Kerry McCoy was tired and nervous when he arrived in Austin, Texas. It was mid-morning, and McCoy and his fellow bandmates in the San Francisco rock act Deafheaven had just spent 10 long hours making the overnight drive from a show in Las Cruces, New Mexico to Austin for South by Southwest, one of the country’s biggest music festivals.
Now the band had to get on stage at a SXSW showcase and play for an audience that included music industry reps. It was expected to be one of the most important performances in Deafheaven’s short history.
“We were worried about how (the drive) affected us, (but) we just nailed it,” said McCoy, 23, Deafheaven’s guitarist. “Once we got on stage, we’re playing with emotion right now, and the sound was so good… We know how to do this; let’s do it.”
“Afterwards there was a bunch of industry people talking to us and people taking pictures, so it went really good,” McCoy added.
That South by Southwest experience reflects the band’s story since it formed last year. When Deafheaven just focuses on making music, good things happen. The band recorded a demo in April 2010 and played its first show that July. Since then it’s been referenced in theinfluential British publication NME; it’s received praise from bloggers in the metal scene; and it’s been signed by the indie label Deathwish.