I have a habit of writing down what people say when I overhear something interesting or if something said strikes me as odd. After this year’s SXSW, my hand is cramped from scribbling down stupid quote after stupid quote. Between the two of us at KOAR, our rolodex is expansive, however at one point we looked at each other and said ‘who the hell are all these people?’ This year was overrun with ‘newbies,’ and while a part of me wants to be excited that people are so interested in entering the music industry even with all of the problems, a new industry packed to the rafters with people who don’t know what they’re doing won’t exactly solve the problems. Here are a few of my favorite quotes from SXSW07:

(manager to band) “The A&R heard part of your song and said he liked it. I got his card, so I will call him next week and we can start negotiations.”

(band to A&R) “We’re the only band that can successfully pull off 3-part harmonies.”

(indie label owner to me) “That classic rock sound is cool and everything, but I don’t think it has a place in the mainstream. Right now its all about dance pop and emotional rock. That’s where the smart money is.”

(A&R to artist) “If you don’t move to New York or LA, you’ll never make it.”

(PR to band) “It can be difficult to stand out. You need to get your image together. You need the hair, you need the style. Consider wearing matching suits.”

(band member to band member) “With all this industry here, how could we not land something?”

(douchebag to douchebag) “Brooklyn sets all the trends. If its not hot there, it won’t be hot anywhere.”

The last, and best, comes direct from a major label employee. I’ll let you guess which department…

“The more you know about music, the less objective you can be.”

So, this is where we are. Some of these are adorably naïve and some are simply frightening. Sure, there were good performances…even some great ones. Bratty over-hyped brit rockers tearing apart stages, and some kick ass straight up American Rock n Roll, but they were just leaves in the SXSW pool of shitty fad bands and mediocre singer/songwriters. What happened?

AJ, KOAR