On SXSW Day 1, Protesters Condemn Army and Defense Sponsorship
Artists continue to drop out of the Fest in response
By Carys Anderson, 10:45AM, Sat. Mar. 9, 2024
South by Southwest started with a rally Friday as dozens gathered outside the Convention Center to protest the festival’s U.S. Army sponsorship and hosting of defense companies like Collins Aerospace in the midst of the Israel-Palestine conflict.
Collins Aerospace is a subsidiary of RTX Corporation (formerly Raytheon), the latter of which has supplied weapons to the Israeli government. On the day of the protest, the festival presented the panel Driving Innovation: Technical Advances in Transportation, featuring Army veteran and former Raytheon employee JD Johnson. The festival did not respond to request for comment from the Chronicle. (Editor’s note: SXSW co-founder and part-owner Nick Barbaro also co-founded and owns The Austin Chronicle.)
Repeating chants of “Ceasefire now,” “No business as usual,” and “Free Palestine,” event organizers the Party for Socialism and Liberation demanded that SXSW disinvite Department of Defense affiliates from the festival. Musicians Connor McCampbell of TC Superstar and Jon Siebels of Eve 6 also spoke, encouraging their fellow artists to join the wave of acts pulling out of official SXSW showcases in protest of the festival’s military presence.
“They’re not getting paid shit anyway, so they might as well [drop out],” Siebels said, referencing past efforts to increase SXSW’s artist pay.
Collins Aerospace will co-host the Boundary Breakers: The Next Leap in Government and Defense Innovation event on March 10 alongside entrepreneur network MassChallenge and defense software company Second Front Systems. Defense contractors L3Harris present another panel featuring Department of Defense employee Travis Langster – while Sara Lazarus, a former member of Raytheon's Cyber Exploitation Unit, appears as an official mentor.
The U.S. Army is a super sponsor of SXSW 2024 and hosts several events at the festival, including a presentation on technology innovation featuring Secretary of the Army Christine Wormuth and an official “This Is Our House” activation in collaboration with the U.S. Navy and SPIN magazine. Other SXSW super sponsors include Volkswagen, Porsche, Delta, C4 Energy, and The Austin Chronicle.
Squirrel Flower, Shalom, Eliza McLamb, and Mamalarky dropped out of their official SXSW showcases earlier this week. Since then, Scowl, Snõõper, Proper, Merce Lemon, Birthday Girl, Horse Jumper of Love, They Are Getting a Body of Water, and more have announced similar moves, pointing fans to unofficial shows they will continue to play. The wave also includes Austin-based artists TC Superstar, Buffalo Nichols, Lucía Beyond, and Madison Baker.
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