SXSW 2012

Yeast by Sweet Beast 2012, presented by Anne Heller of Aurora Plastics Company and Church of the Friendly Ghost, is a three-day experimental improvisation and outsider music festival, now in its 12th year. Poet, musician and filmmaker Anne Heller (of the experimental improv band Aurora Plastics Company) began the fest in the year 2000 to celebrate still being alive and to return a bit of happiness to the community by creating a manifestation of “flying the freak flag.” She organizes and funds the fest herself, paying the performing bands equally from the profits, if any. Inspired by Andy Warhol’s legendary “Exploding Plastic Inevitable” happenings, this showcase of up-and-coming tonal artists is accompanied by the film installations of video artist Paul Baker and others, creating a hypnotic ambiance throughout. 

Experimental improvisational music is “art for art’s sake,” creation as a means of intense personal expression. The bands featured in Yeast by Sweet Beast are all experienced improvisers who feel comfortable and relish the magic which is creativity in the moment. Many also perform in other musical genres. Each band gets a 30-minute set with 8 or 9 bands performing each night of the fest.

Yeast by Sweet Beast 2012 will feature Louisville, Kentucky’s Bosco Stravinsky and Houston’s Future Blondes, as well as such Austin-based experimental stalwarts as ST-37, Plutonium Farmers, Attic Ted, Book of Shadows and organic-electric soundtrack conjurers Aurora Plastics Company. Paul Baker of Sub Oslo and others will visually accompany the musical performances, in traditional Yeast by Sweet Beast fashion.

For more info visit http://www.facebook.com/pages/Yeast-by-Sweet-Beast-Fest/321347237877510