiana and has since raised Hoops to the level of being a part of esteemed Fat Possum Records roster through way of developing a specific, unique sound.

23. No Joy – Montreal, Canada (Shoegaze)

One of their first gigs was with Best Coast; when that band’s Bethany Cosentino said that No Joy was “the best band ever” on her Twitter feed, buzz began forming around the band.

24. Co/ntry – Montreal, Canada (New Wave)

CO/NTRY is an adult-contemporary post-punk duo comprised of Newfoundland-born/Montreal-based artists Beaver Sheppard and David Whitten.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AN3uVjU8Jso

25. Pizza Time – Denver, Colorado (Comedy? I Think)

David Castillo writes the songs & sometimes records them with his main man Ben Donehower and sometimes records them himself. For live shows David is usually backed by his best friends Meghan Meehan & Nat Grandbois and sometimes by other adventurous musicians.